This prayer rehearses the history of Israel, revealing God’s goodness to His people and their repeated failure to appreciate His gifts and obey His will. The word “give” is used in one way or another at least sixteen times in this chapter (kjv), for our God is indeed the “giving God,” who delights in meeting the needs of His people (1 Tim. 6:17). God gave Israel a land (Neh. 9:8, 15, 35), a law (v. 13), the ministry of the Spirit (v. 20), food and water (vv. 15, 20), deliverers (v. 27), and victory over their enemies (vv. 22, 24). What more could they want?
Centuries before, Moses had warned the people not to forget God, either His gracious hand of blessing or His loving hand of chastening (Deut. 8). Alas, the nation didn’t thank God in times of blessing, but they were quick to turn to God for help in times of suffering (see Ps. 105—106). Let’s not be too quick to judge them, because some of God’s people today treat God the same way.
In my years of pastoral ministry, I have met people who had little interest in God or the church until a loved one was in the hospital or there was a death in the family. Then the pastor and all the church family had to drop everything and give them help! But just as soon as the crisis was over, these people were back to their old life again, ignoring the things of the Lord and living for the things of the world.
You can trace this tragic pattern in every stage of Israel’s history.
Forming the nation (vv. 7–18). It was an act of pure grace when God chose Abram and revealed Himself to him, for Abram was an idolater in a pagan city (Josh. 24:2–3). Eventually, God changed his name from Abram (“exalted father”) to Abraham (“father of a multitude”), because He had promised to make him a great nation (Gen. 12:1–3; 17:1–8). Though Abraham had occasional lapses of faith, for a century he trusted the Lord and walked in obedience to His will. His obedient faith was made especially evident when he gave his son Isaac on the altar (Gen. 22; Heb. 11:17–19).
God’s covenant (Gen. 12:1–3) was the basis for all that God did with and for Abraham and his descendants. It was God’s purpose that all the world be blessed through Israel, and He did this in the sending of His Son, Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:8). God gave the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though during his lifetime Abraham owned nothing in the land but a cave for burying his dead (Gen. 23).
In the land of Egypt, the nation multiplied greatly, saw God’s power over the pagan gods, and experienced deliverance from bondage by the mighty hand of God (Ex. 1—15). God opened the sea to let Israel through and then closed it again to destroy the Egyptian army. It was complete deliverance; Israel was to have no further relationship with Egypt.
God led His people by day and by night, giving them food to eat and water to drink. He also gave them His holy law, so that in their civil, personal, and religious life, they knew the will of God. The Sabbath was given as a special sign between God and His people (Ex. 31:13–17), but there is no evidence in Scripture that the Sabbath law was given to any of the Gentile nations.
In Nehemiah 9:16–18, Nehemiah tells us how the nation responded to all that God had done for them: They refused to bow to His authority (“hardened their necks”), listen to His Word (“hearkened not”), or obey His will. At Kadesh-Barnea, they tried to take matters in their own hands and appoint a new leader to take them back to Egypt (v. 17; Num. 14:1–5). When Moses was on the mountain with God, the people made and worshipped an idol (Neh. 9:18; Ex. 32). Moses interceded for the people, and God pardoned them.
How could these people turn their backs on God after all He had done for them? They did not truly love Him. Their obedience was only an outward form; it didn’t come from their hearts. In their hearts, they were still living in Egypt and wanting to return there. They did not have a living faith in God but were willing to receive His help and enjoy His gifts. Read Psalm 78 for an “x-ray” of Israel’s spiritual history.
Leading the nation (vv. 19–22). During the forty years of Israel’s discipline in the wilderness, the old generation died and a new generation was born, but God never forsook His people. He led them by the cloud and fire, taught them the Word, provided them with the necessities of life, and gave them victory over their enemies. God keeps His promises and fulfills His purposes. If we obey Him, we share in the blessing; if we disobey Him, we miss the blessing, but God’s purposes will be fulfilled and His name glorified.
Like too many of God’s people today, the Jews were shortsighted: They forgot the glorious purposes that God had in mind for the nation. Had they meditated on God’s promises and purposes (Gen. 12:1–3; Ex. 19:1–8), they would not have wanted to go back to Egypt or mingle with the godless nations around them. Israel was a people who lived beneath their privileges and failed to accept fully God’s will for their lives.
Chastening the nation (vv. 23–30). God promised to multiply His people, and He kept His promise (Gen. 22:17). He also promised to give them a good land, and He kept that promise (13:14–18; 17:7–8). Under the leadership of Joshua, the army of Israel invaded Canaan, conquered the land, and claimed all its wealth. It was God who gave them victory and enabled them to possess cities, houses, lands, and wealth in the land of Canaan.
It was a “fat land” (“fertile,” niv), and Israel became a “fat people” (nourished, satisfied), and this led to their downfall. “But Jeshurun [Israel] grew fat and kicked; you grew fat, you grew thick, you are covered with fat; then he forsook God who made him” (Deut. 32: nkjv). Moses’ warnings went unheeded (Deut. 8). Israel delighted themselves in God’s great goodness, but they did not delight themselves in the Lord. Like the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–24), they wanted the Father’s wealth but not the Father’s will.
“For every one hundred men who can stand adversity, there is only one who can stand prosperity,” said Thomas Carlyle. Novelist John Steinbeck wrote, “If you want to destroy a nation, give it too much—make it greedy, miserable, and sick.” It’s possible for a local church to get proud of its “riches” and become poor in God’s eyes (Rev. 3:14–22). The church that we may think is poor is probably rich in God’s eyes (2:8–9).
“Give me neither poverty nor riches,” prayed Agur the wise man. “Feed me with the food You prescribe for me; lest I be full and deny You, and say ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God” (Prov. 30:8–9 nkjv). Through the power of Christ, Paul had learned by experience “how to be abased” and “how to abound” (Phil. 4:12); and that is the lesson all of God’s people need to learn.
Once in the land, Israel enjoyed rest during the days of Joshua and the elders who had served with him, but when those godly leaders were gone, the new generation turned away from the Lord (Judg. 2:6–15). God disciplined them, so they cried out for help, and God raised up deliverers to rescue them. Then they would walk in God’s ways for a time, lapse back into sin, and the cycle would be repeated. The book of Judges records the sad story of how God disciplined His people in their own land by allowing their pagan neighbors to rule over them.
Against the dark background of Israel’s unfaithfulness shines the bright light of the faithfulness of God. When Israel obeyed Him, He was faithful to bless; when they disobeyed Him, He was faithful to chasten; when they asked for mercy, He was faithful to forgive. God is willing to give His people many privileges, but He will not give them the privilege of sinning and having their own way. God’s purposes are more important than our pleasures, and He will accomplish His purposes even if He has to chasten us to do it.
Israel’s sins finally became so disgusting to God that He decided to discipline them away from their own land. He used the Assyrians to destroy the northern kingdom, and then He brought the Babylonians to take the Southern Kingdom (Judah) captive and to destroy Jerusalem and the temple. It was as though God said to His people, “You enjoy living like the heathen so much, I’ll let you live with the heathen.” The nation’s seventy years of captivity in Babylon taught them to appreciate the blessings they had taken for granted, and they never again returned to pagan idolatry.
God’s chastening is as much an evidence of His love as is His bountiful supply of our needs (Heb. 12:1–11). We should be grateful that God loves us too much to allow us to become “spoiled children.” The Father is never as close to us as when He is chastening us. “Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord, the man you teach from your law; You grant him relief from days of trouble, till a pit is dug for the wicked” (Ps. 94:12–13 niv). “Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now have I kept thy Word” (119:67).