Deuteronomy 8:4

"He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the LORD’s mouth."

Key Reflection

In Deuteronomy 8:4, God reminds the Israelites of their wilderness experience where He tested them by making them suffer hunger and providing sustenance through manna, a miraculous food unknown to both them and their ancestors. This event taught them that true life comes not just from physical bread but also from the divine words and commands, emphasizing the importance of spiritual nourishment alongside material needs.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

They had clothes, it would seem, in abundance (compareExodus 12:34-35) at the beginning of the 40 years; and during those years they had many sheep and oxen, and so must have had much material for clothing always at command. No doubt also they carried on a traffic in these, as in other commodities, with the Moabites and the nomadic tribes of the desert. Such ordinary supplies must not be shut out of consideration, even if they were on occasions supplemented by extraordinary providences of God, as was undoubtedly the case with their food.

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