But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you, or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath. Deuteronomy 4: 29-31, NIV.
Merciful God, thank You so much for not dealing with us as we deserve. Please speak to our hearts as we study Your Word. We pray this in the blessed name of Your dear Son, and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
In selecting our Scripture for today, I interrupted a pericope, which began, more or less, in verse 25. This was a decision I made with the purpose of having us look backward in the chapter, to the preceding verses. The conjunction but, at the beginning of our Scripture for today, speaks to the fact that even though Israel may become guilty of all the sins mentioned in the preceding verses, if they sought the LORD earnestly, God would not forsake them!
The people were getting ready to enter the land which the LORD had promised to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses took this opportunity to speak to them and remind them of all that the LORD their God had done for them in the presence of the surrounding nations. He reminded them of the grandiosity, with which YHWH had appeared to them on Mount Sinai, even though the smoke had hidden Him from their eyes. He spoke of the awful thundering and fire, that had covered the mountain. He warned them not to forget the statues and laws that God had given them, through His servant. They were not to try to create any likeness of God (15-19). He seems to be making the point that, for this very reason, God had purposely, hidden Himself from them. Because of the amount of time Moses dedicated to this topic, it would appear as if God was saying, that the root of all of Israel’s apostasy could be traced to their concept of God. I believe that this is true for all people. Our behavior, is directly, or indirectly, a reflection of what we think of God. The strength of this theory seems to lie in the fact that we were created in God’s image. When that image is lost sight of, or distorted, our self-image suffers, and our entire belief system is affected. The result is seen in our behavior.
I see this in the behavior of Adam and Eve when they sinned. What did they do? They ran and hid themselves. Had they known the nature of God, instead of running from Him, they would have run to Him. The problem is, as I have said before, we tend to create gods in our own image. They were ashamed, therefore, they reacted to God, in shame; they hid themselves. God’s reaction was just the opposite of theirs. He went searching for them. If you are wondering where I am going with this, let me tell you. It is oftentimes in our distress, when all else has failed, that we discover who God really is. When there is nowhere else to go, but to the LORD, it is then, that we discover, that He is merciful, and gracious, and full of forgiveness, and compassion!
This is what Moses is saying to the Israelites. “I know that when you go to Canaan, and become corrupted, you will begin to create other gods; gods of wood, and of stone, that can neither hear, nor smell, nor speak. And you will serve them. But even from there, if you begin to seek God, you will find Him; when you seek, Him, not casually, but with all your heart! When you don’t only know about Him, but you know Him, from your personal experience!
Now is the time for us to become acquainted with the LORD – before the time of trouble comes. Do not forget that He is a merciful God. He will not destroy you, or forget you. He will remember that you have entered into a covenant with Him, and He will not forsake you!