Deuteronomy 32: Rock Song

In the last chapter we were promised a song. Not just any song, but a song that would be a witness against Israel should they turn from the LORD and follow other gods. And boy, does Deuteronomy 32 deliver!

But what kind of song is it? What is the tone? The lyrical structure? The emotion?

Well, I could launch into a somewhat instructional post about the nature of Hebrew poetry and the themes of Israel’s story that can be found in the song, but what fun would that be?

Length:

There’s a lot of words in this song. How many? Are we talking Counting Crows “Mr. Jones” amounts? Are we talking Billy Joel levels of lyrics?

No. More.

We might be in “American Pie” territory.

It’s a long, long, long, long song.

Emotion:

Emotionally, the song is all over the place. At times it is singing soaring praises to God. At other times, God burns with anger at the faithlessness of his people. There is redemption, vindication, retribution, arrogance. You name it.

Most songs you hear on the radio can’t even get close to this level of emotional complexity. So we are going to have to look (or, listen) outside of the radio.

When I was in middle school, I bought a tape cassette. On this cassette, I believe we can find the equivalent of Moses’ song. Wanna know what it was?

Meatloaf’s Bat Out Of Hell 2: Back Into Hell.

Oh yes.

You might think I’m off, but there is actually a line where God considers doing something but then backs off. “I won’t do that.”

Lyrics:

As I read through the lyrics, I noticed there was a theme of “Rocks” in the song. God = Rock. god = rock.

What other songs use the word “rock” a lot? Oh yes, now I remember.

Overall Awesomeness:

Um, this song would be pretty rad. Because you know that Joshua whipped out his guitar at the end and played a shredding solo somewhat reminiscent of this one.

Ok. Now I need to stop. I’m just going to give you a bunch of youtube links. Get back to work!