Wondered by the Word — The Bible in a YearSample

God Knows, Yet Pursues

Key Verse: Deuteronomy 31:16-23

Imagine if you were told that one of your dearest friends would betray you in the future, but they didn’t know that you knew? Would you remain friends with them or end the friendship to keep from getting hurt? Most of us would choose the latter. 

Aren’t you glad God wouldn’t respond like us, knowing all that He knows about us? 

In Deuteronomy 31, we see the long-suffering love of God towards His people in a powerful way. Up to this point, Moses was the chosen one to lead the people of Israel through the wilderness, and now Joshua was being commissioned to lead them into Canaan, what God called the Promised Land. And here is what God says to Moses in that transition:

“Behold you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them…” (Deuteronomy 31:16)

Yet God tells Moses to write a song to teach the people to be a witness for Him against the people when they rebel (verse 19).

God goes on to say,

“For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness…” (verses 20-21)

Because of God’s steadfast love, He extended mercy through the song He gave Moses so that they would remember Him and turn their hearts towards Him when they rebelled. 

Isn’t it mindblowing that God knows our hearts’ wickedness yet still provides us mercy and grace every day through His Son Jesus? 

While we deal with the consequences of our rebellion, as Israel did, God’s amazing love and grace don’t dismiss us. We see this throughout Israel’s journey, and the prayer is that we would know it to be true in our lives. May it humble us to pursue the One who promises to pursue us.

(Written by Yodit Kifle Smith)