Psalm 78:32-64
In spite of God’s incredible liberation, that generation of Israelites forgot God. However their rebellion and its consequences finally resulted in repentance.
They looked at God differently, but their new view of God was too shallow. This new view produced new lies and disloyalty. Though they did not keep their covenant with God, God forgave their sins, restrained His anger, and remembered their mortality. Israel repeatedly grieved God in the wilderness through testing His patience with provocations. They forgot His power, His rescue, and His many miraculous signs.
They forgot God’s safe guidance resulted in the deaths of their enemies. Oh, how Israel’s deliverance resulted in the destructive devastation of their enemies! Oh, how these former slaves capably inflicted devastation on trained armies! The result: Israelites received their own land. Yet, foolishly they mistook God’s might for their human ability.
This Israelite generation continued disobedience as a way of life. They traded the living God of deliverance for lifeless, helpless idols. They learned nothing from their parents’ folly.
Finally, God endured enough rejection. In anger He abandoned these Israelites and left Shiloh. He abandoned the people He loved because He had all the rejection He could endure. The result: These Israelites and their “spiritual” leadership were subjected to unimaginable humiliation, rejection, and slaughter.
With God, they were more than adequate in every situation. Without God, they were a pitiful nothing. As in such instances, realization often comes too late. Recognition is not recovery.
Long ago someone observed that human blindness to past mistakes repeats those mistakes. Exchanging intellectual advancement for godly behavior is destructive.
Link to other Writings of David Chadwell