“But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.”
My Notes
What Does Deuteronomy 32:15 Mean?
Moses describes what prosperity does to faithless people: Jeshurun (a poetic name for Israel) grew fat and kicked — like a well-fed animal that becomes unruly. The sequence is tragically predictable: abundance leads to pride, pride leads to forgetfulness, forgetfulness leads to abandoning God.
"Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick" — the repetition emphasizes excess. Not just satisfied. Fat. Thick. Covered with prosperity. The abundance itself becomes the problem.
"Then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation" — the prosperity produced amnesia. The God who rescued, sustained, and blessed was forgotten — not angrily rejected but lightly esteemed. Casually dismissed. Taken for granted.
The warning is universal: comfort is more spiritually dangerous than crisis. In crisis, you cling to God. In comfort, you forget you ever needed him.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Where has prosperity or comfort caused you to 'lightly esteem' God?
- 2.Why is comfort more spiritually dangerous than crisis?
- 3.How do you maintain spiritual urgency when your needs are met?
- 4.What practices help you remember God in seasons of abundance?
Devotional
Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked. Israel got comfortable. And comfortable people forget where their comfort came from.
Thou art waxen fat. Abundance is not inherently sinful. But it is inherently dangerous. When your needs are met, your urgency evaporates. When your belly is full, your prayer life thins. When life is easy, God becomes optional.
Then he forsook God which made him. Not in a dramatic moment of rebellion. Gradually. Quietly. The way a well-fed person stops thinking about food. The God who was everything during the wilderness became an afterthought during prosperity.
Lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. Lightly esteemed — not hated, not rejected. Just... not valued. Taken for granted. The Rock that saved you becomes furniture you walk past without noticing.
This is the quiet danger of blessing. Not that you will openly rebel. But that you will lightly esteem. That the God who carried you through the hardest season will become background noise in the easiest one.
Are you waxing fat? Is comfort making you forget? The Rock has not moved. The question is whether you have stopped noticing.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods,.... Or "with others" (h); the word "gods" is not in the text, nor were…
Song of Moses If Deu 32:1-3 be regarded as the introduction, and Deu 32:43 as the conclusion, the main contents of the…
We have here a description of the apostasy of Israel from God, which would shortly come to pass, and to which already…
The Fulness and Apostasy of Israel
15 Jacob ate and was full,
Fat waxed Jeshurun and kicked,
Thou wastfat, thou…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture