Psalms 140
KingCommentsPsalms 140:1
Saved and Redeemed From Egypt
Psalms 105 begins with the history of Abraham, for the basis of God’s dealings in grace with the people of Israel is the one-sided covenant, God’s promise, with Abraham from Genesis 15 (Genesis 15:2-21). In Psalms 106, Israel’s history is seen as under the law. Therefore, in this psalm, the history of God’s people does not begin with Abraham, but in Egypt.
In this history we see the blessings of the LORD as a result of His mighty acts (Psalms 106:2). However, the people failed to see the blessings of the LORD. They fell very short of gratitude and as a result acted in unbelief and disobedience.
The psalmist confessed the sin of the people whose privileges he described in the previous verses (Psalms 106:6). He has asked the LORD to share in its blessings. Now he makes himself one with God’s people, of whom he is a part, saying three times, “we have”.
We can think of Psa 106:6 as the title and summary of the content of this psalm, which describes the history of God’s people as seen from their responsibility. It is a history of failure and unfaithfulness, in contrast to the faithfulness of God in Psalms 106:1-5. From Psalms 106:7, the real history of the people begins.
Without any condonation, he confesses that they have “sinned”, “committed iniquity”, and “behaved wickedly”. He acknowledges that he and his people are no better than “our fathers”. Such identification with the sins of the whole people, including those of the past, we also see with Daniel and Ezra (Daniel 9:4-19; Ezra 9:6-7; 10; 15).
The ‘Elijah service’ of John the baptist (cf. Malachi 4:5), which will soon be acknowledged by the remnant, is a call to repentance. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance as the first step to God. It involves turning around and returning to God. It is only the beginning, but absolutely necessary. This is how Joseph’s brothers in prison in Egypt had to come to the acknowledgment of their sins (Genesis 42:21). So will the remnant come to acknowledge the sins of the people during the great tribulation (cf. 1 Kings 8:46-47; Zechariah 12:10).
Then he begins to name the sins. It has already started in Egypt. The failure does not begin halfway through their history, their history begins with the failure, from the very beginning. They immediately abandoned their first love (cf. Revelation 2:4). It is characteristic of all human history, in which we see each time the failure of man from the beginning. So it was with Adam, so it was with Noah, so it was with Israel, so it is with professing Christianity.
Already in Egypt, “our fathers … did not understand Your wonders” (Psalms 106:7). All the plagues God brought upon Egypt for their deliverance have been ‘signs and wonders’ to His people. But they have been blind to them. It has not dawned on them how much God did this for them.
Nor did they “remember Your abundant kindnesses”. The people were not appealed by the numerous evidences of God’s love. It is already bad to ignore one token of God’s lovingkindness, to ignore one blessing as a result. How bad it must be, then, when an abundance of blessings is thoughtlessly ignored. It speaks of total indifference.
It did not remain in their memory because they thought only of themselves. What grief it must have caused God that His people so ignored His numerous acts of love. Is there anything more painful than an act of love or even numerous acts of love being met with indifference?
And it gets worse. Because they “did not understand” and “did not remember”, they “rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea”. This is an event immediately after the LORD redeemed them from Egypt. Right after they have experienced redemption from the yoke and are on their way to the promised land, the people show their disobedience. They reproach Moses for their redemption and indicate that they would rather serve the Egyptians than move on (Exodus 14:10-12).
Instead of killing His people, the LORD saved them “for the sake of His name” (Psalms 106:8; cf. Isaiah 48:9). This is the first reason. He always upholds His Name. A second reason, connected to the first, is “to make His power known”. When He does that, He also makes known His Name as the Almighty (Exodus 9:16).
The Red Sea seemed to be a hindrance to redemption, but God “rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up” (Psalms 106:9; Exodus 14:21-22; 29; Isaiah 50:2; Nahum 1:4). In this we see a type of the redemption of the believing remnant in the end time. This is how He made His power known. The sea is subject to Him and listens to His command. He made a way for His people “through the deeps, as through the wilderness”. He made them pass through it so that they could make their way to the promised land (Isaiah 63:12-14).
So He saved them “from the hand of the one who hated [them]” and redeemed them “from the hand of the enemy” (Psalms 106:10; cf. Luke 1:71). The hater and enemy is Pharaoh. His hand could not seize them anymore because God had made a path for them through the sea by which they stayed out of his hands.
What was the way of redemption and deliverance for God’s people was the way of judgment for the adversaries (Psalms 106:11). The waters covered them, “not one of them was left” (Exodus 14:27-28; Exodus 15:5; cf. Daniel 2:45). The judgment on their hater and enemy and all his soldiers was total and forever. There was no longer any threat from them, for they had all perished.
After the unfolding of God’s power in this wonder of their deliverance and of judgment on their enemies, “they believed His words” (Psalms 106:12; Exodus 14:31). They saw with their own eyes that He had done what He had said. In response, they “sang His praise” in the song of deliverance (Exodus 15:1-18).
Psalms 140:2
Saved and Redeemed From Egypt
Psalms 105 begins with the history of Abraham, for the basis of God’s dealings in grace with the people of Israel is the one-sided covenant, God’s promise, with Abraham from Genesis 15 (Genesis 15:2-21). In Psalms 106, Israel’s history is seen as under the law. Therefore, in this psalm, the history of God’s people does not begin with Abraham, but in Egypt.
In this history we see the blessings of the LORD as a result of His mighty acts (Psalms 106:2). However, the people failed to see the blessings of the LORD. They fell very short of gratitude and as a result acted in unbelief and disobedience.
The psalmist confessed the sin of the people whose privileges he described in the previous verses (Psalms 106:6). He has asked the LORD to share in its blessings. Now he makes himself one with God’s people, of whom he is a part, saying three times, “we have”.
We can think of Psa 106:6 as the title and summary of the content of this psalm, which describes the history of God’s people as seen from their responsibility. It is a history of failure and unfaithfulness, in contrast to the faithfulness of God in Psalms 106:1-5. From Psalms 106:7, the real history of the people begins.
Without any condonation, he confesses that they have “sinned”, “committed iniquity”, and “behaved wickedly”. He acknowledges that he and his people are no better than “our fathers”. Such identification with the sins of the whole people, including those of the past, we also see with Daniel and Ezra (Daniel 9:4-19; Ezra 9:6-7; 10; 15).
The ‘Elijah service’ of John the baptist (cf. Malachi 4:5), which will soon be acknowledged by the remnant, is a call to repentance. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance as the first step to God. It involves turning around and returning to God. It is only the beginning, but absolutely necessary. This is how Joseph’s brothers in prison in Egypt had to come to the acknowledgment of their sins (Genesis 42:21). So will the remnant come to acknowledge the sins of the people during the great tribulation (cf. 1 Kings 8:46-47; Zechariah 12:10).
Then he begins to name the sins. It has already started in Egypt. The failure does not begin halfway through their history, their history begins with the failure, from the very beginning. They immediately abandoned their first love (cf. Revelation 2:4). It is characteristic of all human history, in which we see each time the failure of man from the beginning. So it was with Adam, so it was with Noah, so it was with Israel, so it is with professing Christianity.
Already in Egypt, “our fathers … did not understand Your wonders” (Psalms 106:7). All the plagues God brought upon Egypt for their deliverance have been ‘signs and wonders’ to His people. But they have been blind to them. It has not dawned on them how much God did this for them.
Nor did they “remember Your abundant kindnesses”. The people were not appealed by the numerous evidences of God’s love. It is already bad to ignore one token of God’s lovingkindness, to ignore one blessing as a result. How bad it must be, then, when an abundance of blessings is thoughtlessly ignored. It speaks of total indifference.
It did not remain in their memory because they thought only of themselves. What grief it must have caused God that His people so ignored His numerous acts of love. Is there anything more painful than an act of love or even numerous acts of love being met with indifference?
And it gets worse. Because they “did not understand” and “did not remember”, they “rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea”. This is an event immediately after the LORD redeemed them from Egypt. Right after they have experienced redemption from the yoke and are on their way to the promised land, the people show their disobedience. They reproach Moses for their redemption and indicate that they would rather serve the Egyptians than move on (Exodus 14:10-12).
Instead of killing His people, the LORD saved them “for the sake of His name” (Psalms 106:8; cf. Isaiah 48:9). This is the first reason. He always upholds His Name. A second reason, connected to the first, is “to make His power known”. When He does that, He also makes known His Name as the Almighty (Exodus 9:16).
The Red Sea seemed to be a hindrance to redemption, but God “rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up” (Psalms 106:9; Exodus 14:21-22; 29; Isaiah 50:2; Nahum 1:4). In this we see a type of the redemption of the believing remnant in the end time. This is how He made His power known. The sea is subject to Him and listens to His command. He made a way for His people “through the deeps, as through the wilderness”. He made them pass through it so that they could make their way to the promised land (Isaiah 63:12-14).
So He saved them “from the hand of the one who hated [them]” and redeemed them “from the hand of the enemy” (Psalms 106:10; cf. Luke 1:71). The hater and enemy is Pharaoh. His hand could not seize them anymore because God had made a path for them through the sea by which they stayed out of his hands.
What was the way of redemption and deliverance for God’s people was the way of judgment for the adversaries (Psalms 106:11). The waters covered them, “not one of them was left” (Exodus 14:27-28; Exodus 15:5; cf. Daniel 2:45). The judgment on their hater and enemy and all his soldiers was total and forever. There was no longer any threat from them, for they had all perished.
After the unfolding of God’s power in this wonder of their deliverance and of judgment on their enemies, “they believed His words” (Psalms 106:12; Exodus 14:31). They saw with their own eyes that He had done what He had said. In response, they “sang His praise” in the song of deliverance (Exodus 15:1-18).
Psalms 140:3
Saved and Redeemed From Egypt
Psalms 105 begins with the history of Abraham, for the basis of God’s dealings in grace with the people of Israel is the one-sided covenant, God’s promise, with Abraham from Genesis 15 (Genesis 15:2-21). In Psalms 106, Israel’s history is seen as under the law. Therefore, in this psalm, the history of God’s people does not begin with Abraham, but in Egypt.
In this history we see the blessings of the LORD as a result of His mighty acts (Psalms 106:2). However, the people failed to see the blessings of the LORD. They fell very short of gratitude and as a result acted in unbelief and disobedience.
The psalmist confessed the sin of the people whose privileges he described in the previous verses (Psalms 106:6). He has asked the LORD to share in its blessings. Now he makes himself one with God’s people, of whom he is a part, saying three times, “we have”.
We can think of Psa 106:6 as the title and summary of the content of this psalm, which describes the history of God’s people as seen from their responsibility. It is a history of failure and unfaithfulness, in contrast to the faithfulness of God in Psalms 106:1-5. From Psalms 106:7, the real history of the people begins.
Without any condonation, he confesses that they have “sinned”, “committed iniquity”, and “behaved wickedly”. He acknowledges that he and his people are no better than “our fathers”. Such identification with the sins of the whole people, including those of the past, we also see with Daniel and Ezra (Daniel 9:4-19; Ezra 9:6-7; 10; 15).
The ‘Elijah service’ of John the baptist (cf. Malachi 4:5), which will soon be acknowledged by the remnant, is a call to repentance. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance as the first step to God. It involves turning around and returning to God. It is only the beginning, but absolutely necessary. This is how Joseph’s brothers in prison in Egypt had to come to the acknowledgment of their sins (Genesis 42:21). So will the remnant come to acknowledge the sins of the people during the great tribulation (cf. 1 Kings 8:46-47; Zechariah 12:10).
Then he begins to name the sins. It has already started in Egypt. The failure does not begin halfway through their history, their history begins with the failure, from the very beginning. They immediately abandoned their first love (cf. Revelation 2:4). It is characteristic of all human history, in which we see each time the failure of man from the beginning. So it was with Adam, so it was with Noah, so it was with Israel, so it is with professing Christianity.
Already in Egypt, “our fathers … did not understand Your wonders” (Psalms 106:7). All the plagues God brought upon Egypt for their deliverance have been ‘signs and wonders’ to His people. But they have been blind to them. It has not dawned on them how much God did this for them.
Nor did they “remember Your abundant kindnesses”. The people were not appealed by the numerous evidences of God’s love. It is already bad to ignore one token of God’s lovingkindness, to ignore one blessing as a result. How bad it must be, then, when an abundance of blessings is thoughtlessly ignored. It speaks of total indifference.
It did not remain in their memory because they thought only of themselves. What grief it must have caused God that His people so ignored His numerous acts of love. Is there anything more painful than an act of love or even numerous acts of love being met with indifference?
And it gets worse. Because they “did not understand” and “did not remember”, they “rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea”. This is an event immediately after the LORD redeemed them from Egypt. Right after they have experienced redemption from the yoke and are on their way to the promised land, the people show their disobedience. They reproach Moses for their redemption and indicate that they would rather serve the Egyptians than move on (Exodus 14:10-12).
Instead of killing His people, the LORD saved them “for the sake of His name” (Psalms 106:8; cf. Isaiah 48:9). This is the first reason. He always upholds His Name. A second reason, connected to the first, is “to make His power known”. When He does that, He also makes known His Name as the Almighty (Exodus 9:16).
The Red Sea seemed to be a hindrance to redemption, but God “rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up” (Psalms 106:9; Exodus 14:21-22; 29; Isaiah 50:2; Nahum 1:4). In this we see a type of the redemption of the believing remnant in the end time. This is how He made His power known. The sea is subject to Him and listens to His command. He made a way for His people “through the deeps, as through the wilderness”. He made them pass through it so that they could make their way to the promised land (Isaiah 63:12-14).
So He saved them “from the hand of the one who hated [them]” and redeemed them “from the hand of the enemy” (Psalms 106:10; cf. Luke 1:71). The hater and enemy is Pharaoh. His hand could not seize them anymore because God had made a path for them through the sea by which they stayed out of his hands.
What was the way of redemption and deliverance for God’s people was the way of judgment for the adversaries (Psalms 106:11). The waters covered them, “not one of them was left” (Exodus 14:27-28; Exodus 15:5; cf. Daniel 2:45). The judgment on their hater and enemy and all his soldiers was total and forever. There was no longer any threat from them, for they had all perished.
After the unfolding of God’s power in this wonder of their deliverance and of judgment on their enemies, “they believed His words” (Psalms 106:12; Exodus 14:31). They saw with their own eyes that He had done what He had said. In response, they “sang His praise” in the song of deliverance (Exodus 15:1-18).
Psalms 140:4
Saved and Redeemed From Egypt
Psalms 105 begins with the history of Abraham, for the basis of God’s dealings in grace with the people of Israel is the one-sided covenant, God’s promise, with Abraham from Genesis 15 (Genesis 15:2-21). In Psalms 106, Israel’s history is seen as under the law. Therefore, in this psalm, the history of God’s people does not begin with Abraham, but in Egypt.
In this history we see the blessings of the LORD as a result of His mighty acts (Psalms 106:2). However, the people failed to see the blessings of the LORD. They fell very short of gratitude and as a result acted in unbelief and disobedience.
The psalmist confessed the sin of the people whose privileges he described in the previous verses (Psalms 106:6). He has asked the LORD to share in its blessings. Now he makes himself one with God’s people, of whom he is a part, saying three times, “we have”.
We can think of Psa 106:6 as the title and summary of the content of this psalm, which describes the history of God’s people as seen from their responsibility. It is a history of failure and unfaithfulness, in contrast to the faithfulness of God in Psalms 106:1-5. From Psalms 106:7, the real history of the people begins.
Without any condonation, he confesses that they have “sinned”, “committed iniquity”, and “behaved wickedly”. He acknowledges that he and his people are no better than “our fathers”. Such identification with the sins of the whole people, including those of the past, we also see with Daniel and Ezra (Daniel 9:4-19; Ezra 9:6-7; 10; 15).
The ‘Elijah service’ of John the baptist (cf. Malachi 4:5), which will soon be acknowledged by the remnant, is a call to repentance. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance as the first step to God. It involves turning around and returning to God. It is only the beginning, but absolutely necessary. This is how Joseph’s brothers in prison in Egypt had to come to the acknowledgment of their sins (Genesis 42:21). So will the remnant come to acknowledge the sins of the people during the great tribulation (cf. 1 Kings 8:46-47; Zechariah 12:10).
Then he begins to name the sins. It has already started in Egypt. The failure does not begin halfway through their history, their history begins with the failure, from the very beginning. They immediately abandoned their first love (cf. Revelation 2:4). It is characteristic of all human history, in which we see each time the failure of man from the beginning. So it was with Adam, so it was with Noah, so it was with Israel, so it is with professing Christianity.
Already in Egypt, “our fathers … did not understand Your wonders” (Psalms 106:7). All the plagues God brought upon Egypt for their deliverance have been ‘signs and wonders’ to His people. But they have been blind to them. It has not dawned on them how much God did this for them.
Nor did they “remember Your abundant kindnesses”. The people were not appealed by the numerous evidences of God’s love. It is already bad to ignore one token of God’s lovingkindness, to ignore one blessing as a result. How bad it must be, then, when an abundance of blessings is thoughtlessly ignored. It speaks of total indifference.
It did not remain in their memory because they thought only of themselves. What grief it must have caused God that His people so ignored His numerous acts of love. Is there anything more painful than an act of love or even numerous acts of love being met with indifference?
And it gets worse. Because they “did not understand” and “did not remember”, they “rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea”. This is an event immediately after the LORD redeemed them from Egypt. Right after they have experienced redemption from the yoke and are on their way to the promised land, the people show their disobedience. They reproach Moses for their redemption and indicate that they would rather serve the Egyptians than move on (Exodus 14:10-12).
Instead of killing His people, the LORD saved them “for the sake of His name” (Psalms 106:8; cf. Isaiah 48:9). This is the first reason. He always upholds His Name. A second reason, connected to the first, is “to make His power known”. When He does that, He also makes known His Name as the Almighty (Exodus 9:16).
The Red Sea seemed to be a hindrance to redemption, but God “rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up” (Psalms 106:9; Exodus 14:21-22; 29; Isaiah 50:2; Nahum 1:4). In this we see a type of the redemption of the believing remnant in the end time. This is how He made His power known. The sea is subject to Him and listens to His command. He made a way for His people “through the deeps, as through the wilderness”. He made them pass through it so that they could make their way to the promised land (Isaiah 63:12-14).
So He saved them “from the hand of the one who hated [them]” and redeemed them “from the hand of the enemy” (Psalms 106:10; cf. Luke 1:71). The hater and enemy is Pharaoh. His hand could not seize them anymore because God had made a path for them through the sea by which they stayed out of his hands.
What was the way of redemption and deliverance for God’s people was the way of judgment for the adversaries (Psalms 106:11). The waters covered them, “not one of them was left” (Exodus 14:27-28; Exodus 15:5; cf. Daniel 2:45). The judgment on their hater and enemy and all his soldiers was total and forever. There was no longer any threat from them, for they had all perished.
After the unfolding of God’s power in this wonder of their deliverance and of judgment on their enemies, “they believed His words” (Psalms 106:12; Exodus 14:31). They saw with their own eyes that He had done what He had said. In response, they “sang His praise” in the song of deliverance (Exodus 15:1-18).
Psalms 140:5
Saved and Redeemed From Egypt
Psalms 105 begins with the history of Abraham, for the basis of God’s dealings in grace with the people of Israel is the one-sided covenant, God’s promise, with Abraham from Genesis 15 (Genesis 15:2-21). In Psalms 106, Israel’s history is seen as under the law. Therefore, in this psalm, the history of God’s people does not begin with Abraham, but in Egypt.
In this history we see the blessings of the LORD as a result of His mighty acts (Psalms 106:2). However, the people failed to see the blessings of the LORD. They fell very short of gratitude and as a result acted in unbelief and disobedience.
The psalmist confessed the sin of the people whose privileges he described in the previous verses (Psalms 106:6). He has asked the LORD to share in its blessings. Now he makes himself one with God’s people, of whom he is a part, saying three times, “we have”.
We can think of Psa 106:6 as the title and summary of the content of this psalm, which describes the history of God’s people as seen from their responsibility. It is a history of failure and unfaithfulness, in contrast to the faithfulness of God in Psalms 106:1-5. From Psalms 106:7, the real history of the people begins.
Without any condonation, he confesses that they have “sinned”, “committed iniquity”, and “behaved wickedly”. He acknowledges that he and his people are no better than “our fathers”. Such identification with the sins of the whole people, including those of the past, we also see with Daniel and Ezra (Daniel 9:4-19; Ezra 9:6-7; 10; 15).
The ‘Elijah service’ of John the baptist (cf. Malachi 4:5), which will soon be acknowledged by the remnant, is a call to repentance. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance as the first step to God. It involves turning around and returning to God. It is only the beginning, but absolutely necessary. This is how Joseph’s brothers in prison in Egypt had to come to the acknowledgment of their sins (Genesis 42:21). So will the remnant come to acknowledge the sins of the people during the great tribulation (cf. 1 Kings 8:46-47; Zechariah 12:10).
Then he begins to name the sins. It has already started in Egypt. The failure does not begin halfway through their history, their history begins with the failure, from the very beginning. They immediately abandoned their first love (cf. Revelation 2:4). It is characteristic of all human history, in which we see each time the failure of man from the beginning. So it was with Adam, so it was with Noah, so it was with Israel, so it is with professing Christianity.
Already in Egypt, “our fathers … did not understand Your wonders” (Psalms 106:7). All the plagues God brought upon Egypt for their deliverance have been ‘signs and wonders’ to His people. But they have been blind to them. It has not dawned on them how much God did this for them.
Nor did they “remember Your abundant kindnesses”. The people were not appealed by the numerous evidences of God’s love. It is already bad to ignore one token of God’s lovingkindness, to ignore one blessing as a result. How bad it must be, then, when an abundance of blessings is thoughtlessly ignored. It speaks of total indifference.
It did not remain in their memory because they thought only of themselves. What grief it must have caused God that His people so ignored His numerous acts of love. Is there anything more painful than an act of love or even numerous acts of love being met with indifference?
And it gets worse. Because they “did not understand” and “did not remember”, they “rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea”. This is an event immediately after the LORD redeemed them from Egypt. Right after they have experienced redemption from the yoke and are on their way to the promised land, the people show their disobedience. They reproach Moses for their redemption and indicate that they would rather serve the Egyptians than move on (Exodus 14:10-12).
Instead of killing His people, the LORD saved them “for the sake of His name” (Psalms 106:8; cf. Isaiah 48:9). This is the first reason. He always upholds His Name. A second reason, connected to the first, is “to make His power known”. When He does that, He also makes known His Name as the Almighty (Exodus 9:16).
The Red Sea seemed to be a hindrance to redemption, but God “rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up” (Psalms 106:9; Exodus 14:21-22; 29; Isaiah 50:2; Nahum 1:4). In this we see a type of the redemption of the believing remnant in the end time. This is how He made His power known. The sea is subject to Him and listens to His command. He made a way for His people “through the deeps, as through the wilderness”. He made them pass through it so that they could make their way to the promised land (Isaiah 63:12-14).
So He saved them “from the hand of the one who hated [them]” and redeemed them “from the hand of the enemy” (Psalms 106:10; cf. Luke 1:71). The hater and enemy is Pharaoh. His hand could not seize them anymore because God had made a path for them through the sea by which they stayed out of his hands.
What was the way of redemption and deliverance for God’s people was the way of judgment for the adversaries (Psalms 106:11). The waters covered them, “not one of them was left” (Exodus 14:27-28; Exodus 15:5; cf. Daniel 2:45). The judgment on their hater and enemy and all his soldiers was total and forever. There was no longer any threat from them, for they had all perished.
After the unfolding of God’s power in this wonder of their deliverance and of judgment on their enemies, “they believed His words” (Psalms 106:12; Exodus 14:31). They saw with their own eyes that He had done what He had said. In response, they “sang His praise” in the song of deliverance (Exodus 15:1-18).
Psalms 140:6
Rebellion in the Wilderness
Now here is a list of Israel’s sins from their first steps in the wilderness that they had to pass through to get to the promised land. Israel’s sins began back in Egypt. These sins in the wilderness are actually just a continuation of their earlier sins of unbelief. The sins in the wilderness begin with forgetting and impatience (Psalms 106:13). God’s works on their behalf in their redemption from Egypt, their passage through the Red Sea, and the judgment on their enemies were forgotten by them “quickly” or “with haste”. What tragedies follow from this. Let us not judge them harshly. How quickly do we forget all God’s works for our benefit?
When we forget God’s lovingkindness to us, we quickly become impatient and begin to grumble (Philippians 2:14; 1 Peter 4:9). We forget how many times He has already provided and complain about our circumstances. The people began to complain about lack of water and food (Exodus 15:24; Exodus 16:2-3). They did not ask Him about it and could not muster the patience to wait for His counsel. They were not looking to Him, but to what they were lacking. There was lack. That was a reason for them to grumble.
The sins of the people we find each time in duplicate, at the beginning and at the end of the wilderness journey. It is so with the sin of grumbling: read Exodus 15-17 and Numbers 14-17. So is it with water from the rock; so is it with the craving for flesh: read Exodus 16 and Numbers 11. This indicates that these sins are characteristic of the entire wilderness journey. In Exodus 16 it is about lust for flesh, in Numbers 11 also about dissatisfaction with the manna.
When God gives them what they ask for, they are “craved intensely in the wilderness” (Psalms 106:14; Numbers 11:4; 6; 33; Psalms 78:18; 28-29; 1 Corinthians 10:6). With their craving they “tempted God in the desert”. They put Him to the test, whether He was able to give what they wanted. Well, God “gave them their request” (Psalms 106:15; Numbers 11:31-32). Because they kept nagging, God gave what they had asked for. He could have withheld it from them, but He wanted to teach them a lesson. That lesson is that a desire that comes from one’s own will does not lead to health, but to a wasting disease. Unfortunately, the lesson was not learned, for they continued to sin.
The next sin is that of jealousy (Psalms 106:16). It concerns the jealousy of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16:1-3). They became “envious of Moses in the camp” as the leader of the people through whom God spoke to the people. They also became jealous “of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD”, that is, the priest set apart by the LORD for Himself to represent His people to Him.
Instead of the desire to serve, these people longed to take the first place in God’s people, just as Diotrephes wanted in the church (3 John 1:9). The disciples also disputed among them as to “which one of them was regarded to be greatest” (Luke 22:24). Therefore, this is a serious warning to each of us.
The judgment on this jealousy was severely punished by the LORD (Psalms 106:17). For it was a frontal attack on His government of the people. It was a conspiracy against the LORD (Numbers 16:11). Korah and his followers wanted the position of Aaron while Dathan and Abiram wanted the position of Moses.
The punishment was consistent with this. The judgment He executed on Dathan and Abiram – Korah is not mentioned here (cf. Deuteronomy 11:6) – had not been executed before, it was “something new” (Numbers 16:30-33). The punishment of Dathan and Abiram was that they entered the kingdom of the dead alive. The same will happen to the two beasts (Revelation 19:20). The judgment on Korah was fire from heaven, as on Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron (Leviticus 10:1-2).
There was also “a fire” that came from the LORD (Numbers 16:35a), which “blazed up in their company” (Psalms 106:18). The ferocity of the judgment is emphasized by adding that “a flame consumed the wicked”. Thus “two hundred and fifty men” were consumed (Numbers 16:35b). Here we see how horrible sinful, selfish jealousy is to God.
Then the psalmist mentions the sin of idolatry (Psalms 106:19; Deuteronomy 9:7-16). He refers to “a calf in Horeb” which they had made (Exodus 32:1-4). This is a violation of the second commandment (Exodus 20:4-6). They “worshiped a molten image”. In doing so, they had particularly grieved God Who had so clearly revealed Himself in His lovingkindness to them.
By this worship of a piece of dead matter they had “exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass” (Psalms 106:20). The addition “that eats grass” makes the absurdity of worshiping the animal all the greater. Their Glory was God Himself (Jeremiah 2:11). How foolish can a man be to exchange Him for a mindless, grass-eating animal!
Paul quotes this verse in Romans 1, for this verse makes it clear what the result is when man exchanges the glory of the imperishable God for something resembling a perishable, transient man or animal. The result is that God gives him over to uncleanness in the lusts of his heart (Romans 1:23-24). If we are not blind, we see it all around us today.
In Exodus 32, the issue is that they have “a feast for the LORD” using an image (Exodus 32:4-5). They believed that they had not forsaken the LORD. They had merely sought a tool of their own choosing to serve the LORD. Something similar is done by Nadab and Abihu later by offering an incense sacrifice with their own fire, something the LORD had not commanded (Leviticus 10:1).
This should also be a warning to us. No, serving another god, that is not what we want. Serving the Lord in our own way, the way we like it, yes, that is what we want. Many Christians seek church services where they feel at home (cf. Judges 17:13). This is always a danger for every believer. We must always remember that we can only worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). This history is a warning against it.
They not only forgot the works of God (Psalms 106:13), but “they forgot God their Savior” Himself (Psalms 106:21). God’s people fell into idolatry with all the debauchery that goes with it because they forgot Him, “Who had done great things in Egypt”. There He proved to be “their Savior”, that is, their Rescuer, their Deliverer, their Keeper.
To save them He had done “wonders in the land of Ham” and “awesome things by the Red Sea” (Psalms 106:22; Deuteronomy 10:21). These things should continue to capture the imagination. What God had done in Egypt and at the Red Sea should have constantly filled them with the utmost confidence in His omnipotence. But they had forgotten Him. This may well speak to our hearts and consciences, that we may never forget what He has done for us in our redemption.
To such forgetfulness among His people and the resulting idolatry, God could not respond other than with the threat to destroy them (Psalms 106:23). He was, to put it humanly, sick of His people. He would have carried out His intention “had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him” (cf. Ezekiel 22:30).
Just as a soldier stands in the breach of a wall to prevent the enemy from passing through with the use of his life, so Moses lay before God to avert God’s wrath. Because of Moses’ passionate pleading, God did not destroy them and they were spared (Deuteronomy 9:25-29).
In this, Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus, Who is the great Intercessor and Advocate for His people on earth. Only through His intercession with God will a remnant of God’s people cross the finish line and enter the blessing. This applies not only to God’s earthly people, Israel, but also to God’s heavenly people, the church (Romans 8:34).
Psalms 140:7
Rebellion in the Wilderness
Now here is a list of Israel’s sins from their first steps in the wilderness that they had to pass through to get to the promised land. Israel’s sins began back in Egypt. These sins in the wilderness are actually just a continuation of their earlier sins of unbelief. The sins in the wilderness begin with forgetting and impatience (Psalms 106:13). God’s works on their behalf in their redemption from Egypt, their passage through the Red Sea, and the judgment on their enemies were forgotten by them “quickly” or “with haste”. What tragedies follow from this. Let us not judge them harshly. How quickly do we forget all God’s works for our benefit?
When we forget God’s lovingkindness to us, we quickly become impatient and begin to grumble (Philippians 2:14; 1 Peter 4:9). We forget how many times He has already provided and complain about our circumstances. The people began to complain about lack of water and food (Exodus 15:24; Exodus 16:2-3). They did not ask Him about it and could not muster the patience to wait for His counsel. They were not looking to Him, but to what they were lacking. There was lack. That was a reason for them to grumble.
The sins of the people we find each time in duplicate, at the beginning and at the end of the wilderness journey. It is so with the sin of grumbling: read Exodus 15-17 and Numbers 14-17. So is it with water from the rock; so is it with the craving for flesh: read Exodus 16 and Numbers 11. This indicates that these sins are characteristic of the entire wilderness journey. In Exodus 16 it is about lust for flesh, in Numbers 11 also about dissatisfaction with the manna.
When God gives them what they ask for, they are “craved intensely in the wilderness” (Psalms 106:14; Numbers 11:4; 6; 33; Psalms 78:18; 28-29; 1 Corinthians 10:6). With their craving they “tempted God in the desert”. They put Him to the test, whether He was able to give what they wanted. Well, God “gave them their request” (Psalms 106:15; Numbers 11:31-32). Because they kept nagging, God gave what they had asked for. He could have withheld it from them, but He wanted to teach them a lesson. That lesson is that a desire that comes from one’s own will does not lead to health, but to a wasting disease. Unfortunately, the lesson was not learned, for they continued to sin.
The next sin is that of jealousy (Psalms 106:16). It concerns the jealousy of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16:1-3). They became “envious of Moses in the camp” as the leader of the people through whom God spoke to the people. They also became jealous “of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD”, that is, the priest set apart by the LORD for Himself to represent His people to Him.
Instead of the desire to serve, these people longed to take the first place in God’s people, just as Diotrephes wanted in the church (3 John 1:9). The disciples also disputed among them as to “which one of them was regarded to be greatest” (Luke 22:24). Therefore, this is a serious warning to each of us.
The judgment on this jealousy was severely punished by the LORD (Psalms 106:17). For it was a frontal attack on His government of the people. It was a conspiracy against the LORD (Numbers 16:11). Korah and his followers wanted the position of Aaron while Dathan and Abiram wanted the position of Moses.
The punishment was consistent with this. The judgment He executed on Dathan and Abiram – Korah is not mentioned here (cf. Deuteronomy 11:6) – had not been executed before, it was “something new” (Numbers 16:30-33). The punishment of Dathan and Abiram was that they entered the kingdom of the dead alive. The same will happen to the two beasts (Revelation 19:20). The judgment on Korah was fire from heaven, as on Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron (Leviticus 10:1-2).
There was also “a fire” that came from the LORD (Numbers 16:35a), which “blazed up in their company” (Psalms 106:18). The ferocity of the judgment is emphasized by adding that “a flame consumed the wicked”. Thus “two hundred and fifty men” were consumed (Numbers 16:35b). Here we see how horrible sinful, selfish jealousy is to God.
Then the psalmist mentions the sin of idolatry (Psalms 106:19; Deuteronomy 9:7-16). He refers to “a calf in Horeb” which they had made (Exodus 32:1-4). This is a violation of the second commandment (Exodus 20:4-6). They “worshiped a molten image”. In doing so, they had particularly grieved God Who had so clearly revealed Himself in His lovingkindness to them.
By this worship of a piece of dead matter they had “exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass” (Psalms 106:20). The addition “that eats grass” makes the absurdity of worshiping the animal all the greater. Their Glory was God Himself (Jeremiah 2:11). How foolish can a man be to exchange Him for a mindless, grass-eating animal!
Paul quotes this verse in Romans 1, for this verse makes it clear what the result is when man exchanges the glory of the imperishable God for something resembling a perishable, transient man or animal. The result is that God gives him over to uncleanness in the lusts of his heart (Romans 1:23-24). If we are not blind, we see it all around us today.
In Exodus 32, the issue is that they have “a feast for the LORD” using an image (Exodus 32:4-5). They believed that they had not forsaken the LORD. They had merely sought a tool of their own choosing to serve the LORD. Something similar is done by Nadab and Abihu later by offering an incense sacrifice with their own fire, something the LORD had not commanded (Leviticus 10:1).
This should also be a warning to us. No, serving another god, that is not what we want. Serving the Lord in our own way, the way we like it, yes, that is what we want. Many Christians seek church services where they feel at home (cf. Judges 17:13). This is always a danger for every believer. We must always remember that we can only worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). This history is a warning against it.
They not only forgot the works of God (Psalms 106:13), but “they forgot God their Savior” Himself (Psalms 106:21). God’s people fell into idolatry with all the debauchery that goes with it because they forgot Him, “Who had done great things in Egypt”. There He proved to be “their Savior”, that is, their Rescuer, their Deliverer, their Keeper.
To save them He had done “wonders in the land of Ham” and “awesome things by the Red Sea” (Psalms 106:22; Deuteronomy 10:21). These things should continue to capture the imagination. What God had done in Egypt and at the Red Sea should have constantly filled them with the utmost confidence in His omnipotence. But they had forgotten Him. This may well speak to our hearts and consciences, that we may never forget what He has done for us in our redemption.
To such forgetfulness among His people and the resulting idolatry, God could not respond other than with the threat to destroy them (Psalms 106:23). He was, to put it humanly, sick of His people. He would have carried out His intention “had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him” (cf. Ezekiel 22:30).
Just as a soldier stands in the breach of a wall to prevent the enemy from passing through with the use of his life, so Moses lay before God to avert God’s wrath. Because of Moses’ passionate pleading, God did not destroy them and they were spared (Deuteronomy 9:25-29).
In this, Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus, Who is the great Intercessor and Advocate for His people on earth. Only through His intercession with God will a remnant of God’s people cross the finish line and enter the blessing. This applies not only to God’s earthly people, Israel, but also to God’s heavenly people, the church (Romans 8:34).
Psalms 140:8
Rebellion in the Wilderness
Now here is a list of Israel’s sins from their first steps in the wilderness that they had to pass through to get to the promised land. Israel’s sins began back in Egypt. These sins in the wilderness are actually just a continuation of their earlier sins of unbelief. The sins in the wilderness begin with forgetting and impatience (Psalms 106:13). God’s works on their behalf in their redemption from Egypt, their passage through the Red Sea, and the judgment on their enemies were forgotten by them “quickly” or “with haste”. What tragedies follow from this. Let us not judge them harshly. How quickly do we forget all God’s works for our benefit?
When we forget God’s lovingkindness to us, we quickly become impatient and begin to grumble (Philippians 2:14; 1 Peter 4:9). We forget how many times He has already provided and complain about our circumstances. The people began to complain about lack of water and food (Exodus 15:24; Exodus 16:2-3). They did not ask Him about it and could not muster the patience to wait for His counsel. They were not looking to Him, but to what they were lacking. There was lack. That was a reason for them to grumble.
The sins of the people we find each time in duplicate, at the beginning and at the end of the wilderness journey. It is so with the sin of grumbling: read Exodus 15-17 and Numbers 14-17. So is it with water from the rock; so is it with the craving for flesh: read Exodus 16 and Numbers 11. This indicates that these sins are characteristic of the entire wilderness journey. In Exodus 16 it is about lust for flesh, in Numbers 11 also about dissatisfaction with the manna.
When God gives them what they ask for, they are “craved intensely in the wilderness” (Psalms 106:14; Numbers 11:4; 6; 33; Psalms 78:18; 28-29; 1 Corinthians 10:6). With their craving they “tempted God in the desert”. They put Him to the test, whether He was able to give what they wanted. Well, God “gave them their request” (Psalms 106:15; Numbers 11:31-32). Because they kept nagging, God gave what they had asked for. He could have withheld it from them, but He wanted to teach them a lesson. That lesson is that a desire that comes from one’s own will does not lead to health, but to a wasting disease. Unfortunately, the lesson was not learned, for they continued to sin.
The next sin is that of jealousy (Psalms 106:16). It concerns the jealousy of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16:1-3). They became “envious of Moses in the camp” as the leader of the people through whom God spoke to the people. They also became jealous “of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD”, that is, the priest set apart by the LORD for Himself to represent His people to Him.
Instead of the desire to serve, these people longed to take the first place in God’s people, just as Diotrephes wanted in the church (3 John 1:9). The disciples also disputed among them as to “which one of them was regarded to be greatest” (Luke 22:24). Therefore, this is a serious warning to each of us.
The judgment on this jealousy was severely punished by the LORD (Psalms 106:17). For it was a frontal attack on His government of the people. It was a conspiracy against the LORD (Numbers 16:11). Korah and his followers wanted the position of Aaron while Dathan and Abiram wanted the position of Moses.
The punishment was consistent with this. The judgment He executed on Dathan and Abiram – Korah is not mentioned here (cf. Deuteronomy 11:6) – had not been executed before, it was “something new” (Numbers 16:30-33). The punishment of Dathan and Abiram was that they entered the kingdom of the dead alive. The same will happen to the two beasts (Revelation 19:20). The judgment on Korah was fire from heaven, as on Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron (Leviticus 10:1-2).
There was also “a fire” that came from the LORD (Numbers 16:35a), which “blazed up in their company” (Psalms 106:18). The ferocity of the judgment is emphasized by adding that “a flame consumed the wicked”. Thus “two hundred and fifty men” were consumed (Numbers 16:35b). Here we see how horrible sinful, selfish jealousy is to God.
Then the psalmist mentions the sin of idolatry (Psalms 106:19; Deuteronomy 9:7-16). He refers to “a calf in Horeb” which they had made (Exodus 32:1-4). This is a violation of the second commandment (Exodus 20:4-6). They “worshiped a molten image”. In doing so, they had particularly grieved God Who had so clearly revealed Himself in His lovingkindness to them.
By this worship of a piece of dead matter they had “exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass” (Psalms 106:20). The addition “that eats grass” makes the absurdity of worshiping the animal all the greater. Their Glory was God Himself (Jeremiah 2:11). How foolish can a man be to exchange Him for a mindless, grass-eating animal!
Paul quotes this verse in Romans 1, for this verse makes it clear what the result is when man exchanges the glory of the imperishable God for something resembling a perishable, transient man or animal. The result is that God gives him over to uncleanness in the lusts of his heart (Romans 1:23-24). If we are not blind, we see it all around us today.
In Exodus 32, the issue is that they have “a feast for the LORD” using an image (Exodus 32:4-5). They believed that they had not forsaken the LORD. They had merely sought a tool of their own choosing to serve the LORD. Something similar is done by Nadab and Abihu later by offering an incense sacrifice with their own fire, something the LORD had not commanded (Leviticus 10:1).
This should also be a warning to us. No, serving another god, that is not what we want. Serving the Lord in our own way, the way we like it, yes, that is what we want. Many Christians seek church services where they feel at home (cf. Judges 17:13). This is always a danger for every believer. We must always remember that we can only worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). This history is a warning against it.
They not only forgot the works of God (Psalms 106:13), but “they forgot God their Savior” Himself (Psalms 106:21). God’s people fell into idolatry with all the debauchery that goes with it because they forgot Him, “Who had done great things in Egypt”. There He proved to be “their Savior”, that is, their Rescuer, their Deliverer, their Keeper.
To save them He had done “wonders in the land of Ham” and “awesome things by the Red Sea” (Psalms 106:22; Deuteronomy 10:21). These things should continue to capture the imagination. What God had done in Egypt and at the Red Sea should have constantly filled them with the utmost confidence in His omnipotence. But they had forgotten Him. This may well speak to our hearts and consciences, that we may never forget what He has done for us in our redemption.
To such forgetfulness among His people and the resulting idolatry, God could not respond other than with the threat to destroy them (Psalms 106:23). He was, to put it humanly, sick of His people. He would have carried out His intention “had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him” (cf. Ezekiel 22:30).
Just as a soldier stands in the breach of a wall to prevent the enemy from passing through with the use of his life, so Moses lay before God to avert God’s wrath. Because of Moses’ passionate pleading, God did not destroy them and they were spared (Deuteronomy 9:25-29).
In this, Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus, Who is the great Intercessor and Advocate for His people on earth. Only through His intercession with God will a remnant of God’s people cross the finish line and enter the blessing. This applies not only to God’s earthly people, Israel, but also to God’s heavenly people, the church (Romans 8:34).
Psalms 140:9
Rebellion in the Wilderness
Now here is a list of Israel’s sins from their first steps in the wilderness that they had to pass through to get to the promised land. Israel’s sins began back in Egypt. These sins in the wilderness are actually just a continuation of their earlier sins of unbelief. The sins in the wilderness begin with forgetting and impatience (Psalms 106:13). God’s works on their behalf in their redemption from Egypt, their passage through the Red Sea, and the judgment on their enemies were forgotten by them “quickly” or “with haste”. What tragedies follow from this. Let us not judge them harshly. How quickly do we forget all God’s works for our benefit?
When we forget God’s lovingkindness to us, we quickly become impatient and begin to grumble (Philippians 2:14; 1 Peter 4:9). We forget how many times He has already provided and complain about our circumstances. The people began to complain about lack of water and food (Exodus 15:24; Exodus 16:2-3). They did not ask Him about it and could not muster the patience to wait for His counsel. They were not looking to Him, but to what they were lacking. There was lack. That was a reason for them to grumble.
The sins of the people we find each time in duplicate, at the beginning and at the end of the wilderness journey. It is so with the sin of grumbling: read Exodus 15-17 and Numbers 14-17. So is it with water from the rock; so is it with the craving for flesh: read Exodus 16 and Numbers 11. This indicates that these sins are characteristic of the entire wilderness journey. In Exodus 16 it is about lust for flesh, in Numbers 11 also about dissatisfaction with the manna.
When God gives them what they ask for, they are “craved intensely in the wilderness” (Psalms 106:14; Numbers 11:4; 6; 33; Psalms 78:18; 28-29; 1 Corinthians 10:6). With their craving they “tempted God in the desert”. They put Him to the test, whether He was able to give what they wanted. Well, God “gave them their request” (Psalms 106:15; Numbers 11:31-32). Because they kept nagging, God gave what they had asked for. He could have withheld it from them, but He wanted to teach them a lesson. That lesson is that a desire that comes from one’s own will does not lead to health, but to a wasting disease. Unfortunately, the lesson was not learned, for they continued to sin.
The next sin is that of jealousy (Psalms 106:16). It concerns the jealousy of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16:1-3). They became “envious of Moses in the camp” as the leader of the people through whom God spoke to the people. They also became jealous “of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD”, that is, the priest set apart by the LORD for Himself to represent His people to Him.
Instead of the desire to serve, these people longed to take the first place in God’s people, just as Diotrephes wanted in the church (3 John 1:9). The disciples also disputed among them as to “which one of them was regarded to be greatest” (Luke 22:24). Therefore, this is a serious warning to each of us.
The judgment on this jealousy was severely punished by the LORD (Psalms 106:17). For it was a frontal attack on His government of the people. It was a conspiracy against the LORD (Numbers 16:11). Korah and his followers wanted the position of Aaron while Dathan and Abiram wanted the position of Moses.
The punishment was consistent with this. The judgment He executed on Dathan and Abiram – Korah is not mentioned here (cf. Deuteronomy 11:6) – had not been executed before, it was “something new” (Numbers 16:30-33). The punishment of Dathan and Abiram was that they entered the kingdom of the dead alive. The same will happen to the two beasts (Revelation 19:20). The judgment on Korah was fire from heaven, as on Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron (Leviticus 10:1-2).
There was also “a fire” that came from the LORD (Numbers 16:35a), which “blazed up in their company” (Psalms 106:18). The ferocity of the judgment is emphasized by adding that “a flame consumed the wicked”. Thus “two hundred and fifty men” were consumed (Numbers 16:35b). Here we see how horrible sinful, selfish jealousy is to God.
Then the psalmist mentions the sin of idolatry (Psalms 106:19; Deuteronomy 9:7-16). He refers to “a calf in Horeb” which they had made (Exodus 32:1-4). This is a violation of the second commandment (Exodus 20:4-6). They “worshiped a molten image”. In doing so, they had particularly grieved God Who had so clearly revealed Himself in His lovingkindness to them.
By this worship of a piece of dead matter they had “exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass” (Psalms 106:20). The addition “that eats grass” makes the absurdity of worshiping the animal all the greater. Their Glory was God Himself (Jeremiah 2:11). How foolish can a man be to exchange Him for a mindless, grass-eating animal!
Paul quotes this verse in Romans 1, for this verse makes it clear what the result is when man exchanges the glory of the imperishable God for something resembling a perishable, transient man or animal. The result is that God gives him over to uncleanness in the lusts of his heart (Romans 1:23-24). If we are not blind, we see it all around us today.
In Exodus 32, the issue is that they have “a feast for the LORD” using an image (Exodus 32:4-5). They believed that they had not forsaken the LORD. They had merely sought a tool of their own choosing to serve the LORD. Something similar is done by Nadab and Abihu later by offering an incense sacrifice with their own fire, something the LORD had not commanded (Leviticus 10:1).
This should also be a warning to us. No, serving another god, that is not what we want. Serving the Lord in our own way, the way we like it, yes, that is what we want. Many Christians seek church services where they feel at home (cf. Judges 17:13). This is always a danger for every believer. We must always remember that we can only worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). This history is a warning against it.
They not only forgot the works of God (Psalms 106:13), but “they forgot God their Savior” Himself (Psalms 106:21). God’s people fell into idolatry with all the debauchery that goes with it because they forgot Him, “Who had done great things in Egypt”. There He proved to be “their Savior”, that is, their Rescuer, their Deliverer, their Keeper.
To save them He had done “wonders in the land of Ham” and “awesome things by the Red Sea” (Psalms 106:22; Deuteronomy 10:21). These things should continue to capture the imagination. What God had done in Egypt and at the Red Sea should have constantly filled them with the utmost confidence in His omnipotence. But they had forgotten Him. This may well speak to our hearts and consciences, that we may never forget what He has done for us in our redemption.
To such forgetfulness among His people and the resulting idolatry, God could not respond other than with the threat to destroy them (Psalms 106:23). He was, to put it humanly, sick of His people. He would have carried out His intention “had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him” (cf. Ezekiel 22:30).
Just as a soldier stands in the breach of a wall to prevent the enemy from passing through with the use of his life, so Moses lay before God to avert God’s wrath. Because of Moses’ passionate pleading, God did not destroy them and they were spared (Deuteronomy 9:25-29).
In this, Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus, Who is the great Intercessor and Advocate for His people on earth. Only through His intercession with God will a remnant of God’s people cross the finish line and enter the blessing. This applies not only to God’s earthly people, Israel, but also to God’s heavenly people, the church (Romans 8:34).
Psalms 140:10
Rebellion in the Wilderness
Now here is a list of Israel’s sins from their first steps in the wilderness that they had to pass through to get to the promised land. Israel’s sins began back in Egypt. These sins in the wilderness are actually just a continuation of their earlier sins of unbelief. The sins in the wilderness begin with forgetting and impatience (Psalms 106:13). God’s works on their behalf in their redemption from Egypt, their passage through the Red Sea, and the judgment on their enemies were forgotten by them “quickly” or “with haste”. What tragedies follow from this. Let us not judge them harshly. How quickly do we forget all God’s works for our benefit?
When we forget God’s lovingkindness to us, we quickly become impatient and begin to grumble (Philippians 2:14; 1 Peter 4:9). We forget how many times He has already provided and complain about our circumstances. The people began to complain about lack of water and food (Exodus 15:24; Exodus 16:2-3). They did not ask Him about it and could not muster the patience to wait for His counsel. They were not looking to Him, but to what they were lacking. There was lack. That was a reason for them to grumble.
The sins of the people we find each time in duplicate, at the beginning and at the end of the wilderness journey. It is so with the sin of grumbling: read Exodus 15-17 and Numbers 14-17. So is it with water from the rock; so is it with the craving for flesh: read Exodus 16 and Numbers 11. This indicates that these sins are characteristic of the entire wilderness journey. In Exodus 16 it is about lust for flesh, in Numbers 11 also about dissatisfaction with the manna.
When God gives them what they ask for, they are “craved intensely in the wilderness” (Psalms 106:14; Numbers 11:4; 6; 33; Psalms 78:18; 28-29; 1 Corinthians 10:6). With their craving they “tempted God in the desert”. They put Him to the test, whether He was able to give what they wanted. Well, God “gave them their request” (Psalms 106:15; Numbers 11:31-32). Because they kept nagging, God gave what they had asked for. He could have withheld it from them, but He wanted to teach them a lesson. That lesson is that a desire that comes from one’s own will does not lead to health, but to a wasting disease. Unfortunately, the lesson was not learned, for they continued to sin.
The next sin is that of jealousy (Psalms 106:16). It concerns the jealousy of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16:1-3). They became “envious of Moses in the camp” as the leader of the people through whom God spoke to the people. They also became jealous “of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD”, that is, the priest set apart by the LORD for Himself to represent His people to Him.
Instead of the desire to serve, these people longed to take the first place in God’s people, just as Diotrephes wanted in the church (3 John 1:9). The disciples also disputed among them as to “which one of them was regarded to be greatest” (Luke 22:24). Therefore, this is a serious warning to each of us.
The judgment on this jealousy was severely punished by the LORD (Psalms 106:17). For it was a frontal attack on His government of the people. It was a conspiracy against the LORD (Numbers 16:11). Korah and his followers wanted the position of Aaron while Dathan and Abiram wanted the position of Moses.
The punishment was consistent with this. The judgment He executed on Dathan and Abiram – Korah is not mentioned here (cf. Deuteronomy 11:6) – had not been executed before, it was “something new” (Numbers 16:30-33). The punishment of Dathan and Abiram was that they entered the kingdom of the dead alive. The same will happen to the two beasts (Revelation 19:20). The judgment on Korah was fire from heaven, as on Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron (Leviticus 10:1-2).
There was also “a fire” that came from the LORD (Numbers 16:35a), which “blazed up in their company” (Psalms 106:18). The ferocity of the judgment is emphasized by adding that “a flame consumed the wicked”. Thus “two hundred and fifty men” were consumed (Numbers 16:35b). Here we see how horrible sinful, selfish jealousy is to God.
Then the psalmist mentions the sin of idolatry (Psalms 106:19; Deuteronomy 9:7-16). He refers to “a calf in Horeb” which they had made (Exodus 32:1-4). This is a violation of the second commandment (Exodus 20:4-6). They “worshiped a molten image”. In doing so, they had particularly grieved God Who had so clearly revealed Himself in His lovingkindness to them.
By this worship of a piece of dead matter they had “exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass” (Psalms 106:20). The addition “that eats grass” makes the absurdity of worshiping the animal all the greater. Their Glory was God Himself (Jeremiah 2:11). How foolish can a man be to exchange Him for a mindless, grass-eating animal!
Paul quotes this verse in Romans 1, for this verse makes it clear what the result is when man exchanges the glory of the imperishable God for something resembling a perishable, transient man or animal. The result is that God gives him over to uncleanness in the lusts of his heart (Romans 1:23-24). If we are not blind, we see it all around us today.
In Exodus 32, the issue is that they have “a feast for the LORD” using an image (Exodus 32:4-5). They believed that they had not forsaken the LORD. They had merely sought a tool of their own choosing to serve the LORD. Something similar is done by Nadab and Abihu later by offering an incense sacrifice with their own fire, something the LORD had not commanded (Leviticus 10:1).
This should also be a warning to us. No, serving another god, that is not what we want. Serving the Lord in our own way, the way we like it, yes, that is what we want. Many Christians seek church services where they feel at home (cf. Judges 17:13). This is always a danger for every believer. We must always remember that we can only worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). This history is a warning against it.
They not only forgot the works of God (Psalms 106:13), but “they forgot God their Savior” Himself (Psalms 106:21). God’s people fell into idolatry with all the debauchery that goes with it because they forgot Him, “Who had done great things in Egypt”. There He proved to be “their Savior”, that is, their Rescuer, their Deliverer, their Keeper.
To save them He had done “wonders in the land of Ham” and “awesome things by the Red Sea” (Psalms 106:22; Deuteronomy 10:21). These things should continue to capture the imagination. What God had done in Egypt and at the Red Sea should have constantly filled them with the utmost confidence in His omnipotence. But they had forgotten Him. This may well speak to our hearts and consciences, that we may never forget what He has done for us in our redemption.
To such forgetfulness among His people and the resulting idolatry, God could not respond other than with the threat to destroy them (Psalms 106:23). He was, to put it humanly, sick of His people. He would have carried out His intention “had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him” (cf. Ezekiel 22:30).
Just as a soldier stands in the breach of a wall to prevent the enemy from passing through with the use of his life, so Moses lay before God to avert God’s wrath. Because of Moses’ passionate pleading, God did not destroy them and they were spared (Deuteronomy 9:25-29).
In this, Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus, Who is the great Intercessor and Advocate for His people on earth. Only through His intercession with God will a remnant of God’s people cross the finish line and enter the blessing. This applies not only to God’s earthly people, Israel, but also to God’s heavenly people, the church (Romans 8:34).
Psalms 140:11
Rebellion in the Wilderness
Now here is a list of Israel’s sins from their first steps in the wilderness that they had to pass through to get to the promised land. Israel’s sins began back in Egypt. These sins in the wilderness are actually just a continuation of their earlier sins of unbelief. The sins in the wilderness begin with forgetting and impatience (Psalms 106:13). God’s works on their behalf in their redemption from Egypt, their passage through the Red Sea, and the judgment on their enemies were forgotten by them “quickly” or “with haste”. What tragedies follow from this. Let us not judge them harshly. How quickly do we forget all God’s works for our benefit?
When we forget God’s lovingkindness to us, we quickly become impatient and begin to grumble (Philippians 2:14; 1 Peter 4:9). We forget how many times He has already provided and complain about our circumstances. The people began to complain about lack of water and food (Exodus 15:24; Exodus 16:2-3). They did not ask Him about it and could not muster the patience to wait for His counsel. They were not looking to Him, but to what they were lacking. There was lack. That was a reason for them to grumble.
The sins of the people we find each time in duplicate, at the beginning and at the end of the wilderness journey. It is so with the sin of grumbling: read Exodus 15-17 and Numbers 14-17. So is it with water from the rock; so is it with the craving for flesh: read Exodus 16 and Numbers 11. This indicates that these sins are characteristic of the entire wilderness journey. In Exodus 16 it is about lust for flesh, in Numbers 11 also about dissatisfaction with the manna.
When God gives them what they ask for, they are “craved intensely in the wilderness” (Psalms 106:14; Numbers 11:4; 6; 33; Psalms 78:18; 28-29; 1 Corinthians 10:6). With their craving they “tempted God in the desert”. They put Him to the test, whether He was able to give what they wanted. Well, God “gave them their request” (Psalms 106:15; Numbers 11:31-32). Because they kept nagging, God gave what they had asked for. He could have withheld it from them, but He wanted to teach them a lesson. That lesson is that a desire that comes from one’s own will does not lead to health, but to a wasting disease. Unfortunately, the lesson was not learned, for they continued to sin.
The next sin is that of jealousy (Psalms 106:16). It concerns the jealousy of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16:1-3). They became “envious of Moses in the camp” as the leader of the people through whom God spoke to the people. They also became jealous “of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD”, that is, the priest set apart by the LORD for Himself to represent His people to Him.
Instead of the desire to serve, these people longed to take the first place in God’s people, just as Diotrephes wanted in the church (3 John 1:9). The disciples also disputed among them as to “which one of them was regarded to be greatest” (Luke 22:24). Therefore, this is a serious warning to each of us.
The judgment on this jealousy was severely punished by the LORD (Psalms 106:17). For it was a frontal attack on His government of the people. It was a conspiracy against the LORD (Numbers 16:11). Korah and his followers wanted the position of Aaron while Dathan and Abiram wanted the position of Moses.
The punishment was consistent with this. The judgment He executed on Dathan and Abiram – Korah is not mentioned here (cf. Deuteronomy 11:6) – had not been executed before, it was “something new” (Numbers 16:30-33). The punishment of Dathan and Abiram was that they entered the kingdom of the dead alive. The same will happen to the two beasts (Revelation 19:20). The judgment on Korah was fire from heaven, as on Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron (Leviticus 10:1-2).
There was also “a fire” that came from the LORD (Numbers 16:35a), which “blazed up in their company” (Psalms 106:18). The ferocity of the judgment is emphasized by adding that “a flame consumed the wicked”. Thus “two hundred and fifty men” were consumed (Numbers 16:35b). Here we see how horrible sinful, selfish jealousy is to God.
Then the psalmist mentions the sin of idolatry (Psalms 106:19; Deuteronomy 9:7-16). He refers to “a calf in Horeb” which they had made (Exodus 32:1-4). This is a violation of the second commandment (Exodus 20:4-6). They “worshiped a molten image”. In doing so, they had particularly grieved God Who had so clearly revealed Himself in His lovingkindness to them.
By this worship of a piece of dead matter they had “exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass” (Psalms 106:20). The addition “that eats grass” makes the absurdity of worshiping the animal all the greater. Their Glory was God Himself (Jeremiah 2:11). How foolish can a man be to exchange Him for a mindless, grass-eating animal!
Paul quotes this verse in Romans 1, for this verse makes it clear what the result is when man exchanges the glory of the imperishable God for something resembling a perishable, transient man or animal. The result is that God gives him over to uncleanness in the lusts of his heart (Romans 1:23-24). If we are not blind, we see it all around us today.
In Exodus 32, the issue is that they have “a feast for the LORD” using an image (Exodus 32:4-5). They believed that they had not forsaken the LORD. They had merely sought a tool of their own choosing to serve the LORD. Something similar is done by Nadab and Abihu later by offering an incense sacrifice with their own fire, something the LORD had not commanded (Leviticus 10:1).
This should also be a warning to us. No, serving another god, that is not what we want. Serving the Lord in our own way, the way we like it, yes, that is what we want. Many Christians seek church services where they feel at home (cf. Judges 17:13). This is always a danger for every believer. We must always remember that we can only worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). This history is a warning against it.
They not only forgot the works of God (Psalms 106:13), but “they forgot God their Savior” Himself (Psalms 106:21). God’s people fell into idolatry with all the debauchery that goes with it because they forgot Him, “Who had done great things in Egypt”. There He proved to be “their Savior”, that is, their Rescuer, their Deliverer, their Keeper.
To save them He had done “wonders in the land of Ham” and “awesome things by the Red Sea” (Psalms 106:22; Deuteronomy 10:21). These things should continue to capture the imagination. What God had done in Egypt and at the Red Sea should have constantly filled them with the utmost confidence in His omnipotence. But they had forgotten Him. This may well speak to our hearts and consciences, that we may never forget what He has done for us in our redemption.
To such forgetfulness among His people and the resulting idolatry, God could not respond other than with the threat to destroy them (Psalms 106:23). He was, to put it humanly, sick of His people. He would have carried out His intention “had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him” (cf. Ezekiel 22:30).
Just as a soldier stands in the breach of a wall to prevent the enemy from passing through with the use of his life, so Moses lay before God to avert God’s wrath. Because of Moses’ passionate pleading, God did not destroy them and they were spared (Deuteronomy 9:25-29).
In this, Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus, Who is the great Intercessor and Advocate for His people on earth. Only through His intercession with God will a remnant of God’s people cross the finish line and enter the blessing. This applies not only to God’s earthly people, Israel, but also to God’s heavenly people, the church (Romans 8:34).
Psalms 140:12
Rebellion in the Wilderness
Now here is a list of Israel’s sins from their first steps in the wilderness that they had to pass through to get to the promised land. Israel’s sins began back in Egypt. These sins in the wilderness are actually just a continuation of their earlier sins of unbelief. The sins in the wilderness begin with forgetting and impatience (Psalms 106:13). God’s works on their behalf in their redemption from Egypt, their passage through the Red Sea, and the judgment on their enemies were forgotten by them “quickly” or “with haste”. What tragedies follow from this. Let us not judge them harshly. How quickly do we forget all God’s works for our benefit?
When we forget God’s lovingkindness to us, we quickly become impatient and begin to grumble (Philippians 2:14; 1 Peter 4:9). We forget how many times He has already provided and complain about our circumstances. The people began to complain about lack of water and food (Exodus 15:24; Exodus 16:2-3). They did not ask Him about it and could not muster the patience to wait for His counsel. They were not looking to Him, but to what they were lacking. There was lack. That was a reason for them to grumble.
The sins of the people we find each time in duplicate, at the beginning and at the end of the wilderness journey. It is so with the sin of grumbling: read Exodus 15-17 and Numbers 14-17. So is it with water from the rock; so is it with the craving for flesh: read Exodus 16 and Numbers 11. This indicates that these sins are characteristic of the entire wilderness journey. In Exodus 16 it is about lust for flesh, in Numbers 11 also about dissatisfaction with the manna.
When God gives them what they ask for, they are “craved intensely in the wilderness” (Psalms 106:14; Numbers 11:4; 6; 33; Psalms 78:18; 28-29; 1 Corinthians 10:6). With their craving they “tempted God in the desert”. They put Him to the test, whether He was able to give what they wanted. Well, God “gave them their request” (Psalms 106:15; Numbers 11:31-32). Because they kept nagging, God gave what they had asked for. He could have withheld it from them, but He wanted to teach them a lesson. That lesson is that a desire that comes from one’s own will does not lead to health, but to a wasting disease. Unfortunately, the lesson was not learned, for they continued to sin.
The next sin is that of jealousy (Psalms 106:16). It concerns the jealousy of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16:1-3). They became “envious of Moses in the camp” as the leader of the people through whom God spoke to the people. They also became jealous “of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD”, that is, the priest set apart by the LORD for Himself to represent His people to Him.
Instead of the desire to serve, these people longed to take the first place in God’s people, just as Diotrephes wanted in the church (3 John 1:9). The disciples also disputed among them as to “which one of them was regarded to be greatest” (Luke 22:24). Therefore, this is a serious warning to each of us.
The judgment on this jealousy was severely punished by the LORD (Psalms 106:17). For it was a frontal attack on His government of the people. It was a conspiracy against the LORD (Numbers 16:11). Korah and his followers wanted the position of Aaron while Dathan and Abiram wanted the position of Moses.
The punishment was consistent with this. The judgment He executed on Dathan and Abiram – Korah is not mentioned here (cf. Deuteronomy 11:6) – had not been executed before, it was “something new” (Numbers 16:30-33). The punishment of Dathan and Abiram was that they entered the kingdom of the dead alive. The same will happen to the two beasts (Revelation 19:20). The judgment on Korah was fire from heaven, as on Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron (Leviticus 10:1-2).
There was also “a fire” that came from the LORD (Numbers 16:35a), which “blazed up in their company” (Psalms 106:18). The ferocity of the judgment is emphasized by adding that “a flame consumed the wicked”. Thus “two hundred and fifty men” were consumed (Numbers 16:35b). Here we see how horrible sinful, selfish jealousy is to God.
Then the psalmist mentions the sin of idolatry (Psalms 106:19; Deuteronomy 9:7-16). He refers to “a calf in Horeb” which they had made (Exodus 32:1-4). This is a violation of the second commandment (Exodus 20:4-6). They “worshiped a molten image”. In doing so, they had particularly grieved God Who had so clearly revealed Himself in His lovingkindness to them.
By this worship of a piece of dead matter they had “exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass” (Psalms 106:20). The addition “that eats grass” makes the absurdity of worshiping the animal all the greater. Their Glory was God Himself (Jeremiah 2:11). How foolish can a man be to exchange Him for a mindless, grass-eating animal!
Paul quotes this verse in Romans 1, for this verse makes it clear what the result is when man exchanges the glory of the imperishable God for something resembling a perishable, transient man or animal. The result is that God gives him over to uncleanness in the lusts of his heart (Romans 1:23-24). If we are not blind, we see it all around us today.
In Exodus 32, the issue is that they have “a feast for the LORD” using an image (Exodus 32:4-5). They believed that they had not forsaken the LORD. They had merely sought a tool of their own choosing to serve the LORD. Something similar is done by Nadab and Abihu later by offering an incense sacrifice with their own fire, something the LORD had not commanded (Leviticus 10:1).
This should also be a warning to us. No, serving another god, that is not what we want. Serving the Lord in our own way, the way we like it, yes, that is what we want. Many Christians seek church services where they feel at home (cf. Judges 17:13). This is always a danger for every believer. We must always remember that we can only worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). This history is a warning against it.
They not only forgot the works of God (Psalms 106:13), but “they forgot God their Savior” Himself (Psalms 106:21). God’s people fell into idolatry with all the debauchery that goes with it because they forgot Him, “Who had done great things in Egypt”. There He proved to be “their Savior”, that is, their Rescuer, their Deliverer, their Keeper.
To save them He had done “wonders in the land of Ham” and “awesome things by the Red Sea” (Psalms 106:22; Deuteronomy 10:21). These things should continue to capture the imagination. What God had done in Egypt and at the Red Sea should have constantly filled them with the utmost confidence in His omnipotence. But they had forgotten Him. This may well speak to our hearts and consciences, that we may never forget what He has done for us in our redemption.
To such forgetfulness among His people and the resulting idolatry, God could not respond other than with the threat to destroy them (Psalms 106:23). He was, to put it humanly, sick of His people. He would have carried out His intention “had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him” (cf. Ezekiel 22:30).
Just as a soldier stands in the breach of a wall to prevent the enemy from passing through with the use of his life, so Moses lay before God to avert God’s wrath. Because of Moses’ passionate pleading, God did not destroy them and they were spared (Deuteronomy 9:25-29).
In this, Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus, Who is the great Intercessor and Advocate for His people on earth. Only through His intercession with God will a remnant of God’s people cross the finish line and enter the blessing. This applies not only to God’s earthly people, Israel, but also to God’s heavenly people, the church (Romans 8:34).
Psalms 140:13
Rebellion in the Wilderness
Now here is a list of Israel’s sins from their first steps in the wilderness that they had to pass through to get to the promised land. Israel’s sins began back in Egypt. These sins in the wilderness are actually just a continuation of their earlier sins of unbelief. The sins in the wilderness begin with forgetting and impatience (Psalms 106:13). God’s works on their behalf in their redemption from Egypt, their passage through the Red Sea, and the judgment on their enemies were forgotten by them “quickly” or “with haste”. What tragedies follow from this. Let us not judge them harshly. How quickly do we forget all God’s works for our benefit?
When we forget God’s lovingkindness to us, we quickly become impatient and begin to grumble (Philippians 2:14; 1 Peter 4:9). We forget how many times He has already provided and complain about our circumstances. The people began to complain about lack of water and food (Exodus 15:24; Exodus 16:2-3). They did not ask Him about it and could not muster the patience to wait for His counsel. They were not looking to Him, but to what they were lacking. There was lack. That was a reason for them to grumble.
The sins of the people we find each time in duplicate, at the beginning and at the end of the wilderness journey. It is so with the sin of grumbling: read Exodus 15-17 and Numbers 14-17. So is it with water from the rock; so is it with the craving for flesh: read Exodus 16 and Numbers 11. This indicates that these sins are characteristic of the entire wilderness journey. In Exodus 16 it is about lust for flesh, in Numbers 11 also about dissatisfaction with the manna.
When God gives them what they ask for, they are “craved intensely in the wilderness” (Psalms 106:14; Numbers 11:4; 6; 33; Psalms 78:18; 28-29; 1 Corinthians 10:6). With their craving they “tempted God in the desert”. They put Him to the test, whether He was able to give what they wanted. Well, God “gave them their request” (Psalms 106:15; Numbers 11:31-32). Because they kept nagging, God gave what they had asked for. He could have withheld it from them, but He wanted to teach them a lesson. That lesson is that a desire that comes from one’s own will does not lead to health, but to a wasting disease. Unfortunately, the lesson was not learned, for they continued to sin.
The next sin is that of jealousy (Psalms 106:16). It concerns the jealousy of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16:1-3). They became “envious of Moses in the camp” as the leader of the people through whom God spoke to the people. They also became jealous “of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD”, that is, the priest set apart by the LORD for Himself to represent His people to Him.
Instead of the desire to serve, these people longed to take the first place in God’s people, just as Diotrephes wanted in the church (3 John 1:9). The disciples also disputed among them as to “which one of them was regarded to be greatest” (Luke 22:24). Therefore, this is a serious warning to each of us.
The judgment on this jealousy was severely punished by the LORD (Psalms 106:17). For it was a frontal attack on His government of the people. It was a conspiracy against the LORD (Numbers 16:11). Korah and his followers wanted the position of Aaron while Dathan and Abiram wanted the position of Moses.
The punishment was consistent with this. The judgment He executed on Dathan and Abiram – Korah is not mentioned here (cf. Deuteronomy 11:6) – had not been executed before, it was “something new” (Numbers 16:30-33). The punishment of Dathan and Abiram was that they entered the kingdom of the dead alive. The same will happen to the two beasts (Revelation 19:20). The judgment on Korah was fire from heaven, as on Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron (Leviticus 10:1-2).
There was also “a fire” that came from the LORD (Numbers 16:35a), which “blazed up in their company” (Psalms 106:18). The ferocity of the judgment is emphasized by adding that “a flame consumed the wicked”. Thus “two hundred and fifty men” were consumed (Numbers 16:35b). Here we see how horrible sinful, selfish jealousy is to God.
Then the psalmist mentions the sin of idolatry (Psalms 106:19; Deuteronomy 9:7-16). He refers to “a calf in Horeb” which they had made (Exodus 32:1-4). This is a violation of the second commandment (Exodus 20:4-6). They “worshiped a molten image”. In doing so, they had particularly grieved God Who had so clearly revealed Himself in His lovingkindness to them.
By this worship of a piece of dead matter they had “exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass” (Psalms 106:20). The addition “that eats grass” makes the absurdity of worshiping the animal all the greater. Their Glory was God Himself (Jeremiah 2:11). How foolish can a man be to exchange Him for a mindless, grass-eating animal!
Paul quotes this verse in Romans 1, for this verse makes it clear what the result is when man exchanges the glory of the imperishable God for something resembling a perishable, transient man or animal. The result is that God gives him over to uncleanness in the lusts of his heart (Romans 1:23-24). If we are not blind, we see it all around us today.
In Exodus 32, the issue is that they have “a feast for the LORD” using an image (Exodus 32:4-5). They believed that they had not forsaken the LORD. They had merely sought a tool of their own choosing to serve the LORD. Something similar is done by Nadab and Abihu later by offering an incense sacrifice with their own fire, something the LORD had not commanded (Leviticus 10:1).
This should also be a warning to us. No, serving another god, that is not what we want. Serving the Lord in our own way, the way we like it, yes, that is what we want. Many Christians seek church services where they feel at home (cf. Judges 17:13). This is always a danger for every believer. We must always remember that we can only worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). This history is a warning against it.
They not only forgot the works of God (Psalms 106:13), but “they forgot God their Savior” Himself (Psalms 106:21). God’s people fell into idolatry with all the debauchery that goes with it because they forgot Him, “Who had done great things in Egypt”. There He proved to be “their Savior”, that is, their Rescuer, their Deliverer, their Keeper.
To save them He had done “wonders in the land of Ham” and “awesome things by the Red Sea” (Psalms 106:22; Deuteronomy 10:21). These things should continue to capture the imagination. What God had done in Egypt and at the Red Sea should have constantly filled them with the utmost confidence in His omnipotence. But they had forgotten Him. This may well speak to our hearts and consciences, that we may never forget what He has done for us in our redemption.
To such forgetfulness among His people and the resulting idolatry, God could not respond other than with the threat to destroy them (Psalms 106:23). He was, to put it humanly, sick of His people. He would have carried out His intention “had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him” (cf. Ezekiel 22:30).
Just as a soldier stands in the breach of a wall to prevent the enemy from passing through with the use of his life, so Moses lay before God to avert God’s wrath. Because of Moses’ passionate pleading, God did not destroy them and they were spared (Deuteronomy 9:25-29).
In this, Moses is a picture of the Lord Jesus, Who is the great Intercessor and Advocate for His people on earth. Only through His intercession with God will a remnant of God’s people cross the finish line and enter the blessing. This applies not only to God’s earthly people, Israel, but also to God’s heavenly people, the church (Romans 8:34).