“Nevertheless I withdrew my hand and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them forth.”
Yet again Yahweh withheld His judgment for the sake of His reputation and His name (compare Numbers 16:21-22; Numbers 25:1-9). He continued to preserve them and to protect them from their enemies, so that the watching world might see that as the great Deliverer from Egypt He was able to keep and deliver them. The picture was one of man's total undeserving.