When a child heads off to college it is easy for parents to get anxious. They wonder, is my child ready? Will they succeed? Will the trauma of the teenage years wear off so our relationship can be normal again? Wise parents take time to prepare their child for the big change. As the Book of Deuteronomy opens, Israel is poised to enter the land God had promised them. But the journey had not been easy. What should have been a brief journey took 40 years because of Israel’s disobedience at Kadesh Barnea (see Num. 14:33). Despite this, God had brought them through. As they awaited the command to cross over, God took time to prepare them by reaffirming His covenant with them.

These people were the offspring of the men and women who had met with God at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 20:22). They were too young to understand the special relationship God had with the nation. As they prepared to inherit this land, they needed to be reminded of who they were, who God is, and what He expected of them.

First and foremost, they needed to do carefully what God commanded (8:1). Doing so would enable them to enjoy the land He had promised. To help them obey, God instructed them to remember how He loved them by caring for them in the wilderness (v. 2). Those days were indeed difficult, but God used those trials to train them for their own good (v. 3). He had also provided for them miraculously (v. 4). Even the times of discipline were for their development (v. 5). He concludes by describing the benefits of obedience. They would enjoy a land filled with abundance (v. 9). But they would need to be on guard, for abundance could breed a different kind of unbelief (v. 10)!

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