Remember, this has to do with
a wilderness journey and all the profit that was there, the
preparations that were made for them when they entered into the
land. Chapter 8, verse 1 through 20. All the commandments which
I command thee this day shall you observe to do, that ye may
live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord
sware unto your fathers. Thou shalt remember all the way
which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness,
to humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thine heart,
whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or not. and he humbled
thee, and suffered thee to hunger, fed thee with manna, which thou
knewest not, neither did thy fathers know, that he might make
thee to know, that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, of the Lord, doth
man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon
thee, neither did thy foot swell these forty years. Thou shalt
also consider in thine heart that as a man chasteneth his
son, so the Lord thy God chastened thee. Therefore thou shalt keep
the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his way and
to fear him. And the Lord thy God bringeth
thee into a good land, a land of brooks, of water, of fountains
and depths that spring out of the valley and hills, a land
of wheat and barley and vines, fig trees and palm granites,
a land of oil, of olive and of honey, a land wherein thou shalt
eat bread without scarceness. Thou shalt not lack anything
in it, a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills thou
mayest dig brass. Thou hast eaten and are full,
then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which
he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the
Lord thy God in not keeping His commandments and His judgment
and His statutes which I have commanded thee this day. Lest
when thou hast eaten and are full, and hast built goodly houses
and dwell therein, when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, thy
silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied,
then thine heart be lifted up, thou forget the Lord thy God,
which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the
house of bondage, who led thee through that great and terrible
wilderness wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought,
there was no water, who brought thee forth water out of the rock
of Flint, who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which
thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, that he might
prove thee to do thee good at thy latter end. Thou shalt say
in thine heart, my power and the might of my hand hath gotten
me this well. But thou shalt remember the Lord
thy God, for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that
He may establish His covenant which He sware unto thy fathers
as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at
all forget the Lord thy God, walk after other gods, and serve
them, and worship them, I testify against you this day, that ye
shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord
destroyed before your face, so shall you perish, because you
would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God. Deuteronomy is an interesting
book. In fact, there are two things
looming right now in the future of Israel in the passage that
we have read from Deuteronomy. By the way, you know that Deuteronomy
means the second edition or the second giving of the law. There
were two great changes that stood, as it were, right on the horizon
for them and was quick approaching as God would lead them to three,
two great matters. The Lord is preparing them for
that in all of this. Number one, Moses would be taken
away in death. Moses would die and would not
lead them into the promised land. In chapter 31 and verse 14, even
though his eye was not dim, nor his natural strength abated,
at the age of 120 years, Moses, the only and longtime
leader that the children of Israel had known and had followed. The one that God sent down to
bring them out of the land of Egypt and out of their bondage. The one by whom God parted the
Red Sea that they might go over on dry land. And Moses, going
before them all these years, not only as their leader, but
also as their intercessor, and leading them as God led him. After all that he endured in
their behalf, and after he was faithful in his house, as Hebrews
said, he would be denied the privilege, however, of leading
the people into the land of promise. And that because in Numbers chapter
20, Moses smote the rock when God told him only to speak to
it and water would come out. He would die before the Lord.
He would be buried by the Lord in a secret place, Deuteronomy
34 verses 5 and verse 6, and I think possibly
to keep the people from making an idol out of the body of Moses
the Lord, put it in a secret place. Now if we think about
it from the standpoint of typology, how it comes to the New Testament,
Moses represents the law, which cannot in any wise bring one
into the promised inheritance. He can be a schoolmaster, but
not a Savior. The law came by Moses, but grace
and truth came by the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, Joshua chapter
1 and verse 2, Moses, my servant, is dead. He will not lead the
people over. Moses dead. after all those years
of service to God and leadership. But the second thing that was
about to occur, that stood near the threshold, is that they would
at long last, after all their journey, their travel, and their
suffering, be brought into the land of Canaan. You see that
in verse 7 through verse 9. After all the years out in the
empty wilderness, after all the hardship, the troubles and the
trials of the way, all the wonderings about that they endured in the
wilderness, all the discouragements that came on them at one time
or another, the times when they thirsted and had no water to
drink. On such occasions as we read,
Numbers 21 and verse 4, the soul of the people was much discouraged
because of the way. They had no settled place, no
permanent home. They left Egypt with much rejoicing,
only to find very soon that they met with many and great hardships
in the wilderness. And they saw the plagues, and
they saw the death of many of their countrymen by those plagues
along the way. They oftentimes murmured against
Moses and wished that they were back again in the land of Egypt. feasting on the fish and the
cucumber and the melons and the leeks and the onion and the garlic. Numbers 11 and verse 5. But now that generation is dead
that disbelieved at Kadesh at the border. In Numbers chapter
13, all but Caleb and Joshua have died of that group that
said, no, we cannot go in and take the land. Now some short
thoughts concerning the book of Deuteronomy, ere we enter
in. Some commentators think that
it only covers a period of about two months in the history of
the people. That everything in Deuteronomy
is condensed into a period of about two months. It largely
consists in three long speeches or discourses that Moses delivered
unto the people in the last month of his life. All of those intentions
were to prepare them for life yonder in Canaan, in the land
of promise. Now, our present text is part
of the second intercourse speech of Moses and discourse unto the
people covering chapter 5 through chapter 26. It is a rather lengthy
one and we have a part of it today. And here in chapter 8
of Deuteronomy, Moses repeats a frequent exhortation. And that is, look, when you are
come yonder into the land of Canaan, when at last God has
fulfilled that promise that He made unto the Father, you are
to come into that land that God, who cannot lie, promised to the
fathers before you. You are to remember and you are
to keep all of the commandments and all of the statutes that
I have delivered unto you today. And then you will grow into a
large and a mighty nation and enjoy the fat of the land." You
have an exhortation concerning that in Deuteronomy 30. and verses
15 through 20. We'll not read it out loud at
this time. The point is this. There were
rich blessings that were to be had in keeping the commandments
of God, in honoring Him, and in walking in His way. But there
were dire consequences when they transgressed those commandments,
or set aside the worship of their God, or espoused the way of the
heathen, in the land where they were going. So Moses sternly
admonishes them that when they are settled comfortably in the
land and there is rest from the wilderness and at last they prosper
and their eyes begin to bulge out as it were with fatness,
their lands yielding abundantly for their barns and for their
table their herds increased, and when they were feasting on
danies in their very own land, when they had bread without scarceness,
or to wonder where the next meal was coming from, that they do
not forget, whatever they do, do not forget the Lord thy God,
and all the things that He has given you in commandment that
you are to do. So, if I may paraphrase, while
persecution and poverty have slain their thousands, prosperity
has slain its ten thousands. A lot of people are destroyed
when they become prosperous and have plenty, rather than when
they didn't have much and trusted in the Lord. What a warning we
have concerning that. In Deuteronomy 32 and verse 15,
concerning someone named Jeshurun, waxed old, or rather waxed fat
and kicked. And he grew thick, he covered
himself with fatness. Then he forsook God which made
him. And he lightly esteemed the rock
of his salvation. So that when we are in strait,
sometimes we call upon the Lord more. and look unto Him and cry
unto our God. Then when things become easy,
it seems that we slack off and tend to forget. In short, there
are two dangers for them to avoid when they are brought into the
land of Canaan. of becoming at ease as it were
in Zion. Amos chapter 6 and verse 1. And B, a great danger there would
be the idol gods of the heathen, the false gods that were worshipped
there. find themselves not only tolerating,
but even embracing the false gods of the heathen. Therefore,
Moses reminds the people in verse 2 and in verse 5 of two things
about their past 40 years. yonder in the wilderness. Summed
up in the second verse in these words, if we read it again. Thou shalt remember all the way
which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness,
to humble and to prove you, to know what was in your heart,
whether thou would keep his commandments are not. Now, number one, it
was a period of trial, of trouble, of hardship, and of correction. But it was also a time of preparedness,
making them or preparing them for the land of Canaan. And in
verse 2 is set forth in a threefold way, to humble you, to mortify
their pride and their conceit, to prove them or to test them,
to know whether they would keep God's commandment or whether
they would not. Looking ahead to how this truth
is interwoven in the text and then is repeated as in verse
3, He humbled thee. In verse 5, the Lord chastened
you as a father does a son. Verse 16, that He might humble
you and prove you. And what were some of the ways
that God did humble and did prove them in the wilderness? How did
God test them that He might know what was in their heart? How
did He discover what their reaction would be? Verse 3, He suffered
you to hunger. In Exodus 16, verse 2 and verse
3, to the point they feared that they would die of hunger in the
16th chapter of Exodus. What did God do? They said, we're
going to die, we're going to starve. You've brought us out
here to kill us with hunger. And what did their God do? He
sent them manna from heaven to eat. He caused manna to come
down every morning and lay upon their ground. Then what did they
do after time? Finally, they despised having
manna every day, three times a day. Exodus 17, 1 through 4. They accused Moses of causing
them to die of thirst and were ready to stone him. And what
did God do on that occasion? He gave them water out of a rock. He commanded Moses, take that
rod with which he parted the Red Sea and smite that rock and
water shall come gushing out. What an unlikely source of plenty
of water, a hard rock, and yet smitten it came out with water. Consider a marvel of God's wisdom
and providence at the very beginning of their journey. You'll find
it way back in Exodus 13, 17 through verse 18. And I really intended to read
it. Exodus 13 and verse 17 through verse 18. You see the great wisdom
of God in acting this way. Listen to what it said, Exodus
13, 17 and 18. It came to pass when Pharaoh
had let the people go that God led them not through the way
of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God
said, that's pre-adventure, the people repent when they see war
and they return to Egypt. But God led the people about
through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children
of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. God led them not the shortest
route. They could have been there in
four to six days. The ferocious Philistines, however,
stood between them and the land where they were going. And they
were warlike people and would attack them and it would dishearten
the people and immediately they'd become disillusioned with their
journey and want to return again unto Egypt. their hopes would
have been dashed ere they got started good, and would be willing
to forfeit their new freedom again for whatever safety they
thought they had in the land of Egypt. Sometimes, brethren,
you watch a great trial right after a profession of faith can
weaken the faith of that new convert and give them a serious
setback. So God had Moses lead them the
longer way around through the wilderness. Still, still we read
of their wishing to be again back in the land of Egypt. Wishing
they had died there, Exodus 16 and 3, Numbers 14 and 2. They reason like this. Had we died in Egypt at least,
we would have died with our bellies full. Yes, it was a hard and
a painful journey that God took them through. Many things befell
them, but their God was schooling them and child-training them
time and time again. they saw His wrath, and they
saw His judgment, and many died. He proved what was in their heart,
if only they had eyes to see and to understand. But back in
Deuteronomy chapter 8, and a closer look now at the third verse.
This is one of the quotes from Deuteronomy, which the Lord Jesus
Christ used against Satan in his temptations in the wilderness. What are we to conclude from
Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 3? But that the sending of manna
down unto them was one of the great lessons of their wilderness
experience, and it also was one of the greatest types of the
wilderness experience. We know from the words of the
Lord Jesus that it was a type under that old economy. He said,
I am the bread of life which has come down from heaven. God
brought them to hunger. So hungry they were that they
despaired of living. They thought that they would
starve to death. And then God sent them the manna
every day, which manna neither they nor their fathers knew. It was a new thing. They'd never
seen it on that wise before. They'd never heard of such a
thing. In fact, the first time that they ever saw the manna,
In Exodus 16 and verse 15 it said, they wished not what it
was. And they said, what is it? What
is it? Which we have in the margin. And they referred to it as, what
is it? And what is Moses saying here
in Deuteronomy 8 and verse 3, but that feeding them with manna
was a humiliation. In that, they knew no such thing
and it was new and strange and unknown. You see it again down
in verse 16. Yet were their lives preserved,
and preserved in a supernatural way by a mighty work of God. The lesson to be learned in verse
3, and I don't know if we ever made this connection before or
not, but look at it. The lesson to be learned in verse
3, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Consider what is true that
one can starve to death, one can starve to death, and what
a horrible death It certainly is. It is also true that one
may die with a pantry full of food aplenty. One may starve
to death, another may die with food to spare, proving one does
not live by bread alone, but by the God who gives to all life
and breath and all things according to Acts 17, 25. In other words,
not even food can sustain the life of one irrespective of the
will and the power of Almighty God. God is able to sustain life
without physical or what we might call natural food. The Israelites
thought, we will die here in this great and terrible wilderness. Verse 15, unless we get food
by which they meant natural food, food gotten in the ordinary way,
bread from grown and harvested and baked grain and barley, grapes
from their vines of their vineyard, milk from their cows, The natural
process, and that certainly does take time. The psalmist said
in Psalm 78 and verse 19, they spoke against God. How? They said, can God furnish a
table in the wilderness? My, how they called God's ability
into question. Can God furnish a table in the
wilderness? The hunger prior to the giving
of the manna was deeply humbling, troubling, and fearful unto them. For the lesson taught them was,
it is not nature that sustains life of itself, apart from the
direct energy of God Almighty. It is God that sustains life.
Mind you, it was not just one person fed, as was the case with
the raven, who brought the food yonder to the prophet when he
cowered in the cave. It was not a few that were fed
the manna. It was the entire congregation
of Israel. On manna they ate. On manna they
feasted. It rained from heaven. It came
from God. It was there every day except
the Sabbath day. As mentioned, the Lord used this
text against the temptation of Satan. In Matthew chapter 4,
He too was hungry. And after 40 days of fasting,
the tempter adapted the temptation to the circumstances of our blessed
Lord, saying, If thou be the Son of God, command these rocks
to become bread that you may eat and be satisfied, the Lord
gives the answer of Moses, saying, It is written, Matthew 4, 4,
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God. On one occasion, Jesus had turned
water into wine. On another, He had taken a very
small lunch and made it to feed a multitude with baskets full
left over. Once John the Baptist said, God
is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham, Matthew
chapter 3 and verse 9. He said to those Jews, don't
you go boasting that you're children of Abraham, for I tell you God's
able to take these stones and make children of Abraham out
of them. He could make stones to become
children of Abraham. Surely then, omnipotence could
spread, yea, we'll even make the stones to become bread, if
it be His desire." The Lord could have made biscuits and cake loaves
out of those stones, but He would not. But back to Deuteronomy
chapter 8, another display of the providence of God in verse
4, concerning their clothes and their shoes for their feet, that
their raiment did not wear out. did not become tattered and threadbare
and torn and wrought away from the year and the time of wear,
did not fall off of their body the garments that were there,
While some expositors attribute this to such things as the spoils
that they brought out with them out of the land of Egypt, or
spoils that might have been taken from the enemy in battle, or
having resources to replenish these things by the stock that
were with them, some have so foolishly said that even little
children's clothes grew with them as they grew. and their
clothes increased in size with them. Though it seems best to
see it as this, God giving their garments and their shoes what
one called, quote, a miraculous durability, unquote. For this is twice more repeated
in the Scripture. It is in Deuteronomy 29 and 5,
In Nehemiah 9, verse 21, could they not see the mighty hand
of God as every day their clothes remained as new as they began? Then look at verse 5 in our chapter.
Again, these things were disciplinary chastisement to teach them obedience. In verse 6, that they might walk
in God's way out of the fear of God, Had not God sent plagues
upon them? Had He not at times slew many
of their number in judgments upon their rebellion, such as
causing the earth to open up and swallow those rebellious
ones in Numbers 16? and God sending a devouring fire
to kill two sons of Aaron when they offered strange fire there
upon the altar in Leviticus chapter 10. Three thousand slain on the
day of judgment for making the golden calf. and dancing around
it in Exodus chapter 32. And, of course, there are more
that we'll not take time to mention. If not for these things, however,
if not for these judgments and these judgments and awful judgments
upon them, what would curb the wickedness of the people? What
would hold them back? What would keep the fear of God
in their heart? And such things would rekindle
the fear of God in their heart as they saw His judgment upon
the rebellious, and then in their hearts for a time, and then they
would fall into some rebellion again. Now from verse 7 in chapter
8 of Deuteronomy to the end of the chapter here, are some cautions
against abusing the blessings of God that they would have bestowed
upon them in Canaan. In verse 7 through verse 9, the
land is described very quickly. A good land, flowing water, artesian
wells, valleys, hills, producing wheat and barley, with vines
and fig trees and palm granites and oil and honey. There would
be food there without scarceness, and brass in them thar hills,
as we used to say, that they might have treasure in their
land." Then look at verse 10. when they partook of their satisfaction,
they were to bless God for His goodness. They were to thank
God for the blessing. They were to give thanks to God.
They were to praise His bounty. They were not to say, look, our
own hands have gotten us this well. We've worked for it and
struggled for it. Our own hands have gotten it.
But then, verse 11 and following, they are repeatedly admonish
not to forget how they came to enjoy the land, not to forget
God, not to grow slack with the commandments of the Lord, neither
were they to see their bountiful food supply and dwell in their
comfortable houses and go out and survey their increasing herds. And in verse 14, their hearts
be lifted up so as to forget God. And even in verse 17, to
say in their heart, my power, my might have gotten me all of
this. We can see this pattern in them
and also in our own personal life. Remember when we are in
some great distress, some great strain, some serious illness,
some great sorrow, some great need has encompassed us about.
Remember then how we repent, how we pray, how we promise,
how we thank the Lord, ask Him for His help, and when God is
gracious then to deliver us and to help us, we slack off again
in all of those things. When we have meager supplies,
sometimes we look to the Lord And we're thankful for every
crumb, recognizing that it is a blessing by God's supply. But when we prosper, then we
begin to feel self-sufficient again, as if our own might had
gotten us these things. We got it by our own strength. But we should remember, we must
remember, that every good and every perfect gift is from the
Father and cometh down from above, in whom is no bearableness or
shadow of turning. Sometimes we forget what are
behind. Others we recall to remember,
such as that our path is strewn with many blessings. as we look
back over our lifetime, such as the way God has led us until
we are where we are today, in our families, with our spouses,
our children, and our place of worship. The way God has led
us, how he has chastened our soul during the way, that we
might learn His way and walk in His grace and His leadership.
And even in the case of some of us, how He led us out, oh
thank God, out of the barren, great wilderness of Arminianism
and the drought of food and the Word of God and the famine of
the hearing of that Word. Now He opened our eyes by His
great sovereign mercy and led us into a paradise of truth where
truth is wonderful and is precious. Thank God for that deliverance
as well. Let's close with a passage in
Joshua. If you care to turn there, there
are two verses, 21 and 45, and 23 and verse 14, the book of
Joshua. The essence of this is, when
we settled in Canaan, it is written When they were there, the land
was divided. They all had their inheritance
and their place. Then it is written, there failed
not anything which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel. All came to pass. Joshua could
remind them of that. All things are here. We're in
the land. We have our inheritance. The
enemy is driven out. It's a good land and such like.
And then in the last one, Joshua 23 and verse 14, Joshua is at
the point of his death now, and he says, You know in your hearts
and in your soul that not one thing has failed. of all the
good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. But he said, all have come to
pass, not one thing has failed. You know Solomon said that, 1
Kings chapter 8 and 56, when he built the house of worship.
And it was finished and he said, look, exactly as God's Word had
said, so it is. Our point is, God is faithful. Everyone He has chosen in Christ,
He will bring to heaven. Everyone chosen in Christ and
given to Him and redeemed by Him and quickened by the Spirit,
He will bring to that heavenly land. His word is on record. He knoweth them that are His.
He will not fail. It will be true. And then this
howling wilderness of this world, some of us have loved it much
too much and become much too entangled in it, but God will
deliver us, lead us out, and carry us into that heavenly Canaan
where we shall find joy everlasting at His right hand. There are
blessings evermore. Thank God who said He would do
it. is doing it and will do it according
to his good purpose.