Deuteronomy 8:1-10

Hey, hey, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotion. This morning we're at Deuteronomy chapter 8 verses 1 through 10. Fun thing about this passage is Jesus will quote part of this passage in Mark in Matthew 4:4. I'll have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. What a blessing it is to get to follow you. Lord, what a blessing it is to get to hear from your word. Father, we pray that as we read your word this morning that you would teach us, instruct us, let us walk in your ways. We need your Holy Spirit to help us, Lord, even in the hour of temptation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, let me adjust the level here real quick. And we are at Deuteronomy chapter 8 verses 1 through 10. Here we go. Every commandment which I give you today, you must be careful to observe, that you may live that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you and to test you. And to know what is in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. So, he humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man shall not live on bread alone, but man lives by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these 40 years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God to walk in his ways and to fear him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a land, a land of brooks and water, of fountains and springs that flow out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which he has given you. Well, what a fun passage. We need to ask ourselves our three questions. A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do? Well, Moses is continuing to speak to the people of Israel. This is getting kind of into the general the general aspects of the covenant and the commandments. And here's he's reminding them that every commandment which I command you today, you must be careful to observe. They're going to go into the land and they need to be careful. But the Lord has worked with the people of Israel, worked with the children of Israel in such a way it was like a father caring for his children. And so, he's giving this history of what's happened in the wilderness, that the Lord didn't leave them, but the Lord humbled them. The Lord made them lean on him, to trust him, follow him, and fed them, gave them clothes that didn't wear out, gave them all the good things that they might not be in want or need. So that he might know would they follow him? Would they keep his commandments? Would they bring him glory or would they live for the stuff? And so, it seems that the younger generation with the older generation all passes away. Now it's this new younger generation who's uh you know, the only two old guys are Jacob and Caleb, right? They're like in their 80s. Everybody else is in their 40s and below, 50s or and below, right? And so, it's this generation now that the Lord has chastened, humbled, cared for, tested them to see whether or not they would actually keep his commandments. And it seems that the Lord did this so they might know that man does not live on bread alone, but every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. And so, this is what this passage is about, right? The So, when they go into the good land, they're going to eat the food, they're going to have the vineyards, they're going to be able to mine for copper and lead and bronze and like make bronze and do all the fun stuff in the land, but they cannot forget the Lord and his commands, right? This is the covenant, and so, this is what this passage is about. Well, B, what's the best verse to summarize this? Well, I guess in my Bible, I might be tempted to underline verse 1, right? Because this is the kind of the general direction why this is being given. Uh right? Every commandment which I give you today, you must be careful to observe. Okay? Uh but I would also say verse 3, right? This is the verse that Jesus quotes. So, I have this underlined and starred in the margin because Jesus himself quotes this, but then also verse 10, "When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which he has given you." Well, so, last seek calling. What are we called to do? Well, I'm going to take us in two different ways this morning. The first is to look to Christ. Right? The This generation actually would go in, they would possess the land, they would do all sorts of good stuff, but it'd be a mixed bag whether or not they would be absolutely faithful in following the Lord's commands. Actually, we'll find out that their children, their grandchildren certainly didn't because in Joshua and Judges we find them walking away from the Lord and doing all sorts of things that were right in their own eyes, but not according to the commandments of God. And so this is something that's that's a a challenge, right? But who did do this perfectly? Well, I think this is why the Holy Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted. Right, that when Satan came and Jesus hadn't eaten for 40 days it was in that moment of weakness that he said knowing that he had the power being the son of God to say to a stone turn into bread. And how did Jesus respond? Right, in that moment of temptation in his want as he had been humbled by God how would he respond? Well, he responded to Satan what does the Lord said? Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 4, man shall not live on bread alone but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. Right, Jesus knew that his heavenly father would care for him that what he was going through was for God's glory. It was a testing. It was the time of seeing whether Jesus would fulfill the covenant of works and and keep all the Mosaic laws that were that were required of the people even in within this this different idea of the people of Israel. And so this is what the Lord is doing. And Jesus fulfills that. Jesus does that. And so now we we get the blessing of being at Deuteronomy 18. Let me ask what do you live for? What what what motivates you? What drives you? What makes you go? For most of the Western culture, usually it's an ambition to make more money, to have more ease, and have stuff. And a lot of times people will even rejoice in their stuff, even Christians will rejoice in the things that they have rather than the one who gave them their things. That's why Jesus would teach us as his disciples to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," right? We receive these good things from our heavenly Father, and my question is, do we look to God and and say, "Thank you, Lord. You have filled our days with so many good things. We have houses, and we have cars, we have full fridges, and we have we have food, we have incomes. We Lord, you have given us so much. I sit in a room with lights, and and there's heat, and air conditioning. Right? We are so blessed. Do we take that faithfulness and direct it to the God who has given us all good things? Are you filled with a thankfulness for God? Or are you consumed with just the desire to have the good things? There's a big difference. I think by the power of the Holy Spirit our hearts can be turned towards heaven, and we can go to him with thankfulness. So, let's go ahead and pray now. Lord, you have given us so much good. Lord, our days are filled with so many good things. Even in the worst of our days, Lord, it's better than we deserve. You're so kind to us, so generous, so gracious. Lord, we pray that you would make us more and more thankful for all your good deeds towards us. Lord, if we were to count all the ways in which we are blessed, if we were to write them all down, surely there would not be enough space in all the world to contain the volumes. For your goodness is new every morning. Your compassion does not fail. And so Father, we thank you and we thank you most of all that you have given us Jesus Christ. And if you did not All right, and if you freely offered up Jesus for us, how shall you not with him also freely give us all things? Lord, thank you for who you are and for what you have done. Please help us to keep your commandments out of thankfulness for your goodness in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, may God bless you. May your heart well up with thankfulness. May you stand in awe and gratefulness to your God and your master. I'll see you next time. Bye.