Deuteronomy 8:2, commentary and pictures

God led Israel on foot for forty years over a hard, barren wilderness way toward Canaan to humble them and prove them, to bring to light what was in their hearts whether they would keep His commandments. When every means of support failed He let them hunger and then fed them with manna they had never known, to teach them that life depends not on bread alone but on every word from His mouth. It was Christ Himself who led and taught them by the cloud, and in His own hunger in the wilderness He lived out the same lesson by waiting for God's time rather than turning aside from God's will to obtain relief. Remembering all that way was meant to humble them by showing their weakness and sin, to build faith and courage from past deliverance and mercy, and to keep them in willing obedience and fear of God. The Lord still brings His people into strait places and repeated tests, withholding what is wanted and permitting affliction, to reveal motives, purify character, and teach full trust in Him.

Wilderness Journey and Guidance

God led Israel on foot for forty years over a hard, barren way they would not have chosen for themselves, a route marked by rocks and arid deserts, heat and alkali dust, roughness, thirst and fatigue. He permitted obstructions, obstacles and conflicts along that desert march after Egypt, including the conflict with Amalek, in order to humble them and prove them and know what was in their hearts. Self was mingled with everything they did, so a smooth way would have led them to take the glory to themselves and become self-sufficient, whereas the hard way was meant to cause them to look to Him and to do them good at their latter end. That same weakness remains in people now, who grow weary of barren scenery even with every convenience and swift, smooth travel, and who would murmur even more than Israel did if obliged to cross such a desert on foot suffering thirst, heat and fatigue.

The journey was directed through Moses toward Canaan, guided by God to teach the people to remember Him, rely on Him and learn obedience. Through forty years in the wilderness He was leading and educating Israel so they would glorify His name and become a great and distinct nation among the surrounding peoples, kept apart from idolatrous nations and Egyptian influences. He sought to draw them away from Egyptian and other nations’ idolatry to willing obedience, separating them from influences that would hinder His purposes and confuse mind and conscience or lead to sin. Christ Himself was their leader, displaying care and provision when they were thirsty and when they longed for Egypt’s food, and obedience to His commandments, including the seventh-day Sabbath, would have brought blessing, prosperity in Canaan, safety and marks of His favor, showing the nations that they were a wise people guided by God. God’s leading was present even when Israel rebelled, but those who insisted on doing as they pleased faced judgment, and their repeated refusal to follow His plans led to failure and defeat.

Humbling and Proving Purpose

The forty years were fatherly discipline, as a man chastens his son, including hunger, the preservation of clothing, feet kept from swelling, and constant fatherly care. Hunger and manna taught dependence, showing that life rests on every word from God, while remembrance of that testing and care calls for keeping His commandments, walking in His ways, and fearing Him. Its stated purpose was to humble Israel and to prove them, to know what was in their heart whether they would keep His commandments, and the wilderness journey both exposed the heart and taught dependence on God as preparation for life as His people. The same principle by which testing reveals the heart operated when Hezekiah displayed his riches and when Dr. Kellogg publicly displayed the Sanitarium's resources.

God already knew their hearts, but the people did not know themselves until testing brought obedience and the condition of the heart to light. That exposure laid bare their deficiencies, so that trials and temptations did not destroy them but worked for purification, refinement, and growth in Christlike character.

The discipline educated Israel and prepared the rising generation to enter the promised land under a father's care. He leads by a hard way they would not devise for themselves, permitting obstructions, obstacles, and conflicts such as the desert march after Egypt and the conflict with Amalek, because self is mingled with all they do and a smooth way would lead them to take the glory and become self-sufficient. He does this to cause them to look to Him and to do them good at their latter end, the same dealing extended to those carrying truth into Africa. As they followed toward the land He had given, they were to be disciplined until wills and ways were brought into submission to His will and way, correcting selfishness and teaching submission so they could receive His blessings and serve as His representative people. The trials proved whether the lesson was learned, while failure to remember His constant guidance and protection led to magnifying hardships and dishonoring Him through unbelief, and the principles given through failures and victories were to guide each new step as they approached possession.

Dependence and Appetite Training

When every means of sustenance failed, God suffered Israel to hunger and then fed them with manna which they and their fathers had not known, to make them know that man lives not by bread only but by every word proceeding from the mouth of God. That hunger and that gift taught dependence, that life depends on what God speaks, and that while they trusted Him and walked in His ways He would not forsake them but give sufficient and constant supply. The wilderness trials thus exposed dependence, and remembering this testing and fatherly care calls for keeping His commandments, walking in His ways, and fearing Him.

God continually protected them from dangers they did not recognize, preserved their clothing, kept their feet from swelling, gave water from the rock and manna, and guided them after Egypt while reforming their eating habits. When He allowed serpents to distress them and when water lacked, He intended to display His power when they were in need so they would remember Him and give Him glory. At the water trial Moses sinned when in anger he took glory to himself instead of honoring God before Israel.

God tested fidelity by withholding the indulgences enjoyed in Egypt to prove whether they valued His service and the freedom He had miraculously given more highly than pleasures once enjoyed in servitude to a tyrannical, idolatrous people. He withheld meat in great measure without prohibiting it and gave instead the healthy food He designed for them, bread rained from heaven and pure water out of the flinty rock, covenanting to put no disease upon them if they obeyed Him in all things. He put them where they could not get a flesh diet because He understood the harmful influence of flesh eating on the human system and knew flesh was not essential for health and strength, and He would have given flesh if it had been needed. His purpose was to educate, discipline and train them in correct habits, especially in eating, to carry them into Canaan and establish them there as a pure, holy, happy people with not one feeble person among their tribes, with clear perception, keen discrimination and sound judgment, taking away all sickness from among them; the same leading now intends to bring His people back to live upon simple fruits, vegetables and grains. When they rejected the food provided and craved meat, in anger He gave flesh to gratify their lust and many died while the meat was yet between their teeth.

Israel largely failed the test, for when brought into hardship and difficult situations they murmured and complained, hardened their hearts, distrusted His repeated care and protection, and showed what was in their hearts whether they would submit. They looked back to Egypt and lusted for the good things and flesh pots they had enjoyed there, letting appetite control them, preferring slavery and even death rather than do without meat. Because they lacked faith in the good things promised, they had neither joy in the journey nor courage to endure its difficulties. When they complained God withdrew His protection and allowed danger to bring them to recognize their ingratitude and humble themselves.

Christ as Leader and Example

Christ Himself led and taught Israel in the wilderness more than fourteen hundred years before His own temptation. The Lord led them forty years to humble them and to prove them, suffering them to hunger when all means of sustenance failed and then feeding them with manna from heaven which they and their fathers had not known. That provision by the word of God was to make them know that man lives not by bread only but by every word from the mouth of God, and that while they trusted in God and walked in His ways He would not forsake them but give sufficient and constant supply.

Christ was their leader by the pillar of cloud showing when they should stay and when they should move, daily teaching through infinite wisdom what God required of His church, with instruction coming not from any human agency. Through this leading He manifested supreme authority in taking them from oppression and slavery and preparing them to represent what His people should be, so that other nations feared Israel because Jehovah was with them. The hardships of the journey were part of God's plan to test the people and teach them obedience, keeping them apart from idolatrous nations and from influences that would hinder His purposes, fitting them to possess the promised land and to carry out His purposes in their lives. Though God repeatedly helped them through trials and directed them to look to Him for help, they grew lax in keeping His commandments including the Sabbath, and God was displeased and allowed punishment to come upon them, for repeated refusal to follow His plans led to failure and defeat while obedience brings safety and marks of His favor.

In His own weakened, hungry condition Jesus practiced the same lesson He had taught Israel, waiting for God's time to bring relief and refusing to obtain food by following Satan at his suggestion. He thereby testified before the witnessing universe that it is a less calamity to suffer whatever may befall than to depart in any manner from the will of God, with obedience to God's will mattering more than escaping hardship.

God Still Tests Hearts

The Lord still tries people today to see what character they will develop, and He tries the faith of every soul who claims to be in His service. He orders human surroundings and will place each one where test after test proves them and reveals what is in their hearts, bringing them again and again into strait places so it may be known whether they are indeed crucified with Christ or full of self-love. Trials test character and faith, reveal motives and develop character, and through them God is striving to lead people to know Him and to place their trust in Him. Even the Captain of salvation was made perfect through suffering, and Paul's character was perfected by trial, while in the testing the prince of darkness puts forth all his power to retain souls and a mighty Helper stands ready to aid them.

He proves His people by withholding things they want in order to test their fidelity to Him, to see whether they value His service and the freedom He has miraculously given more highly than indulgences enjoyed in servitude to a tyrannical, idolatrous power. Sabbath-keepers will be tested and proved just as ancient Israel was, for like ancient Israel they soon forget God and His wondrous works and rebel against Him, looking to the world and desiring its fashions and pleasures just as the children of Israel looked back to Egypt and lusted for the good things they had enjoyed there which God chose to withhold to prove whether they would keep His commandments. God's leaving people to themselves serves this test to humble them and reveal what is in their hearts, exposing whether they have neglected Scripture, rejected reproof, built hopes on a false foundation, and whether they will obey God or persist in disobedience and self-confidence. The Lord permits affliction and circumstances to come in order to test people and reveal what is in their hearts, including how much tenderness and respect they show toward those God has used as His instrumentalities in leading out in the work, making known whether those handling sacred things know God's ways and do God's will, and whether they obey directions including truth, justice and prompt help to a brother. God may expose the wrongs of some as a warning to others, so each person should examine himself, confess any shared sin and turn from it rather than assume that not being singled out means he is right. When they remain true to Him their trust in Him is made plain, and these tests can bring honor and glory in the judgment, for God supplies strength and grace to those who call on Him.

God also brings His people back to tests they have failed before, and if they fail again He may bring them to the same test once more. When people repeat the course they once pursued toward an afflicted servant of the Lord who had sacrificed health and strength in their service, and when the Lord has vindicated the cause of the oppressed and turned the light of His countenance upon the suffering servant, God proves those offenders again as He did before so that what is in their hearts is made manifest.

God likewise tests His people to see whether they will keep His law, and the Sabbath is a test in this experience. The people disappointed after the passing of the time in 1844 understand their disappointment as part of God's providential leading, overruled for good to further test the heart, and find renewed hope by following Jesus by faith into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. In beneficent providence God brings His people to the test of a definite time when the great day is at hand, in order to humble them and reveal what is in their hearts. The test purifies the church by forcing each one to see whether affections are set upon this world or upon Christ and heaven, and whether profession of love to the Saviour is proved by readiness to renounce worldly hopes and ambitions and welcome the advent of the Lord with joy. It enables them to discern their true spiritual state and is sent in mercy to arouse them to seek the Lord with repentance and humiliation, showing whether they will rashly give up their experience and cast away confidence in God's word when called to endure scoffs and reproach and delay, or whether in prayer and humility they will seek to discern where they failed to comprehend prophecy, whether they moved from fear or impulse and excitement, whether they are half-hearted and unbelieving, and whether they will hold truths sustained by the clearest testimony of His word when they do not immediately understand His dealings.

God tests and proves His people through affliction to reveal what is in their hearts and to show them what is undiscovered in themselves that is not according to the Spirit of God. The proving demonstrates that human wisdom is foolishness and that without firm trust and reliance on God human plans and calculations will fail. What is learned under such testing should teach and instruct, and errors committed should not lead to shunning burdens and responsibilities, but where much is at stake and matters of vital consequence and important questions must be settled, God's servants must take individual responsibility, for the burden cannot be laid aside while doing the will of God.

Remembering and Obeying Today

Moses was told to have Israel look back over the whole road by which God had brought them out of Egypt and kept them alive in the desert, including their unbelief and complaining when trial came and His great mercy and unfailing kindness that never left them. That looking back was to humble them by laying bare their own sin and weakness, to quicken faith and strengthen courage, and to show that God Himself was their righteousness and strength. It means tracing step by step how the Lord has led His people to their present standing and recalling His teaching in past history, and seeing what He has done fills the heart with praise, wonder, and confidence in Christ as leader. Then there is nothing to fear for the future except forgetting that leading. Recalling trials, failures of faith, and repeated deliverances teaches from the past, checks unbelief and murmuring, and gives hope and courage in God's power and mercy, calling His people to remember where they were tested and where faith failed, especially in a crisis when it should have been strong, so that they do not repeat dishonoring conduct before onlookers.

The chapter stands as a solemn charge to study and obey every instruction and commandment in God's word without passing over anything He has specified. The requirements set out in Deuteronomy 8:1-15 declare His expressed will that His people remember all the way He led them, be humbled, and keep His commandments, and keeping those statutes and judgments gives life and wisdom. They were to be put into song and sung in the congregations of Israel so they would not be forgotten. Transgression of that law is joined to the curse and its effects upon earth, animals, and people.

The desert schooling taught that blessing is bound up with obedience, and prosperity and happiness depend on strict obedience to His principles, walking in His ways and fearing Him. That covenant is still in force, and obedience still brings heaven's richest blessings. Knowing the promised benefits did not by itself make Israel faithful, for their disloyalty and failure to keep His statutes proved that knowledge alone does not secure faithfulness. God's word was proved true in their history, since through disobedience only two of the grown men who left Egypt entered Canaan while the rest died in the desert, and He will vindicate His word in the same way today if the leaders of His people turn from His commandments.

The passage is the Lord's word written for the admonition of those upon whom the ends of the world are come, to be read in its full setting with all of Deuteronomy 7 and with Deuteronomy 1 and 8, and with 8:1-20. In that setting it warns against leaning on one's own judgment and calls for following the Lord's guidance. Its lessons belong as truly to people today as to Israel. They are to be gathered up, cherished, and faithfully obeyed, for obedience brings safety and the marks of His favor while repeated refusal to follow His plans brings failure and defeat.

The long wandering is to be given special study together with the promise to Abraham, the deliverance from bondage and the exodus, and the instruction given at the foot of Sinai. Remembering all the way God led Israel teaches how He deals with His children and how sacred is the law given at Sinai. That study is to stir the heart to new and thorough conversion, to master the Old Testament record not for selfish ends but to bring blessing and light to God's people, and to search diligently for light that has been obscured as prophecies are about to be fulfilled. The principles given in the desert through failure and victory were to guide each new step as they drew near to possession of the land.