God's blessings to the obedient (Deut. 7 12-13; 8:3)

If you completely obey the law, the LORD your God will be loyal and keep the agreement he made with you, just as he promised our ancestors. The LORD will love you and bless you by giving you many children and plenty of food, wine, and olive oil. Your herds of cattle will have many caves, and your flocks of sheep will have many lambs. When your fathers were hungry, he gave you manna, a kind of food that you and your ancestors had never even heard about. The LORD was teaching you that people need more than bread to live - they need every word that the LORD has spoken.
This is one of the famous statements that Jesus made when tempted by Satan in the wilderness. He said "man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God (Deut. 8:3)." The Israelites were now under the Law of Moses, also known as the Mosaic Covenant. It is a conditional agreement where God blesses the obedient, but brings curses to the disobedient. A woman who was barren was considered a reproach, because God says that the obedient will have many children. Prolonged disobedience to the law can result in removal of the land of inheritance and a scattering of the Jews among the nations. This covenant of blessings and curses will be in effect until the coming of Christ who will fulfill the law in man's stead.
Daily Prayer: Father, I am thankful for Jesus' fulfilling the law so that it can be possible to be given right standing before you. By grace I am saved through faith and not of works, so I have no reason to boast. But the law is important because it reveals your heart for my life and my living. Amen.