That He Might Humble You

Deuteronomy 8:1–20 – Deuteronomy: Then You Shall Live
Third Sunday of Advent – December 15, 2019 (am)
 

Before we read Deu.8 this morning, I want to say several introductory words about it, to help us appreciate it.

On the heels of hearing the law in c.5, we’ve been talking about Israel’s obedience to it in these following chapters. C.6 called them to love God, to obey Him from a heart of love. Then Moses began addressing potential obstacles to that loving obedience. In c.7 last week it was the inhabitants of the land, Israel’s external enemies. If Israel makes peace with those people it will surely lead them into idolatry. Now this week and next week we will meet two internal enemies of Israel’s obedience: self-sufficiency (c.8) and self-righteousness (c.9-10a). So, this week that’s what we’re going to hear: Moses addressing the potential distraction to loving obedience of God that flows from a sense of self-sufficiency, not really needing God to provide for them even though Israel couldn’t even provide their own food and drink in the wilderness for forty years!

But I also want to give you a different idea, a complementary way of understanding these chapters, which I believe is also evident in the text. We’re hearing Moses address Israel here in ways that show us this is God addressing Israel as His son. I’ve already mentioned that most of the pronouns in this section are singular, as though Moses were addressing one person instead of a nation—or better, as though he were addressing the nation as one person. That is one of the clues. But another clue is seen in the fact that the unique Son of God, Jesus, used the instruction from this very section to answer Satan when He was being tempted toward disobedience in the wilderness. Two of Jesus’ answers came from c.6 (13, 16) and the third from right here in c.8 (3). The unique Son of God heard God’s instruction in this passage and was faithful in His response. He obeyed God perfectly from a heart of pure love.

So, we hear in these successive chapters the sort of life that will be enabled in the land if Israel receives this instruction and honors it, obeys it as a good and faithful son. In c.6, a loving and obedient son would mean righteousness (25) and [life] (24) for God’s people.

In c.7 it would truly mean new creation! The people would no longer face hardship in life—infertility, famine, even sickness (13-15). But also, the seven nations (1) that were to be displaced may not just represent the complete number of the inhabitants of the land, it could also represent the number of creation—the original seven days. With the defeat of these seven nations the chaos of the land is dispelled. From the formless and void expressions of Canaanite idolatry, the land would be re-formed and filled with true worship of (Yahweh).

In c.8 we’ll see that a humble, obedient son will mean [disciplined] dependence on God in, and for, all things—not taking credit for your own provision, but recognizing that not only food and drink, but every form of provision, prosperity, life comes from God alone.

Let’s read this passage now and appreciate what it will mean for Israel if they live like a faithful son in the land. … Now, let’s look at c.8 in two parts.

A Call to Obedience in Hard Circumstances (1-10)

The chapter opens with Moses reminding them of the importance of obedience as they prepare to enter the land (1), calling them to 2 … remember the whole way that the Lord [their] God… led [them those] forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble [them], testing [them] to know what was in [their] heart, whether [they] would keep the commandments or not. That was the aim of their time in the wilderness. It was a test to see whether they’d obey God, whether they’d [humbly] hear, receive, and respond to His recently revealed law. An obedient son would do that. This process is called [discipline] (5) and we’re acquainted with it in our rearing of our own children. Consequences for bad behavior help train them in good behavior. But God was doing it with Israel in an amazingly remarkable way that demonstrated their compete dependency on Him for all things.

He let [them get hungry] (3, cf. 16) and thirsty (cf. 15) in the wilderness. Those are pretty hard circumstances! How well would you and I fare on that test? But they were never in (even the slightest) danger, not when this God can do what this God can do! 3 [Yes,] he humbled you and let you hunger…, but then He fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know (Manna means what is it? You did not know!), but God fed you in this way 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.

It’s not only what goes into your mouth that feeds you and keeps you alive. It’s what comes out of the mouth of God. It took being in a wilderness with no food or water to learn this lesson so clearly that you’re persuaded it’s true! It took living in the wilderness and seeing that 4 [y]our clothing did not wear out… and your foot did not swell these forty years. When a God can do all this, He’s worthy of being trusted! But also, His people have to be persuaded by such a display that it truly is more important to them what God says than what they have to eat!

If they can learn this lesson from their time in the wilderness then there’s a chance they might actually remember that all the brooks of water and fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills (7), all the wheat and barley, vines and fig trees and pomegranates, the olive trees and honey (8) in the land is actually the blessing of God and not merely the fruit of their own labors. And then if they can be so persuaded of this truth that they recognize the best thing they can do to maintain it is to give their attention to obedience from the heart rather than to hard labor as though they were [slaves] in this land, then they will actually experience all the blessings Moses keeps listing. If they will 6 … keep the commandments of the Lord [their] God by walking in his ways and by fearing him, then 10 … [they] shall eat and be full, and [they] shall bless the Lord [their] God for the good land he has given [them]. They will live by [God’s] word!

A Call to Obedience in Even Harder Circumstances (11-20)

But those are also the harder circumstances for obedience. Moses says it is precisely: 12 … when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will be lifted up, and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. When we’re surrounded by abundance, we begin to grow very accustomed to it. We get protective of it. And we find it hard to remember that we’re not the ones producing it all on our own. This was a very good reminder from Moses to Israel, and to us.

You don’t even know all the things the Lord saved you from or preserved you through in the great and terrifying wilderness (15), Moses said—fiery serpents, scorpions, and the like—so don’t start getting the idea that you can get along just fine without Him. God [humbled] you and [tested] you and fed you… with manna to do you good in the end (16). So: 17 Beware lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.” That just isn’t true. And you should know it! 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth! Think about that. It remains true to this day! And God did this for a reason in Israel, namely, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to [their] fathers…. God gave Israel the power to get wealth in order to confirm that He is their God and He will prosper them. The problem was that Israel was more than capable of [forgetting] God, and then of taking credit for all He did. But that course would bring severe consequences: 19 … 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.

And then he reaffirms that pronouncement to close out this section. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. And we know from history that is precisely what happened. Israel did not prove to be a faithful son in the land. But the fulfillment of God’s promises going all the way back through Abraham to the Garden of Eden are dependent on His having a faithful son who would hear this instruction and embrace it as truth and obey it from the heart. And that’s just what we meet in Jesus, Who drew on this very teaching and cited it in order to stand firm against temptation in the wilderness.

We’re marking the season of Advent in anticipation of celebrating the birth of Jesus, born to the virgin Mary in Bethlehem, God’s unique Son come in the flesh, the whole fullness of [God dwelling in a human body] (Col.2:9). That is an absolutely amazing reality that we should never tire of expressing. God has come into this world in human form in order to meet the demands of the law and open the way for us to receive the blessings that God revealed through Moses would be the experience of His people if they were enabled to live as His faithful son.

When Deu.8 closes we’re left with a sweet and lofty vision of the experience God’s people will know if Israel is a faithful son in the land. But we’re also left with a dark description of what happens if they don’t honor the Lord with loving obedience. And today we know it was indeed the darkness that ensued.

But now we also live in a day when we realize that the story didn’t end there. A faithful Son did arise! And not only did He obey the righteous requirements of the law perfectly from a heart pulsing with undiluted and undivided love of God, but He also endured the curse of the law as a substitute sin-Bearer for all who will believe. In that transaction, He became guilty of our sin and died the death we should have died—He died in our place—and in His death the just requirements of the law were met on our behalf. We’re declared not guilty and we’re counted as fully righteous in Christ. Then He arose from the dead in victory over sin and death, and as a promise that we will also rise when He returns to bring down the curtain on this world and initiate the next, the new heavens and new earth to which Israel’s promise of land had ultimately been pointing all along!

Conclusion

What a perfect passage of Scripture to be studying during Advent season. God has provided a faithful, obedient Son so that His people can experience the blessings that result! My friends, enter into those blessings! Walk in loving obedience by faith today in order to enjoy eternal blessings in the land.

Let’s now celebrate Christ’s coming through communion.