Jeshurun was the name for Israel, a pet name, or term of endearment, meaning upright or righteous. Israel had "waxed fat", or prospered, as the Lord led them. And as almost invariably happens, because of the contrariness of the human heart, prosperity brings about rebellion. Jeshurun "kicked", or rebelled against God. The metaphor here used is derived from a pampered animal, which, although it has been treated with loving kindness, instead of being tame and gentle, becomes spoiled and mean, and eventually turns on it's master. That is exactly what the Israelites did with all their various acts of rebellion, murmuring, and idolatry.

The more Israel prospered, the more they rebelled, until they forsook God completely in their actions. They "lightly esteemed", or just paid lip service to, the Rock of their salvation. They did not revere God as Sovereign over all, but instead provoked Him to jealousy and anger by following strange, profane gods, which was idolatry. They committed this abomination against the Lord who created them, chose them, brought them out of bondage, and provided for them.

It is indeed a sorry fact that increasing prosperity so often leads to increasing wickedness, and the more outward blessings God bestows upon a people the more they forget Him and become worldly, proud, and perverse. You would think greater blessings would result in following God more closely, and obeying Him more fully. But unfortunately. the human heart is contrary and selfish, full of pride and wickedness.

We are no different than Jeshurun was. When life is rough, we call out to God, pleading for His help, His strength, His healing, His mercy – whatever we need at that moment. Being in a tough spot makes us realize how helpless we are without God, and how very little we can do on our own, if He were to withdraw His hand from us. When times are hard and our situation is bad, we realize how much we need the Lord God Almighty. Nothing makes us draw close to God and seek His face more than when we experience the troubles and trials of life.

The flip side of that coin is: when life is going smoothly, we tend to be a lot more casual about God. We may say we love the Lord, but it's just token words, mere lip-service. When we don't need His immediate help, we tend to drift along, thinking we're doing okay in our own power, by our own works. As we gain in prosperity, we grow fat (often literally, as well as figuratively) and enjoy what we see as the fruits of our own labors. But God's warning to Jeshurun, given through Moses as they were about to enter the Promised Land, is a warning to us as well:

Poverty stricken people are usually unable to indulge too much in the lusts of the flesh. Only in our plenty can we afford to indulge ourselves, as Jeshurun did. They indulged their appetites, and fulfilled the lusts of their flesh. We do the same thing. And inevitably, we begin to take God for granted, as Jeshurun did, merely paying God lip-service, rather than truly following His commands. We let things slide, to indulge ourselves and our desires, and then begin to rebel against Him, and His dictates, if they go against our fleshly desires, or what we see as our “rights”.

We tend to forget that the only real “rights” we have are those God has given us. It's interesting that the richer we become, the more we demand the right to go our own way, and do our own thing. When life is hard, when we are struggling and just trying to make ends meet, we aren't nearly as concerned about doing our own thing. As we begin to prosper, we tend to forget that doing our own thing is actually idolatry: wanting to be our own god, and follow our own desires, rather than obeying God. But we need to remember that rebellion against God has serious consequences.

When anyone has experienced God's goodness, and especially for His redeemed people, rebelling against him is especially wicked. You could reasonably expect people who have not known the Lord to rebel and turn away from Him, but for His redeemed people to do so is even worse. Even so (or perhaps especially so), God will never give up on His children; He will pursue them with righteous indignation until they either repent or perish.

Some of the saddest words in the world must be "If only". It is never God's desire for the people He created in His own image to turn away from Him, following other gods, seeking self, and sin, and death. God always desires for His children to consider the results of their choices; He wants us to choose life and blessings. Moses wrote this to the Israelites, just before his death:

Our loving Creator and the Rock of our salvation desires to bless us; He want us to choose to do those things that will bring His blessing (benevolence and prosperity) upon ourselves. God desires that people should be wise and discerning, considering what their choices will lead to, and what will be the end if they continuing in their sin and rebellion. He deeply longs for people to turn from their rebellion and live.

Our Heavenly Father allows man to each make their own choice, but it is never God's preference for anyone to die in their sins. He longs for man to come to repentence, to live and be blessed.

There is no doubt that our God has greatly blessed us. The only question is, what will be our respose to Him? Will we be like Jeshurun, who continued in their rebellion and suffered terrible consequences? Or will we learn from these words, and remember our Lord, and honor Him by following His decrees and giving Him His rightful place as Sovereign Lord?

Moses gave this command to the Israelites as they were about to enter into the Promised land, a charge to heed all the words God had given them. This command is not a mere trifle, but a matter of life and death. God's words are not vain, or just empty words: they are the key to receiving God's blessing. In fact, His words are life, then and now.