A Jealous God

Furthermore, the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan.

Deuteronomy 4:21-22 ESV

Moses, in his farewell speech to the Israelites, tells them several times that God was angry with him because

of them, and he would not be allowed to cross the Jordan. I have always read this and thought that Moses was bitter towards the Israelites, actually believing it was their fault he was not allowed into the Promised Land, and was basically trying to make them feel guilty about it.

But what if that wasn't it? What if he was trying to make a point?

What if instead of guilt tripping them, he was actually trying to emphasize his command to "keep your soul diligently?" Here he is, in the midst of telling them not to make any graven images, not to worship any god but I AM, and he says to "watch yourselves carefully." I wonder if maybe Moses is trying to illustrate just how careful they must be. They cannot rely on their obedience to God this one time in their life; they must obey God for their whole lives. After all, Moses was the man God chose to represent His Name to the nations, the man through whom God did miracles that no one had ever seen, the man whom God raised to lead His people from under the enslavement of one of the greatest nations in the world.

And yet, God was angry with him.

And yet, God would not allow him to enter the promised land.

All because of one MOMENT of disobedience.

Moses tells the Israelites that their God is a jealous God. He will not share the hearts of His people with any other "god." And if it takes scattering them to the nations to teach them just how much He values their worship, He will do it.

But Moses also tells them that even if God does become angry with them, even if He does allow them to be conquered and dragged away into other nations, He will not forget them. He will not leave them or destroy them, or cease to love them.

He will wait.

And if Israel will return to God, He will return to you.

Because God is a jealous God, but He is also a merciful God.

When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

Deuteronomy 4:25-31 ESV