עֵקֶב - Parshat Eikev: Man does not live on bread alone

An insight into this week's parsha, eikev. First, Moshe tells them how Hashem deprived them, and then gave them the manna for 40 years in the Wilderness.
In Devarim 8:3,

וַיְעַנְּךָ, וַיַּרְעִבֶךָ, וַיַּאֲכִלְךָ אֶת-הַמָּן אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָדַעְתָּ, וְלֹא יָדְעוּן אֲבֹתֶיךָ: לְמַעַן הוֹדִיעֲךָ, כִּי לֹא עַל-הַלֶּחֶם לְבַדּוֹ יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם--כִּי עַל-כָּל-מוֹצָא פִי-ה, יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם.
And He afflicted thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every thing that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

This can be taken allegorically to mean that one should not just focus on the physical, but rather on the spiritual. The Torah = that which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. One lives a real life by giving attention to the spiritual besides the physical.

In can be taken literally in one of two ways. First, not only bread, and what you would normally consider food, is what sustains man. They learned that Hashem can provide sustenance in other ways - namely, the manna mentioned earlier in the verse.

Secondly, and I think a main point of the verse, is that Hashem wanted them to realize that He was the source of sustenance. Thus first He afflicted them, by exposing them to hunger, and then provided them with this food, the manna. Why? If they had bread, they would not have learned this all-important lesson. Bread is but one instance of it, but man does not live on bread. He lives on whatever Hashem deigns to grant - כָּל-מוֹצָא פִי-ה.

This lesson was drilled into them day in and day out in the Wilderness when Hashem provided them with food. However, once they entered into the land and got food for themselves, the norma way - al derech hateva - they could, and likely would, think that they were providing for themselves and Hashem had nothing to do with it.

Thus, the perek continues, in Devarim 8:7-18:

כִּי ה אֱלֹקֶיךָ, מְבִיאֲךָ אֶל-אֶרֶץ טוֹבָה: אֶרֶץ, נַחֲלֵי מָיִם--עֲיָנֹת וּתְהֹמֹת, יֹצְאִים בַּבִּקְעָה וּבָהָר.
אֶרֶץ חִטָּה וּשְׂעֹרָה, וְגֶפֶן וּתְאֵנָה וְרִמּוֹן; אֶרֶץ-זֵית שֶׁמֶן, וּדְבָשׁ.
אֶרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר לֹא בְמִסְכֵּנֻת תֹּאכַל-בָּהּ לֶחֶם--לֹא-תֶחְסַר כֹּל, בָּהּ; אֶרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אֲבָנֶיהָ בַרְזֶל, וּמֵהֲרָרֶיהָ תַּחְצֹב נְחֹשֶׁת.
וְאָכַלְתָּ, וְשָׂבָעְתָּ--וּבֵרַכְתָּ אֶת-ה אֱלֹקֶיךָ, עַל-הָאָרֶץ הַטֹּבָה אֲשֶׁר נָתַן-לָךְ.
הִשָּׁמֶר לְךָ, פֶּן-תִּשְׁכַּח אֶת-ה אֱלֹקֶיךָ, לְבִלְתִּי שְׁמֹר מִצְו‍ֹתָיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם.
פֶּן-תֹּאכַל, וְשָׂבָעְתָּ; וּבָתִּים טֹבִים תִּבְנֶה, וְיָשָׁבְתָּ.
וּבְקָרְךָ וְצֹאנְךָ יִרְבְּיֻן, וְכֶסֶף וְזָהָב יִרְבֶּה-לָּךְ; וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר-לְךָ, יִרְבֶּה.
וְרָם, לְבָבֶךָ; וְשָׁכַחְתָּ אֶת-ה אֱלֹקֶיךָ, הַמּוֹצִיאֲךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים.
הַמּוֹלִיכְךָ בַּמִּדְבָּר הַגָּדֹל וְהַנּוֹרָא, נָחָשׁ שָׂרָף וְעַקְרָב, וְצִמָּאוֹן, אֲשֶׁר אֵין-מָיִם; הַמּוֹצִיא לְךָ מַיִם, מִצּוּר הַחַלָּמִישׁ.
הַמַּאֲכִלְךָ מָן בַּמִּדְבָּר, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָדְעוּן אֲבֹתֶיךָ: לְמַעַן עַנֹּתְךָ, וּלְמַעַן נַסֹּתֶךָ--לְהֵיטִבְךָ, בְּאַחֲרִיתֶךָ.
וְאָמַרְתָּ, בִּלְבָבֶךָ: כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי, עָשָׂה לִי אֶת-הַחַיִל הַזֶּה.
וְזָכַרְתָּ, אֶת-ה אֱלֹקֶיךָ--כִּי הוּא הַנֹּתֵן לְךָ כֹּחַ, לַעֲשׂוֹת חָיִל: לְמַעַן הָקִים אֶת-בְּרִיתוֹ אֲשֶׁר-נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ, כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה.
"For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills;
a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey;
a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given thee.
Beware lest thou forget the LORD thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His ordinances, and His statutes, which I command thee this day;
lest when thou hast eaten and art satisfied, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
then thy heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;
who led thee through the great and dreadful wilderness, wherein were serpents, fiery serpents, and scorpions, and thirsty ground where was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that He might afflict thee, and that He might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
and thou say in thy heart: 'My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth.'
But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God, for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore unto thy fathers, as it is this day."

Thus, Moshe is trying to address the issue mentioned above. The land of Israel will have all sorts of good food, and sources of water, such that there will not be this direct dependence on Hashem anymore. One might deny Hashem's role in any of this, and think that all his wealth is his own doing. That is why Moshe is reminding them of the lesson of the manna once again. Man lives and gets his sustenance at the direction of Hashem. In the Wilderness, it was through overt miracles, in order to make this clear. But Hashem also directs the world in less direct ways - by controlling weather conditions, the growth of plants, etcetera. Further, they were in this land in the first place because Hashem took them from Egypt, and helped them conquer the land.

Thus, Moshe says, after you have eaten and are satisfied, they should bless Hashem who has given them the land. Recall all this current wealth is also a gift of God, just like the manna.

This verse - "And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given thee" - is also the Biblical source for birkat hamazon, Grace After Meals. I think it is a good kavana, intent, to have in mind when benching - that man does not live on bread alone, but this bread, and the rest of the meal, was a gift from Hashem, for which we should thank Him.