(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 32:15–18, “But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.”
In this last section of Moses last speech, the Lord showed Israel that their disobedience didn’t take Him by surprise. The Lord knows the end from the beginning (see, Is 46:9–10, “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”) and He understood that they would sin before He delivered them from slavery in Egypt. Even when the Lord gave Adam His first command, He gave in the form of a choice (Gen 2:16–17, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”) The Lord made His point in Deut 30 when He told Israel that His plan was to bring them to their knees in submission to His will. Even at this stage they were not yet ready to completely submit to the Lord. There were individuals who had submitted to the Lord, like Abraham, Moses and Joshua, but Israel was not yet ready to be the source of blessing to all the families of the earth when the entered the Promised Land as a nation for the first time. This would take time and they would have to be broken through exile to the farthest parts of the earth before they would finally be broken on their knees before the Lord. The name “Jeshurun” refers to Israel and means “someone who belongs to the Lord and means the same as “Jacob” or “Israel” (compare Isaiah 44:1–8, “Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. One shall say, I am the LORD’S; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.”) At first they would grow prosperous in the Land and believe that it was because they deserved it because they were good but later they would understand that it was because they belonged to the Lord. Israel would only be blessed and be a source of blessing to others if they were submitted and understood that they belonged to the Lord.
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