He Put Up With Their Ways

by Micky Galloway

The apostle Paul was sent out from Antioch (in Syria) on the first preaching tour. He passed through Perga and came to Antioch (in Pisidia). As his custom was, he went into the Jewish synagogue and sat down. The text continues, “And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. And Paul stood up, and beckoning with the hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, hearken” (Acts 13:15-16). Paul gladly accepted the invitation to speak. As he reviewed God’s dealings with Israel in the past we note the words, “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness” (Acts 13:17-18 NKJV).

The Israelites had witnessed the plagues brought upon the Egyptians. They saw the miraculous parting of the waters of the Red Sea and had crossed on dry land. They saw how God “overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, even all the host of Pharaoh that went in after them into the sea; there remained not so much as one of them” (Exodus 14:27-31). Then after three days from their exodus from Egypt, they began to complain, “Saying, What shall we drink?” (Exodus 15:24). A short time later they complained, “Would that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exodus 16:3).

Israel “mourned greatly” the day they were told they had to return to wander in the wilderness for forty long years as the consequence of their sin (Numbers 14:39). They stood on the border of the promised land “flowing with milk and honey” (Numbers 14:8), but were forced back into the desert and told, “And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness” (Numbers 14:33). During this awful time in their history, the people complained, “And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place?” The apostle Paul used this period of Old Testament history to teach the importance of being faithful to God. He said, “Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (I Corinthians 10:11-12). Though they all shared the same prospect of reaching Canaan, “with most of them God was not well pleased.” All but two, Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 14:30), who were twenty years old and older when they left Egypt, forgot God’s goodness and forsook Moses’ and God’s commandments.

Paul mentioned several specific areas where they fell short. They lusted after evil things (Numbers 11:4-35; Psalms 106:7, 21). Their concept of what God had prepared for them never seemed to rise above the physical. They tired of manna and wished for the meat, melon, leeks, and onions of Egypt. They committed idolatry (Exodus 32). As they journeyed to Canaan, instead of looking to God, they looked back to Egypt (Acts 7:39) and built and worshiped a golden calf. God was sorely displeased, and 3,000 Israelites died. They committed fornication (Numbers 25:1-9) as they played the harlot with the women of Moab and worshiped their idols. As the result, 24,000 died of a plague. They tempted the Lord (Numbers 21:4-9). They tried God’s patience as they journeyed from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea. They were reluctant to go around Edom, and they complained, “Our soul loatheth this light bread.” God sent fiery serpents to bite the people, and many of them died. They continually murmured. As a result of this sin, on one occasion 14,700 died (Numbers 16:41-50). This followed on the heels of the deaths of the 250 who followed Korah (Numbers 16:31-35). They eventually had to fight their way back to the land “flowing with milk and honey.” They had to put up with a lot in the wilderness, but Paul emphasized, “Now for a time of about forty years HE put up with their ways in the wilderness” (Acts 13:17-18 NKJV). God put up with more than they did.

Unfortunately, Christians today ignore the lessons to be learned from the past and, in spite of God’s blessings, commit the same sins. We compromise our efforts by holding hands with the world and approving sinful things because they are socially acceptable. Too often, fornication and adultery are found and tolerated within the church (cf. I Corinthians 5:4, 9; Galatians 5:19). We tempt God by calling into question the need to adhere to the “doctrine (singular mg) of Christ” (cf. II John 9-11). We try to transform Him into a god who accepts everything and condemns nothing, who has fellowship with all kinds of beliefs and those who teach them. When we suffer, we grumble and complain, failing to give place to the chastening of the Lord (cf. Hebrews 12:4-13; Revelation 3:19). We think the only way to worship an idol is to erect and bow before an image of stone or precious metal. Indeed, idolatry is the act of putting anything before God (cf. Matthew 6:33).

Had you been an Israelite in the desert, I doubt you would have thought God was the one putting up with you. After all, you were the one in an “evil place” suffering from thirst, serpents, enemies, and temptations! You were the one learning and keeping a multitude of commandments while trying to avoid a capital offense. Yet, Paul affirms that it was actually God who was the one being patient, tolerant, and longsuffering. Indeed, God puts up with a lot from us. We are assured that God is “longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9). However, we are also assured that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (II Peter 3:10). God put up with Israel’s wickedness for a long time, but the day of wrath did come. Perhaps it is time to stop complaining, praise Him for His goodness, and act with conviction.