In Deuteronomy 8:1-91All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. 2And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. 3And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. 4Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. 5Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. 6Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. 7For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; 8A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; 9A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. (Deuteronomy 8:1‑9), we have four valuable points of knowledge connected with our walk through the wilderness. We have the knowledge of ourselves, the knowledge of God, the knowledge of our relationship and the knowledge of our hope.
The Knowledge of Self
Concerning the knowledge of self, we read, “Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart.” Who can penetrate the depths of a human heart? The details of a wilderness life tend to bring out a vast amount of the evil that is in us. At the beginning of our Christian career, we are apt to be so occupied with the present joy of deliverance that we know but very little of the real character of nature. As we get on in our desert course, we become acquainted with self.
The Knowledge of God
But we are not to suppose that, as we grow in self-knowledge, our joy must decline. This would be to make our joy depend upon ignorance of self, whereas it really depends upon the knowledge of God. In fact, as the believer advances in the knowledge of himself, his joy becomes deeper, as he is led more thoroughly out of himself, to find his sole object in Christ. He learns in his own experience the deep reality of nature’s total ruin. He also learns that divine grace is a reality and that the advocacy of Christ is a reality. In a word, he learns the depth of God’s gracious resources. “He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger,” not that we might be driven to despair, but that He might “feed thee with manna, which thou knewest not.”
Touching and beautiful appeal: They had forty years of uninterrupted evidence of what was in the heart of God toward His redeemed people! How is it possible that, with the history of Israel’s desert wanderings lying open before us, we could ever harbor a single doubt or fear? Oh! that our hearts may be more completely emptied of self, for this is true humility, and more completely filled with Christ, for this is true happiness and true holiness. “The Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand; He knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing” (Deut. 2:77For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing. (Deuteronomy 2:7)).
Our Relationship
All that we have been dwelling upon flows out of another thing, that is, the relationship in which we stand. “Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee” (Deut. 8:55Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. (Deuteronomy 8:5)). This accounts for all. The hunger and the food, the thirst and the water, the trackless desert and the guiding pillar, the toil and the refreshment, the sickness and the healing — all tell of the same thing — a Father’s hand, a Father’s heart. It is well to remember this, “lest ye be weary and faint in your minds” (Heb. 12:33For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. (Hebrews 12:3)). An earthly father will have to take down the rod of discipline, as well as to imprint the kiss of affection. Thus it is with God our Father; all His dealings flow out of that marvelous relationship in which He stands towards us. To walk with, lean on, and imitate Him “as dear children” must secure everything in the way of genuine happiness, real strength and true holiness. When we walk with Him, we are happy; when we lean on Him, we are strong; and when we imitate Him, we are practically holy and gracious.
Our Hope
Finally, in the midst of all the exercises, the trials, the conflicts, and even the mercies and privileges of the wilderness, we must keep the eye steadily fixed on that which lies before us. The joys of the kingdom are to fill our hearts as we pass across the desert. The green fields and vine-clad hills of the heavenly Canaan, the pearly gates and golden streets of the New Jerusalem, are to fill our souls. When the sand of the desert tries us, let the thought of Canaan cheer us. Let us dwell upon the “inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven” for us (1 Peter 1:44To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, (1 Peter 1:4)). Bright and blessed prospect! May we dwell upon it and upon Him who will be the eternal source of all its brightness and blessedness!
C. H. Mackintosh (adapted)