In Remembrance of God
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Big Idea: Believers are to diligently recall and live the lessons God gives
Deuteronomy: Recap:
: Moses recounts Israel's journey from Mount Horeb (Sinai), including the appointment of tribal leaders to help judge the people, the sending of spies to scout the Promised Land, the people's rebellion and refusal to enter due to fear, and God's judgment that the rebellious generation would die in the wilderness while only Joshua and Caleb would enter the land.Chapter 1
: Moses reviews Israel's wilderness wanderings, including peaceful passages through Edom, Moab, and Ammon without conflict (as instructed by God due to their kinship ties), the end of the 38-year wandering period, and the successful conquest of Sihon king of the Amorites after he refused passage.Chapter 2
: Moses describes the defeat of Og king of Bashan (a giant ruler), the allocation of the conquered Transjordan lands east of the Jordan to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, and Moses' plea to enter the Promised Land, which God denies while allowing him to view it and commissioning Joshua as his successor.Chapter 3
: Moses urges Israel to obey God's statutes and commandments for their prosperity and longevity in the land, warns against idolatry and making images since they saw no form at Horeb when God spoke, and designates three cities of refuge east of the Jordan for accidental killers.Chapter 4
: Moses reminds the new generation of the covenant at Horeb, repeats thethat God spoke directly to the people, notes their fear that led to requesting Moses as mediator, and emphasizes the importance of fearing God and keeping His commands for their good.Chapter 5 Ten Commandments
: Moses instructs Israel to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and strength (the Shema), to diligently teach God's commandments to their children, and to bind them as constant reminders in daily life to ensure faithfulness and avoid forgetting God in the prosperous land ahead.Chapter 6
: Moses assures Israel that God will drive out the stronger Canaanite nations before them if they remain faithful, commands complete destruction of those peoples and their idols to prevent intermarriage or idolatry, and reminds them that they are chosen not for their greatness but because of God's love and faithfulness to His oath to their ancestors.Chapter 7
Now in Chapter 8 Moses again calls the people to obey the commands God has given them through Moses, and to remember His faithfulness
“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.
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.
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.
Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.
Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.
So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.
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,
a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey,
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.
And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
“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,
lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them,
and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,
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,
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,
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.
Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’
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.
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.
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.
“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.
The whole commandment: The ten commandments, but also the rest of the laws and statutes, particularly regarding worship
Benefit: That you may live, multiply, go in and possess the promised land
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.
Remembering the whole way
Who was made to Wander?
Why? The LORD your God has led you
This was a forced lesson in humility.
It was a consequence of their complaining and rejection of God’s providential provision
It was a test: Would they learn to keep his commandments?
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.
Scripture often recalls certain lessons. The lesson of the wilderness is not only in the Pentateuch, it is in the Psalms, in the prophets, recalled in the gospels and in the epistles as well. What is the #1 way God was going to ensure the memory of the exodus? Passover.
Here we see Moses reminding the people of God’s provision with Manna. Manna is another lesson, another way to disciple the people. The bread, the provision for human sustenance, is from God. In fact, we are recalled to God’s creative power. His bread, not to mention our breath, our water, everything we need to survive and live, ultimately comes from the creative power of God. So man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. It could be said that the fullest life is one that has recieved the provisions of God, not only food and drink and air, but the very Word of God, which sustains and upholds all things.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Man does not live by bread alone. This verse should be familiar to believers, it is the verse Jesus quoted when Satan tempted him in the wilderness to turn rocks into bread. Jesus said he was the bread of life, something far greater than manna that keeps the body alive, he gives life through his flesh:
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
So Jesus taught that he was sent by the living Father. Moses is pointing the people of God in Deuteronomy to a reminder of God’s provision of manna in the wilderness, which was a type that pointed forward in time to God’s provision of Jesus, who is the bread of life. Now Moses continues to remind the people of God’s faithfulness:
Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.
Any parent knows how fast time flies when it comes to needing to buy new shoes again, and having clothes get holes. In the wilderness God supernaturally caused their clothes to endure all those years. He kept their feet from swelling as well.
Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.
Discipline is not always punitive
The word can be translated as instruct, chastise, rebuke, to teach, to be corrected, to be admonished. The context here seems to lean towards a positive discipline. God is teaching, leading people to become who they need to be. Good parents discipline. It is so sad that some parents take this to mean only punishing bad behavior. This can be part of discipline, but discipline is much more than that. In the Marine Corps boot camp, we were told we were there to learn discipline. In that case, it meant learning how to walk, talk, and think like a Marine. What are the expectations. What are the rules for living as a Marine. How to carry one’s self.
And if we change that from the Marines to being a Christian, then discipline in the faith is learning how to walk, talk, and think like a Christian. What are God’s expectations for us. What are His rules for living. How we should carry ourselves as children of the Most High God.
And one way to do that is in the next verse: Deut8.6
So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.
Discipline. Being a disciple. Again, this is a positive, not a negative. It is a good thing to become disciplined in any area of life we want to succeed. Any occupation you want to become a master of requires some kind of discipline. Any hobby you want to be proficient at requires discipline. Consider the olympics, and the discipline those athletes must have to rise to that level. We should all desire to become proficient and master living as a Christian, and this means keeping the commandments and walking in his ways and fearing him.
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,
a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey,
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.
And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
Again, reminders of God’s provision and promises. After all that he was teaching them through the discipline of the wilderness, he was going to deliver them to the promised land, and they would have an opportunity for a really great life, with every good thing they needed provided to them. By the way, all of these things were true. The land truly was a wonderful land with all of these features, right down to the abundant copper. But now, after giving them a glimpse at the blessings to come when they arrived, Moses reminds them of human nature: that humans, when things are going very well, have a tendency to forget the God who provided those good things. There is danger both in forgetting the commandments and forgetting the providence, or sovereign provision of God of the good things in life.
“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,
Take care: special care is needed to not forget the things God has taught us. Daily diligence is needed so we are reminded of how we ought to live for him. But not only is there danger in forgetting His ways and His commandments, that danger seems to increase with the complacency that comes when life is easy and things are going well.
lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them,
and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,
So here is the danger, when things have gotten very good, food is plentiful, homes have been built, riches are accumulated, but then the danger becomes that one can start imagining that it was ourselves that caused all these good things to happen, rather than having gratitude for the provisions of the Lord. So the danger is, Moses is saying to his people, that once things have been going really well, they will need to guard themselves against this:
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,
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,
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.
The human nature. A tendency to forget what God has done. Your heart be lifted up and you forget the LORD your God. The One who brought them out of Egypt, through the wilderness, fed them, humbled them, tested them, and then brought them finally to the good land he had promised. There would then be a danger to forget him.
And while Moses here is speaking of physical safety and needs met, we may also apply the spiritual lesson as well. When you were sick and dead in your sins and cried out to God when he called you through the gospel message, you were excited and grateful to Him. But do we not also have a tendency to forget what he has done, to become complacent and take for granted the spiritual blessings, to our shame? I certainly can say with confidence that my heart often betrays my Lord and what He has done, when my own thoughts turn to my own sense of accomplishment or pride. May we take these lessons just as seriously as Moses intended them for his people. May we be soberly reminded of our great need to continually recall the things of God, and to be disciplined in those good ways so that our lives may reflect His glory.
Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’
How many people have started out well, depending on the Lord, and trusting in His provision, who end up thinking they had everything to do with it. Pride comes in, and we like to say, “I did that”
Instead, we are to remember that any wealth we have, even some talent or gifting you might have to get it, comes from his hand.
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.
Remember, remember, remember. Throughout scripture, in the text, and in the ceremonies, in the feasts God gave to His people, in the ordinances of communion and baptism, we are given symbols and ceremonies by which we are to remember God. We are to remember Him in our daily activities and discussions, in our living a life that is a life of worship. And we are not to allow other things to come before Him in our lives:
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.
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.
Our God is a jealous God, in the sense of wanting our exclusive worship and love. He will not tolerate the worship of other Gods. Not only were they not to worship other Gods, they were to tear down their idols.
You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim
(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice,
and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.
“You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.
This was even one of the reasons that the people of Israel were not to marry pagan people was because that also would lead to idol worship.
Big Idea: Believers are to diligently recall and live the lessons God gives
