Introduction: Although many Christians may not know Deuteronomy chapter 8, they know important parts of it because Jesus quoted from it to rebuff Satan’s temptations in the wilderness. This chapter, however, is important for many other reasons. Here, God gives seven lessons to prepare you for blessings that He has waiting for you. First, He advises that He will prepare you for blessings by first taking you into the wilderness to show you where your heart needs correction. Second, He will test you with both scarcity and abundance to show you that only He can satisfy your deepest needs. Third, like a loving Father, He will take you into the wilderness to correct your behavior when your pride blocks His other efforts to reach you. Fourth, when you are ready, He wants to bless you with abundance so that you can be a steward of His things on Earth. These blessings are symbolized by the water of life and the seven foods of the Promised Land that He offers each believer. He wants to bless you so that you can bless Him back through your prayers and tithes to support His Church. Fifth, when times of abundance come, He warns us not to forget Him. Sixth, when times of abundance come, He does not want you to credit yourself with your success. Finally, He warns that if you credit yourself with your success, it may ultimately become a source of idolatry in your life. This may also ultimately lead to self-destructive behavior and sorrow.
(1) The barley. (salvation). Barley was the first food that came from the first of three seasonal harvests. Each of the three harvests represents a stage in a believer’s walk with God: (1) barley = justification, (2) wheat = sanctification, and (3) fruit = glorification. Barley was offered during the Feast of First Fruits (Lev. 23:9-14). This corresponded with Christ’s resurrection and symbolized the offering of a new believer (1 Cor. 15:20). When Jesus fed the masses of followers, He also used “five barley loaves and two small fishes.” (Jo. 6:9). When they were filled, He said unto His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” (Jo. 6:12). These believers were part of the masses. They were not close to Jesus. Yet, they were saved and had overcome death. Are you part of the masses of believers who float in and out of church? Or, are you set apart from the world for Jesus?
(2) The wheat. (sanctification). Wheat was offered at the Festival of Weeks. (Shovuot) (Lev. 23:15-22). This was the same date as Pentecost (Acts 2:3). In reference to the second feast, John the Baptist refers to a “wheat” harvest: “He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire . . . He will thoroughly purge His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with fire that cannot be put out.” (Matt 3:11-12). Because this second feast happened at Pentecost, it corresponded with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Not all believers are set apart for God. Many who live in the flesh are like rough barley bread. If they live by the Spirit, they are like sweet wheat bread. If you are part of the masses, your walk in the Lord is like eating barely bread. Although nutritious, it does not taste good. Today, it is mainly used for beer. Yet, if you are set apart for God, you are like freshly baked wheat bread to God. How do you think He would describe your walk?
(3) The grape vines. (communion and glorification). The grapes were cultivated as part of the Fall harvests and used to make wine. The Jews drank a small “hin” of wine as a “drink offering” with their other sacrifices (Nu. 15:5, 7, 10; Lev. 23:13). Jesus repeatedly used wine as a metaphor. One of His first miracles was to create multiple gallons of wine (Jo. 2:6-11). He is the vine of life that we drink, and the wine symbolizes His blood (Jo. 6:53). We drink His symbolic blood because we remember that our sins were transferred to Him through His blood (1 Cor. 11:25). In handing a cup of wine to the disciples, Jesus said: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Mk. 14:24). We drink wine or grape juice to be in communion with Christ. As a symbol of communion, Paul also compared his life sacrifice to a wine “drink offering”: “even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you (Phil. 2:17; same, 2 Tim. 4:6). In this context, the wine drink offering is a symbol of joy or happiness: “[The Lord] makes ... plants for man to cultivate – bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man . . .” (Ps. 104:14(f)). “Go . . . drink your wine with a joyful heart . . .” (Ecc. 9:7). When you are in communion, people should see the joy of the Lord radiating out of your life. Sharing a drink in communion is also an act of friendship. If the barley symbolizes justification and the wheat symbolizes sanctification, the grapes symbolize being glorified in heaven. Some believers don’t drink as a sacrifice to store up their treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:20). Jesus promises that we will drink the fruit of the vine with Him in the future (Matt. 26:29). Is your life a joyful drink offering to God? Are you sacrificing pleasures here for treasures and fellowship in heaven?
(4) Figs. (Provision). The fig tree is common to the Middle East and was one of the first cultivated plants. The fig is first mentioned in Genesis. After eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve covered themselves in “fig” leaves (Gen. 3:7). It symbolized God’s grace in providing even when it is underserved. During the Messiah’s reign “each man [will sit] under his own vine and fig tree.” (1 Kings 4:25; Zech. 3:10). This foreshadows an idyllic life of peace and prosperity. When Jesus was alive, He was hungry and came to a fig tree looking for food. Yet, the tree only had leaves on it without figs to eat. He then cursed the fig tree, which caused it to wither (Matt. 21:18–22; Mk. 11:12–14, 19–21). All of Jesus’ actions had meaning. We are like branches of the fig tree. Every person can be grafted onto the branches of Jesus’ vine (Jo. 15:1-4). Yet, if a person does not bear the fruit of Jesus, he or she has never truly taken root in Jesus. That person’s branch only has value as firewood (Jo. 15:6). Is your life rooted in Jesus, the true vine of life? Are you showing the fruit of Jesus in your life? Do you give thanks for God’s provision in your life?
(5) Pomegranates. (Righteousness). The Jews considered the pomegranates with its many seeds to represent the 613 commandments and statutes in the Torah. The 613 commandments and statutes include 248 “positive commandments” (mitzvot aseh). These correspond to the number of bones and main organs in the human body. There are also 365 “negative commandments” (mitzvot lo taaseh). These correspond to the number of days in the solar year (Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 23b-24a). In the Old Testament, compliance with the Law was the only hope of obtaining “righteousness” before God: “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness.” (Ro. 10:5). “It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us.” (Dt. 6:22-25). In the New Testament, you are told to obey the Law out of love and not obligation. If you use His mercy and grace as a license to ignore the Law, you may become a slave to sin. By contrast, if you obey the Law out of love and devotion, you become a slave to righteousness: “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (Ro. 6:16). Today, the righteousness that brings salvation comes only from your faith in Christ and not by following the Law (Phil. 3:9; Ro. 10:5). For “if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” (Gal. 2:21). He is both the Lord and son of “Righteousness” (Jer. 23:6; Mal. 4:2). If you “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt. 6:33). Yet, Jesus says that if you love Him you will still keep His Commandments out of love and not obligation. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (Jo. 14:15, 21; 15:10; 1 Jo. 5:3; 2 Jo. 1:6). “[I]f you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matt. 19:17). Are you ignoring the Law in your life? If so, what does Jesus think of your love for Him?
(6) Olive oil. (the Holy Spirit). The Jews were previously told to bring clear oil of “beaten olives” for the lamp of the Tabernacle (Ex. 27:20). Oil in the Bible symbolizes the Holy Spirit (1 Sam. 16:13). With the Holy Spirit, God gives you nine other kinds of fruit. “[T]he fruit of the Spirit is (1) love, (2) joy, (3) peace, (4) forbearance, (5) kindness, (6) goodness, (7) faithfulness, (8) gentleness and (9) self-control.” (Gal. 5:22-23). Yet, like the olives, we need to be crushed of our own will before the Holy Spirit can come upon us (2 Cor. 4:8). God does not care for an offering if it is made out of selfish motives (Prov. 5:8; Isa. 1:13; Jer. 7:21-24; Amos 5:21-24). Are all nine fruits visible in your life? If not, what does that tell you about whether your will has been fully crushed?
(7) Honey and the land without scarcity. (The manna in heaven). At the valley of Eshcol, the Jewish spies found a land overflowing with milk and honey, just as God had promised (Nu. 13:27; 14:8). Our Promised Land is also a place without scarcity. The “honey” symbolizes the sweetness of God’s provision. For example, the manna that He gave in the wilderness tasted like wafers made of “honey” (Ex. 16:31). The people were able to boil or bake the manna (Nu. 11:8). They also never needed to worry about whether they would receive it. With the exception of the Sabbath, it came every night like the dew (Nu. 11:9; Ex. 16:22, 27). Yet, at one point the people grew tired of the manna because their “appetite” for it was gone (Nu. 11:6). Christ revealed that He was the manna in the wilderness (Jo. 6:32, 38, 41, 51). Just as the people rejected the manna in the wilderness, they later rejected Christ when He revealed that He was the true manna (Jo. 6:51). Just like the Jews in the wilderness, the Jews in Jesus’ day rejected His manna for the flesh. If you long for the things of your old life, Jesus says that you are not fit to live in heaven (Lk. 9:62). Jesus promises that if you accept His manna you will live forever: “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” (Jo. 6:51). Have you grown tired of what Jesus has to offer? Do you long for the things of the world? Or, do you look forward with great expectation for the land of sweet honey and abundance that awaits you?
