Go Beyond

• Remembering God’s Past Dealings | Deuteronomy 8:1-10

8:1-2a | Moses urged the Israelites to “remember” (8:2 and 18) and to not “forget” (8:11, 14, 19) the Lord, the Lord’s commandments, or His deeds on their behalf. He understood that it would be easy for the Israelites to become prideful and forgetful once they possessed the land (8:14). So, because their success in the Promised Land was linked to obeying God’s commands and remembering His deeds on their behalf, Moses exhorted the people to remember two things.

First, Moses exhorted the people to remember “all the commandments” (8:1). They would have no success apart from obedience to God’s word. The word “all” defined the scope of what they were to obey. The phrase “be careful to do” defined the method in which they were to observe God’s commands.

Second, as the people stood on the threshold of the Promised Land, Moses exhorted them to remember “all the way” (8:2a) in which the Lord had led them in the wilderness the past forty years. The word “all” defined the scope of what they were to remember and included both the pleasant and bitter experiences of their journey. It is often life’s most difficult experiences that can produce the most memorable lessons. Their forty year wilderness journey was clearly marked with the evidence of God’s providential care and discipline.

We can learn good lessons from bad experiences. | Moses urged the Israelite’s to remember all the way in which God had led them through the wilderness. Their wilderness journey was littered with experiences of failure, frustration, and foolishness. Moses wanted for the people to remember and learn good lessons from those experiences. Their bad experiences were valuable tutors regarding the dangers of disobeying God, the heavy price of unfaithfulness, and the demand of God for loyalty, to name but a few.