So he humbled you and let you go hungry and fed you with the manna, which neither you had known nor your fathers had known; in order to make you know that not by bread alone does man live but by every expression of Jehovah’s mouth does man live.”​—Deuteronomy 8:2, 3.

8. What had been the situation of the Israelites, and why had Jehovah allowed this?

⁸ Just imagine! Several million Israelites​—old and young, men, women, and children—​had been walking for 40 long years in “the great and fear-inspiring wilderness, with poisonous serpents and scorpions and with thirsty ground that [had] no water.” (Deuteronomy 8:15) They had needed water to drink and food to eat. Jehovah had, at times, allowed them to be thirsty and hungry. Why? So as to impress upon their minds that “not by bread alone does man live but by every expression of Jehovah’s mouth.”

9. How had the Israelites’ needs been filled by Jehovah’s utterances?

⁹ What was the connection between the Israelites’ needs and the expressions, or utterances, coming forth from Jehovah’s mouth? Well, what tangible things had come to pass among the Israelites as a result of Jehovah’s utterances? Moses wrote: “Your mantle did not wear out upon you, nor did your foot become swollen these forty years. . . . [Jehovah] brought forth water for you out of the flinty rock; [and he] fed you with manna in the wilderness.” (Deuteronomy 8:4, 15, 16) The connection is this: The Israelites would have received none of these things if Jehovah had not commanded them to take place. Thus, the Israelites had literally lived “by every expression [or, command] of Jehovah’s mouth.”

Sustained by Jehovah’s Utterances

10, 11. In what other ways were the Israelites able to be sustained by Jehovah’s utterances?

¹⁰ Besides depending on Jehovah for such material benefits as food, water, and clothing, how else were the Israelites able to be sustained by Jehovah’s utterances? There were spiritual benefits too. Moses told the Israelites that Jehovah had caused them to go through these experiences in the desert ‘in order to humble them, to put them to the test so as to know what was in their heart, as to whether they would keep his commandments or not.’ He added: “You well know with your own heart that just as a man corrects his son, Jehovah your God was correcting you . . . so as to do you good in your afterdays.”​—Deuteronomy 8:2, 5, 16.

¹¹ Yes, if the Israelites had taken full advantage of their experiences in the wilderness, they would have learned to ‘live by every expression of Jehovah’s mouth,’ not only by learning to obey his written commandments but actually by experiencing the results of Jehovah’s utterances in their life as a nation and in their individual lives. They had been given ample opportunity to “taste and see that Jehovah is good.” (Psalm 34:8) These enriching experiences in connection with Jehovah’s words​—both uttered and fulfilled—​should have sustained them spiritually.

The historical and geographic context of Moses’ account, quoted from by Jesus, shows that the utterances of Jehovah by which godly men and women must live are not just words learned by rote. For those Israelites, “every expression of Jehovah’s mouth” was linked with the manna, the water, and the clothing that did not wear out. Yes, the utterances included their fulfillment, the wonderful things Jehovah did for his people. It was their experiencing these things, in fulfillment of Jehovah’s utterances, that strengthened the appreciative Israelites.