Deut. 8:11-20, Theme verse Deut. 8:16
The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.
Last week, we looked at the first sermon of Moses among three sermons, exhorting to keep the statutes and regulations of God, gaining God’s wisdom and understanding to be blessed with long life and the possession of the promised land to new generation who was about to cross the Jordan river to conquer Canaan, Over the past few weeks, we h from this text. This week, we would like to learn what the training purpose and meaning through Manna in the second sermon together.
1) The second sermon of Moses which was written in chapter 5-28 of Deuteronomy is composed of chapter 5-11 in which Moses exhorted again new generation to keep the laws of God, after re-proclaiming the ten commandments and Shema, chapter 12-26 in which he continued to explain the life to obey God’s laws, such as the LORD’s chosen place of worship, warning against idolatry, tithes, judge system, laws concerning Israel’s kings and laws concerning cities of refuge, etc., and finally chapter 27 & 28, in which Moses explained the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.
2) Among them, in the chapter 5 through 11, after proclaiming the ten commandments again to new generation which can be summarized two great commandments to love God and to love your neighbors in chapter 5, in chapter 6, Moses proclaimed the shema: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one so that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might,” to remember His laws and to teach them to their children. And continuing to exhort them to keep and do them, explaining the reason God chose them was His love and faithfulness to His covenant with their ancestors, in Chapter 8 of today’s text, Moses exhorted them to “remember the way that God led them 40 years in the wilderness that He might humble you, testing them to know what was in their heart whether they would keep His commandments or not and He humbled them and let them hunger and fed them with manna, which they did not know, nor did their fathers know, that He might make you that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD,” and as He swore the covenant to their fathers, that He may do good to the Israelites in the end so that they may fear the LORD and praise God, while those who received His blessings might obey to God and follow His way. Through these passages, we can know that in the Kingdom of God, God is depicted as the provider of the blessings and His people is the receiver of those blessings so that they may thank and praise God in reponse to His blessings.
3) And based on that big picture on the Kingdom of God, God the LORD intended His people to love God and love their neighbors, while keeping His commandments and following His way with the fear of the LORD. The 40 years in the wilderness was the training period of the Israelites to train them to live in God’s pleasing will and especially the training through manna was the key training of that. Manna, as the food which God sent from the heaven, was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. (Ex 16:31) Its meaning of manna is not known and it is guessed that it was a transliteration of “מָ֣ן ה֔וּא (man hu) what is it?” when the Israelites first saw the manna. Manna was given first by God from the heaven in the Zin wilderness between Elim and Sinai, when they were complaint for the short of the food (Ex 16:15; Ps 78:24) Through Manna, God intended them to recognize that God provides all the food for the spirit and the body (vv.2-3) and trained them to obey His commandments while they go out and gather a day’s portion every day, and eat them every day as according to Ex 16:12-30, during the week, God commanded them to gather a day’s portion every day as much as they can eat, while if they leave any of it, not obeying God’s commandment, it bred worms and stank. But on the sixed day they were commanded to gather twice as much bread, yet it did not stink with no worms in it. Through these practices, they were trained to obey God’s commandment.
4) As such, the reason God trained them with Manna and His words, while providing Manna in the morning and quails in the evening was to let them know that the LORD is God (Ex 16:12) and all the blessings came from God, to be humble before God and to be blessed. So that after they entered the promised land, they might fear God humbly and rely on Him fully to thank and praise God, not saying arrogantly that their power and the might of their hands have gotten them the wealth. Therefore God exhorted them to remember Him (v.2) and not to forget Him (v.11)
5) We would like to learn few things from today’s text. Firstly, as God intended the Kingdom of God in which God is the provider of the life and blessings (Ps 104:27-30; 1 Chron 29:12), and the human beings who receive that life and blessings thank and praise Him (Ps 50:23) and fear the LORD, I hope we can check our life in which we recognize that order of the Kingdom of God and live the life of gratitude and praise and worship. Secondly, God wanted to train the Israelites through manna to live a life of obedience to His word to be humble so that they can be blessed from God as Prov 22:4 says “The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD is riches, honor and life.” So I hope we can check if we are becoming more and more humble every day through God’s training. And finally , by obeying the Word of God, God intended that human beings must not only confess God is the source of all blessings, but must also live in gratitude to God, who is the creator of the heavens and the earth, providential carer and provider. I hope we all may proclaim this truth to the world and be used as His instrument for the proclamation of His kingdom for His glory.
Key Questions as Small Group Activity
Q1 In today's text, Deuteronomy 8:7-10, 16-18, we became to know that God led the Israelites to the land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey and gave them the land and also the ability to acquire all kinds of wealth so that they could live abundantly. However, the Israelites thought that they had become wealthy through their own abilities and strength, and even forgot about God the LORD, the source of their blessings, and even served idols. How did God feel when he saw this? I hope we can share our thoughts and feelings with each other to share His grace.
Q2 In today's text, it is said that when we achieve something or gain wealth, we can be already arrogant if we think that we achieved it with our own ability and the strength of our own hands, because God gave us the talent to acquire wealth. And Calvin says that it is not humility to think on the inside that we have achieved something with our own strength, but to act as if we did not do it in front of people on the outside. What talents or abilities do we get from God? Then how should we use those talents and abilities? I hope we can think about it and share our thoughts with each other.
Love you. Thank you. God bless you.
Prayer Note
Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!
Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or even during the week )
Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!
Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),
please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized ).
I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon )
Please help me to live in that ( learned way of life )
I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.
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