44.n. “Wilderness” – 8.t. “They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them”

 

 

Exodus 32:7  And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’”

 Deuteronomy 9:12   Then the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.’

 Deuteronomy 4:16    beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

 Deuteronomy 32:5    They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation.

 Judges 2:19    But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

God says to Moses, that the Israelites had corrupted themselves. Sin is the corruption of the sinner, and it is a self-corruption; every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust. They had turned aside out of the way. Sin is a departing from the way of duty into a by-path. They soon forgot God’s works. He sees what they cannot discover, nor is any wickedness of the world hid from him. We could not bear to see the thousandth part of that evil which God sees every day. (Henry)

As soon as our eyes fall away from God, our purposes change and our commitment wanes. Why does God’s Word say for us to keep our eyes on Jesus, meditate on the Word of God, and write His Word on our hearts and minds, because of how easy it is for us to fall away into wrong thinking and living and speaking. It does us well to have close friends of faith who speak of God and things of God each day. This world and what it has to offer will blind us to the things of God if we neglect His Word and become complacent in our walk with Him.