Man Shall Not Live By Bread Alone

Dt. 8

1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers.

2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

Mt. 4:4

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.


I am convinced these scriptures and what they mean, must be embraced anew by Christians, as we enter into an extraordinary period of time where we move further into ruling and reining on this earth. That means of course there will be many battles ahead.

The verses in Deuteronomy were delivered a little before Israel was to go and take the promised land. God gave them understanding into why he did what he did with them during that forty years as they waited for the generation that refused to go in to die off.

There's a lot of truth in these Scriptures, but I want to focus primarily on the framework represented in regard to going to battle of taking the land and the coming victories.

First, the word of God as referred to here is directly correlated with the law received by Moses from God and communicated to Israel. Over and over again as they prepared to take the land, God reminded and exhorted them to be sure to remember the covenant and to obey His commandments.

That's also the importance of Jesus' first temptation as well, as He spend forty days and forty nights fasting, which without a doubt correlated with the forty years of struggle Israel had to endure. So it's not surprising food was a part of the first temptation, as that was always a challenge and weakness to Israel, which caused them to complain and in some cases, rebel against God.

In the upcoming battles and promised victories, God wanted Israel to know that even when they were filled and had everything they needed, they had to understand that living in obedience to the word of God was still required, and represented real and full life. We must embrace that same attitude toward God and His commands.

The challenge for God has always been to be able to bless His people without them thinking they accomplished anything in their own strength. They also had a tendency to stop trusting God when they were full, as they were able to see their provision right in front of them, and consequently stopped trusting in God as the source of that provision.

My major point in this article is to show that living by God's word was directly related to His law or commands, and that was strongly emphasized as they prepared to go to battle. It must be the same with us.

No matter what the temporary circumstances we may face concerning struggles and challenges, we have to continue to search out and obey God's Word, as that is true life, whether things at the time are going the way we want them or not.

If we don't respond to God in this way, the result will be to have His word be negated as far as its impact upon us, as the worries and anxieties will choke it out and make it ineffective, as Mark 4 says in the parable of the sower. The problem isn't the Word or seed, the problem is the condition of the ground it is planted in.

Whether we like it or not or are ready or not, we are being forced to engage our enemies, and we need to be sure we're living in obedience to God's commands, or we'll get swept away in defeat.

DT. 11:8 says, "Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;..."

A key part of preparation for successful battle is that we are walking in obedience to God's commands. That gives us strength to enter into warfare and win. This is what Jesus' New World Order is all about.

Just remember, when we are told "man shall not live by bread alone," the framework of that is the commandments God has given us to obey, which are essential to taking the land.