26 “Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. 27 Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. 28 But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. 29 And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30 Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
32 “Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. 36 Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. 37 And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.
38 “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Israel’s wandering in the desert didn’t teach them the lesson they needed to learn about obeying God. God was long-suffering and merciful and gave them the land He had promised them. “Nevertheless, they were disobedient” and so it continued. Israel rebelled and ignored God’s law and even killed the prophets God had sent to warn them of their sin. So God handed them over to their enemies who made them suffer. In their suffering, they cried out to God who heard them from heaven and by His mercy, God sent saviours who rescued them. But as soon as they had rest from their enemies, what did they do but sin again. And time and again they sinned, God punished them, they cried out to God and He saved them, only to sin again 🤦♂️. Verse 33 brings this cycle of sin, punishment, remorse, and restoration to the time of Nehemiah where they admit that God has been righteous in everything He has done against the nation because He was faithful and they had acted wickedly. Now they found themselves as slaves in their own land and all the goodness of the land God gave them was being paid to the kings God set over them as taxes because of their sins.
Because of all of this, they resolved to make a firm covenant in writing that they would obey the Mosaic Law.
Israel’s history is a history of a nation that was inconsistent and wavered in doing what they knew they should have been doing. Israel’s history is also a history of a God who never changed. God remained righteous and faithful in spite of their seesaw from disobedience to obedience and back again. So many people say they can’t believe in a God who allows pain and suffering, yet the picture we see here is of a nation that repeatedly brings suffering on itself, while God patiently and lovingly waits, wanting to bless them but is unable to because of their sinfulness. Where are you on the obedience/disobedience cycle? Perhaps you need to start anew again today. Don’t wait until the full weight of your sin comes to bear and you have to cry out from your suffering. God is always willing to forgive when we readily repent (1 John 1:9).