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Deuteronomy 8:1-5

The discourse continues to discuss the exclusive loyalty to Yahweh.  Every commandment would be all that is written in Deuteronomy.  They were to be careful in their observation of these things.  It was serious business.  This great care to observe the commands was linked to their life in the land. 

The remembrance of their journey with the Lord was to provide a foundation to press on in their walk of faith.  God used the wilderness as a training ground while their penalty was served.  God would humble and test them.  They would think less of themselves and more of God.  The testing would reveal their flaws. 

The manna was provided by the Lord to feed them.  It was God’s care and provision.  They could not store it or hoard it.  They had to learn to trust the Lord daily to provide it for them.  They came to know faith in the Lord and His promises.  It wasn’t bread they needed more of but a better understanding and relationship with Yahweh.  Verse three is quoted by Jesus in Matthew 4:4 when He is tempted by the devil in the wilderness.  The devil prompted Jesus to turn the stones into bread and serve Himself and the lust of His flesh.

How much of God's care and provision is not seen?  How do you count the blessings you are unaware of?  How many clothes could have worn out for a couple of million folks? How many sore feet could there have been if their sandal wore out?  How many shoes or shirts do you have that are over forty years old?

Deuteronomy 8:6-10

Will prosperity weaken their resolve?  Will their commitment to the Lord waiver when their bellies are full?  Will the intensity of their fear of God lessen when they get busy with their blessings? 

They are again commanded to walk in God’s ways and fear Him.  The land sounds incredible.  I bet these folks were anxious to experience such blessings.  They would never long for food.  They would lack nothing because of the land.  It was all there for them, for their taking, and enjoyment.  When their bellies were full, they were not to forget the thank the Lord.

How many blessings do we take for granted?  Have you thanked God for His care over you?  Consider all the sicknesses, illnesses, cavities, toothaches, headaches, infections, and more, that God has kept from you.  How many flat tires, worn-out brakes, broken appliances, leaky roofs, storm damage, and a thousand other life circumstances has God kept from you?  Yet, we’re never happy.  We never have enough.

Deuteronomy 8:11-17

Disobedience is equivalent to forgetting all that God has done.  Remembering is obedience based in love.  When man becomes comfortable by all the blessings the Lord has bestowed on us, we tend to forget the source of the blessings.  We somehow think we are getting what we deserve by the work of our hand.  The Israelite’s heart would become proud and they would forget the bondage they trapped in and God’s deliverance.  We forget the bondage of sin and forget the deliverance we received by Christ.  In Numbers 21:6 they were delivered from the fiery serpents.  They were to remember the water from the rock (Deuteronomy 8:5).  Remembering God’s provision by the manna would be critical (Ex 16:15).  All these trials were to test their faith, “To do good in the end.”  (Hebrews 12:11)

We get a glimpse of our hearts when we imagine how they could think they had acquired wealth and good fortune by their hand after all the Lord had done.

Deuteronomy 8:18-20

Israel was to remember they were empowered by God to get the wealth they would experience.  This was God fulfilling His covenant blessings on them.  If there was evidence of their forgetfulness in the chasing after other gods, they would perish.  In the covenant promise, they were to respond with obedience, faithfulness, worship and service. 

If they chased other gods, they would be no better than the nations they had displaced from the land.  God would deal with them as He had done to the nations. 

©2007, 2023 Doug Ford, Calvary Chapel Sweetwater