Learning the Lessons of the Wilderness (NVC)

Announce Text

I want to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to to Deuteronomy Chapter 8. This morning we’re going to be looking at verses 2 - 3. That’s going to be our main text for this morning, but as we walk through it, we’re also going to be looking at some other verses from this chapter… so I want to encourage you to follow along with me in your Bibles.

And if you’re using one of the bibles in the pew in front of you, you can find our passage this morning on page 152.

Scripture Introduction

If you were here about a month or so ago, you heard me preach a sermon on 2 Corinthians Chapter 1:8-9. And the main point of that sermon was to show that God has a purpose in suffering.

And in that particular passage, Paul was writing to the Corinthians about a time in his life where the afflictions that he was experiencing were so great that they were beyond his ability bear.

And we saw in that passage that the reasons why God allows that kind of suffering isn’t always clear to us. But even so, he has a purpose in it, and that purpose is to teach us humility, to drive us to dependence, and to remind us of our hope. His purpose is to conform us into the likeness of Christ.

And as he does this, there are times… times when God’s purpose for having us face trials is because there’s something about us… something about our character… something about the condition of our hearts that God desires to draw out of us in order that he might change us…

And as we come to our text this morning, we’re going to see that this is one of the ways that God sanctifies his people… in fact, we see him doing this very thing with the nation of Israel…

So please stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s word, and let’s read this passage together.

Deuteronomy 8:2–3 NASB95PARA

2 You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

Prayer for Illumination

Let’s pray...

Introduction

As we look at our text this morning, we see that Israel is at the end of their wilderness wanderings. Moses is addressing this congregation for the final time, in a series of sermons.

And in these early chapters of Deuteronomy, he’s recounting these previous decades, and here’s what he says:

Verse 2, “And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness…”

What a remarkable statement…

What he’s saying here is, remember with fondness… remember with thanksgiving.

Now, if we were to look back at Deuteronomy 1, we’d see that it says that God, “carried Israel in the wilderness, as a man carries his son.” (Deut. 1:31)

Think about how tender that is… how affectionate… how gracious. He’s saying, “remember with gratitude… remember with appreciation…”

Now, when you think about remembering with fondness and gratitude and thanksgiving, the word, “wilderness” probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

When we think about remembering something with fondness and thanksgiving and gratitude, we’re thinking of things like, “problem free,” or ,”no suffering,” or “pain free.”

But that’s not the picture we’re getting here…

He’s telling Israel to remember the trial of the wilderness with fondness… And make no mistake… the wilderness was a trial.

In fact, look at how it’s described here in v. 15. It says,

“The wilderness is great and terrifying, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where the was no water…”

Now, that doesn’t sound like something we’d look back on with fondness…

And keep in mind that this “trial” that Israel was going through didn’t last for just a few days…

Now… I know that when we think about our own trials and circumstances or our own suffering, very often, that’s usually how it is…

Maybe we experience a few days of suffering and then we get a rest for a few months… and then we go back into the wilderness for a few days.

I know that’s not everybody, but that’s been my own experience. Sometimes for others, it’s much longer.

But in the the case of Israel, it was forty years… now, forty years is a really long time. For some of us, that’s practically our entire life.

And again, he tells them to remember these things with fondness… with thanksgiving… with gratitude… why?

Because throughout their entire time in the wilderness, God proved himself faithful.

He proved Himself faithful…

The Israelites, on the other hand, from the moment they left Egypt, they did nothing but complain…

It started at the moment that they reached the Red Sea… God brings them to the shore, and they look back and see the Egyptian army pursuing them and they say,

“Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14:11-12)

Now think about that for a moment… back in Egypt, they were slaves… back in Egypt, they were in bondage… they had forgotten about their God and the promises he made to their fathers.

In their hearts, they desired complacency and comfort more than they desired God Himself. But God had made a promise, and He’s faithful to keep His promises.

So what does He do? Just when all hope is lost He delivers them from the Egyptians and brings them safely through the waters…

We see God’s faithfulness again when the Israelites come to Marah. They had gone three days without water and were thirsty… so they find some water but can’t drink it because it was bitter…

So what did they do? They complained and the LORD showed Moses a log… and he threw the log into the water, and the water became sweet.

And they set out from there and go to Elim. And at Elim they find springs of water and palm trees, and they camp there for a while…

Then they set out from Elim… it’s been two and a half months since they left Egypt, and they start grumbling again, saying,

“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:3)

So what does the LORD do? He sends the manna from heaven to feed them day by day…

Then they’re thirsty again… and Moses has about had it with them, and Moses cries out to the LORD and the LORD tells him to go out to this rock at Horeb, and you’ll see Me standing on a rock… and strike the rock and water will come out…

And that’s what happens… water comes gushing out of the rock.

And we all know, from our perspective as Christians living in the New Covenant, this is all pointing to something much greater…

We know that the manna… the bread God sent from heaven is really the Bread of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ… and the rock…

The rock that the LORD is standing on, that Moses strikes with his staff is a type of Christ, who was stricken for our sake and who gives us living water, that if we drink it we’ll never be thirsty again…

So this is all pointing to something much greater… greater provision… greater promises… and the point of it all is is that time and time again, God demonstrates is love and his faithfulness to his people by providing for their needs in ways only He can…

Now at this point in their journey he tells them to remember… He tells them to remember the last forty years, and how he faithfully provided for them in the wilderness…

And then he tells them why… He tells them why he brought them there… He tells them, I led you into the wilderness that I might…

Humble you,

Test you, to know what’s in your heart, and finally,

Teach you.

So to humble… to test… to teach… that’s what the wilderness is for…

And that’s what we’re going to spend the remainder of our time looking at this morning…

So the first thing that we see is that when God leads you into the wilderness,

It’s so that He might humble you. (v. 2)

Look with me at the first part of v. 2… it says, “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…”

So why would God would lead you into the wilderness to humble you?

I think the fact of the matter is, we’re fickle people like the Israelites…

It’s very easy, especially when things are going well for us, to get complacent… for us to become self-sufficient… Really, in a practical sense… to forget that God’s even there.

I mean, we would never say that… we wouldn’t even think that… but if you were to look at how we live our lives, we really can live like we’re practical atheists.

Most of the time, we’re not even aware that this is happening… that is, until the heat gets turned up, and then suddenly we realize that, “hey, we really don’t have it all together…”

And that’s what the wilderness does… that’s what a trial is… the word trial in the original language literally means "a pressure-filled situation.”

That’s why the word peirasmos means… it literally means, “a pressure-filled situation,” which is why it can be translated as either a “trial" or a “temptation.”

And that’s exactly what God had brought the Israelites into… think about what they had back in Egypt… They had:

Food,

Water,

Shelter,

Clothing,

Protection from their enemies.

Granted, they were slaves, but they had pretty much everything else that they could have wanted…

And now, here comes God, and he delivers them from bondage… he’s fulfilling the promises that He made to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob… and leads them out into the wilderness toward the promised land…

And now what are their circumstances like?

Think about that for a moment…

Put yourselves in their place… you went from a situation where all of your basic needs were met...

Granted, you were a slave… life was probably really hard sometimes… while you’re in the midst of it, you probably pretty miserable.

And now, you’re in the wilderness… And if God doesn’t give water, you die. If God doesn’t give food, you die. If God doesn’t protect you from the Amalekites that are attacking you, you die…

He’s pressing into the forefront of their minds their moment-by-moment, second-by-second, hour-by-hour need for God, and it’s very humbling.

Why? Because he led them into a state of child-like dependence…

From the moment they left Egypt, they literally had no choice but to depend on God in every situation… just like a child depends on the love and care of its parents. It’s very humbling…

But ultimately, who knows what’s better for the child? The child, or the parent?

Man, that Tide Pod looks really really good, and I’m hungry. I think I’m going to eat it…

And as I think about it, it reminds of something that Jesus told his disciples…

If you remember the situation… the people were bringing their children to Jesus, that he might touch them, and his disciples were rebuking them… and how did Jesus respond?

Luke 18:16–17 ESV

16 But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

See, the kingdom of God is better than man’s kingdom… and that’s why we have to come with childlike dependence because sometimes we look at the world and say, “this looks pretty good… I want it.”

So we have to come dependent like a child…

Why? Because left to our own devices, we really have no earthly idea what’s good for us. The problem is… we think we do.

And there’s not thing more destructive and alienating from God than pride and self-sufficiency…

Why? Because pride and self-sufficiency is the pathway to hell…

Look at what Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:6… now, you don’t have to turn there; I’ll just read it. It says,

1 Timothy 3:6 NIV

6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.

He’s talking there about the qualifications that a man has meet in order to be an Elder… and he says that this man must not be a “recent convert.”

So what’s wrong with being a recent convert? Nothing necessarily…

But a for an elder, a recent convert hasn’t spent enough time in the wilderness… he hasn’t spent enough time being humbled by God.

He hasn’t spent any time learning that he really doesn’t know better than God does.

He hasn’t spent any time learning that he needs to rely on God with childlike dependence.

And there’s a danger in that… and the danger is that it leads to pride… it leads to self-sufficiency… it leads to conceit… it leads to the very thing that the devil himself will be judged for…

So when we’re full of these things…when we’re full of pride… when we’re self-sufficient and full of conceit… we’re actually moving away from God and toward the person we’re becoming like… which is Satan…

That’s why pride and self-sufficiency are so destructive… and if we’re not careful, we can deceive ourselves into thinking we’ve got it all under control…

And when that happens, God leads us into the wilderness… he uses trials, and tribulations and suffering… and he uses these things to humble us…

He uses these things to make us like children… totally dependent on the love and kindness of their parents to provide for their every need.

And that same fatherly love and kindness that God showed to Israel, he shows to us…

So if we really think about it, brining us through trials are among the most life-giving, the most gracious things that God can do.

Why? Because he gets us off the path of pride and self-sufficiency, which ultimately lead to our destruction.

But there’s still a danger… you see, it’s very easy for us to become self-deceived… it’s very easy for us to get our thinking wrong, and that’s another reason why God leads you into the wilderness…

It’s so that He might test you, to know what’s in your heart. (v. 2)

Look again with me at v. 2, it says,

Deuteronomy 8:2 NASB95PARA

2 You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

Now, the obvious question is, doesn’t God already know what was in their hearts?

Of course he does… and what’s important to see that the testing wasn’t for God’s benefit; it was for theirs, as it is for ours.

If you were to ask these 2,000,000 Israelites if they loved the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, with all their strength, what do you think they’d say?

Of course, they’d all say “yes!” Just like if I asked everyone in this room to raise their hands if you love Jesus, I can guarantee you that the majority of your hands would go up… as they should…

The problem is, we just don’t realize how fragile… how immature… how conditioned on circumstances that love and affection can be… And that’s why sometimes God uses trials to test us… so that we can really see what’s on the inside…

Now, I don’t want you to misunderstand what I’m saying… I’m not saying that if you’re going through a trial, you don’t love Jesus… that’s ridiculous… that’s not what I’m saying at all…

But what I am saying is this - maybe… just maybe… if you’re going through a trial, something else has captivated your heart and your love for that thing is ruling your life… Because the truth is, whatever rules your heart, rules your life… and if it’s not God, it’s something else… That’s why our practical theology is so important… And what I mean by “practical theology” is this - it’s the way we live our lives day-by-day before the face of God.In other words, we all have our confessional theology… what we say we believe… and our practical theology… the way we live our lives. And the truth is, our practical theology is a better indicator of what we really believe than our confessional theology.For example, how we respond in the face of a trial is a better indicator of what we really believe than what we say with our mouths. And this is an area where it’s really easy for us to deceive ourselves… because a lot of us have really good confessional theology… But that’s exactly why why God uses trials… to show us what’s really going on inside… Remember that the word trial, what it’s really conveying is a “pressure-filled circumstance.” It’s a situation where the pressure is building… And God uses these “pressure-filled circumstances” to show us what’s really inside of us.Think about something that’s under pressure… have you ever taken a bottle of carbonated water and shook it? Like, a bottle of Sprite? What happens when you pop the cap? What if you did the same thing with a bottle of plain water? What’s the difference? Before you shook the bottle of Sprite, from the outside it looked just like the bottle of water.The difference is what happened when you shook it up… see, when you shook it up, what’s inside came out… Now, think about those moments in your life when the pressure was turned up, and what was really inside of you came out… Maybe you were hot, maybe you were tired, maybe you hadn’t eaten, it’s been a really long day… the children are bickering and arguing… your spouse isn’t rotating in your universe the way they’re supposed to… and the pressure goes up, and what’s in now comes out… But what I want you to realize something… by allowing these situations to happen, God is really being gracious toward you and showing you that he loves you… Why do I say that?Look with me at verse 5, it says,

Deuteronomy 8:5 ESVKnow then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.

So part of the grace of God in leading you into the wilderness is to create an environment where you get squeezed… so that what’s in can really come out, and you can deal with it.And yes… when it comes out, it can be difficult… it can be painful… but we have to trust that God is doing it because He loves us… The author of Hebrews writes this,

Hebrews 12:11 ESVFor the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

You see, God wants us to deal with it… he wants to put to death anything that has captivated our hearts other than Himself… Why? Because He knows that hearts set on anything but Him will lead to our destruction. Look with me starting at verse 11, it says,

Deuteronomy 8:11–19 ESV“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.

Think about the grace of God in now allowing us to remain where we are… You see, when our hearts are captivated by other things… by full bellies… by wealth and comfort… by pride and self-sufficiency… when we go after these gods and serve them and worship them, we’re headed for destruction. Why? Because He is the Lord… He’s the one who created us… he’s the one who saves us… he’s the one who’s worthy of our love and our affection and our adoration and our obedience… he and he alone is worthy of our worship… So the fact that God won’t leave us to these idols… that he puts us in these pressure-filled situations to test us and draw out the things that have captivated our hearts can deal with them… it means that he loves us… that he counts us as sons and not illegitimate children… So how do we know whether or not something has captivated our hearts other than God? We can know by the way we respond to pressure-filled situations… You see, when the heat gets turned up… when we come home from work and we’re tired… and diner’s not ready, and our kids are acting crazy and their homework isn’t done and all we want to do is plop down on the couch and relax…How do we respond? Do we start to feel anger bubble up to the surface? Do our feelings in that moment cause us to lash out and say unkind words to our spouse or our kids?How do we respond when we’re on social media and we see someone post something from a political perspective that we don’t agree with… How do we respond when when we offer our opinion on something and no one seems to want to listen to what we have to say?How do we respond when our teenage son or daughter acts out in rebellion, and defies us?And I’m not just talking about outwardly… I’m also talking about inwardly… You see, many of us have gotten good at controlling our behavior… and that’s not necessarily a bad thing… we’re supposed to control ourselves… but the Christian life ins’t just about being able to control our behavior… You see, sanctification is not just about learning how to stop certain behaviors… it’s about renewing our minds… and when we renew our minds God works on our hearts and we desire to become more like Him. Let me demonstrate what I mean… turn with me in your bibles to Ephesians chapter 4… and if you’re using one of the pew bibles, you can you can find this passage on page 978.We’re going to read starting in verse 22 and go to the end of the chapter.It says,

Ephesians 4:22–32 ESVto put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

So according to this passage, when is a liar no longer a liar? Is it when he stops lying? No… It’s when he “speaks the truth with his neighbor,” v. 25.When is a thief no longer a thief? Is it when he stops stealing? No… it’s when “he labors, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”And this is the result of a renewed mind… this is a result of putting on the new self… which is yours in Christ Jesus.And lastly it says,

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

As God in Christ forgave you… Think about that… How does that change how you look at forgiveness when you think of it that way? As God in Christ forgave you… How does that make you feel about the unforgiveness you might be holding in your heart toward someone else?Now, I realize that if you’re sitting here today and you’re not a follower of Jesus Christ, what I’m saying here about forgiveness might not be making a whole lot of sense to you.But what I want you to realize is, our motivation to forgive others, as Christians, comes from a heart that knows that it’s been forgiven of much… And when we recognize that… when we recognize that our sins have been forgiven… that our sins deserved death, but Christ stood in our place… that he was our substitute… that he died the death we deserved so that we could walk in the newness of life… we can’t help but forgive others when they sin against us… And if you want to know what that’s like… if you want to know what it’s like to be forgiven of your sins… to know that no matter what you’ve done in this life, if you confess your sins, Jesus is faithful and just to forgive you your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness… If you want to know what that’s like, ask him to forgive you… right now, right where you’re sitting. Or if you don’t know what to do, but you want that forgiveness, come see me after the service, I’ll be in the front of the church by the entrance… Or there will be a couple of people up here after the song that you can talk to… I want to encourage you… come talk to me, come talk to one of them… and do it today because none of us are guaranteed another moment, let alone tomorrow… Now so far we’ve seen that God leads you into the wilderness so that he might humble you… so that he might test you, to know your hearts and finally…

It’s so that He might teach you. (v. 3)

Look with me at v. 3, it says,

Deuteronomy 8:3 ESVAnd 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.

Now, this really challenges our view of who a loving God is, doesn’t it? Do we really think of a loving God as a Father who would let his children go hungry?The answer’s yes, because there’s something bigger, more valuable, more precious that he’s after. Look at what it says,

“and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know…”

So what that means is God let them go hungry and then fed them in a way that had never been done before… He fed them in a way that couldn’t be explained by anything in the natural realm.The dew comes down, the dew lifts, and there’s manna… every single day. And there’s no way to explain it other than than that God provided it.And why did he do that? It says,

“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.”

So God taught them, and now you, that your life… your existence… your being… your meaning, both in this life, and the life to come… It doesn’t come by way physical stuff but by the very word of God… really by the Person of God… because the Word of God is a Person… the Lord Jesus Christ… who is also the bread of life. The true manna come from heaven… You see, if you’re going to learn, you have to realize that fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge… and that means seeing God for who he truly is… That he is almighty, that he’s your Creator, and if you’re trusting in Jesus Christ He’s your Savior, your provider, your sustainer, and your very bread of life itself… that’s who He is… That’s what God brings you into the wilderness to teach you… because all too often our identity… our life… our sense of worth and meaning is based on worldly things… Maybe it’s our positions at work… our social status… how we appear to everyone here at church… that we look like we have it all together…And God uses trials to teach you that your life… your identity… your sense of worth and value… isn’t found in any of those things but in Christ…

Colossians 3:1–4 ESVIf then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

This is what the wilderness teaches you… it humbles you… it strips you down and exposes your heart… and God uses it to redirect the course of your life and to conform you into the likeness of Christ… Because that’s who it really all about… You see, ultimately the Israelites who God led out of Egypt failed the test of the wilderness… everyone except for two… Joshua and Caleb. The rest of that generation died on the way and never made it to the promised land… And you know, they weren’t the first son to be led into the wilderness to be tested, nor would they be the last… You see, God is faithful to keep His promises…

Conclusion

And some 1,400 years after the events recorded in Deuteronomy, God would lead another Son into the wilderness to be tested… And for forty days and forty nights he went without food… and in this state of weariness, in this state of physical exhaustion… so much so that after it was over, angels came and ministered to him… In this state of weakness… in this sate of hunger… in this state of vulnerability, Satan came to him and tempted him with the very thing that his body needed most in that moment… food… bread… Satan said to him, “if you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”And how did Jesus respond to this temptation? How did He respond to the seeds of doubt that Satan was attempting to sew in his heart, just like he did to the first Adam?Did he respond like the first Adam? Did he respond like the Israelites who grumbled and complained every time they got hungry? No… you see, both of them failed the test… But not Jesus… He responded with the truth of the very words that he spoke to them some 1,400 years earlier… that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Let’s pray…