Word of Encouragement (01/17/2023)
“But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation. 16 They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. 17 They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded. 18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth. (Deut. 32:15-18)
Last time, we saw how the LORD blessed Israel, here affectionately called “Jeshurun.” Today, we will see how he returned God’s goodness with evil. We will also see how this was the most foolish thing to do. As we do so, let us examine ourselves to see whether we are not committing the same evil and foolishness and, if so, quickly repent and turn to God in faith. Jeshurun’s evil consisted of two things: 1) he forsook the LORD; 2) he went after and served other gods.
Moses says in v. 15, “then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.” What Jeshurun did was evil. Whom did he forsake? “God who made him....” Why was this so evil? God was the One who gave him life. He owed his life and existence to the Creator God, along with all the faculties and talents; he was fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14). He should have praised and worshipped his wonderful Creator.
When Moses says, “God... made him,” he means much more than that. Moses said in v. 6, “Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?” Here we see that “who made you” is connected with “established you.” Moses also had in mind God’s grace of choosing and calling Israel out of the world to be His peculiar people. In addition to the gift of life, God bestowed on Israel the privilege to be His treasured possession.
How did this privilege come to Israel? Moses went on to say that Jeshurun “scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.” He did not just leave God, feeling sorry, “against his will” for some unavoidable reason. He forsook God, scoffing at Him, who was the Rock of his salvation! God saved him from the cruel bondage of Egyptian slavery; He was their Savior. Notice also how Moses calls Him “the Rock of his salvation.” How can we not think of the dramatic incident, in which God provided water for Jeshurun by having Moses strike a rock? What did God say when He instructed Moses to do so? “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it...” (Ex. 17:6). To strike the rock was to strike the LORD who stood on the rock at Horeb! What powerful foreshadowing of Christ’s self-sacrificial suffering for our sin! Yet, Israel forsook the LORD, scoffing at the Rock of his salvation!
Was this not evil? But was this not foolish also? God was able to make him not only because He was omnipotent but He was also the Fountain of life; apart from Him, there was no life. God was also the Rock of his salvation; apart from Him, he remained enslaved and condemned. By forsaking Him, Jeshurun forsook the privilege of being God’s people, His treasured possession, the apple of His eye! What foolishness!
All the nations of the world owe God praise and worship for giving them life. But Israel owed much more to God for this grace of election and the special relationship he could share with God. But instead of praising and worshipping their Creator and covenant Lord, Israel ran away, using the very life and mind and strength he received from God! If Israel owed praise and worship to the LORD, how much more do we owe God since we were brought into a new covenant, which cannot be broken because it is founded upon the perfect life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, even though we were once Gentiles in the flesh, “separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). Let us renew our gratitude and strengthen our feeble hands and feet to serve Him!