Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Old Testament Lesson just read, from Deut. 8. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- In the verses of our text God explains many things to the children of Israel. In so doing, He lays the foundation for their continued living but now in a wonderful new territory – the land of Canaan.
- Principles are laid down that apply equally to us and to all of God’s people of faith. These things are important, and spoken with all seriousness and solemnity.
- Sadly, the children of Israel for the most part did not keep His commandments “by walking in His ways and by fearing Him.” Just the opposite occurred throughout much of the history of Israel. The results were dismal – the northern kingdom was destroyed around 700 B.C. and the southern kingdom was pretty much decimated in 586 B.C. . From that point on the territory of Israel was governed by foreign nations, not the physical descendants of Abraham.
- In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul wrote: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” So these verses are to be contemplated by people of God until the end of time, so that we also might learn God’s ways and God’s wisdom from them.
- So let us consider that God is also blessing us. Let us certainly give Him thanks and praise, but let us also hear, learn, and keep His commandments! First, in our text we learn that:
I. God Gives His People What Is Needed, Even In Humbling And Dire Circumstances
Text: “You shall remember the whole way that the Lord you God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna which you did not know. . . . Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.””
II. God Causes Or Allows His People To Fall Into Difficult Circumstances To Provide Them With Heavenly, Spiritual Blessings
Text: “He humbled you . . . 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.
. . . Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.”
III. He Does So To Keep Us In Repentance And Faith
Text: “So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in His ways and by fearing Him.”
Statement: You remember from Sunday School that during the exodus from Egypt the children of Israel were rebellious, absurdly so. When they got to the edge of Canaan, the spies gave an evil report and the people chickened out. They did so in spite of God’s promises and His instruction – and so the need for the forty years in the wilderness. It was training for a life of faith and confidence in God’s Word, and also in conforming our living to God’s instructions. “Fearing” God is not being afraid of Him, but rather giving Him proper reverence, respect, and love for all that He does for us, especially for His forgiveness and mercy.
Application: It is no different for us. Even in the New Testament we read: “The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.” [Heb. 12:6] He also wants us to know that “man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” He wants us to know His love and He desires that we also love Him. So:
IV. Let Us Remember That God Is Also Leading Us On To Much Better Things
A. Our Territory Is Also A Wonderful Place To Live, Just As Ancient Canaan Was
Text: “The Lord you God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vine and gift trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing.”
B. And God Has Promised Us An Even More Glorious Place To Live
2 Peter 3:13 “But according to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
C. So Let Us Indeed Keep His Word And Commandments
1. Repenting of our sin and believing His Gospel
2. Walking in love as He commands, and fulfilling the Law
Text: “So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in His ways and by fearing Him.”
Statement: This is the thanksgiving that God truly desires – not just a day of thanksgiving, not just words of thanks, but an ingesting of His wondrous love, His mighty acts of deliverance, so that we also love Him and seek to keep His Word. As we do so “we will eat and be full, and we shall bless the Lord our God” for all of the good things He has given us! This includes not only physical and earthly blessings, but more importantly the eternal blessings of heaven.
Application: The children of Israel for the most part failed miserably at this. They grew impenitent, they lost faith, and they lost love, decency, and morality. The prosperity God had provided for them stole their hearts, their minds, and finally their souls.
It does not have to be the same for us – we are warned and instructed by God’s Word. But let us take care to hold closely to it, so that we do not have to be humbled and tested.
Conclusion: Thankfully, God continues to watch over us and bless in these times. Thankfully, He also disciplines us when we need it. Thankfully, He continues to provide with all that we need. Thankfully, He has given us a Word by which we may live – the gospel of His salvation in Christ Jesus.
So let us give Him thanks, and rededicate ourselves to thanking Him as He bids us, by keeping His Word, walking in His ways, in reverence and love for Him. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep you hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.