The Danger of Prosperity
8: 1-10
The danger of prosperity DIG: What should the Israelites have learned through receiving manna daily for forty years? What blocked their full learning? What does it mean to be disciplined by God “as a man disciplines his son?” What is the intended effect of God’s actions in the wilderness? What does the phrase “to test you” mean? What stage of life were the Israelites in during the wilderness wanderings for forty years? Why do you think the Israelites needed to experience this discipline before entering the Promised Land?
REFLECT: When, if ever, have you experienced, “God’s wilderness” in your life? How did it reveal who you were? What do you think your life would be like now if God had never tested you? In what ways is life different because of that? How has ADONAI cared for you? How would you like Him to care for you? What is the purpose of Ha’Shem’s discipline? Who and how does God discipline? The wilderness experience either makes, or breaks us? Do you remember how ADONAI led you through a wilderness experience? What did you learn?
ADONAI warns the Israelites to be aware of the danger of prosperity, causing them to forget the LORD their God by not obeying His mitzvot.
A. The danger of prosperity (8:1): You are to take care to do the whole mitzvah that I am commanding you today, so that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the Land that ADONAI swore to your fathers (8:1). This verse serves as an introduction to the entire chapter by calling Isra’el to obedience that will produce tremendous blessings, all according to YHVH’s promise to His people. But another way of looking at the chapter is to see that the wilderness, which was a place of testing, produced blessing in the end (8:16b), whereas the Land, which should be a place of blessing, would also be a place of testing the people’s loyalty and humility to ADONAI (to see link click Cg – Do Not Forget ADONAI).
B. ADONAI tests us (8:2-3): The desolation of the wilderness in stark contrast to the richness of the Promised Land. YHVH had led His people through the wilderness, however, for a particular purpose. You are to remember all the way that the LORD your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness (8:2a). The act of remembering prompts obedience to God’s Word, for it brings to the forefront of the mind the reality and faithfulness of ADONAI; forgetfulness, then, is the same as disobedience, for the self and human concerns have pushed into the background the mind and the reality of the claims of God.238
Dear Great and Awesome Heavenly Father, We love You! Prosperity on earth lasts for but a moment, however worshiping You will go on for all eternity! Though life is busy, how wonderful to make time to meditate on how awesome You are! I love to picture the 10 plagues of Egypt and then you safely bringing Isra’el through the Sea of Reeds. I remember with joy Isra’el’s victory though their enemy was much greater in technical skill – chariots and in man power having men as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Joshua 11:4) – yet it is Your power that is most important. Isra’el was victorious and won because of your Almighty power (Joshua 11:1-11).
He led the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 years in order to humble them, to test them, to know what was in their hearts, whether they would keep His mitzvot or not (8:2b). How we respond to the tests of life reveals what’s really in our hearts, especially when those tests involve the everyday experience of life. The people of Isra’el were frequently hungry and thirsty and weary from the journey, and it was on those occasions that they became worried and critical. The Adversary tempts us to bring out the worst in us, but YHVH tests us to bring out the best in us. When God allows a difficult circumstance to test us, we will either trust Him and become more mature, or we will tempt Him and become more miserable. The difference? Believing the promises of God and relying on the Lord to care for us and bring us through for His glory and our good.239
When the people were hungry, YHVH fed them manna; the provision of manna was not simply a miracle, because it was designed to teach the Israelites a fundamental principle of their existence as the people of God. The basic source of life was God, and the words of God to the Israelites was more important to their existence than was food (8:3).240 He afflicted you and let you hunger, then He fed you manna – which neither you nor your fathers had known – in order to make you understand that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of ADONAI (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bj – Jesus is Tempted in the Wilderness). Those who obeyed Ha’Shem in the daily responsibility of gathering manna would be more inclined to obey the rest of His mitzvot. And our relationship to the Word of God (manna) reveals our relationship to the God of the Word.
C. ADONAI cares for us (8:4): Neither did your clothing wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these 40 years (8:4). A further illustration of the care of YHVH for Isra’el is couched in vivid symbolic language, which simply means that God supplied their every need. There are three critical questions in life for most people (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Dt – Do Not Worry About Your Life, What Your Will Eat or Drink, or What You Will Wear), and ADONAI met all these needs for forty years. For your Father in heaven knows that you need all these (Matthew 6:32b). God doesn’t miraculously deliver bread, water, and clothing to our front doors today, but He does give us jobs and the ability to earn a living (8:18). The same Lord who provided Isra’el’s needs without human means can provide our needs using human needs.241
C. ADONAI disciplines us (8:5): God saw the children of Isra’el as His own children whom He greatly loved. Isra’el is My son, My first born” (Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1). Now you know in your heart that as a man disciplines his son , so ADONAI your God disciplines you (8:5). After years of slavery in Egypt, the Jews had to learn what freedom was and how to use it responsibly. We commonly think of discipline only as a punishment for disobedience, but much more is involved. Discipline is “child training,” the preparation of the child for responsible adulthood. A judge justly punishes a convicted criminal in order to protect society and uphold the law, but a father lovingly disciplines a child to help that child mature. Discipline is evidence of God’s love and our membership in His family. My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my mitzvot (Proverbs 4:11-12).
When you think of the Lord’s discipline of His children, don’t envision an angry parent punishing a child. Instead, see a loving Father challenging His children to exercise their physical and mental muscles so they will mature and be able to live like dependable adults. When we’re being disciplined, the secret of growth is to humble ourselves and submit to God’s will (see the commentary on Hebrews Cz – God Disciplines His Children). To resist ADONAI’s discipline is to harden our hearts and resist the will of the Father. Like an athlete in training, we must exercise ourselves and use each trial as an opportunity to grow.242
B. ADONAI tests us (8:6): The “key” that opened the door to the Promised Land was simple: So, the new generation was urged to keep the mitzvot of ADONAI their God – to walk in His ways and to fear Him (8:6). The fear of ADONAI is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline (Proverbs 1:7). The wilderness period was therefore a time of testing. It was a time of adolescence in Isra’el’s history, when the people learned to understand by experience the way in which the LORD wanted them to walk. Adolescence and education in the ways of God may involve testing and hardship, but there was a goal beyond the growing pains. It was the good Land that was promised to the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If the people were obedient to Ha’Shem and feared to disobey the One who is so powerful and holy, then, they would mature from adolescence to adulthood, the time anticipated in the following verses.243
A. The danger of prosperity (8:7-10): Moses’ description of the Land stands in stark contrast with what Isra’el had seen and experienced in the wilderness. When ADONAI your God brings you into a good Land – a Land of wadis with water, of springs and fountains flowing out in the valleys and hills, a Land of wheat and barley, vines, figs and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey, a Land where you will eat bread with no poverty, where you will lack nothing (Hebrew: chaser). The verb is the same that David used when he said: ADONAI is my Shepherd: I shall not want (Hebrew: chaser). The Land contained additional mineral deposits. It was a Land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills south of the Dead Sea you can dig copper. So, you will eat and be full, and afterwards you will bless ADONAI your God for the good Land He has given you (8:7-10). There’s danger in prosperity and comfort, for we may become so wrapped up in the blessings that we forget the One who gave us the blessings. For this reason, Moshe warned the Jews to praise YHVH after they had eaten their meals so they wouldn’t forget the Giver of every good and perfect gift (Deuteronomy 8:10; James 1:17).244
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