And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, “Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?” (Deuteronomy 31:17)
No one likes trouble to come into their life but, in this particular case, the trouble was, by and large, self inflicted — the consequence of poor choices. When Israel decided to turn from the Almighty to the gods of Canaan, in time, He determined to remove Himself from their midst. They, in fact, come to realize this and even admitted it to one another — “Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?” Therefore, the evil and troubles that eventually came upon them was evidence that God had removed His presence from Israel.
Years before, when it looked as if God might remove His Presence from Israel as a result of the Golden Calf, Moses began to intercede. In fact, had it not been for Moses’ intercession, God would have not been in their midst and they would have been compelled to make the journey without the Almighty going before them. Furthermore, it is likely that there would not have been a Sanctuary, whose very purpose was so that God could dwell in the midst of the people. “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” (Exodus 25:8)
And so then, if evil and trouble is the consequence of our poor choices and the evidence that His Presence is not among us, then let us consider the remedy. Let us turn from every idol and every distraction that would draw us away from the One who truly loves us. With all of our heart, let us turn back to Him, as it is written: “And you will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). There is no doubt that He still desires to dwell among us but, it would seem, only when we are desirous that His Presence be among us. If that is our desire, the evidence will be demonstrated when we diligently seek Him because, as Messiah said, if we do seek Him, we will find Him (Matthew 7:7).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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