Israel’s Rebellion in the Wilderness

The LORD brought Israel into the wilderness and gave them statutes by which a person could live, along with Sabbaths as a sign that He sanctified them. But the house of Israel rebelled there, despising His ordinances and profaning His Sabbaths, so He resolved to pour out wrath and later swore that generation would not enter the good land. Still, He spared them from full destruction for the sake of His name.

S¹⁰o I brought them out of the land of Egypt and led them into the wilderness. ¹¹And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances— for the man who does these things will live by them. ¹²I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. ¹³Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances— though the man who does these things will live by them — and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness. ¹⁴But I acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵Moreover, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them— a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands — ¹⁶because they kept rejecting My ordinances, refusing to walk in My statutes, and profaning My Sabbaths; for their hearts continually went after their idols. ¹⁷Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or bring them to an end in the wilderness.

God warned the children not to imitate their fathers but to keep His statutes and honor His Sabbaths. They also rebelled, leading Him again to threaten wrath, swear scattering among the nations, and expose them to the bitter consequences of their desires. In handing them over to statutes that did not bring life, He let their defiling gifts, including passing firstborn children through the fire, become a means of judgment that would teach them who He is.

¹⁸In the wilderness I said to their children: ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. ²⁰Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’ ²¹But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances — though the man who does these things will live by them — and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the wilderness. ²²But I withheld My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ²³However, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands. ²⁴For they did not practice My ordinances, but they rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, fixing their eyes on the idols of their fathers. ²⁵I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live. ²⁶And I pronounced them unclean through their gifts — the sacrifice of every firstborn in the fire — so that I might devastate them, in order that they would know that I am the LORD.