[This post is an elaboration on a point in my sermon “The Consolations of God in the Gospel” from Acts 13:13–52. You can also see the distillation of that sermon in this post].
Acts 13:18
And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.
God has patience with you. Once God had brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt, he then “put up with them” for forty years in the wilderness. While this may initially sound strange or even begrudging of God, just consider this from God’s perspective. God had delivered Israel from Egypt with a mighty, uplifted arm and powerful signs and wonders. Psalm 78 provides an insightful recap of God’s manifest mercy to Israel, Israel’s recalcitrant rebellion, and God’s perennial patience toward them,
In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light (Psalm 78:12–14).
And, once they were on the other side, God gave them a torrent of crisp, cool water to slake their thirst one hundred times over…in the desert,
He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers (Psalm 78:15–16).
And even after all this, they still rebelled against God when he opened the door to the Promise Land and said, “Go up and take it!”
Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert (Psalm 78:17; see Deuteronomy 9:23; Numbers 14:1–4).
And yet, God did not abandon them. Rather, he exercised undeserved patience toward them. God knew that the hearts of the people were haughty and disobedient, and that they would not keep his commands. But they didn’t see their heart problem yet. So, God resolved to patiently humble them in order to lead them to obedience. He did this by testing them in the wilderness for forty years so that they could finally see what was in their hearts,
And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not (Deuteronomy 8:2).
And throughout the wilderness, Israel’s proclivity to disobey was on full display,
They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?” (Psalm 78:18–20).
Why? Why did the people continue to rebel?
Because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power (Psalm 78:22).
And yet, God stuck with them. He miraculously provided manna and meat for them (Psalm 78:23–29). And, he did not withhold the gift of his discipline or provision even when they continued to sin (Psalm 78:30–33).
God’s patience toward Israel and her sinfulness was not God simply indulging sin. God wielded his perfect patience toward Israel in order to lead her to repentance, in order to lead her to him,
When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer (Psalm 78:34–35).
But how could a holy God simply pass over such sin and rebellion. How could he exercise such patience? Because he would atone for their sin,
Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath (Psalm 78:38).
God planned to provide for them a David to be their king and shepherd, who would lead them to obedience,
He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance. With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand (Psalm 78:70–72).
And just as God showed perfect patience to Israel in order to reveal to them their proneness to rebel and lead them to repentance, God extends his perfect patience to you for the same purpose. God showers the “riches of his kindness and forbearance, and patience” on you in order to “lead you to repentance” (Romans 2:4). And that patience to pass over your sins was bought by the blood of your King and your Shepherd, David’s Son, Jesus
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins (Romans 3:23–25).
Think of all the indwelling sin that can still breakout of the barren places in your heart as you walk with the Lord through this wilderness of the world. Think of the tendencies for your old flesh to rebel against the God you love, to not believe in him nor trust his saving power. And then think of the fountain of patience that floods your life and fills you like water rising from the rock in the wilderness. God affords you this blood-bought patience to show you kindness and lead you to repentance.
God has patience with you. This is a gospel consolation for you.
