Deuteronomy 8-9

Intro

ONE OF THE MOST PAINFUL THINGS those of us in ministry face is seeing people who were on fire for the Lord gradually lose that fire as they get older to become lukewarm Christians or sometimes to even abandon the faith altogether.

One of the encouragements of ministry is to see some of these people who fell away coming back to God some years later.

We can all lose our spiritual glow, so we must be on guard against this

Rom 12:11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit

Many Christians never experience the victory, joy, and provision that the Bible speaks of because they have kept a few areas of disobedience in their lives.

Moses addresses this problem in Deuteronomy 8.

He uses the figure of forgetting God to describe the danger we face (8:11, 14, 19).

He gives several principles that will help us avoid this pitfall.

He has given almost all these principles before, but it is so easy to fall that he repeats them several times in Deuteronomy.

Read Deut 8:1-5

I. Man Lives by the Word vs. 1-10

vs. 1-2 Remember the Whole Way

The word shamar that is used here is a familiar word, appearing sixty-five times in Deuteronomy

If you are careful you will live and multiply

We have seen this phrase “Live and multiply” multiple times

That is important because the threat of extinction for nations was real

Especially if you were one of the smaller one without war experience

Moses tells them to remember the whole way

They are to remember that God has led them for forty years

They were physically led by a cloud by day and fire by night

Part of this leading was to:

Humble them

Test their hearts

See if they would be obedient

vs. 3 Live by the Word

God humbled them by letting them hunger

That God used the wilderness wanderings to humble them is mentioned three times in this chapter (8:2, 3, 16).

The humbling is closely related to the disciplining process

Discipline helps produce humility by taking away the human props of which we are sometimes proud

In vs. 3 we get to a famous quote of Jesus

Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness

Luke 4:3-4 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ”

Man’s focus isn’t to be on their stomach but on the Word of God

God is preparing them to live with plenty. But prosperity brings with it many dangers.

One way to prepare people for prosperity is to send them through an experience where they have nothing

Many Christians think these words teach that Jesus did not need physical food because he had spiritual food at that time.

But the context in Deuteronomy shows that this is not the meaning, for it describes how God gave them physical food and how through that provision they were going to learn that “man does not live by bread alone.”

What he means is that God and his words are “more basic to Israelite existence than food.”

Food is important.

But even more important than food is obeying God’s Word always. We can trust God to provide all our needs, including food.

Matt 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

vs. 4 Clothing didn’t wear out

Not only did he provide manna, he also miraculously preserved their clothes and feet as they went through the rough terrain of the wilderness

The experience of being in need not only teaches us to depend on God—it also opens the door for God’s marvelous provision.

vs. 5 The Lord’s discipline

Next Moses describes this experience as a disciplining, similar to the discipline that a parent does to a child

Prov 3:11-12 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights

According to one understanding of discipline, all our hardships can be called disciplines of God.

But we should take this passage as referring specifically to discipline for sin, because Moses is talking about the wilderness wanderings, which were because of the sin of the people

vs. 6-9 Walk in His Ways

Walking and obedience are synonymous

You don’t obey God just once but everyday

Eugene Peterson calls is a long walk in one direction

When we are obedient it helps us to be bale to praise the Lord

vs. 10 You Shall Bless the Lord

II. Don’t Forget the Lord vs. 11-20

vs. 11-14 Blinded by Prosperity

vs. 15-20 He gives you power

III. Not By Your Righteousness vs. 1-12

vs. 1-3 A Consuming Fire

vs. 4-5 Because of wickedness

vs. 6-12 You are a stubborn people

IV. Don’t Forget the Golden Calf vs. 13-29

vs. 13-21 Turned aside quickly

vs. 22-24 You provoked the Lord

vs. 25-29