Chapter 8 They Must Remember That Yahweh Is Their Provider and Observe His Instruction And Not Forget His Commandments.
In the previous Chapter s Moses has constantly reminded them of how Yahweh delivered them from Egypt and from bondage (see especially the details in Deuteronomy 7:19, compare Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 6:12; Deuteronomy 6:21-23), now he calls on them to remember how He had also delivered them in the wilderness (compare Deuteronomy 2:7) and the lessons that they learned there. For he has begun to be aware of the danger that when they are comfortably settled in the land, in complete contrast to the wilderness experience, and all their wars were over, they might easily forget Yahweh and settle into the former ways of the land. (‘Thou is used all the way through apart from the first and last verses, in each of which both thou and ye are used).
We should note the parallels between this chapter and Deuteronomy 32:10-18 where the same themes are in mind. Some of the actual language of both passages, as well as the ideas, were also used by Hosea in Hosea 13:4-8, e.g. ‘from Egypt', ‘satisfied', ‘hearts lifted up', ‘forgetting'. Hosea is full of echoes of Deuteronomy.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
a All the commandment which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers (Deuteronomy 8:1).
b You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments, or not.
c And He did humble you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, nor did you fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every thing (or ‘word') that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh does man live (Deuteronomy 8:2-3).
c Your clothes did not grow old on you, nor did your foot swell, these forty years (Deuteronomy 8:4).
b And you shall consider in your heart, that, as a man chastens his son, so Yahweh your God chastens you (Deuteronomy 8:5).
a And you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways, and to fear him (Deuteronomy 8:6).
Note that in ‘a' They are commanded to observe to do all Yahweh's commandment, and in the parallel they are to keep the commandments of Yahweh their God, to walk in His ways, and to fear him. In ‘b' Yahweh had led them in the wilderness in order to prove them and in the parallel He will chasten them as sons. In ‘c' He humbled them and fed them with manna, and in the parallel He watched over their clothing and their ability to go on trekking.
‘ All the commandment which I command you (thee) this day shall you (ye) observe to do, that you (ye) may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your (your) fathers.'
The problem with our chapter divisions is that because of them we can disconnect verses from each other. This verse is to be seen as continuing on from the last, as well as looking forward. Thus it may be seen as including the injunction to avoid graven images and not to take them into their houses, as well as being a general command to observe His other commandments. And this is so that they might live and not die, and so that they might multiply their families, and as they did so, expand and possess the land which Yahweh swore to their fathers. This last emphasis is continually repeated. All was based on the promises to the patriarchs, and therefore was unfailingly sure of performance.
“That you may live.” Constantly before him was the fact that their fathers had perished in the wilderness, excluded from the land. They had died because they were disobedient to Yahweh. If these who now listen to Him wished to live and not die they must now ensure that they were obedient. And it is not just a matter of life, but of having a good life, a life of abounding and flourishing and possessing the land. All these were dependent on obedience to Yahweh's overall commandment as revealed in His statutes and ordinances.
For those who would enjoy fullness of life must listen to God's requirement (‘commandment') as He speaks to them through His word. Only in this way will they come into possession of what He has for His own.
‘ And you shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not. And he did humble you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, nor did you fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every thing (or ‘word') that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh does man live.'
Obedience to Yahweh's commandments would be helped by remembering their time in the wilderness, so as they moved on they were to keep in mind the wilderness experience. In seeking to observe His commandment it was important that they remember all the way in which Yahweh their God had led them in the forty years in the wilderness. They needed to learn its lessons. How He had done this in such a way as to humble them and bring home to them how they were in fact constantly failing. How He had done it in order to test out their hearts, to see if in spite of all they would continue to keep His commandments. How He had done this in order that they might recognise that whatever they received, it would be from His mouth. It would be as a result of His promises and His provision. For God's testings always have a purpose, even though they might appear bitter at the time. He had tested them because He had wanted to know what was really in their hearts and had wanted them to look to Him, and when necessary He had chastened them (Deuteronomy 8:5).
Let them then remember how they had previously been on the very verge of the promised land, and how it had resulted in forty years in the wilderness. That had been a huge disappointment. But they should also remember that in His graciousness He had not totally finished with them then because of their failure. He had stood by them. He had put them on probation, ready for the achieving of maturity of the next generation, so that His purposes for them might still go forward. And He had sought to bring home to them important lessons.
Indeed in their whole experience in the wilderness after leaving Egypt, even before His judgment on them because of their failure to enter the land, He had been humbling them. From the beginning He had allowed them to hunger. And then He had fed them, not with bread, but with something that neither they nor their fathers had previously known, the manna, something for which they had had to depend on Him day by day. They had had to forget what they had done in the past and look to Him for their provision. They had had to depend daily on what He had promised to give them, what came ‘from His mouth'. And He had done this in order that they might recognise that life is not dependent only on bread. They had to learn that bread is not everything. His purpose was that they might learn that they must receive their provision from His mouth. They must recognise that all that they had came from Him and resulted from His promises.
He had wanted them to recognise that it is what Yahweh says and what Yahweh commands and what Yahweh promises that is the basis of life, so that they might recognise that obedience to Him is all. His aim was that they learn the vital lesson of hearing God and trusting Him in all circumstances.
When the manna had been first provided it was said at the time that it would be a test of their willingness to obey Him (Exodus 16:4). The test lay in the fact that it was to be a daily provision, so that they were not to hoard it but to wait for it each day from Yahweh's hand. They had constantly to look to Him and to trust Him. So were they to learn the lesson of the wilderness and now wait each day on God in the same way.
There have been a number of suggestions as to what the Manna consisted of. The sweet juice of the Tarfa which exudes from the tree and forms small white grains has been suggested, but the quantity required is against this, as are the other descriptions. The same applies to the honeydew excretions on tamarisk twigs produced by certain plant lice and scale insects which at night drop from the trees onto the ground where they remain until the heat of the sun brings out the ants which remove them. In favour is the fact that the Arabic word for plant lice is ‘man', equivalent to the Hebrew for Manna. But these are seasonal and do not fit all the criteria. We are not told whether the Manna was seasonal or not, although many consider it was permanent in all seasons.
More pertinently examples have also been cited of an unidentified white substance which one morning covered a fairly large area of ground in Natal and was eaten by the natives, and also of falls of whitish, odourless, tasteless matter in Southern Algeria which, at a time of unusual weather conditions, covered tents and vegetation each morning. While not being the same as the Manna, or lasting over so long a period, these do indicate the kind of natural phenomena which God may have used to bring about His miracle, for it was clearly a time of extremely unusual weather conditions as demonstrated by the plagues of Egypt. But we must remember that the Manna lasted for forty years (Exodus 16:35; Joshua 5:12), did not arrive on the seventh day, and continued from the Wilderness of Sin to the entry into Canaan in all manner of environments. It was God arranged.