Patience

Hello everyone.

Love is patient.  That is what the Bible says in I Cor. 13:4. I think we probably all understand the truth of this statement, that when are showing patience, we are truly being loving, because patience is hard.  I have yet to meet a person that has said, "Oh, patience is really easy for me."  So for me, the question that comes into my mind is, "OK, how patient am I required to be?"  I ask that question because there are people in my life that test the limits of my patience quite often.  Those people are the ones I refer to as "family." Maybe you can relate.

So, as I have continued to study the book of Deuteronomy, I have received my answer in Deuteronomy 2 and 3.  In those chapters, the Israelites are commanded to destroy Sihon, king of Heshbon and take the land.  They are to destroy Og, king of Bashan, and take his land. These two kings were Amorites and in no way related to the Israelites.  However, there were three groups that the Israelites were told to leave alone, and that God would not give Israel any of their land, not even enough to put a foot on (Deut. 2:5).  These three groups were the Edomites, Moabites and Ammonites.  Who were these people, and why were they under God's protection?  Deut. 2:1-8 talks about the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, Israel's (Jacob's) brother. Now, even though this was about 400 years after the time of Jacob and Esau, God considered them family.  The Edomites are called "relatives" twice, (v. 4and 8).  Then, God tells the Israelites that they are not to harass the Moabites (Deut. 2:9-18) or the Ammonites (Duet. 2:19-23) either.  Well, who are Moab and Ammon?  they are the sons that Lot had through incestuous relations with his daughters (Gen. 19:30-38).  Ok, you can sort of understand the relationship between Israel and Edom, since their originators were brothers, but Moab and Ammon were Israel's grandfather's nephew's sons.  So it is a stretch to say that they were second cousins of Israel. So why treat them as family?  I don't know. Never-the-less, God had driven other nations out of this land and given these three nations their territories, and Israel could not have it.

These three nations that God was protecting were not particularly righteous, either. It was Moab that called Balaam to curse Israel (Num 22).  Moabite women had seduced Israelite men and led them into immorality and sacrificing to others gods in Numbers 25.  Moab, with the aid of Ammon, subjugated Israel in Judges 3, until Ehud rescued Israel.  In I Samuel 14:47, all three nations are mentioned as enemies that King Saul had to fight. David had to fight them too.  So for generations these nations harassed Israel, yet God had protected them.  Why?  I think I find the answer in Isa. 15:5.  God says, "My heart cries out over Moab."  Then in Isa. 16:11, "My heart laments for Moab." Even after all those years, God still loved Moab, and had been very patient with the nation, giving them every opportunity to repent.  But they had not.  Isaiah goes on to prophecy that the time of the Moabites was nearly over (Isa. 16:13-14).  The Kingdom of Moab lasted about a thousand years.  The Kingdom of Ammon lasted about 700 years. The Kingdom of Edom lasted about 1200 years.  (Interestingly, Obadiah prophesied Edom's destruction, for rejoicing over the destruction of his brother Israel, Obad. 11-12. So even by the time of Obadiah, written several centuries after Moses, God still considered them family.)

So this brings me back to my initial question, "How patient am I required to be?"  What does that mean for me, when some family member is getting on my nerves?  Well, God has set an example of being patient with groups of unrighteous people for generations, even centuries.  I suppose that I can be patient with my loved ones as long as I need to be.

Tom