Expositor's Dictionary of Texts All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. The Way in the Wilderness (First Sunday of the Year)Deuteronomy 8:2 (i) Let us emphasize the word all, for on that word the emphasis of the sentence truly lies. (ii) The character of the path to be estimated not by the present difficulty or danger, but by the importance of the end. (iii) The infinite variety of the way. (iv) The beauty of the way. It is a goodly world which our God hath built and adorned for us, a world whose goodliness is ever around us. (v) The bread of the wilderness. This miracle of the manna is repeated every day before our eyes. (vi) The perils of the wilderness. Life is one long peril. (vii) The sins of the wilderness. The past is best buried under a nobler present. (viii) The chastisements of the way. (ix) The Elims of the way, the sunny spots, the living verdure, the murmuring fountains, the rustling, shadowing palms. (x) The end of the way. Each step the path will brighten as it nears the precincts of the Promised Land. —J. Baldwin Brown, Contemporary Pulpit vol. VI. p. 371. References.—VIII. 2.—D. Burns, Christian World Pulpit, 1890, p. 88. John Mason, Lord's Day Entertainments, vol. ii. p. 297. Bradley, Sermons, vol. ii. p. 284. E. M. Goulburn, Sermons, p. 485. Simeon, Works, vol. ii. p. 299. John Venn, Sermons, vol. iii. p. 397. T. Binney, Sermons (1st Series), p. 362. Kingsley, Discipline, p. 40. A. Maclaren, A Year's Ministry (1st Series), p. 151. Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv. pp. 397 and 417. F. Bourdillon, Plain Sermons for Family Beading, p. 84. J. Vaughan, Sermons (14th Series), p. 156. A. Maclaren, A Year's Ministry (1st Series), p. 151. VIII 2, 3.—C. M. Betts, Eight Sermons, p. 61. VIII. 3.—J. W. Walker, A Book of Lay Sermons, p. 133. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii. No. 418. VIII. 10, 11.—G. A. Sowter, Sowing and Reaping, p. 84. VIII. 11-18.—C. Kingsley, Gospel of the Pentateuch, p. 197. VIII. 15.—J. M. Neale, Readings for the Aged (4th Series), p. 175; ibid. Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. ii. p. 336. IX. 1.—T. Arnold, Christian Life, vol. v. p. 305. IX. 6.—Bishop Goodwin, Parish Sermons (5th Series), p. 78. IX. 26-29.—F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. ii. p. 53. IX. 29.—Bishop Lightfoot, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 63. T. Arnold, Christian Life, p. 305. And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
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.
Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God. Nicoll - Expositor's Dictionary of Texts Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission. Bible Hub |
    |