4:29-31 - But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.

Wonderfully, neither Israel's sinfulness nor the divine judgment of exile is Scripture's last word, for, in the midst of such utter calamity, grace prevails. The ground for this hope is not because Yahweh is indifferent to sin, but because he is 'el rachum, "the merciful God" (the equivalent in Arabic is Al-Rahim, one of the ninety-nine names of God so revered by our Muslim neighbours). Moses promises that if Israel would seek Yahweh "with all your heart and with all your being" (v.29), they "will find him." His mercy does not leave them with an affirmation devoid of confidence such as insya-Allah ("perhaps, if God wills it"). Yahweh will not abandon them. They may become corrupt (shcht, v.25); even then Yahweh will not destroy (shcht) them (v31). Yahweh's names—'el qanna', "the jealous God" and 'el rachum, "the merciful God"—are not mere religious platitudes but guarantees that He will be there in his terror if they rebel but he will also be there in His grace if they seek after Him. He remembers his covenant to the patriarchs of Israel. This is the hallmark of Yahweh's covenant faithfulness. In time, when the prophets had been silent hundred of years and Israel reduced to being second-class citizens in their own lands, two lads would be born. In their births and aftermath, multitudes among the nations would come to witness that Yahweh is indeed a merciful God who remembers his promise (Lk.1:54 & 72).