Who is the Lord?

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 8:1-9.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 8:1 (NIV)
¹  Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers.

On verse 1:  Whenever you read the Bible, a helpful question to ask yourself is, “What does this passage teach me about who God is?”  Each of the verses here in this passage teaches us something about God.

Verse 1 teaches us that God is our King and Commander General.  Just as God commanded the Israelites for their good and their growth, so every one of His commands is for our good and for our growth.

Deuteronomy 8:2 (NIV)
²  Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

Verse 2 teaches us that God is our Teacher who tests us to see what is in our heart.  Just as God led the Israelites for 40 years in the desert to see what is in their heart, so God puts us in situations so that He can see what we will do with the freedom He has given to us.

Deuteronomy 8:3-4 (NIV)
³  He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
⁴  Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

Verses 3-4 teach us that God is our Good Provider.  Just as God provided for the Israelites’ physical and material needs, so God provides for our needs.  Not only does He provide for us materially, but His Word is food for our soul.  Jesus later on would quote verse 3 when tempted by the devil during a time of fasting: “man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD”.

Deuteronomy 8:5 (NIV)
⁵  Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Verse 5 teaches us that God is our Trainer.  Like your own personal trainer at the gym, or like a parent training their child, God puts you in situations where you can feel some pressure, not to be cruel to you, but to train your spiritual muscles.  God is certainly not some heavenly genie who only exists to serve your beck and call.  He is your trainer and is more interested in growing your character than giving you instant gratification.

Deuteronomy 8:6-9 (NIV)
⁶  Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him.
⁷  For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land–a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills;
⁸  a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey;
⁹  a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

Verses 6-9 teach us that God is the best Planner.  Just as God was bringing the Israelites into a good land, so God knows the plans He has for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Lord, thank You for being my King and Commander, my Teacher, my Provider, Personal Trainer, the best planner, and so much more.  Thank You for Your Word, by which I can go You know.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!