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fire from God

Deuteronomy 32:22-25 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:22 For fire has been kindled because of my anger and burns to the depths of Sheol; it devours the land and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.
Deuteronomy 32:23 “I will pile disasters on them; I will use up my arrows against them.
Deuteronomy 32:24 They will be weak from hunger, ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will unleash on them wild beasts with fangs, as well as venomous snakes that slither in the dust.
Deuteronomy 32:25 Outside, the sword will take their children, and inside, there will be terror; the young man and the young woman will be killed, the infant and the gray-haired man.

fire from God

God’s fire is a metaphor for his punishment for sin. Sometimes he punishes sin with literal fire, but in today’s passage it is obviously a metaphor for death from a variety of sources: disaster, arrows, hunger, disease, wild animals, snakebite, swords, and fright.

Moses was singing his song of the future, and he was pretty comprehensive when he predicted the various ways God would avenge himself on those who claimed to be part of his covenant and yet rebelled against the commands of the covenant.

Lord, we are children of your covenant of grace, bought with the blood of Christ. Make us a people serious about following the commands of Christ.