(This is complex - and I've struggled to put it all down concisely. 😄 So please forgive me if I haven't covered something. I've tried to simplify it. Still a bit long winded 😂, but to me it's interesting ...)
So I've long wondered about the Children of Israel, and their apparent inability to see the beauty of a God who was right there! Showing himself!!! Over and over!!! What was wrong with them that despite lesson after lesson, they couldn't figure out that living God's way led to blessing upon blessing, but living outside of that way led to misery and hardship. A repeated lesson throughout their story! And still, they turned away. Over and over.
I was thinking that maybe part of it was the way cultures saw the gods of the day - as beings not invested in their subjects, but entities to be feared and appeased. As a result, they were not heart invested in God, and came to respect and try to appease other gods worshipped by the cultures around them, in an attempt to "cover all bases" which might promise the way to a successful and well nourished life. Instead they just got sucked into more depraved lifestyles, leading God to wash his hands of them and remove his blessings from them, until they finally got the message that no other gods were blessing them, and came back to him.
I also thought it might have something to do with the way they viewed God as a warring weapon that belonged to them! He existed to them in their lives, as a set of rules to abide by. And the portrayal of him in their history was definitely more harsh and bloodthirsty than the way we see him now. Somehow they were missing the heart of him!
There were some who could see that nurturing side - like David. But many only saw the warrior God. And feared him. And while fear might instil a "willingness" to obey, it doesn't win deep loyalty. When another "presence" invokes fear also, a person who serves through fear will bow in that direction as well!
A big difference for us is that we have the hindsight of Jesus! God walking with us, in plain sight! And the view we have of God there is breathtakingly beautiful! And melts our heart to belonging! A completely different and more deeply bonding kind of loyalty.
And then, there's the other thing that Jesus gave us when he left. He gave us "The Comforter", to be with every single one of us that take the gift of life in him! Not just to be with us! But to be IN us!! Changing us into the beautiful character that is the Spirit of God - love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, self-control. He lives in us to bring out those characteristics in us!
Before Jesus, God's Spirit did come to be with people that he particularly wanted working with him! He gave certain ones gifts and messages to help in his work. Those few were "filled" with the spirit for a specific role! But for some reason, it seems that the Holy Spirit was not as readily available for the regular Israelite. Perhaps because they weren't seeking him as deeply???
Whatever the reason, the gift of the Holy Spirit, now available to live within us from the time Jesus left this world, seems to make a huge difference between trying to live up to who God wants us to be (and failing over and over), and being transformed into a more God-like character by him inside of us. Not that we don't fail still! But there seems to be a more consistent move in the right direction. He is changing us. It's not us just trying to keep the rules.
It's the difference in the two 'covenants'! The first one promised blessings for keeping the rules - and removal of blessings for not. Reward for good behaviour type of parenting. The 'new covenant' promised instead, to change us from the inside out - with a new heart and mindset! Reborn into a more beautiful image - the one we were meant for!
And perhaps all these things were reasons why it seemed tougher for the Israelites to stick to God than we feel it should have been. God's changed it up! And we get to reap the benefits!
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