Deuteronomy 8:1–20

1Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. 2Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

6Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; 8a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

10When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

19If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.

Original Meaning

The Nature of the Internal Test (8:1–10)

THE VERB ŠĀMAR (“to guard, keep”; NIV “be careful, observe”) occurs three times in this chapter (vv. 1, 6, 11), but the shift from “keeping” the commands of Yahweh in the first two to “keeping” oneself in verse 11 signals a transition from the first to the second part. The first ten verses describe the nature of the test of Israel’s faith in four parts: (1) an introduction, which sets the context for the test (v. 1); (2) a retrospective look at Israel’s desert experience as a paradigm for the future tests (vv. 2–5); (3) a prospective view of the future, when Israel’s faith will again be tested (vv. 6–9); (4) a concluding prescription on what is required to pass the test (v. 10).

The context of the test (v. 1). Moses begins by reminding his audience of Yahweh’s ancient goal for Israel: life and prosperity in the land that he had sworn to give to their descendants. The emphatic construction of the main clause, coupled with the use of the singular “the whole command” (NIV, “every command”), suggests Moses has in mind the Supreme Command (6:5). By adding the word “follow” (lit., “do”), he reiterates that the divine will is kept by putting it into action. Allegiance to Yahweh is not merely a matter of verbal utterances of the Shema or any other creed; it is demonstrated in behavior, the nature of which will be fleshed out generally in 30:16. If Israel will be faithful to Yahweh, they will achieve life, increase (of population), entrance into the land, and possession of it.

The desert experience as a paradigm for the future test (vv. 2–5). This paragraph forms a self-contained unit framed by the appeal to remember in verse 2 and the appeal to draw the right theological conclusions in verse 5.4 The opening appeal, “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way,” functions as a thesis-type statement, which the rest of verses 2 and 3 will develop. Here “way” (derek) refers metaphorically to the course of conduct that Yahweh prescribes for the Israelites (v. 6),5 and to Yahweh’s manner of dealing with people and the underlying motivation for his actions (cf. Ex. 33:13). Moses clarifies the expression by citing four actions that any outside observer could have recognized: Yahweh led Israel for forty years in the desert, he humbled them, he caused them to hunger, and he fed them manna.

But Moses’ concern here is with the divine motivation: Why did Yahweh treat Israel the way he did? To this question he provides three answers. (1) Yahweh was intentionally depriving Israel of normal food to humble them. (2) Yahweh was testing his people to assess the quality of the vassal’s fidelity (8:2) and to enhance Israel’s covenant commitment through discipline (8:5). Just as the metallurgical process of refining precious metals involves extraction of impurities from ore through intense heat, so metaphorical refinement involves a demanding and painful process.6 (3) Yahweh was exposing the shallowness of the people’s commitment to him. This aim is expressed explicitly by the clause “to know what was in your heart,” and the method involved observing whether or not the Israelites would keep his commands. Moses’ present statement echoes Yahweh’s words in Exodus 16:4 and assumes that people’s actions express what is inside their hearts/minds.7

Although some argue that God needs “to test” Israel because he lacks knowledge of the people’s level of commitment,8 this interpretation flies in the face of other texts that declare generally that God knows everything about us. It also contradicts fundamental assumptions in Deuteronomy that Yahweh knows what is in the Israelites’ hearts and where this will lead them long range (4:25–31; cf. 5:29). The verb “to know” (yādaʿ), which occurs three times in verses 2–3, should be interpreted something like “to prove” or “bring to light,” so that observers (including the Israelites themselves) would know the level of commitment (cf. v. 3b).

As metallurgical metaphors, these tests were intended to refine Israel by burning off the dross and purifying that which is of value—specifically, to enhance Israel’s relationship with Yahweh. The fact that God tests/refines Israel demonstrates that he cares about them and that he acts to deepen that relationship.9 This “refining” interpretation gives new meaning to verse 4, which reads like a casual aside. But the statement is patently ironic. Everyone in Moses’ present audience knows that their parents were the ones tested and that they had failed the test. It was not the length of the journey that killed them (their feet did not swell); they all died in the desert because they were dross.10 What survived the test was the divine provision—their clothing and the manna that was there on the ground every morning to greet the survivors.

The commentary Moses gives on God’s novel provision of the manna in verse 3b (cf. Ex. 16:15) reinforces this interpretation. Neither this generation nor their fathers had ever experienced anything like this white flakelike substance that resembled coriander seed and bdellium. All sorts of natural explanations have been given for manna, but all are speculative and miss the point. Manna was a supernatural provision to keep the stomachs of the Israelites full during their thirty-eight years in the desert, but also to teach them that full stomachs do not ensure life. The key to life is not found in the food one eats, but in the nourishment that comes from the mouth of God. Moses’ statement is literarily poetic and proverbial, but the metaphor borders on the grotesque, casting God in the image of a bird, which, upon returning from the hunt to its young, regurgitates its food for them.

Understood spiritually, Moses declares that it is more important to feed one’s inner self with the word of God than to feed the body with physical food.11 This interpretation fits the Deuteronomic emphasis on reading the Torah (cf. 17:18–20; 31:9–11), as well as texts that suggest that a person’s life depends on “the word addressed to him by God.”12 However, the issue in this context is in fact real physical life—first the life of the previous generation in the desert, and second the life that awaits this people across the Jordan in the land.13

Some interpret that which comes from the mouth of God to be “every provision decreed by YHWH,” in contrast to that which one gains by one’s own efforts.14 Since the first line speaks of ordinary food produced by human effort but which by itself cannot sustain life, and the second line speaks of manna, the daily miraculous provision of food, the test supposedly was intended to engender a lasting disposition of dependence on God. However, this understanding forces an unwarranted wedge between bread and manna and overlooks the problem the Israelites actually faced in the desert: they had no bread at all. According to the first part of verse 3, Yahweh himself had deprived them of food, necessitating the manna, which was their bread. The stark reality was that even though the people had this daily supply of food, none of that generation survived. They had plenty to eat and their stomachs were full, but they died.

Therefore, it seems best to understand that “which comes from the mouth of God” to be his revealed will, represented by the Supreme Command and all the stipulations, decrees, and laws. The chapter opens with the challenge to obey the commands of Yahweh “so that you may live” (v. 1); it ends with a sentence of death on all who think they can live by feasting on physical food but neglect the will of God (v. 20). To live one must also ingest (take to heart, 6:6) the life-giving commands that come from the mouth of Yahweh, and let them energize one to do his will (cf. 17:19–20; 31:11–13).

In verse 5 Moses drives home the significance of the illustration of the testing in the desert. He challenges the people to draw the right conclusions about the “way” of Yahweh (cf. v. 2a) and to fix the lesson indelibly in their minds: “know then in [with] your heart [mind].” Reaching back to a notion he had introduced in 1:31, Moses declares that Yahweh’s relationship to Israel is like that of a father to a son. But here the issue is not primarily food or Yahweh’s providential care for his children; it is how he trains them. The purpose of the deprivation in the desert was to refine his people through “discipline.” Whether punitive or educational, Yahweh’s fatherly disciplinary action is always administered in love for the good of his people. This is the lesson the present generation must take with them as they cross the Jordan into the Promised Land.

The nature of the future test (vv. 6–9). This illustration of Israel’s deprivation in the desert serves as a foil for the future test: How will the Israelites respond to prosperity and excess? By casting the first clause of verse 10 as a temporal clause, the NIV obscures the rhetorical strategy of this section, which is driven by four verbs in verses 6–10 (lit.): “you will keep [observe] the commands . . . you will eat . . . you will be satisfied . . . you will bless [praise].” The first three summarize the nature of the test, and the last expresses how they should have responded to it.

Moses opens this paragraph on a familiar note with a renewed call to obedience to the commands of Yahweh, the divine suzerain (v. 6). The pair of infinitive expressions that follow explain how the commands are to be kept: by walking in his ways and by fearing him.15 The particle kî (NIV, “For”) in verse 7 signals a momentary shift in focus to establish the grounds of the Israelites’ future obedience: Yahweh’s act of escorting the Israelites into the good land. If the key motif of this paragraph concerns the Israelites’ response to this grace, the key word is undoubtedly “land” (ʾereṣ), which occurs seven times.16 The final clause of verse 10, “on the good land he [Yahweh] has given you,” creates an effective inclusio with the opening statement in verse 7. The general reference to the land as “a good land” functions as an introductory thesis statement, whose meaning will be clarified in the following verses, and it contrasts the land ahead with the desert the Israelites have left behind.

Whatever Moses’ personal feelings about not being permitted to enter the land (3:23–26), his literary style rises to a new semipoetic register as he describes the Edenic world that awaits his people beyond the Jordan. This “Ode to the Promised Land” breaks down into five stanzas, each introduced by the word “land” (ʾereṣ, which stands in apposition to “a good land” at the beginning) and each lauding the land for a particular contribution it will make to Israel’s well-being. This is a land with a limitless supply of fresh water (v. 7b), food rich in variety (v. 8a), agricultural staples and luxuries (v. 8b), limitless supply of all that one needs (v. 9a), and minerals easily mined (v. 9b). This image of a land spontaneously yielding its bounty elaborates on the previous description of the land as “flowing with milk and honey” (6:3) and presents a dramatic contrast to the description in 6:10b–11.

Each stanza deserves brief comment. The fact that Moses begins (v. 7) by praising the land for its water resources reflects Israel’s unceasing need for this precious commodity. Rather than focusing on rainfall, Moses speaks of ground resources: brooks ever flowing with water, and springs and fountains17 bursting forth in every valley and on every hill. This description takes the focus off the heavens and fixes it on the earth.

In the second and third stanzas (v. 8), Moses catalogues the most important horticultural products of the land. Wheat and barley were the main grains of the region, used especially in the baking of bread and other pastries, but also in the production of beer.18 Vines provided a valuable source for both food (grapes and raisins) and drink (wine).19 Figs and pomegranates were the staple fruits, both of which could be eaten fresh or dried.20 Olives for oil provided one of the most valuable commodities in ancient households. The oil was used for cooking, lighting, ointments, perfumes, cosmetics, lubrication, anointing the sick, and sacred services.21 If the term for “honey” is understood as the product of bees, it seems out of place. Most therefore interpret the word to denote the nectar of fruit, particularly “date honey,” used as a sweetener.22

In verse 9a Moses interrupts his discussion of food with a general evaluation of the fertility and bounty of the land. But this sentence is transitional; the first half summarizes the preceding, and the second half prepares for the last stanza. Nowhere is Moses’ description more idealized than in verse 9b: The rocks of the Promised Land are iron, and its hills wait for miners to come and extract the copper ore. This description is strangely utopian, since only tiny amounts of iron ore and copper have actually been found in Palestine.

The correct response to the future test (v. 10). Moses continues the grammatical sequence begun in verse 6. If the people are true to the covenant, they will eat and be satisfied. But the third verb declares the proper response to the bounty the land provides: “Then you shall bless Yahweh your God on the good land that he has given you” (pers. trans.). Here “to bless” (brk) functions as a virtual synonym for “to give thanks” (cf. Pss. 105:1; 106:1; 107:1) and represents the antithesis to “forgetting the LORD your God” in 6:12. It was one thing for the previous generation to lean on Yahweh in the desert when they were directly dependent on God for food, but for this and future generations the test will be the opposite. In response to the gift of the land and the food it produces, the people were to acknowledge Yahweh (cf. 26:3–11).

Bridging Contexts

MANNA. REFERENCES TO MANNA are remarkably rare in the Old Testament. Outside the narratives involving the provision (Ex. 16:15, 31, 33, 35; Num. 11:6, 7, 9) and Moses’ present reflections on this provision (Deut. 8:3, 16), this miraculous food is mentioned only five times. Joshua 5:12 notes that Yahweh ceased providing manna the day after the Israelites ate the produce of the land for the first time (cf. Ex. 16:35). The present text is remembered in the prayer of the Levites in Nehemiah 9:19–20, which notes that among Yahweh’s many gracious provisions during the forty-year sojourn in the desert, Yahweh provided manna and water, and then adds that “their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen,” an obvious allusion to Deuteronomy 8:4. Later poets spoke of the manna as “bread of heaven” (Ps. 105:40), “grain of heaven” (Ps. 78:24), and even more colorfully, “bread of angels” (Ps. 78:25).

Indeed the manna was deemed such a special gift that Moses had Aaron placed an omer of it before the ark of the covenant as a permanent reminder of Yahweh’s provision during the forty years of their journey through the desert (Ex. 16:31–35). Moses’ association of manna with the revealed will of God in Deuteronomy 8:3 may have been inspired by the fact that the tablets that symbolized Yahweh’s verbal revelation shared this most sacred space with the manna.32

In John 6:31–51 Jesus makes a claim that the Jewish leaders viewed outrageous; he is “the bread of heaven” that gives life, in contrast to the manna, which the people ate in the desert but which failed to produce life (6:31). According to Moses, in the desert people lived by eating that which came from the mouth of God, that is, his revealed word, rather than through physical food taken into one’s own mouth. Now Jesus identifies himself as the very bread of God that has come down from heaven and gives life to the world (John 6:33; cf. 1:1–4). He invites people to come and eat of him, for he is the bread of life, and those who eat of him will live forever.

Paul alludes to our text in 1 Corinthians 10:3–5. While his statement is enigmatic, he observes that the ancestors all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink, from a spiritual rock; but most of them died, because they did not receive the approval of God. While most commentators assume the spiritual food was the manna,33 which was in fact very physical,34 Paul has in mind “every word that comes out of the mouth of the LORD” (Deut. 8:3), that is, his verbal revelation embodied in the commands and ordinances of the covenant. When he says that the people ate but God was not pleased with them, he recognizes that the ancestors all had access to the revelation, but they refused to keep the commands of Yahweh their God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him (Deut. 8:6).

The best-known allusions to Moses’ discourse on the manna are found in the gospel narratives of Jesus’ temptation in the desert (Matt. 4:1–4; Luke 4:1–4). Seeing Jesus’ famished condition after a forty-day fast, the devil challenged him: If he was the Son of God, turn the stones into bread. By quoting Moses in Deuteronomy 8:3, Jesus acknowledges that even if stones were turned to bread, this would not guarantee life. In John 4:31–34 Jesus expresses his own disposition toward physical and spiritual food. In his response to his disciples urging him to eat, “My food . . . is to do the will of him who sent me and finish his work,” Jesus claims to embody the ideal of Deuteronomy 8:3.

Even as this text highlights God’s character as a graciously providing and disciplining father, it also provides a dramatic contrast between the God of Israel and other so-called gods, particularly with respect to their responses to humans. Whereas the pagans portray their images of gods with prominent eyes and ears and mouths (cf. 4:28), Yahweh has none of these. Nevertheless, he sees and hears and perhaps most remarkably, he talks. Contrary to the view of many today, the words that come from his mouth are life-giving; to receive them, to take them to heart, and to live by them is evidence of righteousness that yields life, well-being, and the affirmation of God (6:24–25). No wonder the psalmist could declare with such enthusiasm, “Oh, how I love your law [read: Torah]! I meditate on it all day long” (Ps. 119:97).

Contemporary Significance

OBEDIENCE TO THE WILL of God. The significance of this chapter for contemporary Christians may be recognized at many levels. First, and most obviously, like Israel of old, Christians do not live by bread alone but by obedience to the will of God. If we are preoccupied with physical well-being to the neglect of our spiritual life, we too will perish. This is a particular problem in the Western church, where with our prosperity we have forgotten that all good things come from God, including the ability to make wealth. Not only have we forgotten to give thanks to God; we have also become increasingly resistant to letting his revealed will govern our lives.

Testing. Second, the image of God as a father testing and disciplining his children offers valuable perspective on the tests and trials we face. The wise man of Israel teaches us the proper disposition toward the discipline of God in Proverbs 3:11–12:

My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline

and do not resent his rebuke,

because the LORD disciplines those he loves,

as a father the son he delights in.

Peter seems to have understood the purpose of such testing when he wrote in 1 Peter 1:6–7 that trials have come so that “faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Like the Israelites’ disposition toward Yahweh, though Peter’s readers have not seen Jesus Christ, they love him; and though they do not see him now, they still believe in him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, knowing that it is for their good in the end and the goal of their faith, the salvation of their souls. The echoes from our text are evident throughout this passage (see also the connections in 1 Peter 4:12–18)

The road to idolatry. Third, this passage declares that the first stage on the road to idolatry is ingratitude. Deuteronomy 8:10 has had a profound impact on Judaism, providing the basis for the threefold blessing after meals35 and should provide inspiration for Christians today to acknowledge the gracious and generous work of God on their behalf, particularly in sustaining our daily life. Moses reminds his audience and us that the only appropriate response to eating of the bounty that God provides is to bless Yahweh. But this chapter exhibits a downward spiral, in which forgetting Yahweh (vv. 2, 11) leads to ingratitude (vv. 12–16), which leads to self-sufficiency (v. 17), which leads to idolatry (v. 19). Paul plots a similar course in Romans 1:21–23.

The danger of success. Fourth, the second half of this chapter reminds us of the potential danger that lurks with success. Indeed success may be more tragic than failure, especially if it causes us to forget God and results in pride, smugness, and self-sufficiency. This applies not only to economic ventures, but especially to those who serve as ministers of the gospel. When we look over our accomplishments, whether they are the megachurches we have built, the books we have written, or the busy schedules people impose on us, we too are tempted to say to ourselves, if not publicly, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this church for me.” And we are tempted to forget that every service we render has its roots in the gracious and unmerited call of God, and that every achievement is possible only because the Lord God has graciously endowed us with the abilities to preach a fine sermon, to lead a large church, or to write an impressive tome.

In our day, God’s tests come in many additional forms. When all our needs are met, God is testing us: when we win a scholarship to a prestigious university, receive accolades for a beautiful painting or poem, are promoted in business, or gain a windfall fortune on the stock market. But this is also true of the more mundane accomplishments: when we learn to read or ride a bicycle, master a new computer program, or strike a hole-in-one on the golf course, God is testing us. Will we give him praise for giving us the wits and the skills for these accomplishments? Our faith and faithfulness are not tested only when the Lord drives us to the end of ourselves; they are also tested when everything is going our way. Indeed, the more successful we are, the stiffer the test and the greater the reason to praise God, and at the same time, the greater the danger of self-sufficiency.

A sober warning. Finally, the last verse in this passage provides a sober warning to those seduced by the idolatry of success: If our lives are governed by the values of the world, we incur the wrath of God and will share its fate. This may be particularly true for people who come from humble beginnings and rise to the top professionally or economically. Many live under the illusion that having crossed the Red Sea figuratively (having said the sinner’s prayer or been baptized), they are forever well and God is obligated to grant them prosperity. When they prosper, they take this as evidence of God’s favor. In the meantime, they forget the God who redeemed them and the God who gave them the gifts and opportunities to succeed. But success may not be proof of either personal well-being or divine favor. Failure to acknowledge God in success proves that we are at root Canaanites, and that our faith is just a modern version of ancient fertility religion. Nothing provokes the ire of God like ingratitude for his grace.

From my childhood I remember a farmer who provided a striking illustration of the problem. He was a leader in the church, who regularly taught Sunday school and served on the church council; occasionally he preached. When I first met him, he operated a modest farm, working 960 acres of land. That year his whole family was relaxed; they took off several days to fish in the beautiful lakes of northern Saskatchewan and to participate in community activities. The next year he worked over 1,900 acres. The fishing trip was canceled. The third year he worked 3,360 acres, and by the fourth year it had grown to more than 5,100 acres. I had never seen an operation like this. Everything he touched seemed to turn to gold.

The neighbors clamored to have him work their land, because the way he farmed they would make a greater profit if they received one-third of the crop as rent than if they farmed it themselves. In the meantime I watched him shrivel up spiritually. His success went to his head. When a machine broke down, he had illusions of conspiracies by jealous neighbors. When he was runner up for “Farmer of the Year” award, he went into a fit of rage. As the pressures mounted, the turmoil in his family increased, he had less time for the community and especially for the community of faith, he became abusive to his hired hands, and he resorted to a dangerous and unhealthy lifestyle. He died in his late fifties, a totally broken and bankrupt man. While only God can judge the state of his soul, by all appearances, he had failed the test.

The disposition called for by Moses is reflected in a song we learned in the late 1970s while worshiping with a blessed Brethren Assembly in Liverpool, England:36

The wise may bring their learning,

The rich may bring their wealth;

And some may bring their greatness,

And some their strength and health.

We too would bring our treasures

To offer to the King;

We have no wealth or learning

What gifts then shall we bring?

We’ll bring the many duties

We have to do each day;

We’ll try our best to please him,

At home, at school, at play.

And better are these treasures

To offer to the King

Than richest gifts without them,

Yet these we all may bring.

We’ll bring him hearts that love him;

We’ll bring him thankful praise,

And souls forever striving

To follow in his ways.

And these shall be the treasures

We offer to the King;

And these are gifts that ever

Our grateful hearts may bring.

Original Meaning

The Response to the Internal Test (8:11–20)

THE WRONG RESPONSE TO the test (vv. 11–17). Having described the nature of the internal test and the correct response, Moses goes on to describe the wrong response (vv. 11–17). He begins with a charge, involving the same verbal root as he had used in verses 1 and 6 (šāmar), but he calls on Israel to “be careful.” If keeping the commands of Yahweh is fulfilled by “walking in his ways and revering him” (v. 6), then forgetting Yahweh is expressed by “failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees” that Moses is commanding them (v. 11). The threat envisioned is not the Canaanite nations but the Israelites themselves. If, in the midst of prosperity, they forget Yahweh, they become their own worst enemy.

Verses 12–17 elaborate on the charge. These verses consist of a single, complex statement opening with “lest” (pen), which governs a series of eight verbs: “lest you eat, and are satisfied, and build good houses, and live [in the land],23 and everything you own multiplies, and your heart is lifted up, and you forget Yahweh . . . and you say in your heart” [pers. trans.]. The potential problem emerges in verse 14: instead of blessing Yahweh, the Israelites’ hearts will be tempted to “rise” with pride.24 Moses clarifies what he means by “a lifted heart” in verse 17: this is a disposition that causes people to take credit for all their successes and to think that their wealth is the result of their own efforts. Moses highlights the perversion of this kind of thinking by treating “my power” and “the strength of my hands” as the subject of “produce,” whereas they should say, “the LORD [our] God” has done all this.

Verses 14b–16 highlight the tragedy of this response to the test by reviewing the kindnesses Yahweh has lavished on Israel: he is Yahweh “your God, who brought you out of Egypt” (v. 14b), “led you through the vast and dreadful desert” (v. 15a), “brought you water out of hard rock” (v. 15b), and “gave you manna to eat in the desert” (v. 16). The first provision reiterates the historical prologue of the Decalogue (cf. 5:6), while the second focuses on the constant dangers associated with the great and terrifying desert—a place infested with dangerous serpents and scorpions, and totally lacking in water.

The third benefaction answers the problem alluded to in the previous sentence. Miraculously Yahweh had provided water from a most unlikely source—impervious rock.25 Yahweh’s fourth provision involved food in the desert—manna. As in verse 3, Moses observes that this was food of which their ancestors had never heard. However, he interprets the manna shockingly as the means of Israel’s deprivation and testing/refinement. Every day Yahweh tested the Israelites to see whether or not they would be a grateful people.26 From the declared purpose in verse 16 (lit., “so that in the end it might go well with you”), we learn that the manna was not given merely to satisfy the Israelites’ immediate hunger but to purify and refine commitment.

Moses’ review of the divine benefactions in the desert and their refining/testing function provides a context for the verbal response of the hypothetical interlocutor in verse 17. The claims of the Israelites to have achieved the prosperity described in verses 12–13 through their own efforts provide clear evidence of hearts that have been lifted up and that have forgotten Yahweh (v. 14a), from whom all blessings flow. Not only have those who think this way failed the test; the trial has also proved the people themselves to be dross (cf. vv. 19–20).

The correct response to the future test (v. 18). In contrast to the wrong response to the test (vv. 11–17), Moses now provides three elements of the correct response. (1) When the Israelites prosper in the land, they must “remember the LORD.” As elsewhere the verb zâkar involves more than simply acknowledging his existence; it means to take seriously his presence and actions. (2) Even if the Israelites prosper through hard work, they must recognize that the skill and energy needed to do that work is a gift from Yahweh. (3) They must remember that Yahweh gives strength not primarily for their prosperity, but to confirm his covenant with the ancestors. Moses’ use of the expression “to confirm his covenant” proves he is not speaking of a new covenant, but the fulfillment of a previous covenant, here identified as the covenant he made with the ancestors of his audience.

The NIV renders ʾ ^abōtêkā as “your forefathers,” following a longstanding tradition of identifying this as the covenant Yahweh made with the patriarchs.27 However, in light of verses 3 and 16, it seems more likely that Moses has the exodus generation in mind.28 This interpretation is reinforced by the fact that although Yahweh promised to bless Abraham and his descendants in general (Gen. 12:2; cf. 17:20), this is not a prominent theme in the references to the Abrahamic covenant.29 The profusion of material blessings lavished on Israel in verses 7–9 (cf. 7:12–16) represent the fulfillment of the blessings promised within the covenant made with Israel at Horeb/Sinai (Lev. 26:1–13; Deut. 28:1–14).30

The final warning (vv. 19–20). Moses ends this topic with a final frightful warning, declaring the dire consequences of the wrong response to the test/refinement presented by prosperity in the Promised Land. Employing expressions encountered earlier, Moses reviews the conditions that are absolutely unacceptable to Yahweh: forgetting Yahweh (cf. vv. 2, 11, 14, 18), going after other gods (cf. 5:7; 6:14; 7:4), serving them (4:19, 28; 5:9; 6:13; 7:4, 16), and prostrating themselves in homage and submission to them (cf. 4:19; 5:9). All these responses represent betrayals of allegiance to Yahweh and a violation of the Supreme Command (6:4–5).

Moses opens his announcement of judgment with a call for witnesses. As in 4:26, the invocation is a response to anticipated future apostasy.31 In effect, if the Israelites go after other gods, they will surely perish like the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before them. To forget Yahweh in the midst of prosperity is to reduce oneself to the status of the Canaanite nations whom the Israelites were to displace and to become the object of divine fury.

The final clause reminds Moses’ hearers of the reason for their horrible fate: they refused to listen to the voice of God. The reference to “hearing the voice of Yahweh” (NIV “obeying the LORD”) brings to a conclusion not only this chapter, but also the long section that began in 6:4 with “Hear O Israel.” But it also concludes a chapter that has highlighted the “mouth” and communication of Yahweh. “That [which] comes from the mouth of the LORD” (v. 3) is the gracious revelation of his will in the form of stipulations, commands, decrees, and instructions. The formulas for life that have been operative in the past and that will operate in the future may be represented as follows:

Past → miraculous provision (manna) + gratitude and obedience → life

Future → the bounty of the land (plenty) + gratitude and obedience → life

Whereas in the past Yahweh had tested and refined his people with deprivation and manna, in the future he will do so with prosperity. His aim in both is to produce a nation that brings praise and glory to him in the sight of the nations (26:19). If they fail the test and refuse to be refined, he will discard them again like dross and consign them to the slag heap (cf. Ezek. 22:17–22).

Bridging Contexts

Contemporary Significance

My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline

and do not resent his rebuke,

because the LORD disciplines those he loves,

as a father the son he delights in.

The disposition called for by Moses is reflected in a song we learned in the late 1970s while worshiping with a blessed Brethren Assembly in Liverpool, England:36

The wise may bring their learning,

The rich may bring their wealth;

And some may bring their greatness,

And some their strength and health.

We too would bring our treasures

To offer to the King;

We have no wealth or learning

What gifts then shall we bring?

We’ll bring the many duties

We have to do each day;

We’ll try our best to please him,

At home, at school, at play.

And better are these treasures

To offer to the King

Than richest gifts without them,

Yet these we all may bring.

We’ll bring him hearts that love him;

We’ll bring him thankful praise,

And souls forever striving

To follow in his ways.

And these shall be the treasures

We offer to the King;

And these are gifts that ever

Our grateful hearts may bring.