From: Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a
Israel's Character Forged in the Desert (Continuation)
[2] "And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you
these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you
to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or
not. [3] And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which
you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know
that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that
proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. [4] Your clothing did not wear out
upon you, and your foot did not swell, these forty years.
God Not To Be Forgotten in the Time of Plenty (Continuation)
[14b] "And you (do not) forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, [15] who led you through the
great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and
thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the
flinty rock, [16a] who fed you in the wilderness with manna which your
fathers did not know."
Commentary:
8:1-6. The Israelites are reminded about the way they were tested in the
wilderness and how God gave them special protection and fatherly care; and
they are once again exhorted to fidelity. This context needs to be borne in
mind when considering v, 4: it need not be taken literally as some
rabbinical fables did, which took it to mean that in those desert years the
Israelites' clothes did not wear out and their children's clothes increased
in size as they grew tip.
"Man does not live by bread alone" (v. 3): Jesus will quote these words when
rejecting Satan's first temptation in the desert (cf. Mt 4:4).
The relationship between Israel and God, which is compared to that of father
and son (v. 5) was central to Jesus' thinking and teaching. Some other Old
Testament passages, though not many, speak of this relationship (cf., e.g.,
Hos 11:1); a greater number of passages apply this idea to the relationship
between the Lord and the King (cf., e.g., 2 Sam 7:14-15; Ps 2:7; 89:27).
8:7-20. This passage is more profound than might appear at first reading,
because the sacred writer is using the theme of the Land to show the
salvific dimension of God's actions. Israel's "departure from Egypt" marked
the beginning of God's salvific action on behalf of his chosen people. The
"wilderness", described as "terrible", helped to make that people realize
that they needed God and helped them to hope in him. The "promised land", a
"good land", particularly when compared with the wilderness, shows God's
kindness towards Israel: in it they will find rest, peace and happiness. The
only thing they need to guard against is glorying in it, as if they merited
this good fortune. If ever they did give in to that temptation, they would
be lost. Clearly, this theological-moral lesson should be taken to heart by
everyone in his relations with God, whatever his or her circumstances.
The Canaanites went in for coarse and disgusting fertility rites to win the
favor of the gods that protected agriculture and livestock. The Israelites
must do no such thing. They should show their gratitude to the Lord who
sends rain, sun and dew, by offering sober and sensible sacrifices from
field and flock. The Deuteronomic Code (chaps- 12-26) in fact deals with
agriculture-based festivals such as "Weeks" (Deut 16:9-12), "unleavened
bread" (16:3-4), "tithes" (14:22-29), etc. It is through this, and above
all, though living up to the moral demands of the Law, that Israel will show
its fidelity to Yahweh.
The ease with which men (and nations) forget God once they become rich and
prosperous is something readily proved from history. And when that happens
the threat contained in Deuteronomy in vv. 19-20 inevitably becomes a
reality, for "without a creator there can be no creature. [...] Besides,
once God is forgotten the creature is lost sight of as well" (Vatican II,
"Gaudiumn Et Spes", 36); hence the need not to put one's heart on material
things. "You need to realize," St Gregory of Nyssa urges, "the origin of
your life, your mind, your wisdom and, what is more important still, the
fact that you know God, your hope in the kingdom of heaven and your
expectation of seeing God [...], being a son of God, a co-heir of Christ and
(dare I say it) becoming divinized: where do all these things come from; who
causes them to happen?" ("De Pauperum Amore", 23).
Christian writers often apply the benefits the Israelites received during
the Exodus to the graces of Baptism and the Eucharist (cf, e.g., 1 Cor
1.0:1-11). And the Church's liturgy, after recalling, the pillar of fire,
the voice of Moses on Sinai, the manna and the water that flowed from the
rock, prays that our Lord should be for us, through his Resurrection, the
light of life, the word and bread of life (cf. Liturgy of the Hours, Prayer,
Lauds, Tuesday of Week 6, Eastertide).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.