The Book of Deuteronomy

Hebrew Study

Explanation

Moses tells Israel to "remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart." The wilderness was a school. God "suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not," and by that strange bread taught them a truth: "that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live." Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell in forty years. As a father chastens his son, so the LORD was chastening them, and they were to keep His commandments, to fear Him, and to walk in His ways.

Gospel Focus

These are the words the Lord Jesus took up in His own wilderness. When the tempter urged Him, after forty days of fasting, to turn stones into bread, He answered from this very verse: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Where Israel murmured and failed in their wilderness, Jesus trusted and triumphed in His. The lesson stands for us all: life is more than the meeting of bodily needs, and the soul is fed not by bread but by the Word of God. A man may have a full table and a starving soul. And notice why God let Israel hunger: "to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart." God sometimes brings us low and lets us feel our need, not to crush us but to reveal our hearts and teach us to lean on Him. The hard seasons are His schoolroom, emptying us of self-sufficiency that we might learn to live by His every word. Do not despise the humbling; it is a father chastening the son he loves, and it teaches the sweetest of lessons, to feed on God Himself.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

Moses describes the land ahead in glowing terms: "a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey." It was a land where they would eat bread without scarceness and lack nothing, whose stones were iron and out of whose hills they could dig brass. And the fitting response to such bounty was worship: "When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee." The gift was to lead the heart back to the Giver in thanksgiving and praise.

Gospel Focus

Here is the right response to abundance: not to take it for granted, but to bless the LORD who gave it. "When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God." Every good thing we enjoy is a gift, and the fullness of the table should turn the heart upward in gratitude. This is why believers give thanks over their food, following the pattern the Lord Himself set when He took bread and blessed it. The danger of plenty is that fullness can make us forgetful, and so God commands that our very satisfaction become an occasion for praise. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17); the land, the harvest, the daily bread, all come from His hand. Let every full plate and every answered need lift a blessing back to God. A grateful heart in the day of plenty is itself a guard against the pride that forgets Him.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

Moses names the peril of the good land: "Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments." He paints the picture, when they have eaten and are full, built goodly houses, and their herds and silver and gold are multiplied, "Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt." They might even say in their hearts, "My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth." Against this pride Moses sets the truth: "thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth." And he warns solemnly that if they do forget God and go after other gods, they will surely perish like the nations before them.

Gospel Focus

Here is one of the most searching warnings in Scripture about the danger of success. The heart, once full, is tempted to a subtle atheism: "My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth." It forgets that the strength to work, the health to labor, the very breath in the lungs, all were given by God. Against this stands the humbling truth: "it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth." We did not make ourselves; we cannot add a moment to our lives by worry; every ability we have to earn and build is a loan from God. Paul asks the same leveling question: "what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (1 Corinthians 4:7). The cure for the pride of prosperity is memory: remember the LORD, remember where you came from, remember whose hand gave you all you have. Prosperity is a greater test of faith than poverty, for it whispers that we no longer need God. Hold your success with an open, thankful hand, and never let fullness make you forget the Giver.