Deuteronomy 8:1-20

“This entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe,¹ so that you may live and increase, and go in and occupy the land² that the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.³ Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness,⁴ in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments.⁵ He humbled⁶ you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.⁷ The clothes on your back did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years.⁸ Know then in your heart that as a parent disciplines a child so the Lord your God disciplines you.⁹ Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God,¹⁰ by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in 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 where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper.¹¹ You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.”

“Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today.¹² When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God,¹³ who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid waste-land with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good.¹⁴ Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth,¹⁵ so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.”¹⁶

1 The theme of obeying the commandments continues here. This time entire is emphasized.

2 Life, land, and fertility are the rewards for obedience.

3 God promised it on oath, but it seems to still be conditional.

4 Good times are coming, but they can't forget how hard it was to get here.

5 Um, did they pass that test or fail it?

6 Fascinating use of “humbling”

7 Quoted by Jesus

8 That seems a little unconnected. Just emphasizing God's provision?

9 God punishes them, but as a loving parent. Parents don't kill their children though...implying that some of God's punishments perhaps should be understood more symbolically.

10 Yet again, “therefore keep the commandments”

11 His provision is heavily emphasized again.

12 Again, KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS.

13 Good fortune can lead to pride, which makes one forgetful of one's reliance on God.

14 Remember all the things God protected you from and provided for you, not of your own strength.

15 All good things, all power comes from God.

16 A strong warning to close the passage.

Take-home: Future obedience is commanded, in good times as well as bad. The goodness of the land that is coming is contrasted with the difficulties in the wilderness, to remind them that God, not their own merit, provides all.