Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
Psalm 78 is a record of the rich blessings God bestowed upon His people set against the poor return they made for those benefits. It gathers the history of divine goodness to Israel together with the history of their inadequate response.
The refusal of Joseph's tabernacle and the passing by of Ephraim belong to that larger story of Israel constantly working against a good God. Their disobedience brought them into the condition that was the sure and natural result of their own course of action. Even then the pattern was cyclical, for they repented under rebuke and chastisement, only to fall again when pressed by temptation and drawn by self-indulgence and self-gratification.
Psalm 78 is a record of the rich blessings God bestowed upon His people set against the poor return they made for those benefits. It gathers the history of divine goodness to Israel together with the history of their inadequate response.
The refusal of Joseph's tabernacle and the passing by of Ephraim belong to that larger story of Israel constantly working against a good God. Their disobedience brought them into the condition that was the sure and natural result of their own course of action. Even then the pattern was cyclical, for they repented under rebuke and chastisement, only to fall again when pressed by temptation and drawn by self-indulgence and self-gratification.