At first light a faint, worn path winds away through a vast, empty, stony wilderness of low ridges and dry wadis toward a line of green hills far off on the horizon.

The Book of

Deuteronomy 8

Forty years of manna taught one lesson: you live on every word from the mouth of the LORD.

20 verses≈ 4 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–4Remember the wayFrom Horeb to Moab
5–11Love the LORDThe heart of the covenantChapter 8
12–26Laws for the landWorship, justice, neighbor
27–30Blessing and curseChoose life
31–34Moses' farewellA song, a blessing, a death

Remember the LORD Your God

You must carefully follow every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may live and multiply, and enter and possess the land that the LORD swore to give your fathers. Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.

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Deuteronomy 8:3

Your clothing did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

So know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, walking in His ways and fearing Him.

Jesus answers from Deuteronomy

Whiteboard

Israel was God’s son, led forty years in the wilderness to learn one thing: “man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Israel grumbled and tested God. Jesus, led into the wilderness for forty days, was hungry too, and when the devil tempted Him three times He answered each time from Deuteronomy. Where Israel failed, the true Son trusted and obeyed, for us.

Reflect

Every word

Israel learned in the wilderness that “man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Bread keeps the body alive for a day; God’s word gives life that lasts. What do you reach for first when you feel empty or anxious? Write down one word from God you want to feed on this week, and when in the day you will turn to it.

When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.

Evening at a fine two-story stone house with a courtyard, storerooms with full jars, large flocks and herds in the pens and a table spread.

Be careful not to forget the LORD your God by failing to keep His commandments and ordinances and statutes, which I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

0:27

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

A thin stream of clear water runs from a cleft in a bare desert rock at first light, pooling on the stones below.

He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint. He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.

Question

Quick question

Moses told the new generation what the manna had been for, all those mornings in the wilderness.

What did the manna teach Israel?

You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.” But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.

On a threshing floor in the wind, a farmer's work-worn hands lift threshed grain, the chaff blowing away, his face turned up.

If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD has destroyed before you, so you will perish if you do not obey the LORD your God.

Pray

Give us this day

Moses wanted Israel to sit down to a full table and “bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.” Before your next meal, stop and thank God by name for the food in front of you and for the strength to work. Then thank Him for His word, the bread that does not run out, and ask Him to keep your heart from forgetting Him when life is full.

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Deuteronomy 8

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A verse to carry with you

He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Deuteronomy 8:3

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