This week’s reading (Devarim / Deuteronomy 7:12-9:3) Moshe saysוְהָיָה | עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן אֵת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִֹיתֶם אֹתָם וְשָׁמַר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְךָ אֶת-הַבְּרִית וְאֶת-הַחֶסֶד אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ meaning 7:12 ‘Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. (NASB) Here Moshe explains that the Lord God will keep the covenant and the grace/mercy (הַחֶסֶד) that He swore to their fathers and that the Lord will bless the people exceedingly in the land if they remain faithful to Him (7:12-16). Moshe repeatedly warns to remain faithful to the Lord. These warnings are contrasted with the mighty works God did to preserve the people in the wilderness. The purpose is found here in Devarim / Deuteronomy 8:1-3. Moshe writes contrasting the humbleness of heart, hunger, and the provision of Manna in the wilderness known as “bread from Heaven,” so that they would understand that “man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord does a man live” (8:3). Was the Lord showing the people a future messianic expectation on the importance of the life giving “Word of God” that proceeds out of the mouth of our Father in Heaven? Read more here.
