“They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.
But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies.”
Nehemiah 9:25b-26
Last time we peeked in on the descendants of our exodused Israelites inheriting the fertile land, overflowing homes, already-dug wells, and blessings they had not earned. Today we see how this bounty turned to bitterness.
“They ate (akal – consume, devour, share, eat freely, enjoy, feast) and were filled (saba – sated, satisfied, enough, full, plenty, saturate) and grew fat (shamen – fat, insensitive, render, shine, oily)…”
They freely feasted and enjoyed, were satisfied and grew fat and shiny…
Of course to our modern sensibilities, this verse ending in “they grew fat” does not seem like a good thing. However, for a formerly enslaved people, whose descendants previously ate manna from heaven with quail mixed in, it was a bountiful, uncharacteristic situation. One in which they reveled.
“…and delighted (adan – to luxuriate, revel, delight self, soft or pleasant, live voluptuously; from eden – delicate, luxury, dainty, delight, pleasure) themselves in your great (gadol – great, deep, extreme, high, marvelous, mighty, spacious, vast) goodness (tub – best things, bounty, goodness, prosperity).”
…and reveled voluptuously in the luxury and pleasure of your mighty, spacious goodness/best things.
I feel it is important to point out this was the proper reaction. We are not reading about our ancient Israelites reveling in God’s bounty as a warning to us. This inhaling with all their senses the wonderful things Yahweh provided was right and good. It is the delight of lovers, the feasters at a party after a long harvest, the celebration after hard work, a refreshing dip in a pool after a sun-scorched afternoon. Basically, it’s the good stuff of life. And the Good Giver was also reveled in.
He is the bounty, the Best Thing. He is Goodness and our spiritual prosperity. And when we do not worship the gifts over the Giver, we can feel the smile of our Good Father.
Unfortunately, that was not our ancient Israelites’ response.
“But they were disobedient (marah – bitter, contentious, rebellious) and rebelled (marad – to rebel) against You and cast (shalak – to fling, throw, cast off, throw away, hurl) Your law (torah) behind (achar – hind part, following) their backs.”
But they became bitter and contentious and rebelled against You, hurling Your law behind their backs.
Something I appreciate is how when I’m studying a topic, God often allows me to personally experience it. I have had a week in which my bitterness has been challenged. In areas I did not even know I hadn’t forgiven or let go or needed to. I wish I could say I passed with flying colors each opportunity given, but that is not true.
And, of course, these moments have been in the midst of His lavish provision. We are so well taken care of, having all we could ever need, and yet my heart still often whispers, “Did God really say?”
I have thought before about how, when you’re young in your faith, you tend to look at older saints and assume their longer walk with Jesus means they rarely have any sin to confess. Well, as someone no longer considered young, it seems His mercy comes by showing me more often my brokenness and need. But the awareness is tempered by His sublime grace and an unconditional love casting out fear.
So in that spirit, how about you? Anything been popping up in your heart showing you bitterness, contention, or rebellion? Has it perhaps been on the heels of reveling in His spacious goodness or bounty? It is easy to point fingers at our main characters in today’s passage until we realize we are they.
And the scariest part of this section is how the Israelites flung, cast off, threw away Torah behind their backs. The picture is one of making Torah follow them rather than the other way around. This should give us shivers.
When we come to understand the trustworthy Law-Giver, it is so much easier to submit to a love-driven law. But no matter our individual or corporate steps in this process of knowing His heart, to rebel against Divine Truth is never the way to peace.
“They killed (harag – slay, murder, slaughter) your prophets (nabi – spokesman, speaker, inspired man) who had testified (uwd – admonish, return, repeat, bear witness, charge, lift up, protest, testify, restore, lift up, relieve, give warning, stand upright) against them…”
They slayed your spokesmen who had admonished/bore witness/protested/warned them…
Ah yes, the natural reaction when confronted with Truth we do not wish to hear: to slaughter the truth-giver. Once again, it is simply an interesting plot line until we realize how often we do it ourselves.
When I am faced with an inconvenient truth about myself or my actions, the last thing my pride wants is to welcome it in and allow it to teach me. The defending, denying, explaining and side-stepping is a long process before I will receive. If I will receive.
How about you? If someone bears witness to truth in your life, or gives you a warning in love, what is your reaction? Why? Is there perhaps not enough saturation of our identities in His love and acceptance? We have to start there, friends, or the difficult truths feel far too scary to confront. We have to know that we know He is for us, even when His love has parental discipline involved.
But how about us corporately? How are we as His Body handling Truth shared by His spokesmen? When it becomes clear His Spirit is moving in a certain direction, and that direction forces us to face hard things individually and collectively, what is our reaction?
Obviously, it will sting. Antiseptic on a wound always does. And the definition is clear those listening to God and informing the people are bringing charges against us. Admonish, bear witness, protest, and give warning are not palatable.
But what about some of those other synonyms? “To return, restore, lift up, relieve, stand upright?” What if we focused on those, keeping in mind that anyone warning us must care enough to make sure we are aware. And God indeed cares. Mostly because of the ultimate outcome of the warning:
“…to turn them (shub – turn back, return, bring back ) to Yourself (el – into, towards, within…first love)…”
…To turn them back towards You/First Love.
To return to Him was to be relieved and restored, redeemed and stood upright. The way to be a light to all nations, yes, but also the only way to live in satisfaction themselves. We can only fight against the way God has made us to live for so long before we realize Someone needs to stand us upright again.
“…they committed (asah – worked, accomplished) great (gadol – bitter, deep, high, prominent) blasphemies (n’atsah – provocations, blasphemy, contempt, scorn; from naats – to spurn, reject, treat with contempt).”
They committed high blasphemies/treated You with scorn and contempt.
The use of that word great two times in today’s verses is significant. Compare “great goodness” (gadol tub) with “great blasphemies” (gadol natsah). High, prominent, mighty best things versus high, prominent, deep contempt.
This is the way of walking with Yahweh. To experience Him as our Ultimate Best and His provision as best things for us versus slaughtering (with words or actions) those seeking to warn us, and showing contempt for His kindness.
Some days the Good News is everything, isn’t it? We are so prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love. Fortunately, we have a Perfectly Obedient Substitute, a Prophet, Priest, and King Who walked the way of Yahweh on our behalf.
He will guide us in that way still.