CHAPTER 8 Apr. 24 
Do Not Forget
You must observe to do all the commandments which I command you this day, that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers. 2You 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. 3He humbled you and allowed you to suffer hunger, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh. 4Your clothing didn’t grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years. 5You shall consider in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so Yahweh your God chastens you. 6You must keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7For Yahweh your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs and underground water gushing into valleys and hills; 8a land of wheat and barley, vines, fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey; 9a land in which you shall eat bread without scarcity. You shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you may dig copper. 10When you shall eat and be full, then you shall bless Yahweh your God for the good land which He has given you. 11Beware lest you forget Yahweh your God in not keeping His commandments, His ordinances and His statutes which I command you this day; 12lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and lived therein, 13and when your herds and your flocks multiply and your silver and your gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14then your heart be lifted up and you forget Yahweh your God, Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; 15Who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with fiery serpents, scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; Who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint; 16Who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know, that He might humble you and that He might prove you, to do you good at your latter end; 17and lest you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand has given me this wealth. 18But you must remember Yahweh your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as at this day. 19If you forget Yahweh your God, and walk after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20As the nations that Yahweh makes to perish before you, so you too shall perish, because you wouldn’t listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

Commentary

8:3 Man does not live by bread only- The passages quoted by Jesus in the desert to strengthen Himself against His desires (“the devil”) are all from the same part of Deuteronomy, regarding Israel’s experience in the wilderness. Jesus clearly saw a parallel between His experiences and theirs. The description of the Lord Jesus as being in the wilderness with beasts and Angels (Mk. 1:13) is another connection with Israel’s experience in the wilderness- they were plagued there by “wild beasts” (Dt. 32:19-24). Jesus was led up of the spirit for forty days in the wilderness, as Israel were led forty years by a Spirit-Angel. The mind of Jesus was likewise proved by the temptations. Jesus overcame by quoting the Scriptures that were in His heart (Ps. 119:11). Jesus also was allowed to hunger, to reinforce His understanding of the fact that we are to live not by physical food but by the word of God. The reference to Israel being ‘chastened’ (:5) in the desert recall how God chastened His Son, Jesus (2 Sam. 7:12; Ps. 89: 32). Thus Jesus showed us how to read and study the Word - He thought Himself into the position of Israel in the wilderness, and therefore took the lessons that can be learnt from their experiences to Himself in His wilderness trials.
8:4 God has likewise promised to provide us on our wilderness journey with basic clothing and food (Ps. 37:25). We should be content with this, and instead of giving our strength to earn money to tickle our taste buds and buy fine clothing, instead give our lives to serving God.
8:9 You may dig copper- But in Judges and 1 Samuel we read several times of how Israel hardly had any iron weapons and were dominated by the Philistines who did. So this was a potential for them- they could have had this blessing, but like us so often, they chose to be satisfied with the minimum and didn’t realize it for themselves.