Psalm 78:1–72

Outline of Chapter 78

Inscription/Title

       vv.    1–2        Introduction

       vv.    3–8        Instructions from past generations to our children

       vv.    9–29      God’s provision for Israel during the exodus; Israel’s rejection of God

       vv.   30–33      God’s great anger against Israel

       vv.   34–39      God’s restraint despite their reversionism

       vv.   40–51      Israel’s rebellion despite the great works of God against Egypt

       vv.   52–55      God settles His people into the Land of Promise

       vv.   56–64      Israel’s rebellion causes God to disperse them while under great discipline

       vv.   65–72      Y^ehowah returns to Israel and rules as David

Charts and Maps

       v.     20           Israel’s Complaints and God’s Provisions

       v.     23           Opening the Doors and Windows of Heaven

       v.     40           God’s Response to Israel’s Rebellious Acts

Introduction: Psalm 78 is the first Psalm of those which I will teach at the end of the book of Exodus. This was written by Asaph, who lived during the time of David and Solomon. Asaph takes the facts of history and interprets them; believers with doctrine can often interpret the trends of history. This Psalm will examine the rebellious generation which left Egypt; the great deeds which God did in their behalf, and their response. Then it will look backwards at the exodus itself and the signs performed by God in order to take Israel out of Egypt. The hearer of this Psalm, by implication, is to be forewarned of repeating the previous mistakes of his ancestors. The hearer is to be motivated to obey and to worship God because of the acts of kindness God has shown toward Israel and His power as demonstrated through His mighty acts. Correspondingly, unfaithfulness is the more blameworthy because it contemptuously disregards all God’s wonderful acts in his people’s behalf.

There is an overriding structure to this psalm which is easy to miss when slugging it out verse by verse. The key is that there is a rift between the northern and southern groups of Israelites, represented by Ephraim and by Judah. The psalmist will conclude that God has placed the authority in the hands of Judah through David, after comparing Ephraim to gen X, their spiritual ancestors. God’s Law was designed for all of Israel, which is part of the thrust of vv. 4–8. When we go through this carefully, you will see that, although a contrast is set up between Ephraim and Judah, that nothing is said clearly about a separation of the two nations, either prophetically or historically. The psalmist, as a student of historical events (Asaph was well-versed in the Pentateuch, as we will observe in his psalms), could see trouble on the horizon, although he is not at all certain of what it is beyond a schism. The strongest thing that Asaph would write was: He [God] also rejected the tent of Joseph and He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but He chose the tribe of Judah [and] Mount Zion, which He loved. Furthermore, He built His sanctuary like the high places, like the earth which He has founded forever. And He chose David, His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds, from the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him to shepherd Jacob, His people, and Israel, His inheritance (Psalm 78:67–71). So you see, it is possible that the psalmist wrote of a divided kingdom here, but it is more likely he wrote of an ongoing schism.

Finally, this Psalm will settle in on the day of Asaph and the choosing by God of the tribe of Judah to rule and David as the ruler of Israel. Since the bulk of this Psalm deals with the time of Moses, I felt this would be the appropriate place to insert its exegesis.

Introduction

The first line is the title of the Psalm, found in most Psalms in the original languages. The KJV places them in italics, which usually indicates that these words were not in the original languages. However, this is not the case with the Psalms. The superscript is a part of Scripture, often identifying the writer, the type of Psalm and even to whom the Psalm is dedicated to or addressed to.

The word maskil is obviously a transliteration which most people believe to mean instructive. It is very close to the word for prudence, insight. Thirteen of the Psalms are so labeled (Psalms 32, 42, 44, 45, 52–55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142). Asaph ben Berachiah of the family Gershom, was the head of the service of music under kings David and Solomon. He is mentioned in I Chron. 6:39 15:17 16:5 II Chron. 5:12 and was the author of at least twelve Psalms (Psalm 50, 73–83). Quite likely, these twelve were grouped together at one time.

It has been suggested that Asaph possibly lived until the period of the divided kingdom, as he mentions Ephraim (vv. 9, 67) and Judah (v. 68) in this psalm, the names of the two countries of the divided kingdom (the use of the name of Israel in v. 21 is insignificant because it is used in contrast with the name Jacob). Although the Northern Kingdom was named Israel, and the Southern Kingdom, Judah, but often the Northern Kingdom was indicated by calling it Ephraim (this is particularly true of the prophets Hosea and Isaiah). Or, it is suggested that someone in the family of Asaph wrote this psalm after the dividing of the kingdoms and attached the family name to it. Many excellent Bible teachers, including Barnes, subscribe to this psalm being written after the separation of the two kingdoms. However, the better explanation is that the rift between the northern and southern kingdoms preceded the break between them by several decades at least. You do not have a great unity between the two and then, suddenly, overnight, a division. This is something which requires time and Asaph, who could interpret past history, could also see historical trends and correctly interpret events current to his time period. The Northern kingdom always seemed to be more influenced by the outside world and heathenism. Their very position put them into closer contact with Moab, Ammon, Syria, Zobah, Bashan and Phœnicia. The Southern Kingdom was primarily in contract with Philistia, Edom and the Amalekites. Furthermore, Judah seemed to maintain a greater spiritual purity than did the Israelites in the north. When we enter into the book of the Judges, a time of great degeneracy, we will find that most of it deals with the tribes in the north and Judah will be rarely mentioned (primarily in chapters 1 and 15, along with four more scattered references). What we do know is that Asaph was an excellent student of history, often citing the events of the exodus and following to make his point. The student of history is often able to get a good read on current events as well. He observed an ever-growing schism between the north and the south and pointed out to the arrogant northern tribe of Ephraim that God chose both David to rule and Zion to be the mountain of His tabernacle.

The time during which this psalm was written, to whom it was written and the surrounding circumstances have a great deal to do with its interpretation. There are many reasons to believe that this psalm was written due to a split in the kingdom, whether historical from the standpoint of the psalmist, or future from his observations. Ephraim is mentioned right out of the blue in v. 9 and then reminded carefully of the transgressions of their spiritual fathers, apostate Israel, during the time of the exodus. The conclusion is that God chose the tent of Judah, resulting in the leadership of King David (Vv. 68–70) and God did not choose Ephraim from out of Joseph (v. 67). As has already been discussed, the kingdom split did not have to already occur for this psalm to be written.

Psalm 77, also a psalm of Asaph, ends with Moses and Aaron shepherding Israel. Psalm 78 ends with David shepherding Israel. Psalm 79 ends with a tribute to God on behalf of God’s people and the sheep of His pasture. Therefore, it would seem that these three Psalms were written together, or written to belong together.

It has been suggested that there were two different Asaph’s who lived and composed music during this time period, but I really don’t know how likely that is. I imagine it is possible, but both at the same time doing the same thing seems unlikely. The apparent problem is that some of these Psalms contain prayers from a later time (e.g., Psalm 74, 79, 83). And the explanation give is that these Psalms may have been composed or edited by his ancestors or by a counterfeit Asaph—that is, some writer who adds Asaph’s name to his work to give it more authority. However, their content primarily concerns the dispersion of Israel, a theme of God’s Word all the way back to Lev. 26. Therefore, it is not necessary that these Psalms be written during the dispersion of Israel but from the standpoint of one being in the dispersion of Israel. And, from the conservative point of view, we are told in the Bible that these psalms belong to Asaph; therefore, they are Asaph’s.

Okay, now you may think that I am hedging. I would not allow Moses to write his obituary in advance but I would allow prophecy here. Why? The entire context of the end of Deuteronomy, including the fact that Moses gave the completed Law to the Levites prior to the end of Deuteronomy indicates that the remainder of that book was finished by someone else, although it clearly bears the signature of Moses in the blessing and in his song. Furthermore, the idea of Moses pre-writing his death is silly. It would not necessarily be read by anyone prior to his death and it is not a prophecy of great import. Moses was a man of great importance and he was the spiritual hero of the Old Testament. It is fitting that his book bear his obituary as a post script. However, his death is not important enough to prophesy. Prophecies concerning Messiah and prophecies concerning the future of Israel—these are the prophecies found throughout Scripture. And since the dispersion of Israel is not some hidden and obscure doctrine, the idea that a psalmist would write about it in advance is not atypical of Biblical prophecy. Many of David’s psalms were prophetic. Therefore, we do not have to concoct some bizarre explanation concerning the psalms of Asaph when they become prophetical. This particular psalm will deal with the dispersion of Israel (vv. 59–64); it is unreasonable to suppose that someone had to append this portion later because Scripture in several places prior to this predicts the dispersion and then the regathering of Israel.

Prefixed to the name of Asaph, we have the lâmed preposition, which usually means to, for; however, here, it means belonging to, by. This is the common by-line of the majority of the Psalms. This identifies the writer of the Psalm. Asaph is identified by our Lord as a prophet in Matt. 13:35, where He quotes Psalm 78:2, further insuring its inspiration.

We begin with a call from Asaph to listen to what he has to say. He tells his audience to listen up. God, when quoted by Isaiah, uses the a similar approach: “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness...Pay attention to Me, of My people; and give ear to Me, O My nation....Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live” (Isa. 51:1a, 4a 55:3a; also see Psalm 49:1). What they are to listen to is the word tôwrâh (ה ָר) [pronounced toe-RAW], which is generally translated law, although it can mean instruction, teaching, protocol. Strong's #8451 and BDB #435.

In this context, it is Asaph speaking to the people. For the first two verses, it appears as though it could be God speaking or it could be Asaph speaking. However, in v. 3, Asaph mentions our fathers, making it clear that the speaker of this psalm is an Israelite and not God.

The phrase I will open my mouth is a Hebraism means that the speaker will speak at length concerning a certain topic; or he will be speaking with great solemnity, liberty or freedom.

Notice that this particular Psalm is set up to where each line is repeated with a slightly different emphasis or a furtherance of the thought of the previous line. This particular portion of this Psalm was prophetic of Jesus Christ. All these things Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables, and He was not talking to them without a parable, so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world (Matt. 13:34–35; Psalm 78:2). Some people become confused at a verse like this—they feel that the only reason Jesus Christ spoke in parables was to fulfill this verse. Not true; this was a part of God’s plan, prophesied a millennium previous; however, to fulfill Scripture was not the only reason for Jesus to speak in parables. There were things which He must keep secret from Satan, things which were revealed by God the Holy Spirit to some of His listeners, and things which make perfect sense to us today. However, as we have studied in the past, Satan entered into Judas in order to see that our Lord was crucified. He had no clue that God used his absolute evil as a part of His plan to bring salvation to us. Furthermore, Jesus spoke in parables so that he would not be publically executed for speaking too plainly about the Word. When Asaph opened his mouth in a parable, the word found in the Greek Septuagint was παραϐολας) [pronounced par-ah-bow-LACE], which we transliterate parable. This is the word mâshâl (ל ָש ָמ) [pronounced maw-SHAWL] means parable, proverb, discourse, memorable recitation, oracle; which we studied in Num. 27 and Deut. 28. It is the same name of the book of Solomon called Proverbs. This word is not an exact equivalent to the Greek word parable (see I Sam. 10:12 I Kings 4:32 Psalm 44:14). Here, mâshâl refers to a comparison or an analogy. Strong's #4912 BDB #605. What the psalmist will be doing is comparing the arrogance of the present-day tribe of Ephraim (present-day to his time period) to the arrogance disobedience of gen X during the time of the exodus. Asaph uses past history to interpret contemporary events.

What is uttered is chîydâh (ה ָדי ̣ח) [pronounced khee-DAWH], which means dark sayings, riddle, enigmatic or perplexing question or saying. It is first found in Num. 12:8 and then not seen again until Judges 14:13–19 and then another half dozen times throughout Scripture. In the Psalms, we find this word only one other time: in Psalm 49:4. Strong’s #2420 (2330) BDB # 295. This is the second, but last, parallel to Psalm 49: I will incline my ear to a parable; I will express my dark saying on the harp (Psalm 49:4). Asaph was clearly a man of Scripture, as he peppered his songs with historical events revealed in Scripture and with a similar phrasing.

Throughout the Old Testament, we have passages which clearly refer to our Lord (Gen. 22 Psalm 2 16 22 40 102 Isa. 53), and we have occasional asides which we can see in retrospect speak of our Lord. There is not always a clear-cut distinction; however, in v. 2, we can look back and see that this was prophetic; however, during that time period, it is unlikely that they saw this verse in that way. This introduces another philisophical question: did the writers of Scripture know that they were writing Scripture and, when they prophesied, did they always recognize that they were prophesying? I think in our study of Moses, it was certainly clear to him when he took dictation from God, during the latter portion of Exodus, most of Leviticus and much of Numbers, that he was recording God’s Word. Duh. However, his historical accounts and narrative which he would weave throughout, he may not have seen as clearly inspired. In fact, it was not until Deuteronomy when I believe that it began to dawn on Moses that what he had prepared to say to Israel was God’s Word. I think that the same is true of prophecy; some authors fully realized what they wrote or spoke was clearly divinely inspired prophecy and others did not. Here, I do not believe that it was even clear to Asaph, the writer of this Psalm, that (1) he was writing Scripture; or, (2) that this particular verse was prophetical.

In my own writing, my attempt is to interpret each verse and each passage as accurately as possible. I examine the works done by men whom I greatly respect, I examine the original language, and I examine the immediate context, attempting to determine the intention of the author as clearly as possible. Even with all this, there are times, although damn few, where I will be in error. When writing, I do not know when this occurs. If I am lucky, I will read something which will cause me to revise my notes and to rethink my position. So just as I do not know when error creeps into my writing, the authors of Scripture do not always realize that they are writing Scripture; and those recording prophecy do not always recognize when they are being prophetical. As the NIV Study Bible points out, these teachings of Asaph have more in common with Stephen’s teachings (Acts 7), than they do with our Lord’s. That is, Asaph primarily studied previous Scripture and history and interpreted it more than he prophesied of events yet to come. Prophecy is not missing from his psalms; however, historical interpretation is his forte’.

Instructions from Past Generations to our Children

Again we have the repetition of thought. At some point in time, they heard these things and after hearing them so much, they learned them. This was doctrine taught to them by their fathers. We have an interesting change of case here: we knew them has a masculine plural suffix (them). However, when looking back to what them is, we find that dark sayings is a feminine plural and parable is in the masculine singular. What the masculine plural does is encompass both dark sayings and parable.

What their fathers do is the very interesting verb çâphar (ר ַפ ָס) [pronounced saw-FAHR], which means, in the Qal, to number (Gen. 15:5 Lev. 15:13 23:16); in the Qal participle, it is often rendered scribe (II Sam. 8:17 II Kings 22:9–10), and in the Piel, it means to recall, to recount, to declare (Ex. 9:16 Judges 6:13 Job 15:17). Strong’s #5608 BDB #707.

Now some people are sensationalists. They feel as though we should have modern-day prophets, those who have visions of Jesus, people speaking in tongues as a common occurrence, and that miracles should be a part of our everyday lives. This is because they read through Genesis and Exodus, but began skimming three-fourths of the way through Exodus, jumped into the New Testament, recognizing that there were certainly prophets in between, and into the gospels, where our Lord performs an almost uncountable number of miracles (John 21:25), and finally stops after reading the first dozen chapters of Acts and the book of Revelation. They never grasp that these were very special times in history; that these were isolated events in history, recorded because we see a more direct handling of events by God, recorded because of the miracles and the signs. But the catch is that most of human history is not filled with spectacular miracles. If you take roughly 6000-10,000 years of history and compare that to the 40 years of the exodus, the 30 year ministry of Elijah (I really don’t know how long his ministry lasted; however, only a small portion of it involved miracles) and the few years of our Lord’s public ministry added to the, say, 30 year early ministry of the Apostles, we are looking at very roughly 1% of all human history. Just because there were great signs and miracles for 1% of human history, this does not mean that we can conclude that we will see great signs and miracles throughout our lifetimes. Gideon was confused on that point. Then Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, sir, but if Y^ehowah is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers wrote us about?” (Judges 6:13a). So if Gideon, who lived only a couple of generations after the time of Moses, complained about the lack of miraculous activity in his immediate periphery, does it not make sense that perhaps we would be lacking in miraculous activity as well?

The first verb is kâchad (ד ַח ָ) [pronounced kaw-KHAHD] means to hide, to conceal; there are places where this verb has been translated cut off in many places (Ex. 9:15 II Chron. 32:21Job 4:7 22:20), which might be better rendered removed. There already is a verb for cut off; since there should be a relationship between these meanings, the relationship is that when something is concealed it appears to be removed. Strong’s #3582 BDB #470. The adjective which describes the generation is ’achărôn (ןר ֱח ַא) [pronounced ah-kha-ROHN] and it means coming after, behind, later. It is derived from a very similar verb. Strong’s #314 BDB #30.

The phrase their sons is significant, inasmuch as distance is emphasized here. It is not a matter of a separate set of people or a different group of people in race, but with respect to time. That is, this is a poetic way of looking well into the future. What is not being concealed from coming generations is a recounting of the things which God had done on behalf of Israel. What we have here, as in several other places, is a hint of the Gentiles to come which will be a part of God’s plan. Throughout the Old Testament, presented in a way which would be generally unknown to the reader of that day, are hints that God would come to the Gentiles, as He has in the Church Age. This does not mean that no Gentile was saved in the Old Testament; Gentiles continually heard of what God had done for Israel and believed and were saved. Even some, such as Rahab the prostitute, had an impact on God’s plan.

The verb for recounting is the Piel participle of çâphar (ר ַפ ָס) [pronounced saw-FAHR], which was found in the previous verse. What is not to be hidden from succeeding generations is the retelling of the praises of God and of His strength and of the wonders which He performed. One of the great recurrent themes which we find throughout the Pentateuch is the spawning of questions by the rituals which were to be observed. That is, the children, who were positive toward doctrine, would ask why did they do this or that. “And it will come to pass when your children will say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ And then you will say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to Y^ehowah Who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians, yet spared our homes.’ “ (Ex. 12:26–27a). “Only take personal responsibility and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen, and so that these things do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and to your grandsons.” (Deut. 4:9). “Tell your sons about it, and your sons their sons; and their sons the next generation.” (Joel 1:3; see also Ex. 10:2 13:8, 14 Deut. 6:7, 20–21 11:19 32:7 Job 15:18 Psalm 71:17–18 145:4 Isa. 38:19). This is exactly what Asaph is doing. He has studied the acts of God from previous generations and that has filled his soul to overflowing; and in these songs of his, he instructs us concerning God’s workings in the past.

The first verb in this verse is the Hiphil imperfect of qûwm (םק) [pronounced koom]. In the Hiphil it means, among other things, to establish, to fulfill, to cause to stand either a testimony, a vow, a commandment, or a promise (Gen. 6:18 17:7 26:3 Num. 30:14). In this verse, we find it rendered established (Owen), raiseth up (Young) and set up (The Emphasized Bible). Strong’s #6965 BDB #877. The second verb is the Qal perfect of the very common verb sîym (םי ̣) [pronounced seem] which means to put, to place, to set. Strong's #7760 BDB #962. The exclusivity of Israel is being stated here. God did not go to other nations to do His work; He went to Israel. This Law, which encompasses all revealed revelation, was to be taught from generation to generation.

What is continually emphasized in the Old Testament is the teaching of Biblical concepts to the following generations. The things which were done on behalf of Israel in removing them from Egypt and placing them in their land was an unprecedented involvement of God in the affairs of man. The miracles and signs and wonders were phenomenal; so phenomenal, that thousands of generations later, their existence is denied by some because they have never seen such miracles and cannot imagine these things occurring. They will come and they will declare His righteousness to a people who will be born that it has been completed (Psalm 22:31).

In the literal portion of this translation, I have followed the lead of Rotherham to indicate that there are two words translated God. What they are not to forget is ma‛ălîyl (לי ̣ל ֱע ַמ) [pronounced mah-a-LEEL or mah-ga-LEEL] and this word, always in the plural, means deeds, practices. It is a nonjudgmental word which can stand for evil practices (I Sam. 25:3 Psalm 28:4 Isa. 3:8 Hos. 9:15) or for good deeds (Psalm 77:12 78:7). However, this word is used much more often in the former sense than in the latter. Strong’s #4611 BDB #760. “Then watch yourself, so that you do not forget Y^ehowah, Who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deut. 6:12; also see Deut. 8:14). The emphasis here is not upon the creation works of God but his acts and deeds on behalf of Israel.

One of the areas wherein the Israelites fells was that they did not carefully preserve God’s Word. They created the Mishna and the Talmud, which increased the burden of the Law upon themselves. “You will not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor will you take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Y^ehowah your God which commandments I command you.” (Deut. 4:2; see Deut. 5:1, 29). “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and know that I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (John 28:19–20).

The modifier of generation is the Qal active participle of çârar (ר ַר ָס) [pronounced saw-RAHR], which means, as we saw in Deut. 21:18, stubborn, willful, headstrong. This word is often found in conjunction with mârâh (ה ָר ָמ) [pronounced maw-RAWH], which means rebell, rebellious, (Deut. 21:20 Psalm 78:8 Jer. 5:23), indicating that they might be related, but they are probably not synonyms (Strong’s #4784 BDB #598 for mârâh). Strong’s #5637 BDB #710. Similar warnings are posted throughout Scripture: “And do not be like your fathers, and your brothers, who were unfaithful to Y^ehowah God of their fathers, so that He made them a horror, as you see. And do not stiffen your neck like your fathers, but give a hand to Y^ehowah and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve Y^ehowah your God, that His burning anger may turn away from you.” (II Chron. 30:7–8). However, despite these warnings, Israel continually rebelled against God: “Know then that it is not because of your righteousness that Y^ehowah your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people. Remember—do not forget—how you provoked Y^ehowah your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day that you left the land of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebellious against Y^ehowah. Even at Horeb, you provoked Y^ehowah to wrath, and Y^ehowah was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you.” (Deut. 9:6–8). “They have acted corruptly toward Him; not His children, because of their defect, but they are a perverse and crooked generation...and then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them. I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faithfulness.” (Deut. 32:5, 20). But it came to pass that anytime a judge died, they would turn back and they would act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and to bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways (Judges 2:19). “For this is a rebellious people, false sons, sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of Y^ehowah” (Isa. 30:9). “For I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people who walk the way which is not good, following their own thoughts, a people who continually provoke Me to My face.” (Isa. 65:2–3a; see also Ex. 32:9 Deut. 9:24 31:27). In the context of this psalm, Asaph is speaking to the rebellious tribe of Ephraim. He has brought up past historical events with which the tribe of Ephraim was familiar and he warns Ephraim not to make the same mistakes which plagued their ancestors.

What the heart was not was steadfast (Owens), prepared (Young), fixed (Rotherham), loyal (NIV) or put right (the alternate NASB rendering). Obviously, we have a lot of differing opinions here. The verb is the difficult verb kûwn (ן) [pronounced koon] and it appears to mean erect (to stand up perpendicular) and by application, to establish, to prepare, to stabilize. Here, it is found in the Hiphil perfect, which would indicate to me that stablized would be the most likely rendering (the Hiphil is the causative stem). Strong’s #3559 BDB #465. How is a heart caused to be stabilized? With Bible doctrine taken in daily. This world is designed to knock you flat on your ass and the only thing which can help you to withstand the attack of Satan’s demon legions and the doctrines of demons is God’s Word. There is no other way to be stabilized. Barnes writes: They yielded to any sudden impulse of passion, even when it led them to revolt against God. This is as true of sinners now as it was of them, that they take no pains to have their hearts right with God. If they id, there would be no difficulty in doing it. It is not with them an object of desire to have their hearts right with God, and hence nothing is more easy or natural than that they should rebel and go astray.

What the spirit was not was the Niphal (passive) perfect of ’âman (ן ַמ ָא) [pronounced aw-MAHN], which means faithful, confirmed, certain, lasting, steadfast, dependable, trustworthy, entrusted, reliable; This verb acts very similar to our verb to be along with a predicate nominative. Strong's #539 BDB #52. The soul which rejects God’s Word results in a human spirit which is no longer faithful to God and no longer dependant upon God. The Psalmist David cried out, Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me (Psalm 51:10).

God’s Provision for Israel During the Exodus; Israel’s Rejection of God

To some, it appears as though we are now in a new topic or a new paragraph. As if suddenly the Psalmist begins speaking of the tribe of Ephraim. Even Keil and Delitzsch write: [verse 9]...comes in now in the midst of this description, is awkward and unintelligible. However, that is not the case. The intention of the psalmist was to contrast the rebelliousness of gen X with that which God expects, and to convict those who are beginning to move towards rebellion in Israel. Here, Ephraim is one of the largest of the tribes and the chief tribe in rebellion, although this message is not exclusively for Ephraim. Ephraim stands in for any of those who are in rebellion to God’s plan. God’s plan held for the house of David to rule over Israel and for tabernacle to be in Zion. Those who objected to that were in opposition to God. In fact, it would later become common to refer to the ten tribes in the north or to Northern Kingdom as Ephraim (Isa. 7:2, 5, 8–9, 17 11:13 28:1) as opposed to Judah in the south.

Recall that Ephraim is one of the two sons of Joseph, one of the greatest of the patriarchs. His other brothers sold him into slavery and God exalted him above all his brothers. Our Lord Jesus Christ was born into this world, seemingly into slavery, but God glorified Him above all His brothers. But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God, He might taste death for every one (Heb. 2:9). And one would expect from a man so great that his ancestors would be great as well, but this was not the case. Ephraim and Manasseh were both rebellious tribes, the former often became synonymous with the Northern Kingdom, which stood in rebellion against Judah, the Southern Kingdom, wherein was Jerusalem. The specific rebellion of Ephraim was unknown in the time of Moses, but recall that this psalm was written long after the time of Moses, prior to the separation between the north and the south; however, there were certainly signs of this in Solomon’s day (a kingdom is not a unified whole one day and split into two the next; there are always precipitating factors).

It is difficult to know when to place the teaching of the various psalms. The political situation found during the time of this psalm is somewhat different than the time of Moses. Israel has been established as a kingdom for 500 years at the time that Asaph wrote this psalm. However, even though we have a kingdom unified under David and remaining together during the reign of Solomon, still there are indications of division. Ephraim is chosen by the psalmist Asaph to illustrate the rebellious heart. The reason that I am teaching this immediately following Deuteronomy is that most of the subject matter is based upon the exodus and that which transpired soon thereafter. However, some of the exegesis must be based upon the events which took place during the life of Asaph. To get a better feel for the events which took place during the time of the psalmist, we would examine the early portion of I Kings (the reign of Solomon) and the books of Hosea and Amos, who were both prophets to the Northern Kingdom. Ephraim does not represent all of Israel but illustrates those who are rebellious towards God in Israel—the unbeliever and the believer who has become apostate. It is not as though the Word of God has failed, for they are not all Israel who are from Israel (Rom. 9:6).

There are a couple of words we need to get right here first: we have the Qal active participle masculine plural construct of nâshaq (ק ַש ָנ) [pronounced naw-SHAHK], a verb which is translated to equip, to arm when found in the Qal participle (I Chron. 12:2 II Chron. 17:17 Psalm 78:9*). However, it consistently means to kiss when found elsewhere (Gen. 27:27 31:28 Ex. 4:27 Psalm 2:12). Even BDB has trouble with this. Perhaps we could render this in close contact with. Strong’s #5401 BDB #676.

The next word is the Qal active participle, masculine plural construct of râmâh (ה ָמ ָר) [pronounced raw-MAW], which means to cast, to shoot. With the word bow, BDB suggests bow-shooters, bowmen. Strong’s #7411 BDB #941.

Just what exactly does this mean? The tribe of Ephraim was generally not known for cowardice in battle—not during the time of Moses and not during the times of David and Solomon. They were not known to go into battle and then to suddenly change their minds. However, during the time of the judges, they did not completely expell the indigenous population from their land (Judges 1:27, 29). However, this is not the key to the interpretation of this verse. The psalmist is speaking metaphorically here of a sprititual battle for which God equipped Israel (in context, Ephraim), a spiritual battle Israel deserted.

Let’s apply this to us: we, as believers in Jesus Christ, have been given divine operating assets. We are not left in this world to function on our own. However, when we reject God’s Word, we are just like warriors who have the armaments and the equipment, but run in retreat instead. We have the assets to function in this life; however, when we reject Bible doctrine, we act as if we have nothing and no way to protect ourselves.

God’s covenant was with all of Israel, with all twelve tribes, and those who favored a separation were in opposition to God’s Word. The psalmist during his time period is speaking of Ephraim, as representative of that which is rebellious in Israel. Asaph, in a parable, or in an analogy, continues to compare the rebellious exodus group with Ephraim. During the time of Moses, this would have been gen X, which, for a generation of believers, was one of the lamest groups of people ever. In general, this looks toward any generation which rejects God’s Laws. And the most horrible discipline imaginable awaits the person negative toward God’s Laws: Yet Y^ehowah warned Israel and Judah, thorough all His prophets and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.” However, they did not listen, but they stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in Y^ehowah their God. And they rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warning with which He warned them. And they followed the emptiness and became empty, and they pursued the nations which surrounded them, concerning which Y^ehowah had commanded them not to imitate. And they forsook all the commandments of their God...so Y^ehowah was very angry with Israel and He removed them from His sight and none was left except the tribe of Judah...and Y^ehowah rejected all the descendent of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight...Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria and placed them in Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, because they did not obey the voice of Y^ehowah their God, but they transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses, the servant of Y^ehowah, commanded; they would neither listen to it nor would they do it (II Kings 17:13–16a, 18–20 18:11–12). “And they came in and took possession of the land, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your Law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore, You have made all this calamity come upon them. Observe the siege mounds have reached the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the pestilence; and what You have spoken has come to pass; and observe, you see it.” (Jer. 32:23–24; see also Jer. 11:8 44:10, 23).

Gen X, witnesses to great and incredible miracles, when faced with a little pressure, completely forgot these things. It was as though God had never done them. Ephraim, in context, had been taught of all the works which God had done on behalf of Israel, and they simply forgot. Asaph will now enumerate those great works, the parting of the Sea of Reeds, the leading of the Israelites by a cloud in the day time and a pillar of fire during the night, the water brought forth two times out of the rocks (or, cliffs), the bread from heaven and the quail which God brought down. No nation before or since has had such an incredible range of miracles performed on their behalf.

This verse begins with the preposition neged (ד∵ג∵נ) [pronounced NEH-ged], which means that which is conspicuous, in the sight of, opposite to. Strong’s #5048 BDB #617. Zoan is a city in Egypt associated with the Hyksos settlement of Avaris, which is near the coast of the Mediterranean between the eastern fingers of the Nile. Gen X, which observed these miracles, are the fathers of all subsequent generations. “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly. They became stubborn and they would not listen to Your commandments. And they refused to listen. And they did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them. So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. However, You are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and abounding in grace. And You did not forsake them.” (Neh. 9:16–17).

V. 9 spoke of the sons of Ephraim, and now in this verse we are speaking of gen X. Actually, the context is still the sons of Ephraim, who had forgotten all that God had done one behalf of their fathers, who are gen X (both their biological ancestors and their spiritual ancestors). These things which the sons of Ephraim had forgotten, will be enumerated by Asaph.

The Hiphil imperfect of ‛â^bvar (ר ַ ָע) [pronounced aw-BAHR], which means to cause to pass over, to cause to pass through, to pass, to go over. Strong’s #5674 BDB #716.

The Psalms testify to this incredible miracle. Then Moses stretch out his hand over the sea; and Y^ehowah swept the sea by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. And the sons of Israel entered the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters a wall to them on their right hand on on their left (Ex. 14:21–22). The idea here is that the waters were piled up into a mound on both sides of the Israelites as they passed through.

And Y^ehowah was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not remove the pillar of cloud by day nor did He removed the pillar of fire by night from before the people (Ex. 13:21–22). One of the things which Christians desire, supposedly, is God’s will for their life; should they make a left turn or a right turn, should they shop and HEB or at Krogers, should they change to this job or that job. The fact of it is, when you live in the Word, there is very little that you need by way of guidance. Bible doctrine and God the Holy Spirit guide you quite well. If you have little concerns, should you do this or that, then that generally means that you have not been living in the Word. Now here was a generation that God had guided every step of the way and it didn’t seem to make any difference whatsoever. There are those of Christendom who desire to see signs and miracles in their lives so they know that it is of God (as though a puny sign or miracle means that); and this Psalmist points to a generation who sign so many miracles and had such careful guidance that they knew what they were supposed to do every step of the way. God gives us tremendous guidance in His Word and most of us ignore that. We either have no interest in His Word or we disobey it.

One of the many things which I have not seen yet in a commentary is the reason for the cloud. Most people assume that the cloud was for guidance. That was only part of its function. They were often in desert area, although it was not necessarily barren throughout as it is today. The cloud provided some relief by way of shade from the sun, as we read in Psalm 105:39: He spread a cloud for a covering and a fire to illumine by night. The cloud was God’s visible presence to the Israelites, always there to let them know that He was with them. There were occasional clouds in the Egyptian sky, but not as often, and certainly not every single day.

Most books have this picture of this little rock with a hose-sized stream of water coming out of it and three or four Israelites hanging around in line for a drink. We had two million thirsty Israelites and their animals who could have stood in line for a drink. This was no little fire hydrant of water which came forth out of the rocks but the word used here is the plural of t^ehôwm (םה  ׃) [pronounced t^e-HOME] and it means a surging mass of water, either a sea or a subterranean water-supply. In the plural is means bursts of water. The same word is used for the abyss, the primeval oceans, the vast depths. Strong's #8415 BDB #1062. This is followed by an adjective which is used as an adverb. The reason we know the adjective does not apply to t^ehôwn is because the noun is in the feminine plural and the adjective is in the feminine singular. This adjective is ra^bv (ב ַר) [pronounced rah^bv] and it means many, much, great. Strong’s #7227 BDB #912. Like all that God provided, the Israelites received far more than they needed.

Rock is in the plural here because there were two instances of no-water for both generations of Israelites, gen X and the Generation of Promise; one each. Both failed the test, and Moses failed the last test. “Look, I will stand before you there upon (or against) the rock at Horeb; and you will strike the rock, and water will gush out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel (Ex. 17:6). You will recall the analogy. Jesus Christ is the rock and He stood upon or against the rock and Moses brought down his staff one time on the rock. Moses was told to strike the rock with the same staff that he used to strike the Nile in judgment (Ex. 17:5). So this striking speaks of the striking down of Jesus Christ on the cross by God the Father in judgment for our sins—He died once for all mankind. And out from Him gushed living waters. “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’ “ (John 7:37b–38). This is why when the situation presented itself again, Moses was not to strike the rock. By this we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Heb. 10:10). Our Lord had been judged once for our sins; now Moses only had to speak to Him to produce the water of life. And Y^ehowah spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the rod and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You will thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and cause the congregation and their beasts to drink.” So Moses took the rod from before Y^ehowah, just as He had commanded him; and Moses Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels, will we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water gushed forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. But Y^ehowah said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not placed your confidence in Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, you will not, therefore, bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” (Num. 20:7–12). Christ entered into the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12b). But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God (Heb. 10:12). How do I know that this is what was symbolized? Through gobs and gobs of study. However, even Paul tells us: And all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ (I Cor. 10:4).

The first word used for rivers of water is the masculine plural, Qal active participle of nâzal (ל ַז ָנ) [pronounced naw-ZAHL], which means to flow, trickle, distill, drop. However, in the Qal active participle plural, this is a word used for the waters of the Nile in Ex. 15:8. So the water is flowing out of this rock like a river. Strong’s #5140 BDB #633. We have three phrases in the past verse and a half which describe an incredible amount of water coming out of the rock. He opened the rock and water flowed out; it ran in the dry areas—a river! (Psalm 105:41).

The meaning of this verse is fairly easy, but the translation is difficult. First we’ll see how others have done it:

The Amplified Bible               Yet they went on still to sin against Him by provoking and rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness—in the land of drought.

The Emphasized Bible          But again once more sinned they against him, Resisting the Most High in a land of drought.

KJV                                       And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.

NASB                                    Yet they still continued to sin against Him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert.

NIV                                        But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

Owen's Translation               And they added still to sin against him rebelling against the Most High in the desert.

Young's Lit. Translation And they add still to sin against Him, To provoke the Most High in the dry place.

The verb is yâçaph (ף ַס ָי) [pronounced yaw-SAHPH] means to add, to augment, to continue to do a thing. Here, we find this in the Hiphil (causative) stem, which can assume even a reflexive sense; i.e., they caused themselves to continue to sin. Strong's #3254 BDB #414. This is followed by the adverb still and the infinitive of the verb to sin. However, we do not have the preposition against here, we have the prefixed preposition lâmed, which is a directional preposition, meaning to, for, towards, in regards to.

The second line begins with the infinitive of mârâh (ה ָר ָמ) [pronounced maw-RAWH], and it meansrebell, rebellious, provoke, provoking). Strong’s #4784 BDB #598. The location of their provoking is tsîyyâh (ה ָ  ̣צ) [pronounced tzee-YAWH] and this is a word found in Job (24:19 30:3) and in the Psalms (63:1 78:17 105:41 107:35) and in some of the prophets, but never in any book previous to Job (i.e., with respect to the English ordering of the Old Testament). This word means dry place. Strong’s #6723 BDB #851.

It did not matter what great miracles they saw. In the midst of a desert, God caused enough water to appear from a rock to water all of them and all of their animals, yet they continued to sin against Him as if in a dry area, as if God made no provision for them. God empathized with Israel’s affliction. And the angel of His presence delivered them. In His love and in His grace, He redeemed them and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. However, they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit (Isa. 63:9–10). While it is said, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.” For who revolted when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? (Heb. 3:15–17 Psalm 95:7). If...[God] had simply stopped that miraculous supply of water they must have perished. But sinners forget how dependent they are on God, when they sin against him. On what can they rely, if he withdraws from them, and leaves them to themselves?