Word of Encouragement (01/19/2023)
"The LORD saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. 20 And he said, 'I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. 21 They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. 22 For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. (Deut. 32:19-22)
We saw how Israel paid back God’s goodness with the evil of idolatry. In this passage, we see how God responded to their ingratitude and rebellion.
Notice, first, how Israel’s rebellion is described: “the provocation of his sons and his daughters.” It would have been bad enough for the pagan nations of the world to rebel against God, from whom they received life, strength, land, and wealth. No doubt, they deserve God’s fierce wrath. But because He does not care for them as His sons and daughters, “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision” (Ps. 2:4). But He cannot do that with the people of Israel. Because He cares for them as His sons and daughters, He is deeply grieved by their rebellion. The more one loves, the more deeply the knife of betrayal cuts. “Only a friend can betray a friend; / A stranger has nothing to gain” (Michael Card, “Why?”). God was provoked to anger, not only by whatIsrael did—the evil of Israel’s idolatry—but also by who committed this treacherous act—His sons and daughters, who should have known better!
Let this truth sink deep into our souls! If you are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, you will never provoke God to judicial punishment. Christ has borne our punishment once and for all on the cross. God cannot punish us for the sins, which Christ has paid already. But we can provoke God to deep grief. This would not matter to us much if the way we deal with God is “transactional” in character. Why does it matter that God is deeply grieved by what we do as long as we are not punished for it? But if we recognize that the arena of our dealings with God has been transferred out of the divine tribunal to the household of God, nothing should grieve us more than that we should grieve our loving heavenly Father.
Through their idolatry, the Israelites proved themselves to be “a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness” (v. 20). What did God do in response? The LORD spurned them (v. 19) and hid His face from them (v. 20). People may ask, “That’s it? What is the big deal about God hiding His face from them? Isn’t this what the Israelites wanted anyway when they forsook the LORD and went after strange and new gods?” Very true. A more effective way of getting their attention might have been some horrible natural disasters or national crises due to foreign invasion, etc.
It was not that God would not use such (elementary) means of discipline (v. 22, for example), which was the only language the Israelites understood. But it is significant that Moses described God’s (initial) response to Israel’s idolatry in this way. This showed that, as far as God was concerned, there could be no worse discipline He could apply to His children than hiding His face from them. This showed that God was still dealing with them “relationally,” not “transactionally.” Even when He described the Israelites without faithfulness, He still called them, “children in whom is no faithfulness” (v. 20).
How are you dealing with God? Is it transactional or relational? Are you more afraid of His “punishment” (which is His fatherly discipline) than grieving Him? Let us not “presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance” (Rom. 2:4). God doesn’t want us to repent because of the fear of punishment (of which there is none because of Christ) but because of our gratitude for His love for us.