{"id":50037,"date":"2019-02-24T06:04:37","date_gmt":"2019-02-24T04:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=50037"},"modified":"2022-09-14T12:40:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T09:40:56","slug":"bread-from-earth-bread-from-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/bread-from-earth-bread-from-heaven\/","title":{"rendered":"Bread From Earth, Bread From Heaven"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[384,637,360],"acf":{"old_id":"50037","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37918,"related_cahpter":"161","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Rather than independence and self-sufficiency, the wilderness is about Israel\u2019s willingness to embrace dependence","content":"

Inching closer to the Promised Land, Moses instructs the people to remember the experience of being fed by God in the desert, specifically how \u201cHe humbled you by letting you hunger, and then fed you with manna… in order to teach you that one does not live by bread alone, but by everything that comes from the mouth of (<\/span>al kol motza pi<\/span><\/i>) the Lord\u201d (8:2-3).<\/span><\/p>\n

On the simplest level, the verse can be read as contrasting bread from the earth with \u201cbread from heaven\u201d (Exodus 16:4), i.e. manna: While wandering in the desert, Israel lived not by earthly bread, but by the food provided directly by God. According to Jeffrey Tigay, God sought to teach the people that \u201cnature alone could not be relied on for food… Man does not live on natural foods alone but on whatever God decrees to be nourishing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Some scholars aver that the phrase \u201ceverything that comes out of the mouth (<\/span>kol motza pi<\/span><\/em>) of the Lord\u201d refers not to providence in general but specifically to <\/span>what God says<\/span><\/em>. As central as divine law is for biblical theology, God\u2019s word does not refer only to God\u2019s law. \u201c<\/span>Everything<\/em> <\/span>that comes from the mouth of the Lord\u201d surely includes God\u2019s commandments, but it encompasses God\u2019s promises and commitments as well. We should not understate the centrality of law for Deuteronomy, but we should not over-state it either: God does indeed offer \u201cguidance,\u201d but divine commandments constitute more than guidance\u2014they are divinely-imposed <\/span>obligations<\/span><\/em>. Israel lives both by God\u2019s command and by God\u2019s promise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Standing on the edge of the Promised Land, the people are taught that in order to survive and flourish, they will need both God\u2019s providence and God\u2019s word. Some might be tempted to choose between these two interpretive possibilities, as if the text were focused <\/span>either <\/span><\/i>on divine providence <\/span>or <\/span><\/i>on the divine word. But Deuteronomy\u2019s point is precisely that Israel requires both God\u2019s loving concern and God\u2019s concrete commandments. <\/span><\/p>\n

One can imagine a situation in which a lengthy sojourn in the wilderness is intended to teach independence and self-sufficiency. But for Deuteronomy, the point of Israel\u2019s prolonged wandering is just the opposite: The people need to learn that they are always and everywhere dependent on God. <\/span><\/p>\n

What the wilderness ultimately tests is Israel\u2019s willingness to embrace dependence.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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