After the Hebrew slaves came out of Egypt, God established his covenant through Moses with Israel. God gave Israel, The Ten Commandments and many other ordinances and statutes that formed the Law of Moses. However, even under the Law of Moses God expected his people to live by faith in him, and not in their ability to keep the law. The problem was that as a nation they did not have faith in God.
So the one month journey from Egypt to the Promised Land became forty years of wilderness wandering. God was angry with Israel for their unbelief, but he did not abandon them. Deuteronomy 8 is a beautiful expression of the severity and the kindness of God.
Deuteronomy 8:16-18
16 “In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. 17 “Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ 18 “But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. NASU
In the wilderness they knew hunger and thirst. They lived in desolate places and amongst snakes and scorpions. They were unable to even feed themselves. Many of them died in the desert. They learned deprivation for forty years, yet God worked miracles for them through the entire ordeal. Their clothes did not wear out, their feet did not swell, he fed them with a strange food called manna, and brought water out of a rock for them to drink. Deuteronomy says God did these things to humble them and to test them to see what they were really made of (to know what was in their hearts). It was especially to prepare them to handle all the extravagant blessings he would one day bestow on them. Humility and reliance on God should endure in both good and bad times.
When I read Deuteronomy 8 several months ago, I was struck by the fact that they continued receiving God’s wonderful and miraculous grace while they were suffering. God made it possible for them to endure the worst of times.
Is God’s work in us during our hard times effective? Do the trials humble us and lead us to God? Do we remain humble and dependent on him when prosperity comes? Let it be our prayer that God will help us to truthfully say, “Yes!”