V. 1. All the commandments that I have given you 2c.
This is a new and different sermon, as I said that Moses completed this book in many days and with many sermons. But in this chapter he deals with the occasion for breaking the first commandment, which is given by well-being and abundance, which turns the heart away much more than repulsiveness and lack, as he [Moses] says in his song [Deut. 32, 15]: "He became fat and thick and strong, and became horny." And Prov. 1, 32. "The luck of the wicked kills them," as is also said in the German proverb, "There must be strong legs to carry good days. For a man bears evil more easily than good, as the poet says: Luxuria saevior hostis incubuit etc.. [Abundance has broken in as an exceedingly cruel enemy].
V. 2. and remember all the way 2c.
First, he says that the people were beaten and tempted by God in the desert for forty years, so that they would know what was in their hearts, namely, whether they loved God with a sincere mind or for the sake of their bellies. For even we ourselves never know our heart (which is always evident to God) more surely whether it serves God for the sake of the belly or not, than when we are challenged by lack and misfortune. A believing heart loves, believes and serves as well,
when it suffers lack and evil days, than when it is in the midst of riches and good days. But an unbelieving heart believes as long as the good is there, but retreats when calamity comes, as it says in the 78th Psalm [v. 37. 36.], "Their heart was not steadfast in him, and they lied to him with their tongue."
V. 3-16 He humbled you, and made you hungry, and fed you with man, that he might make known to you that man does not live by bread alone 2c.
What kind of conclusion is this, that by giving manna it is made known that man lives by the word of God? Is the manna the word of God? Not at all, but rather he explains what he had said about the lack, namely in this way: Before he gave you manna, he first made you suffer hunger. He did this so that he might show you that even if the manna never came, he could still sustain you through his word, by which he had promised that he would be a GOD to you, who would not abandon you, just as he had sustained you. For faith in the word of God, even in the midst of hunger, nourishes not only the soul but also the body, that is, as he says here, the whole man, since it is impossible that he who with faith clings to the word should perish, even if he should not eat or drink anything of the body, although God has not given you any food or drink.
In truth, he does not leave us, yes, at last, when his time has come, he also feeds us bodily, like Elijah through the ravens and the widow in Sarepta, and here the fathers through the manna.
This announcement that man does not live on bread alone does not refer to the manna, but to both, namely to the tribulation of hunger and to the quantity of manna, so that the meaning is: God wanted to show you this His goodness through your experience, so that you would learn in hunger to trust in the word of the Promiser, through which you would also be sustained in hunger and would not perish, but then finally also receive bodily satiety through this faith. For he does all this for the sake of taking the belly as an idol, and you learned that a man's life does not depend on the belly being supplied with its bread, but rather on both the soul and the belly being supplied with the word, 1) which you would never learn if the belly were always full, and you never learned through the word to trust in God even at the time when the belly is in want.
In this way, Christ cites Matth. 4, 4. this passage, where the devil only reproaches him for the care of the belly; but he says: "Man does not live by bread alone", not denying that man lives by bread, but not alone. For if the bread is not there, then he lives by the word. If he has this by faith, then bread must necessarily come at last, even if it has to be brought forth from the stones or, as here, sent down from heaven. Since he now says: "He humbled you, and let you hunger, and tempted you," he draws from your belly and the care of your belly, so that he teaches to trust in the word in the midst of hunger, and to live [by the word]. Since he says, "He fed you with man," he indicates that those who live by the word in hunger will not lack bread. So you see that by these words nothing is taught but faith, by which we hold fast and believe that we have one God according to the meaning of the first commandment.
1) Added by us.
But he commands them to remember this fact, how they were fed in the wilderness both by the word and by the bread, indicating and prophesying, as it were, that they would later be tempted by the same temptation of hunger, so that they would then be raised to faith by the comfort of this example, and would know that they would be fed, however much the hunger rages, if they only believe the word of promise in the first commandment, in which he promises that he will be their God, as it is written in the 37th Psalm, v. 19. Psalm, v. 19: "And they shall have enough in the day of trouble." For it is impossible for the righteous to be forsaken, or for his seed to go after bread. He will indeed hunger, but he will not die of hunger, for hunger exercises his faith, which hangs on the word; but faith also obtains bread for the body.
So the glorious word of Moses stands firm that God deals with His own in such a way that He tempts through hunger and exercises through His word, then feeds the believer, even if it is in the middle of heaven, if it cannot happen otherwise, so that they may learn by experience that one need not be concerned about the belly, that life also does not stand in the things that we possess or in bread, but in the word, through which we become rich in God, as is written in the Gospel [Luc. 1 2, 21.]. For since we live in the heart through the word, we force God, as it were, to nourish the belly as well.
As he promises food to the believers, so also clothing, then also good health of the body, as he adds here soon after the manna [v. 4]: "Your clothes are not outdated on you, and your feet are not swollen these forty years," so that he teaches by these words that those who live and believe by the word will not lack anything, but that God takes care of us in all things, and through all things, as Peter says [1. Ep. 5, 7.], "Cast all your care upon him, for he careth for you," and Ps. 34, 11.: "They that seek the LORD have no lack of any good."
If one understands these and similar promises of God, which are quite glorious and certain, correctly, then this means the promise of the first
In this commandment he says: "I am the Lord, your God. Thine, thine, I will show and prove myself to thee as God, neither will I forsake thee, if thou wilt but believe it. For all such promises depend on the first commandment and flow from it. On the other hand, if you do not believe them, it really means that you do not understand the first commandment, but have other gods.
But Moses applies this teaching of faith to the future use in the midst of abundance of goods, as I said in the beginning of the chapter, namely, that they should then remember how they were once fed with manna in the midst of scarcity through the Word, and reflect on this example and teaching, and learn that they should not trust in God any more because they have abundance and are full, since their belly is well supplied. Such trust is not in God, but rather in the goods and gifts they have received. Hence, they forget both the right trust and the word of God, and never learn to trust God in lack. And (as I have said), it is a great thing and the work of a rich (multi) spirit, when everything is well, not to forget God, and to behave as Paul says [1 Cor. 7, 30. 31.As if you had no need of the world, as if you had no need of it, so that you know how to have plenty and to be in want, how to be low and to be high [Phil. 4:12], and with the prophet [Psalm 62:11] not to set your heart on riches when they come, and not to become vain, but to set your heart on God alone.
For this is what Moses has to do in this chapter, in that he contrasts and introduces in the midst of the abundance the example of the manna, which was given in the midst of the lack, so that he might bring them back from the belly to the word. Therefore he repeats also at the end, after he had pictured the future riches, and speaks [v. 15-17.]: "He made water come out of the hard rock for you, and fed you with man in the wilderness, of which your fathers knew nothing, that he might humble you and try you, that he might do you good hereafter. You might otherwise
say in your heart" 2c. Is it not a stronger example that He gave drink out of the hard rock, and manna in the wilderness, than that Christ teaches Matt. 6:28. of the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, that GOD provides for them? For what less could you hope for than that water and drink should come out of a rock? What less in a desert than bread and food? Why did He not give the water from a greening tree or a cloud of heaven? Why not the food from branches, or roots, or herbs? Why did he do this?
Of course, in order to praise the great care of God, which he carries for us, who is a God to us even when everything is in despair, since he also wants to and can change a rock into your drink, the desert into your food, nakedness into beautiful clothing, poverty into wealth, death into life, shame into honor, evil into good, enemies into friends. And what should he not be able to do? He can give and change everything from everything, everything in everything, everything from nothing, everything into nothing. Only let it concern you to believe, and when there is lack, not to be fainthearted and anxious, again, when there is abundance, not to be puffed up and surely forget God, but to always cling to your God with the same heart, no matter whether everything is there or everything is lacking, knowing that he who gives abundance will also give when lack oppresses. See, then, how appropriately and fittingly Moses uses this miracle of God to explain the meaning of the first commandment.
V. 17. 18. Otherwise you would say in your heart, My strength, and the strength of my hands 2c.
He adds this to describe what forgetfulness of God is and how it comes about. For this is how the godless heart of man stands when wealth accrues to him: I have brought this about through my work, and does not pay attention to the fact that they are all blessings of God, sometimes through our work, sometimes without our work, but which never come from (ex) our work, but from us.
are always given freely out of his mercy. For, as we have taught above, he uses our work as a kind of larva, under which he blesses us and gives us what is his, so that there is room for faith, so that we do not think that what we have is brought about by our strength or work, or, as he says here, so that we do not think that it is through our powers and the strength of our hands that we possess this ability, but remember the Lord our God, that it is he who gives the powers to acquire this ability, not through our merits, but because he had promised it beforehand.
This is therefore the particularly excellent (insignis) passage from which many excellent sayings have flowed, as the word in the Proverbs of Solomon [Cap. 10, 22.]: "The blessing of the Lord makes rich", likewise in the Psalm [Ps. 136, 25.]: "Who gives food to all flesh", and the whole Psalm of Solomon [Ps. 127.The same is true for the whole Psalm of Solomon [Ps. 127]: "Where the Lord does not build the house", where it is completely denied that anything is brought about or preserved by our powers, as also Moses says here that wealth is not acquired by our powers or the strength of our hands, but by God, who blesses and gives the powers that we may "establish a fortune" [Deut. 8, 17], that is, wealth and possessions (substantiam), for this is what the Hebrew word XXX means. Faith, which does not exalt itself in prosperity nor become fainthearted in adversity, is thus the short epitome, 1) the interpretation and true understanding and fulfillment of the first commandment.
V. 19. 20. But if you forget the Lord your God and follow other gods 2c.
Just as the promise of grace is presented to the believers, so the threat of wrath is presented to the unbelievers, so that he may draw and urge to faith from both sides. Unbelief makes of GOD and the Father a judge and enemy, as He says here, "I testify to you that you will perish." Faith makes the enemy and judge into God and the Father.
1) We have assumed a comma with the Wittenberger after summn rsi.
a father, as he said shortly before [Cap. 1, 31.]: "As a man carries his son, so the Lord has carried you." And again, you are to notice especially here that absolutely no distinction is made between the people of Israel and the Gentiles, who are to be cut off, except by faith, as he says here, that they are to perish just as much as those Gentiles whom the Lord will cut off before their face. So they have nothing to boast of against the Gentiles, neither of the law, nor of the righteousness of works, nor of the blood of the fathers, nor of the miracles of God, nor of the divine speeches, nor of the priesthood, nor of the kingdom, nor of anything else. The verdict is clear: If they forget God and serve other gods, they will perish as if all this were nothing and they were also pagans. For whoever does not believe will be condemned. It has been said sufficiently that "to honor other gods" means to be unbelieving and to act against the true God.
The secret interpretations or allegories of this chapter are easy to understand. Manna, which in Hebrew is called something prepared or a gift, because it is prepared and given without our hands, means the gospel of God, as Christ also interprets John 6:32: "Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the right bread from heaven." For this heavenly word was not given to the world by our powers or merits. Lack and tribulation in the wilderness for forty years means the misery of a conscience struggling with sin, where there is hunger and thirst, then also fiery serpents and scorpions, namely the biting and sting of sin, which cruelly torments us. The manna comes and feeds us, the brook comes that is cut out of the rock, that is the spirit that has come to us through Christ crucified, and refreshes us, so that we will never, ever thirst, John 4:14. Furthermore, as inconsistent as it was that water should flow out of a stone that is cut, it is against all remembrance (inopinatum) that the spirit of life comes out of Christ who died, so that Moses too
was trapped here. For who could hope for the spirit that gives life from a dying and buried flesh?
Abundance and happiness in the promised land are the riches of the gifts of the spirit, the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, which are given to us in Christ, where we dwell safely and abound in all heavenly things.
Here it is necessary that we are not puffed up when we are satisfied, but in gratitude praise the Lord, who has given us all these things not only without our merit, but also when we were under the curse and lost under the misery of sin. Let this be enough for this occasion.