¹⁶ “But our ancestors were proud and stubborn, and they paid no attention to your commands. ¹⁷ They refused to obey and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them, ¹⁸ even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, ‘This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!’ They committed terrible blasphemies.

¹⁹ “But in your great mercy you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud still led them forward by day, and the pillar of fire showed them the way through the night. ²⁰ You sent your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their thirst. ²¹ For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell!

God’s blessing

As we read yesterday and before, God blessed Israel abundantly by miraculously leading them out of slavery in Egypt and providing and caring for them as He led them to the Promised Land of abundance, freedom and rest. He gave them water, bread, meat, laws, leader, guidance, love, protection, promises, etc. We, along with the Babylonian captive returnees here, can relate to this in many ways. 

But man

But Israel rejected it. As we read here, they turned their back on God and all his blessings and provisions. They constantly complained – even to the point of appointing a leader to take them back to Egypt. Keith Green has an album called, “So you wanna go back to Egypt” with this satirical title song. Israel even had the gall to replace God with one of their own making, a golden calf! Israel desired to desert God in the desert and got their just desserts! But let us not be too quick to judge!

But God

But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. He graciously put up with them (not without discipline of course) and continued to demonstrate steadfast love to them. He did not abandon them. (I love these “but God” passages.) I encourage you to meditate on this truth about God.