Why the Wilderness?
Deuteronomy 8:2 – Answers why
And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
- To be humbled and tested
- To reveal what is in the heart
- To show if God’s commandments will be kept or not
Intentional Wilderness
Deuteronomy 8:3
So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 8:4
Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.
Discipline
Deuteronomy 8:5
You should know in your heart that a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.
Obedience
Deuteronomy 8:6-10
Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.
Summary: Deuteronomy 8:2-10
- Why the wilderness? (verse 2)
- The wilderness wanderings was intentional (verses 3-4)
- Discipline in the wilderness (verse 5)
- Obedience in the wilderness (verses 6-10)