“Man does not live by food alone, but by every Word that comes from God.” (Paraphrase of Matthew 4:4) The Psalm writer says, “I’m chewing on the morsel of a proverb; I’ll let you in on the sweet old truths…”TM All the work of God in our lives must become part of the history we hand down to our children in the same way Israel handed down the great deeds of God in their past. It’s important to pass them on. “Never forget the works of God but keep his commands to the letter.”TM
Yes, God helped Israel out of Egypt and brought them to the promised land by many incredible miracles. You’d think the Israelites who saw God drown the Egyptian army would have been so moved they would have remained faithful to God forever. But once they were out of trouble, “All they did was sin even more, rebel in the desert against the High God. They tried to get their own way with God, clamored for favors, for special attention. They whined like spoiled children…”TM This did not please God. “When God heard that, he was furious—…he lost his temper with Israel…But God helped them anyway, commanded the clouds and gave orders that opened the gates of heaven. He rained down showers of manna to eat, he gave them the Bread of Heaven. They ate the bread of the mighty angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.”TM But they forgot that man does not live by bread alone! They needed communion with God. They were empty people in the wilderness because they had rejected God’s plan for their lives at Kadesh Barnea. “So their lives dribbled off to nothing—nothing to show for their lives but a ghost town.”TM
“And God? Compassionate! Forgave the sin! Didn’t destroy! …He knew what they were made of; he knew there wasn’t much to them…”TM