Today in Deuteronomy we are dealing with Exodus: the Next Generation; the children of the children of Israel whom God delivered out of Egypt. In our text today, we are getting close to the point where they have the opportunity to cross into the Promised Land. We read previously how their parents’ generation about 40 years before came passed this same spot in the wilderness and beyond. They were on the precipice of the Promised Land where they could eat, be satisfied and be saved from their desert wanderings but they rejected God’s salvation and so they spent the next 40 years wandering around the wilderness. These were the parents of this generation before us today in Deuteronomy 8 today. They rejected God’s promise and so died outside of God’s promise (Deuteronomy 2:19-46, Numbers 14, Hebrews 4). They have now passed on. Their leader, Moses, himself, has only has a few months left to live. And most of this book of Deuteronomy is a collection of his last words to the Hebrews before he perishes along with the rest of this generation (and his children’s generation; Moses was 80 when he began the exodus from Egypt.) outside of the Promised Land.[1] This book is thus very important.
Chapter 8 reminds us of an important three-part truth that is important for us as we have just recently celebrated Thanksgiving Sunday. God, through Moses, in his speech here reminds the Israelites that:
1) Deuteronomy 8:3 – Because He loves you, God hungered you causing you to rely on Him but
2) Deuteronomy 8:10-11 – You are now about to enter a time of abundance; so give thanks to the Lord because
3) Deuteronomy 8:19-20 – forgetting the Lord will result in your destruction
1) Because He loves you, God hungered you causing you to rely on Him
Moses is reminding and underscoring for the people of Israel that in the desert, Deuteronomy 8:3: “[God] He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (cf. Matthew 4:4, Luke 4:4).
We remember what Moses is talking about here, right? God loves the Hebrews but the people of Israel had grown proud. They were selfish. They weren’t thankful. They were focusing not on serving the Lord, instead they were concentrating on themselves and their own ability (Deuteronomy 2:19-46, Deuteronomy 9:7-29, Numbers 14, Hebrews 4). We remember that shortly after the Hebrews left Egypt, they already began complaining and on more than one occasion they wanted to turn their back on God and turn back to Egypt. It got so bad that they even began to glorify, in their own minds, the slavery under which they suffered. As we read last week in Numbers 14, when they arrive at the land that God had promised to give them, instead of simply following God into this land, they are fearful and reject Him and Moses and Aaron and they even threaten to kill them, choose new leaders and head back to Egypt (Numbers 14:4,10).[2] God intervenes and so the disobedient Israelites decide that they will go into the Promised Land after all but –as disobedient as they are- they decide to do this without God. They try and obtain their salvation on their own. And it is a result of that generation’s rejection of God that they all perish outside of His promise.
The good news here is that even though this generation rejects God’s promise and as a result of their faithlessness dies in the wilderness, God still keeps His promise of salvation for the children of these children of Israel and for the whole world (John 3:16-18). God still provides salvation penultimately for the next generation of Hebrews and ultimately for the whole world through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (cf. Genesis 12:1-3, 15:1-7; 2 Samuel 7).
We have a very interesting situation before us in our text today though. This next generation that God, through Moses, is speaking to in our text today. They have been wandering around the desert. They have grown up in the wilderness where food is scarce; water is scarce. They are nomadic. They do not have all of the luxuries of a settled people. They can’t just run down to the 7/11 in the middle of the night and pick up drink boxes for their kids lunches in the morning. The Hebrews are wandering around the desert following God through His angel in a pillar of cloud by day and a tongue of fire by night. When the wheels break off their carts, they can’t call the Automobile Association to come and help them. They are nomadic: they have no shop buildings, no convenience stores, nothing; they have nothing but God.[3]
God was testing them and God was teaching them, Hebrews 8:3, “that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” As this next generation of Hebrews followed God around the desert, He provided for them. Even their clothes - it says in verse 4 - did not wear out and their feet did not swell during this time following God around the desert. God provided for them in the desert. When they had nothing, God provided for them Deuteronomy 8:15,16:
He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
Even though one generation of the Israelites were faithless, that did not nullify the faithfulness of God (Romans 3:3,4). God provided this desert experience for them and their children as a means to their salvation. God, through Moses here, is reminding the people not to forget this: in the desert, God and God alone provided for them, preparing them to receive this Promised Land.
God still provides for us this day. God loves us. He knows what we need and He will continue to care for us.
Chapter 8 reminds us of an important three-part truth that is important for us as we have just recently celebrated Thanksgiving Sunday. God, through Moses, in his speech here reminds the Israelites that:
1) Deuteronomy 8:3 – Because He loves you, God hungered you causing you to rely on Him but
2) Deuteronomy 8:10-11 – You are now about to enter a time of abundance; so give thanks to the Lord because
3) Deuteronomy 8:19-20 – forgetting the Lord will result in your destruction
1) Because He loves you, God hungered you causing you to rely on Him
Moses is reminding and underscoring for the people of Israel that in the desert, Deuteronomy 8:3: “[God] He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (cf. Matthew 4:4, Luke 4:4).
We remember what Moses is talking about here, right? God loves the Hebrews but the people of Israel had grown proud. They were selfish. They weren’t thankful. They were focusing not on serving the Lord, instead they were concentrating on themselves and their own ability (Deuteronomy 2:19-46, Deuteronomy 9:7-29, Numbers 14, Hebrews 4). We remember that shortly after the Hebrews left Egypt, they already began complaining and on more than one occasion they wanted to turn their back on God and turn back to Egypt. It got so bad that they even began to glorify, in their own minds, the slavery under which they suffered. As we read last week in Numbers 14, when they arrive at the land that God had promised to give them, instead of simply following God into this land, they are fearful and reject Him and Moses and Aaron and they even threaten to kill them, choose new leaders and head back to Egypt (Numbers 14:4,10).[2] God intervenes and so the disobedient Israelites decide that they will go into the Promised Land after all but –as disobedient as they are- they decide to do this without God. They try and obtain their salvation on their own. And it is a result of that generation’s rejection of God that they all perish outside of His promise.
The good news here is that even though this generation rejects God’s promise and as a result of their faithlessness dies in the wilderness, God still keeps His promise of salvation for the children of these children of Israel and for the whole world (John 3:16-18). God still provides salvation penultimately for the next generation of Hebrews and ultimately for the whole world through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (cf. Genesis 12:1-3, 15:1-7; 2 Samuel 7).
We have a very interesting situation before us in our text today though. This next generation that God, through Moses, is speaking to in our text today. They have been wandering around the desert. They have grown up in the wilderness where food is scarce; water is scarce. They are nomadic. They do not have all of the luxuries of a settled people. They can’t just run down to the 7/11 in the middle of the night and pick up drink boxes for their kids lunches in the morning. The Hebrews are wandering around the desert following God through His angel in a pillar of cloud by day and a tongue of fire by night. When the wheels break off their carts, they can’t call the Automobile Association to come and help them. They are nomadic: they have no shop buildings, no convenience stores, nothing; they have nothing but God.[3]
God was testing them and God was teaching them, Hebrews 8:3, “that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” As this next generation of Hebrews followed God around the desert, He provided for them. Even their clothes - it says in verse 4 - did not wear out and their feet did not swell during this time following God around the desert. God provided for them in the desert. When they had nothing, God provided for them Deuteronomy 8:15,16:
He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
Even though one generation of the Israelites were faithless, that did not nullify the faithfulness of God (Romans 3:3,4). God provided this desert experience for them and their children as a means to their salvation. God, through Moses here, is reminding the people not to forget this: in the desert, God and God alone provided for them, preparing them to receive this Promised Land.
God still provides for us this day. God loves us. He knows what we need and He will continue to care for us.
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