Deuteronomy 8:3 And 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.
Context: Deuteronomy 8:1 The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. Deuteronomy 8:2 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.
From the lexicon: Humbled=caused to be bowed down. Bread=bread, food. Every word=all that comes out of.
Pulling it together: The context of Deuteronomy 8:3 is that the children on Israel were about to enter the Promised Land. Moses gives last minute admonishment before they do. He advises them to recall God’s commandments and that if they obey His instructions they would prosper.
In Deuteronomy 8:3 Moses directs the people to the lesson of humility learned in the wilderness. God humbled them, i.e., He caused them to bow down before Him through physical hunger and then fed them with manna and in so doing taught them that man needs more than physical food in order to live. Man needs the very Word of God–that which comes from His mouth.
And so, it is today in our world filled with discontent believers are called to humble ourselves and instead of majoring on the physical necessities of life to seek God’s Word to read, heed, and follow.
Lord, I pray for grace to seek You daily, to read Your word, to know your direction for my life each and every day.