God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel
A Contemplation of Asaph.
“Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known,
and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children, that they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments; and may not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God; they refused to walk in His law, and forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them. Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; and He made the waters stand up like a heap. In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. He split the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink in abundance like the depths. He also brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
But they sinned even more against Him by rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness. And they tested God in their heart by asking for the food of their fancy. Yes, they spoke against God: they said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock, so that the waters gushed out,
and the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?” Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel, because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in His salvation.
Yet He had commanded the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven, had rained down manna on them to eat, and given them of the bread of heaven. Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full.
He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; and by His power He brought in the south wind. He also rained meat on them like the dust, feathered fowl like the sand of the seas; and He let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings. So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them their own desire. They were not deprived of their craving; but while their food was still in their mouths, the wrath of God came against them, and slew the stoutest of them, and struck down the choice men of Israel.
In spite of this they still sinned, and did not believe in His wondrous works. Therefore their days He consumed in futility, and their years in fear. When He slew them, then they sought Him; and they returned and sought earnestly for God. Then they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer. Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied to Him with their tongue; for their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant.
But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath; for He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again.
How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power: the day when He redeemed them from the enemy, when He worked His signs in Egypt, and His wonders in the field of Zoan; turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, that they could not drink. He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them. He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, and their labor to the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost.
He also gave up their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to fiery lightning. He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, by sending angels of destruction among them. He made a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, but gave their life over to the plague, and destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, the first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
But He made His own people go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock; and He led them on safely, so that they did not fear; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And He brought them to His holy border, this mountain which His right hand had acquired. He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them an inheritance by survey, and made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, and did not keep His testimonies, but turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with their carved images. When God heard this, He was furious, and greatly abhorred Israel, so that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had placed among men, and delivered Hs strength into captivity, and His glory into the enemy’s hand.
He also gave His people over to the sword, and was furious with His inheritance. The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not given in marriage. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation. Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty man who shouts because of wine. And He beat back His enemies; He put them to a perpetual reproach. Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which He loved. And He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which He has established forever.
He also chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes that had young He brought him, to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.”
This is a long psalm and picking it apart verse by verse would be tedious. The psalmist begins by reminding his listeners of God’s commands to teach succeeding generations of the great things God has done for the Israelites and the wonders He has performed. Next, the psalmist laments the fact that the Israelites have failed miserably in this regard and begins listing graphic examples.
- “The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God; they refused to walk in His law, and forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them. Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.” When the Israelites were crossing into Canaan, they had to swear a mutual oath of protection; if any tribe was under attack, the other tribes had to swiftly come to their aid. But the Ephraimites, who were fully armed and presumably prepared, chose to stay home, failing their fellow Israelites and violating a sacred oath sworn before the Living God. If cell phones had existed, the Ephraimites would all have been absorbed in their phones.
- Next the psalmist summarizes the plagues God sent on the Egyptians to convince them to free the Israelites from slavery, loading them with precious possessions and sending them away.
- The psalmist reminds listeners of the miraculous ways God delivered His people, first at the Red Sea and then repeatedly in the wilderness, providing food and water for millions.
- The psalmist then describes God’s fulfillment of His promises by bringing the Israelites into the Promised Land, giving them land and allowing them to dwell safely in their tents.
- “Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, and did not keep His testimonies, but turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.” The ungrateful Israelites refused to worship God but instead plunged into idolatry, serving the very demons previously worshiped by the Canaanites. This covenant breaking caused God to abandon His people to repeated enemy attacks.
- Because of the ingratitude and unfaithfulness of Ephraim, God rejected those tribes and instead chose the tribe of Judah and the city of Jerusalem, rejecting Shiloh, where the Tent of Meeting was first pitched.
- “He also chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes that had young He brought him, to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.” Instead of Saul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, God chose David, a faithful man from the tribe of Judah, to be king over His people.
APPLICATION: Our lives hang by fragile threads. All of us depend on God’s mercy and God’s grace. Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
How grateful are we? A friend spent Thanksgiving Eve watching her beloved husband be sent by helicopter to a major hospital after he suffered a catastrophic stroke. As I am writing, things are improving; however, nobody knows how much this man will recover. At this point, my friend is thankful for her life and the life of her husband. This stroke was unprecedented; the man was totally healthy prior to this incident. Another friend tells me that her husband may be facing complicated heart surgery within the next few days. Yesterday in our mission hospital a seven-year-old boy died with pneumonia only 24 hours after falling sick.
Psalm 78 can teach us several things:
- Be grateful for all God’s gifts.
- Tell all those around you, especially your children, about the great things God has done in your lives.
- If you have covenanted to help someone, do it, even if it means you are risking your own life.
- Never reject God in favor of any idol.
We have just celebrated Thanksgiving, a time in which to be very grateful. One hundred people set off from Plymouth, England; however 47 of those people died before the first Thanksgiving was ever celebrated in 1621. Those pilgrims remaining were grateful simply to be alive and felt that God had performed incredible miracles for them to survive. But what about the ancient Israelites?
The Israelites were slaves in Egypt with no hope of escape when God began working through Moses and Aaron. God not only delivered the Israelites but terrorized the Egyptians so much that they practically forced their prize possessions on the Israelites to convince the Israelites to leave so God would stop attacking the Egyptians. God commanded the Israelites to teach succeeding generations about this deliverance and about the ways in which He led them and provided for them in the wilderness. The Israelites failed completely.
Not only did the Israelites fail to honor their promises to God, but they also failed to honor their mutual aid agreement. Big strong warriors sat home polishing their armor while their fellow Israelites were under attack. Worse, the Israelites rejected the God who had saved them, rushing off to worship demons instead. It was David’s ascent to the throne that brought revival.
Practice gratitude! Some people like to keep gratitude journals. Others use blessing jars, writing their blessings on slips of paper and dropping them into a jar so that later they can pull out some of the slips and remind themselves of how God has blessed them. Others use post-it notes. But no matter how you do it, practicing gratitude improves your outlook and brightens your day.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to be grateful for all Your blessings, both large and small. And help us to teach our children to be grateful as well. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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