Texts in Conversation
Deuteronomy 8 follows a pattern throughout the Hebrew Bible, such as in the Akedah from Genesis 22, where God tests people or individuals to learn how they will respond and if they will remain obedient.
Share:
Genesis 22:1
Hebrew Bible
9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 12 “Do not harm the boy!” the angel said. “Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
Deuteronomy 8:2
Hebrew Bible
1 You must keep carefully all these commandments I am giving you today so that you may live, increase in number, and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 2 Remember the whole way by which he has brought you these 40 years through the wilderness so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not. 3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. He did this to teach you that humankind cannot live by bread alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth. 4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these 40 years.
Search:
Notes and References
"... As we have noted earlier in the book, testing, much like in our current culture of education, was an inherent element in God’s teaching. And He is an equal opportunity tester ... testing hearts and minds (Deuteronomy 8:2) ... As we have already noted, testing appears very early on in Genesis; it is incorporated into God’s first act as teacher. Embedded in the lesson in the Garden of Eden, and possibly its essential part, is a test, which Adam and Eve failed miserably. Abraham was administered multiple tests throughout his education, all of which he passed, most with flying colors. Among those is Abraham’s last test—the binding of Isaac (“God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am” (Genesis 22:1). God tested Jacob at night, as he struggled with the angel, to determine Jacob’s endurance and patience until getting God’s blessing (to compensate for the first blessing he stole from Isaac ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.