Tuesday 02 July 2013

Background

Actions have consequences. If the people of Israel observe God'scommandments, then they will prosper in the promised land. Thisprosperity is not conditional on their obedience - God will notmake them suffer if they disobey. It is simply a consequence oftheir obedience. If they do God's will, then they will live at onewith the whole of God's creation and so, in God's promised land,they will flourish. But if they disregard God's commandments, thenthey will be 'out of synch' with the order of life, and so willfail to flourish. Those who know and love God will long to do God'swill as a way of pleasing God.

The purpose of their wanderings in the desert, according totoday's passage, was to teach the people their utter dependence onGod. The gift of manna (Exodus16) showed God's love in providing for the people in new andunexpected ways, alongside the miraculous preservation of theirclothes and their health over all these years. The people becamehumble when they realised that they did depend wholly and solely onGod.

As the Israelites prepare to enter the promised land, the word'remember' hangs over them. The land is rich and fertile, describedin sumptuous, luxurious detail (verses 7-10) - but they must notbecome so obsessed by the riches of the land that they forget theirdependence on God. Instead, let them remember the days of thedesert, when they knew how far they depended on God, and sosurvived in an alien and hostile environment. For the readers ofDeuteronomy, the challenge to 'remember' resonates all the morepowerfully, given that they had probably been settled in thepromised land for centuries.

So, says the writer, don't be misled into thinking that "breadalone" is enough, even in prosperity, even in the riches of thepromised land. The words of God's mouth are the true source oflife, and in following them, we find God's blessing. And if wedon't follow them, then even bread, the most basic food of all,becomes inadequate and insufficient for our needs (Matthew 4:3-4).

To Ponder

• In what ways could you depend more completely on God?

• This text suggests that we live better if we align ourselves toGod's will. What does this insight offer to the debate about how torespond to climate change?