Day 158: The gift or the giver? – Deuteronomy 8 vs 1 – 9

1 “Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. 3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4-5 For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell. Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.”

6-9 “So obey the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills. It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey. It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills. 10 When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.” Deuteronomy 8:1-9 New Living Translation (English Standard Version link)

For some 40 years the Israelites had been living like Nomads in a desert. What was required on their part to now set up a permanent home in the good land that was before them? (vs 1)

We see in that verse that it is obedience that leads to blessing. In fact, Moses says that this important truth was what their last forty years were all about. (vs 2) It had been their disobedience 40 years earlier that prevented them from entering God's blessing then – and so for 40 years God had humbled them to bring to their attention what their hearts were like. That’s been true of many people who heard the gospel message when they were younger, but didn't take it to heart at the time. Many wasted years followed.

But that process can also apply to strong Christians. God may allow hard times in their life to humble them, and bring out whether they trust Him as much as they claim to do. What is the big lesson for life we all need to learn according to vs 3?

That's the verse Jesus quoted to Satan when the Devil tempted him to command some stones to turn into bread when Jesus was really hungry after a long time without eating. There is something even more important than a full tummy. So in vs 4-5 Moses reminds the people of how God had cared for them during all those difficult years, and points out that the hard times had God allowed in their lives were for their discipline.

What was God's ultimate intention for them – and what sort of land was He now bringing them to? (vs 6-9)

It was a land of plenty. It was a very good land where they would have all they needed for food as well as for building homes, and instruments of iron for farming and so on. There were also hills full of copper for making other utensils. But, apart from a true reverence for God and obedience to His commandments, what was the other very important thing they needed to do? (vs 10)

They were to remember from where all these blessings came, and to give God praise and thanks. When they enjoyed all the gifts they had received, they were not to forget the giver!

Do we regularly remember to give God the praise and thanks He is so worthy of for all the ways He meets our daily needs? And do we, as the apostle Paul urges, remember to “thank God for His gift that is too wonderful for words!” (2 Corinthians 9:15) He was surely thinking of how God gave His beloved Son to redeem us from our sins. In that instance both the gift and the giver are wonderful! Praise God.