Deuteronomy 8:1, commentary and pictures

All the commandments given that day were to be observed and done, so that Israel might live and multiply and go in and possess the land sworn to their fathers. All means complete obedience, from the greatest direction to the least, without neglect and without stopping at the point of human judgment, in full submission until the character is perfected after the Lord's likeness. The command belongs with God's forty-year leading in the wilderness, where He humbled and tested Israel to reveal the heart, taught dependence on every word from Him, preserved and provided for the people, and disciplined them as a father corrects his son so they would keep His commandments, walk in His ways, and fear Him. Obedience was the stated condition of continued prosperity in Canaan, and when Israel disobeyed only two of the adults who left Egypt entered the land while the rest died in the wilderness because transgression kept the promise from being fulfilled. The same warning stands now, and keeping the commandments is possible only because Christ as the Lamb of God takes away sin, bears its penalty, and gives His righteousness to every believing, repentant person.

Meaning and Wilderness Context

All the directions given on that day were to be carefully kept and carried out, so that the people might stay alive and grow in number and enter and take possession of the land sworn to their fathers. Living and multiplying and going in to possess the promised land were made to depend on observing all of the commandments, with obedience stated as the condition and essential principle of prosperity.

All means the whole, from the greatest direction to what may seem the least, with nothing specified to be neglected. It does not mean following only up to the point that agrees with human judgment and then holding to personal ideas and feeble human standards, but full submission to be molded after the Lord's likeness, with Christ as truth and example in self-denial and self-sacrifice and with perfection of character as the standard.

The command to obey belongs with the wilderness lessons that follow it, for God led the people forty years in the wilderness and humbled and tested them to reveal what was in their hearts and whether they would keep His commandments. In that leading He taught dependence on every word proceeding from God, provided for them, and gave laws for their preservation. He disciplined them as a father corrects his son, so that they would learn to keep His commandments and to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

The commandments were part of the requirement that Israel be a holy people, and obedience was joined to His keeping covenant and showing mercy and love and blessing. That obedience stands in contrast to putting human-made law in the place of God's law.

Promise, Warning, and Present Application

Continuing prosperity in Canaan was conditional on keeping God's commandments, for life and growth in number and entrance into possession of the land promised to the ancestors depended on observing all that was commanded. Obedience is presented as the stated condition for those blessings and as the essential principle of prosperity. That lesson reaches beyond Israel, being important for others as well and given to guide God's people in every age, with the lessons of the chapter holding for people today just as for Israel.

The word was verified to Israel as a lesson on the sacredness of God's law, for the people disobeyed and only two of the adults who left Egypt entered Canaan while the rest died in the wilderness. Their disloyalty and transgression prevented fulfillment of the agreement under which prosperity had been promised on condition of obedience. The same warning stands today, and the word will be vindicated if leaders of God's people depart from His commandments. The lessons of the eighth chapter are of the greatest importance and are given as directly to people now as they were to the Israelites.

Obedience is not possible through human effort alone, but Christ as the Lamb of God takes away sin, bears its penalty, and gives His righteousness to every believing, repentant person. The requirements in the opening verses through verse fifteen express God's will, and transgression of those commandments brings suffering and a curse. They were to be framed into song and sung in the congregations of Israel lest they be forgotten. Keeping them is the way to perfection of Christian character as the close of earth's history approaches, when transgression brings disease and suffering as its sure result.

The instruction in the surrounding chapters, from chapter four through eleven, is to be read prayerfully to understand God's dealings with His people. It stands written as admonition for those upon whom the ends of the world are come. It means much to every soul carrying responsibilities in sanitarium work and calls for putting God's instructions into practice in continuing surrender. That obedience is full, neglecting nothing specified and not followed only up to the point agreeing with human judgment, but in complete submission to be molded after the Lord's likeness, with Christ as truth and example in self-denial and self-sacrifice and perfection of character as the standard rather than feeble human standards.