(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 8:1–9, “All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. And 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 no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth 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 chasteneth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.”
Moses made sure, in his last speech to Israel, that he repeated the message many times so that they would be sure that they understood everything. He was speaking as the Lord’s mouthpiece and spoke with the Lord’s authority. The Lord’s true intentions in dealing with Israel are succinctly expressed in the passage. He had chosen Israel so that they could live and multiply. He was giving them the Land for this purpose alone. When Israel escaped from Egypt they were a nation of slaves and showed the Lord that they were not ready to take possession of their own territory. They showed this by refusing to take possession of the Land saying that they were afraid of the giants in the Land. (Compare Proverbs 22:13, “The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.”) The Lord kept them in the wilderness for forty years but this wasn’t just about punishment. He wanted them to understand what their attitude to the Lord would be. He wanted them to be humble before the Lord. The Lord doesn’t make His people humble so that they feel bad about themselves, He makes them humble so that they will feel good about God. He was showing them how important it was for them to obey the commandments. This is why they were well fed during their entire time in the wilderness. When they finally came into the Promised Land they were a nation of hardened warriors, ready to fight against and defeat every giant they encountered. They also learned just how miraculous the Lord could be as He took them through the wilderness; there were about two million people, all told, and about ten million head of stock and there was enough food and enough water for them all for forty years in the desert. However, the Lord also promised them that the Land would have everything they needed to prosper and make themselves into a successful nation among the nations of the world. There would be plenty of food and enough other resources for them. However, they had a contract with penalty clauses.
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