Deuteronomy 8 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Deuteronomy 8

Remember the Lord Your God

8:1 “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 word¹ 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.

Footnotes

[1] 8:3 Hebrew by all

Commentary

Be careful and remember; whatever has happened and whatever will happen, the Lord is God, and He is faithful. The follower of God must be constantly mindful of Him.

v1: "Every commandment"; the Israelite had covenanted to keep all God's Law. The danger is that, by neglect or deliberate choice, one or more commands are not kept. Again, where there was obedience, there would be blessing.

v2: Remember His leading; the people had reached the border of Canaan because God had brought them there. He led them through difficulties, that He might test them and humble them, not to trip them up, nor to destroy them.

In a similar way, the Lord Jesus Christ was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This was not the Father's plan to cause Him to fail, but to test Him, and to demonstrate to the world what was in His heart.

James teaches us to welcome trials into our lives, as they mould our character, James 1.2-4.

v3: A particular example, of the manna provided, that the people might esteem the spiritual above the physical, and to encourage total reliance upon God.

v4: Their garments did not wear out; their feet were protected from the long journey. This was indisputably God's work in their lives; His power and faithfulness displayed every day to a people that frequently fell into disobedience. Moses speaks little of their rebellion here; he is emphasising God's mighty power.

v5: Israel is called God's son; He loves and disciplines His son. See Heb 12.7-11 also.

v6: A reminder of the need to obey God's commands; the follower of God must walk in His ways, and revere Him.

v7-9: The "good land", which they were about to enter, was fruitful. It was a striking contrast to the years in the desert. The land of Canaan had plenty of water, and would support agriculture, and held deposits of useful minerals.

‘From the snows of Hermon, and the cool of Lebanon, to the genial warmth of the Lake of Galilee, and the tropical heat of the Jordan valley,’ Dr Edersheim notes the range of seasons across such a small area. (Sketches of Jewish social life). Later, the Rabbis taught that only in the land does the Shekinah (glory of God) manifest itself. Outside it’s boundaries no such revelation was possible.

v10: A new danger was that of complacency, for the people would eat and be satisfied, but neglect the God who had given them such things.

It may be that the 38 years' experience triggered the practice of fasting, as this is not commanded elsewhere in the OT.

v11: The warning not to forget the Lord and His commands cannot be treated as something theoretical or unreal. There was a real danger that, in the riches of Canaan, that they might disown the Lord; Prov 30.7-8. Moses himself prophesied this in 32.15-18.

v12-14: The danger of prosperity; see 6.10-12; 2 Chr 26.16; the Lord Jesus said that riches were deceitful, and that has doubtless always been true.

Unless we deliberately fix our hearts upon God, we find that our hearts will become fixed on material things, and we turn away from God. That was a very real danger for the Israelites.

v15-16: It was helpful for the Israelites to remember all that God had done for them. By taking them through the experiences in the wilderness, God humbled them and tested them, because He loved them.

"In the end;" indicates that God had a plan for His people, to develop their character.

v17: Where the people attributed their victories to their own strength and skill, then they would fall into pride.

v18: The people had to recognise that the material wealth came from God, as a sign of His blessing upon them.

v19-20: The great danger, once the people had turned away from the true God, was that they would begin to worship idols. The judgment upon that would be that they were destroyed from the land.