Humility: Remembering and Forgetting

Breakdown Simplified

A: Call to obedience; to posses land which the Lord swore to your fathers

B: God’s care and teaching/testing through the years in wilderness; call to obedience

C: God brings the people into a life of abundance in the promised land

D: “when you have eaten and are full” + Bless the Lord God

E: Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,

D’: “when you have eaten and are full” + warning

C’:God brings the people into a life of abundance in the promised land + forgotten because of pride

B’: God’s care and teaching/testing through the years in wilderness; call to obedience

A’: Call to obedience; to posses land which the Lord swore to your fathers + “my power and my might”

Outline

Intro: Today I would like to invite you visit a book.. many stop here… and that is the book of Deuteronomy, specifically 8. Why? Because the command to humble ourselves and seek the Lord, has its origin in Exodus, and Deuteronomy. The Deuteronomy one is slightly more interesting becacyse of what happened between Exodus and Deuteronomy.

Explain context of Deuteronomy

Second law - it is a repeat. What does it repeat?

First law - given at Sinai. Near the and of Exodus - Leviticus - Numbers

Wander in the desert 40 years

Second law - at Moab

Explain literary feature of Deuteronomy 8

A-E-A’

I think this is supercool, but it is not just a random easter egg!

Where do you think the main message is?

Change something, it will instantly draw attention. more impactful

Verse by verse analysis

A: 1 “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers.

Watch for ”remember” and “careful to observe” Psalm 105:8; Revelation 2:5; Ecclesiastes 12:1; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

B: 2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. 6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

The wandering was not pointless… long may it be… 40 years..

Testing. Israelites wanted to test God. but in reality it was God testing them. it is not that God did not know.. but to expose our hearts. Numbers 14:20-23 You have tested me again and again, and I have proven myself again and again

How did God humble and test them? By reducing their sense of self-sufficiency to pretty much zero… but that’s not it… that’s torture… they didn’t go hungry. They learn to be dependent. “apart from me you can do nothing”

led you these forty years in the wilderness

Let us hunger

Fed us with manna; which you did not know, nor did your fathers know (never seen anything like it before)

Your clothing did not wear out; foot did not swell

Brought you out of Egypt; out of the house of slavery

Led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water (you compete with the earth)

Brought water out of a rock

Close with “keep the commandments”

“walk” - don’t miss the fact that walking is the one thing that they have been doing for the last 40 years! and this is the time that they were about to stop walking. Be steadfast with the Lord when it is hard, continue when it is easy.

C: 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 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.

Suffering ends.. there is a time for everything, time to end suffering.

Why is this important? Because of the upcoming blessings!

The promised land is attractive. Not only that he fulfills promise, but his promises are good. As a nomad, desperate daily for water, food, sustenance… this is incredible. They don’t have to break down and setup the tent every day. They could settle down and build family. RICH!

Back to live by bread alone.. but the entire counsel. He promises to bless, but also to curse

D: 10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

You will want no more… you will live in abundance… then give thanks… God has given them good land

E: 11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,

Final command… Do not forget by not keeping His commandments..

Stop here and summarize A-E

Repeated reminder to do as God commands

Commence E-A’

D: 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full,

the WARNING

C’: and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up (NIV: Proud), and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

We become prideful, and we forget God…

B’: 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end—

Listing God who does these things..

The contrast of land which is thirsty. Suck in water vs. fountains springs… the land that is so dry and can’t produce that food has to come from heaven… vs. land with honey mineral produce… Land that kills vs land that produces metals for war

Comparing.

Remember, that you went through all of that because God wanted to teach you humility

A’: 17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ 18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

My power and my might...

That’s what pride is, in contrast with humility… How do you define pride? it is one who says “I made it”

God does not deny that they have power and might, and they work to extract the wealth

That power and might is from him...

Crucial for us… we are blessed… if we can be very honest...

As the story goes, the descendants of Israel actually forgot the desert lesson… the new generation who didn’t have to walk through the desert. They are rich without working and so they fall, as predicted, to saying ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

Psalm 42:1

Pride is the opposite of humility…

Humility = without God I can do nothing

Pride = I have done this with my power and my might

What is the sign here that we start to become prideful? That we don’t give thanks anymore, that we take for granted the small things in life, and we give credit to ourselves

Warning: 19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.

About pride:

God despises the proud Proverbs 6:16-17; Proverbs 16:5

When we think about being prideful… we often think about it in the context of interpersonal relationship

Prideful = look down upon others - But that is not quite true...

Sin, is first and foremost an affront to God

Deuteronomy 8 (and 6, and in may others) no mention about other people

In fact, in your heart it says ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

Pride, is first and foremost an affront to God

Because we take what is due to Him, for ourselves! It is boasting in yourself instead of boasting in the Lord

Think of the consequences tho...

We could look like the most humble person but in our hearts we are completely prideful

There might be symptoms to how we treat others… but not always… some of us are just so good… (maybe we can talk about this some other time)

“glory to God” but in my heart we say ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

This is what Deuteronomy is warning us here… in our success, comfort:

Success is dangerous no desperation…

Sufficiency generates praise, surplus generates pride… remember that....

Psalm 10:4 We forget about God; We don’t seek Him anymore; We believe we earn things ourselves

VERY DANGEROUS… how often do you stop when you are eating the simplest things.. McD, instant noodle

Success.. let me reward myself, I earn this… The first has to be gratitude, thanks

Pride makes us the things God gives us for our own purposes. We earn it, so it is up to me!

So what now?

What’s the solution? Remember the E? The solution to not forgetting, is to remembering and doing his commandments..

“Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.”

That’s the beauty of the word play here - wait.. how does it connect???!?!?!

Remind ourselves to keep his commandments… That is, keeping his commandments helps us humble...

WAIT.... this sounds like a gospel of work??? also… are we saying that obedience to law will help keep us humble… I don’t know Glenn.. I don’t see the connection

The problem is I think we are not, unfortunately, well versed with the OT, unfortunate, for so much beauty is in it.... see

Many of us think that it is just a compilation of laws and rules that’s so archaic that it’s irrelevant to us, and reading it is just useless… I want to challenge you to study it, you may fall in love in it

Whenever you see a grouping of law asking you to be obedient, notice:

It contains a reminder of God’s love and goodness and graciousness FIRST

Deuteronomy 5:6

Deuteronomy 8:2-6

Exodus 20:2

It demands us to love God

Deuteronomy 11:1-7

Deuteronomy 10:12-15

Deuteronomy 6:1-8

It demands us to love others because God loved us first!

Exodus 23:9

Leviticus 19:33-34

Leviticus 25:23

Deuteronomy 24:17-22

Doing thinking seriously these commands should always bring us back to Egypt

Every act of goodness that I can do shows just how much I owe it to grace...

Be patient - God is patient with us

Give thanks in all circumstances

in hard time - thank you for you are teaching us, and this hard time will be over

in good time - it is all yours, I can work it is all you

Forgive - because God forgives us first

To be courageous - God has overcome the world

Our disobedience easily leads us to pride… lose sight of God’s grace…

WE LOVE BECAUSE GOD LOVES US FIRST… AND BEING LOVED BY GOD THOUGH WE ARE A SINNER OUGHT TO HUMBLE US

“HE HUMBLED US” - “HE TEACHES US HUMILITY”

Moses in Deuteronomy 30:6 - despite all of this, you still fail, but one day....

Colossians 2:9-13

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How do we know if we are prideful? Deuteronomy tells us the sign is that we forget our Lord God. In our comfort, we forget that all we have comes from him. In our comfort we start to rely on our strength....

Deuteronomy threatens us: “ 19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.”

Proverbs 16:5

Psalm 10:4

We replace God with ourselves…

What to do? How to be humble?

“HE HUMBLED US” - “HE TEACHES US HUMILITY”

Show chart again....A results in E, E results in A

Remind ourselves to keep his commandments… That is, keeping his commandments helps us humble...

How? v11: “Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.”

Wait… are we saying that obedience to law will help keep us humble… I don’t know Glenn.. I don’t see the connection

The problem is I think we are not, unfortunately, well versed with the OT, unfortunate, for so much beauty is in it.... see

Many of us think that it is just a compilation of laws and rules that’s so archaic that it’s irrelevant to us, and reading it is just useless… I want to challenge you to study it, you may fall in love in it

Whenever you see a grouping of law asking you to be obedient, notice:

It contains a reminder of God’s love and goodness and graciousness FIRST

Deuteronomy 5:6

Deuteronomy 8:2-6

Exodus 20:2

It demands us to love God

Deuteronomy 11:1-7

Deuteronomy 10:12-15

Deuteronomy 6:1-8

It demands us to love others because God loved us first!

Exodus 23:9

Leviticus 19:33-34

Leviticus 25:23

Deuteronomy 24:17-22

WE LOVE BECAUSE GOD LOVES US FIRST… AND BEING LOVED BY GOD THOUGH WE ARE A SINNER OUGHT TO HUMBLE US

Public reading...

So what does this all mean?

God threatens us with perishing if we are prideful; if we are not humble. And this is a particular challenge for many of us who live in comfort!

We cannot humble ourselves…

God humbled us, He taught us humility through occasional hard times..

God also asks us to obey his commandments… that is to love God and love others… but inherent in all of these commandments is a reminder to all of us that it is all started by God’s grace first

We can do nothing if he did not enable us

We can give nothing if he did not give us first

Let me close with this:

Being humble is feat only achievable by God’s grace and help

So far we have discussed only the OT… Because I do have a motive here. I want to arouse your love to God’s Word that we rarely cover - The OT

I also want to show you how the OT points to Christ

Moses in Deuteronomy 30:6 - despite all of this, you still fail, but one day....

Colossians 2:9-13

How can we be humble? By doing what Deuteronomy 8 says do his commands: by loving God, and by loving others, because in doing so we are constantly reminded where we came from and who we were and what Christ has done on the cross to bring us to where we are today.

Thoughts

Explain from A-E

It’s a command:

Remember (and do), after such and such, you are to be humble and remember the Lord!

Explain from E-A’

Its a warning - same but the small difference are key. The twist is designed to catch the listener’s attention

Remember the Lord, OR ELSE, after such and such...

you will forget… and

Additional line: You will say that this is your power and your wealth… followed by warning

Final warning verses 19-20

God shows them the consequence… the other nations which have been destroyed!

Numbers 14:20-23 Who’s testing who…?

Remembering = not just recalling, but the act to bring truth into mind, that result in an appropriate action

v11: do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today

vv2-6: Remember… therefore...

Psalm 105:8

Revelation 2:5

Ecclesiastes 12:1; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Genesis 8:1-4

Forgetting = not just I cannot recall, but that I replace that truth, with something else, leaving behind, and “remembering” something new, and act upon this new thing

Genesis 41:51

Philippians 3:13-14

Deuteronomy 8:19

A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy 8. The Lessons of the Wilderness

Israel’s self-sufficiency was “humbled,” first by its being suffered to feel a want, and afterwards by the manner in which its want was supplied; it was thus taught how, for its very existence, it was daily (Ex. 16:4) dependent on the (creative) word of God.

Deuteronomy (2) The Lord as the Source of Blessing (8:1–20)

The granting of unending supply of food, of clothing that never wore out, and of physical stamina for the wilderness journey (v. 4) were all part of the process by which God instructed and prepared his people on their way to Canaan. The translation “disciplines” (v. 5) is suitable generally for the verb used here; but in light of the verbs “humble” and “test” in v. 2, it may be best to see the desert itinerary as a learning experience rather than a punishing one (cf. Exod 16:4; 20:20; Deut 8:16; 13:4 [Eng., 13:3]). Thus this is discipline in the positive sense of education.

2. A strong sense of purpose introduces this account of the wilderness wanderings, compared to that of 1:19–46. Here God’s people learn for the first time that the Lord needed to know what was in their hearts, whether they would obey his commandments or not. In order to achieve this educative purpose, the Lord humbled (‘ānâ) and tested (nāsâ) his people. Here the humbling process is directly linked to causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna in verses 3 and 16–17 (cf. 1:31), implying utter dependence upon God, in contrast to pride and self-sufficiency. At Exodus 16:4, the word test related to the manna would prove that it was the Lord who brought Israel out of Egypt (Exod. 16:6). It is first used in the Pentateuch of God’s testing of Abraham to sacrifice Isaac at Genesis 22:1. This reference is significant for the present context, in that the result of Abraham’s test leads God to say, Now I know that you fear God (Gen. 22:12, emphasis added). As with Abraham, God wanted to prove the worth and intentions of his people only for positive ends (v. 16b; cf. Gen. 22:15–18). Thus the wilderness became an ideal classroom for such a test. But the irony was that, whereas the Israelites thought that they were testing God (6:16; cf. 33:8), it was God who was testing them

Woods, E. J. (2011). Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary. (D. G. Firth, Ed.) (Vol. 5, pp. 151–152). Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press.

A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy 8. The Lessons of the Wilderness

by yielding inopportunely to physical necessity, higher spiritual needs may be neglected or frustrated.

Deuteronomy (2) The Lord as the Source of Blessing (8:1–20)

The Lord had led them through the desert in order to humble and test them about their commitment (v. 2). He did this by allowing them to hunger and then to be fed by the miraculous supply of manna (Exod 16:1–30; Num 11:4–9), an act so clearly supernatural that the people had to recognize that it was all of God and not of themselves

Deuteronomy 4:9-14

Deuteronomy 4:23-25

Deuteronomy 4:40

Deuteronomy 5:32-33