Fed by God

“And you shall remember the whole way that 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. 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 man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deut 8:2-3).

This passage says some amazing things about the purpose of the forty years that Israel spent in the wilderness. Obviously, the wilderness wandering was a punishment. Ten of the twelve spies who entered Canaan were afraid of the warriors and the city fortifications (Num 13:28). They died for their disbelief (Num 14:36-37), and God said that the rest of the nation would wander for forty years, until all the adults of that generation had died (Num 14:28-30). But here it says that there was a purpose to the wilderness wandering beyond a national time out. First he says that it was a time of testing. With the timing of their plans derailed, it gave God – and Israel – an opportunity to assess their hearts. Were they going to react to God's discipline with grumbling, or with humility? Next he says that he humbled them by allowing them to go hungry, but that he then fed them. Israel was fed by God himself – an amazing blessing. Even in discipline, even in humbling, God is still blessing his people.

The temptation of Jesus reflects the wilderness experience of Israel: Israel spent forty years in the wilderness; Jesus spent forty days. Israel was tested by God; Jesus was tempted by Satan, proving his loyalty to God. Israel was given a fresh scattering of bread on the ground every morning by God; Jesus is tempted by Satan to turn rocks into bread. God says in Deuteronomy 8 that the point of the manna was to show Israel that God decides when it's time to eat. Jesus quotes this passage to Satan, and I think that he's saying more than, “God's words are more important than food.” Jesus is content with however God decides to feed him: whether by manna, by the ministry of angels (Matt 4:11), or by the words of God that nourish our souls.