Man Shall Not Live By Bread Alone
"Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. "Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. "You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you. "Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. Deuteronomy 8:1-6
If suffering and poverty were God’s will in any shape or form for His people then God would not have delivered His people from Egypt and spoiled them with the wealth of Egypt. (God gave them so much silver and gold that they not only built the tabernacle with it but they have enough to take with them to the promised land.) If poverty was God’s will He would not have brought them to a promised land - a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which they ate bread without scarcity, in which they lacked nothing; a land whose stones were iron and out of whose hills they dug copper. A land where they built beautiful houses and dwell in them; where their herds and their flocks multiplied, and their silver and gold were multiplied, and all that they had was multiplied. (Deuteronomy 8:7-13) God’s word is unchanging:
"And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Deuteronomy 8:18
"Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed him and increased him." For the LORD will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Isaiah 51:1-3
THE ELDER, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth: Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 3 John 1:1-3
Yes, God gives power to get wealth that that He may establish His covenant with His people. The problem that God’s people are not wealthy and prosperous is not with God but with His people who live in a wilderness of their own choosing and have not claimed all that is rightfully theirs. God’s has stated that His people can have whatever they desire and if they desire to have nothing and living in spiritual and physical poverty that is their choice! He will not interfere with their choices because God is a perfect gentleman and gives them the desires of their hearts:
May He grant you according to your heart's desire, And fulfill all your purpose. Psalm 20:4
You have given him his heart's desire, And have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah Psalm 21:2
Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. Matthew 11:12
Yes, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, David and Samuel and the prophets through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. They just didn’t let things happen through their faith they made things too happen. Spoils of war went to those who fought in the battles even of their own choosing. The bible records for our profit and instruction:
By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.
By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. Hebrews 11:24-31
Yes, Moses when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. Yes, the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days but only after Joshua did what the LORD had commanded him to do:
After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying: "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them-the children of Israel. "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. "From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. "No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. "Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Joshua 1:1-6
Joshua chose to believe the LORD and act upon the words that He had given him including “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you.” Yes, God is speaking constantly to His people but they don’t hear Him or unlike Joshua refuse to act on His words:
Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said to Joshua: "See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. "You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. "And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. "It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him." Joshua 6:1-5
Joshua believed God and went to war against Jericho and marched around the city once for six days. And then on the seventh day he marched around the city seven times, and the priests blew the trumpets and all the people shouted with a great shout then the wall of the city fell down just like God promised. Yes obedience to the words spoken by God and through His true prophets brings success and prosperity and spoils of war. God’s word is unchanging:
And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. Mark 16:15-20
"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. John 14:12
It is a fact that western Christianity might be rich in organization, theology, doctrine, and tradition, but it is poor in spirit and sorely needed re-centering on the foundation from which it had strayed: the living Christ. Although the West owes so many of its blessings to Christianity there is little a desire for higher things. It worships, not God, but armed force, power, material things and fame. The West is like Judas Iscariot, who ate with Jesus, only to later deny him. The West ought to fear the fate of Judas, lest it hang itself on the tree of learning and knowledge rather than faith in God. They have for centuries been surrounded by Christianity, entirely steeped in its blessings, but the God's truth has not penetrated them. Christianity is not at fault but rather in the hardness of their hearts. Materialism and intellectualism have made their hearts hard. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches have choked the words of Jesus sown in their hearts. Just as salty seawater cannot quench thirst, much of American religion cannot satisfy a spiritually thirsty person because it is saturated with materialism. God’s word is unchanging:
"Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. "But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; "but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. Matthew 13:22-25
God’s people cannot blame everything on their enemy, the devil, they must take responsibility for their own sins and choices in life and must repent of them. True riches come from God and not from what men pursue.
WALTER KAMBULOW
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Gordon
Williams http://gordwilliams.com/
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