Deuteronomy 8

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Israel Commanded not to Forget the Lord

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. Believers should remember and not forget their beginnings.

  2. Believers should remember and not forget their blessings.

  3. Believers should remember and not forget their beatings.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Watch out for the “Bread Alone” mentality.

QUESTIONS

  1. Give one reason Israel was commanded to remember all the ways that God had led them for 40 years through the wilderness.

  2. What three areas of wilderness experience was Israel not to forget?

  3. List some of the aspects of Israel’s “beginnings” that they should remember.

  4. What blessings from the wilderness should Israel remember?

  5. Why did God lead the Israelites in the wilderness in a way designed to humble them, test them, and expose their hearts (verse 2)? Why did He let them get hungry and thirsty?

ANSWERS

  1. Because there was the danger of becoming too self-reliant when they came into the good land that God was giving them and thus becoming proud.

  2. 1. Their beginnings
    2. Their blessings
    3. Their beatings

  3. Their exodus from more than 400 years of bondage, the providential leadership of Moses, the plagues that God brought upon their slave-masters, the crossing of the Red Sea, the drowning of Pharaoh’s army, and more

  4. Bread from heaven, Water from a rock, clothes and sandals that did not wear out for 40 years, and more.

  5. To cause them to look to Him and learn that physical food alone is not sufficient for life; there must be a constant diet of spiritual food – the Word of God (verse 3).

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. Deuteronomy 8 has a lot of practical application for the believer today. We too can forget what God has done for us and become too self-reliant, and thus be lifted up with pride. Can you give an example of this?

  2. Discuss the teaching, “The Lord purposely permits us to go through hard times ‘in the wilderness’ to humble us and test us and know what is in our hearts – not just what is in our heads!”

CHALLENGE

  1. Do your priorities show that you are more concerned with feeding your stomach or feeding on the Word of God for spiritual sustenance, encouragement, guidance, and exhortation? Watch out for the “Bread Alone” mentality.

KEY VERSES

  • “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.” Deuteronomy 8:2

  • “You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.” Deuteronomy 8:5

Deuteronomy, Old Testament, TalksRon ReidDEUTERONOMY 8