Wednesday, August 31, 2005

I’m reading through Acts in the mornings and today’s reading was chapter 13. In verse 13, Paul begins to preach the Gospel to the people in Pisidian Antioch. He’s talking to both Jews and Gentiles; reminding the Jews of their history of wandering in the wilderness with Moses and in verse 18 we get this:

18he endured their conduct[a] for about forty years in the desert,

The footnote says that some translations say, “he cared for them.”

There is a huge difference between “he cared for them” and “he endured their conduct” - so which is it?

If you know the story of the 40 years the Jews spent in the wilderness after being freed by God through Moses, then you know that “he endured their conduct” is probably as close to the truth as “he cared for them.” He did care for them - provided water and manna and safety. He did endure their conduct - their worship of idols, disobeying his commands to cross the Jordan. That disobedience is why Moses never saw the promised land himself.

Anyway, I don’t have any profound insight to add, no personal lesson or application. I was simply struck by the wording in that verse that I had always known as “he cared for them.”