This chapter starts where the previous one left off by reminding them to keep God’s commands so that they would go into the land promised to their forefathers and live there and multiply. They were to remember that The LORD their God had led them all the way of the forty years in the wilderness, and it was to test them and humble them. The purpose of such testing was to show God what was in their hearts, whether they were faithful to Him or not (v1,2).
God had humbled them so that they would realise that they had to depend upon Him. It can be very painful for God to humble us. The better way is for us to humble ourselves before God (see James 4:6,10). We often say that pride goes before a fall, the Bible says so, therefore, we need to humble ourselves before God who is Almighty.
If God has to humble us it is to show our utter dependence upon Him and God reminds them of this (v3-5). He provided food when they were hungry – manna, quails. He saw to it that their clothes didn’t wear out nor did their feet swell with all the walking. We are told why God did this, because He loves us and chastens us as a father does his children. Such chastening is out of love and a desire to make us better people. We need chastening to help us avoid the pitfalls of daily life and correct us when we go wrong. Another one of the verses used by Jesus in His temptation by the Devil appears here – “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of The LORD.”
How important it is that we read God’s Word and use it in prayers and witness. Remember Jonah when he prayed to God from inside the fish, yes, inside the fish! He quoted the Psalms in his prayer to God (Jonah 2). Jesus countered the devil in the temptations by quoting the three verses from Deuteronomy as we have already noted. There are many others which show us how important it is to know God’s Word and use it. It is good to memorise it. Some of us were encouraged to do this when we were young, and I am grateful for it as it is not so easy when one gets older.
Material things (bread) are temporary and cannot sustain us for more than a short time, but The Word of God is eternal and lasts forever. Many try to live on experiences and feelings, but they are temporary, and they change, but the Word of The Lord lasts forever and does not change. Why settle for something which won’t last, we can enjoy it for a while, but how much better to build on something solid, and nothing more so than God and His Word. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33)
The LORD reminds them again of the vital importance of keeping His commandments, fearing Him, and walking in His ways. God was going to bring them into the land and provide for them in a place where they would lack nothing (v6-10).
It is interesting, and no accident, that God mentions copper and iron in v9. Copper mines have been discovered in the land and the presence of copper and iron in the nearby hills.
In the Encyclopaedia Britannica it states that the presence of copper is mentioned in the Bible and there is mention of a copper mining site at Timna, in the southern Negev, north of Elat. Archaeologists have identified remnants of ancient smelting operations at Timna, complete with crude furnaces and slag heaps, as being of the Egyptian pharaonic and Solomonic periods. In the Negev there is also evidence of iron-ore deposits. Many of their tools were made of iron in the Bible and there are many references to it – Numbers 31:22, Isaiah 44:12, Deuteronomy 3:11 (Og, king of Bashan and his iron bed), Proverbs 27:7 “iron sharpens iron”, and many references to ‘iron chariots’. Poignantly the Psalmist (20:7) says, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”
A warning follows regarding the danger of pride (v11-17) that when you have everything you need and say that you have gained it all by your own strength, you do not forget The Lord your God who has done it all for you. It is so easy to think and say this when we are prospering. We can easily forget that God has done it all for us, even by giving us the strength to do it (v18). God does it to show HIs power and display His truthfulness and reliability in keeping His Word. He has and will fulfil His promises, He will never let us down, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Therefore, we are to share His goodness and seek to reach others in the extension of His kingdom.
The ultimate warning against pride comes in verses 19,20. “Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God.”
Those words are clearly unambiguous. From chapter 5, Moses has been speaking to the assembly of all Israel, and he warns them about being loyal to The LORD their God alone. No idols, no false gods and he gives them his word (I testify) which is like giving them his evidence in the law courts, they they will certainly perish if they fail to worship God alone. God was going to destroy the nations and likewise He would destroy Israel if they fail. Israel may have thought that they could play fast and loose with God, but that was far from true. Even though God loved them He would deal with them as He had dealt with their enemies should they fail to honour and obey Him. Pride is dangerous and we must avoid it at all costs.
