CHAPTER VIII _An exhortation to obedience from a consideration of God's past_ _mercies_, 1, 2. _Man is not to live by bread only, but by every word of God_, 3. _How God provided for them in the wilderness_, 4. _The Lord chastened them that they might be obedient_, 5, 6. _A description of the l... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 8:2. _THOU SHALT REMEMBER ALL THE WAY_] The various dealings of God with you; the dangers and difficulties to which ye were exposed, and from which God delivered you; together with the various miracles which he wrought for you, and his longsuffering towards you.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 8:3. _HE - SUFFERED THEE TO HUNGER, AND FED THEE_] God never permits any tribulation to befall his followers, which he does not design to turn to their advantage. When he permits us to hunger, it is that his mercy may be the more observable in providing us with the necessaries of l... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 8:4. _THY RAIMENT WAXED NOT OLD, C._] The plain meaning of this much-tortured text appears to me to be this: "God so amply provided for them all the necessaries of life, that they never were obliged to wear tattered garments, nor were their feet injured for lack of shoes or sandal... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 8:8. _A LAND OF WHEAT, C._] On the subject of this verse I shall introduce the following remarks, which I find in Mr. Harmer's Observations on the Fertility of the Land of Judea, vol. iii., p. 243. "Hasselquist tells us that he ate olives at Joppa (upon his first arrival in the H... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 8:9. _A LAND WHOSE STONES ARE IRON_] Not only meaning that there were iron mines throughout the land, but that the loose stones were strongly impregnated with iron, ores of this metal (the most useful of all the products of the _mineral_ kingdom) being every where in great plenty.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 8:15. _WHO LED THEE THROUGH THAT - TERRIBLE WILDERNESS_] See the account of their journeying in the notes, Exodus 16:1, c. Numbers 21:10-4, c. _FIERY SERPENTS_] Serpents whose bite occasioned a most violent inflammation, accompanied with an unquenchable _thirst_, and which termina... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 8:16. _WHO FED THEE - WITH MANNA_] See this miracle described Exodus 16:13, c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 8:18. _GOD - GIVETH THEE POWER TO GET WEALTH_] Who among the rich and wealthy believes this saying? Who gives wisdom, understanding, skill, bodily strength, and health? Is it not God? And without these, how can wealth be acquired? Whose is providence? Who gives fertility to the ear... [ Continue Reading ]