He Humbled Thee

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Jesus said that in the wilderness, after forty days without food, when the tempter told Him to turn stones into bread. He was quoting today's verse, and He was quoting its second half.

Stay with the first half, and with one word in it: "he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger." The Hebrew verb behind "humbled" has nothing to do with thinking modestly about yourself. It means to press down, to bring low, to afflict. It is the same word used in Exodus for the Egyptian "taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens." Here God is the one doing it, and His own people are the ones it is done to. The verse does not apologise for that.

Then comes the purpose, and it is the only reason given: "that he might make thee know." Moses does not say God wanted to teach them, or remind them, or offer them a choice. He says God would make them know. There is a kind of knowing that comes no other way, and it cost forty years in the wilderness. The chapter says it again further down: "that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end." Notice those last words, "to do thee good." The humbling is given a good destination before anyone can accuse God of enjoying it.

Think of the thing you have been treating only as an obstacle, the one you have only ever prayed about as something to be taken away. Write down what you would come to know about God if it stayed. Then keep praying for it to go, if you want to. Both prayers can be honest at the same time, and the God who fed Israel with manna in the wilderness means to do you good at the end.

Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 26 is Your Keeper (Psalm 121:5).

All 365 readings in Daily Manna, Year Two