READ: Deut. 4:25-31: When you … make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God … the Lord will scatter you among the peoples… And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands … when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice … He will not forsake you nor destroy you…
The LORD wanted His people to not forget His words. These were to govern their entire lives, even when they would settle in Canaan where they could live in peace with the Lord under His favorable blessing, if only they would keep His covenant words. Their lives would be very different from those of the pagan nations in Canaan.
But the LORD knows what is in man’s heart. If they were to experience prosperity again, they could easily abandon God’s words and do what is evil in His sight, thereby angering Him. Moses reinforces his words as God’s prophet by calling heaven and earth as witnesses that God will come with a terrible punishment which they cannot escape if they ignore His words and threats. Creation is a witness (see also 32:1,2). God’s punishment consists of the horrors of exile: dispersion among the nations, countless victims, and the worship of pagan idols.
Yet the LORD will show His mercy if they repent while in exile; then He will have compassion on them once more. He will not forget the covenant that He made with them under oath. He is merciful and faithful. The temptation is great for us too that we would forget the LORD and follow the gods of our time. In doing so, we also provoke the LORD to wrath and, if there is no repentance, He hands us over to those idols.
God demonstrated His mercy to us in the sacrifice of His Son. If we forget God and His Word, it is even more serious than Israel’s sin. Let us not reject Him who speaks and turn to Him if we do (Heb. 12:25).
Can we recognize the temptation that Israel underwent today?
Singing: Ps. 80:8