Today, people have trivialised the notion of God's judgment and reduced its sting in their day-to-day conversation. Hell has become a swear word, for example, when people casually say, ″Go to hell″, without really understanding the implications of such a curse. But Moses' song makes it clear that God's judgment is nothing to be made light of.

In the second section of Moses' song, he focuses on the consequences of their disobedience (Deuteronomy 32:19-47). Like statements in treaty-related disputes of ancient times, Moses describes the punishments for violations against the covenant. But unlike the ancient treaty documents, this song also includes the forgiveness and vindication of God's people (vv. 36-43).

The impetus for judgment is the wrath and jealousy of God (vv. 19-21). The Israelites were made for loyal commitment to God, who created and redeemed them, made them His own, and bound them to a covenant that demanded exclusive loyalty. Hence, when God's children violate that and follow some other who is ″no god″, He is stirred to holy jealousy over the breaking of their love relationship with Him. He is enraged that they are forfeiting His great blessings and choosing terrible punishment.

The Bible takes pains to present the unpleasant doctrine of judgment in an unforgettable way to people who prefer to ignore it. Moses describes the coming calamities of famine, plagues, pestilence, and complete destruction (vv. 23-25). He uses gruesome language: ″I will take vengeance on my adversaries . . . I will make my arrows drunk with blood, while my sword devours flesh″ (vv. 41-42), to depict how serious God's judgment is. It is important to note that God's judgment is not just confined to the Old Testament. The New Testament quotes Deuteronomy 32:35, ″It is mine to avenge; I will repay″ twice. First, to warn Christians about the judgement they will face (Hebrews 10:30); second, to tell Christians that they do not need to take revenge because God will punish wrongdoers (Romans 12:19).

Though terrifying, God's judgment of the wicked is something that the righteous nations should ″rejoice″ over (Deuteronomy 32:43). God's vengeance is not revenge in the bad human sense. Rather, it is God's promise that He will provide the necessary justice for evil acts. Evil people, like Hitler and Pol Pot, may brilliantly organise their evil schemes and seem invincible, but ″in due time their foot will slip″ (v. 35), and their success-as history has proven-will be short-lived.

God's assured judgment of those who abuse their power to do great evil in the world encourages the righteous to keep persevering in living a godly life. When justice is done and evil is punished, the value of righteousness will be upheld and those who paid the price of commitment to righteousness will rejoice (see Revelation 19:1-3).