God’s love for Israel, His covenant people, was special. He drew them to Himself and expected them to be faithful to Him. But they were unfaithful and reciprocated His love for them with ingratitude. They spurned His gracious overtures by pivoting to serve other gods. Their careless disregard towards Him had provoked God to jealousy. Deeply angered and hurt by their nonchalance, Deuteronomy 32:20 said that God would hide from them. In place of His guidance, they would no longer feel His presence. It is a terrible experience not to have the presence of God in one’s life.
As
if God’s absence from them was not sufficient, now Deuteronomy 32:23-27 tells us
that He would also bring unmitigated disasters upon them. Calamities of all
sorts, one upon another, would befall them. Everyone would be struck in one
form or another by famine, epidemic, or enemies’ attack. The young men, virgins,
and even grey hair elderly folks would be affected. However, the reason God did
not annihilate Israel was in consideration of His own name. He would not want
His chastisement of His chosen people to be seen as the enemies’ victory.
God’s
disciplines are never intended to destroy but to build us. The reason God
disciplines us is to make us be people who will be more like Him. Hebrews
12:6 reminds us that “those whom God loves He disciplines.” So Hebrews 12:11
tells us that “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but
sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields
the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” God wants only the best out of each one
of us. To achieve that, He will discipline us. So, let us yield to His fashioning
so that a better us can emerge. Don’t spurn Him!
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