Deuteronomy 8: Wilderness Preparation

​Key Verse
3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 
 
Meditation
God leads through the wilderness in preparation for participation in the fullness of His covenant blessings. In today’s reading, “Remembering” God’s faithfulness in the wilderness was humble preparation for God’s promised land (vv. 2-3).  
 
Moses challenged Israel to remember God’s grace, obey God’s ways, and be fruitful and multiply (vv. 1-5) before contrasting the barrenness of the wilderness with the blessings of the promised land (vv. 6-10). Their humbling preparation was so they would not forget God, His word, and His covenant (vv. 11-20). The lessons the Lord teaches His people during wilderness days will protect them in times of blessing.
 
Remembering God’s shepherd care is the key (v. 2), fueling faith to serve the Lord when surrounded by abundance (v. 11). When we remember it is God alone who gives wealth (v. 18) then we will be faithful in stewarding fruitfulness. When we forget, good things are elevated to ultimate things and become idolatrous things. 
 
In Matthew 4:1-4 we see Jesus’ humility in the wilderness for forty days, fending off the devil by using v. 3: “Man does not live on bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” God, His word, and His work are sufficient! Jesus’ humility will eventually lead Him from the wilderness to the cross, His death paying the penalty for those of us who forget, are not humble, and who hunger for things other than God and His word.  We must respond to Jesus’ grace by embracing the lessons the Lord is teaching us in the wilderness of life.
 
Today’s Reading
“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers.2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. 17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you about the lessons of the wilderness (vv. 1-10) and the temptation to forget the Lord’s grace and provision, satisfying our souls in other places (11-20)?
 
-When do you forget God’s grace and allow your heart to feast on things of this world, fueling pride and rejecting God and His word?
 
-How does God’s grace compel you to not only learn wilderness lessons but also seek to find soul satisfaction only in God, His word, and His work?
 
Key Verse
3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.