OBEDIENCE TESTED
(DEUTERONOMY 2:1-37)
“And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot as a possession.” -Deuteronomy 2:19
Moses tells Israel not to take anything by force from the land inhabited by the descendents of Esau and Lot. God had given the land to them and they are to honor it. Not only that, but they are to pay for any food or water they need. Then, after passing that test in obeying God, God tells them to totally destroy the people of Heshbon. Before God will call this new generation to possess the Promised Land, He tests them by asking them to obey Him in not using force upon two nations they must pass through en route to the Promised Land that they are to take by force (v. 16-25). By faith they had obeyed God exactly as He had prescribed and had shown they were ready to fight under their chief commander, God Himself. This principle will be tested many times once they begin to take the Land of Promise. Whenever they acted in obedient faith to the strategy God told them to use they succeeded (such as with the unlikely tactics used to defeat Jericho). But whenever they used their own plans or in sin, they were defeated, as in Ai (Joshua 6:1-7:26).
The principles of faith remain the same for us today. Though as a church we will not be called to take a nation by military means, we may be called to take a city, a region, or a nation for the kingdom of God. Christ is the Lord and King of that Kingdom and we must follow His lead. We are called by our King to go into this fallen world and to “possess the land”–the people He gave His life for. It will be obedient courageous faith that will enable us to extend His Kingdom into the hearts and minds of a world He loves and died for. Obedient faith is what must be the banner under which we proceed no matter how “impossible” God’s ways may seem.
NKJV BIBLE TEXT
Deuteronomy 2:1-37
The Desert Years
1 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.
2 “And the LORD spoke to me, saying: 3 ‘You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward. 4 And command the people, saying, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. 5 Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.
7 “For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”’
8 “And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from Elath and Ezion Geber, we turned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab. 9 Then the LORD said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.’”
| The Desert Years v. 1 journeyed into the wilderness – Chapter 2 of Deuteronomy is a continuation of Moses’ review of the years and the events that had transpired since Israel had left Egypt. Through Moses, the Lord desires to remind them of all that had happened to their fathers of the previous generation, both as a reminder of His faithfulness and as a warning against disobedience. skirted Mount Seir for many days – The word “skirted” means “circled around.” It is a reminder that rather than entering into the Promised Land, they had traveled around the same mountain again and again until an entire generation had died in the wilderness. v. 4 your brethren, the descendants of Esau– On the way to the Promised Land, Israel had needed to travel through land of the Edomites, the descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau. Although they were brethren, Numbers 20:14-21 tells of the conflict that Israel had with the Edomites and how Edom refused them passage through their land. However, in this verse and in the next, the Lord reminds them of how He had instructed Israel not to begin an armed conflict with Edom because He did not intend to give Israel any of the land of Edom. This is an important reminder of God’s faithfulness. In Genesis 27 God had made a promise to bless Esau and his descendants, and here He demonstrates that He was not going to revoke His blessing over them, even to favor the people of Israel. | v. 6 you shall buy food from them – Even though God had fed Israel miraculously in the wilderness with manna from Heaven, this verse reveals that they also had the opportunity to eat meat and other food from time to time as they were on the way. Here, God instructs them again not to cause conflict with the Edomites, for He has a plan and promises for them as well as for Israel. v. 7 for the Lord God has blessed you – Even though Israel had acted faithlessly and disobeyed God by turning away from the Promised Land, He reminds them here that He had still taken pity on them and blessed them during their wilderness wandering. The account reveals that their livestock and cattle had grown while they were in the desert, and that God had always provided for them so that they would never have to resort to thievery or violence in order to obtain what they needed to arrive at the Promised Land. v. 9 do not harass Moab – Moab was another distant relative of the children of Israel, being the descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot (The story of their origins is found in Genesis 19:36-38). God also had blessed Lot’s lineage for Abraham’s sake and had made promises to them, which He intended to fulfill. Therefore, He commanded Israel not to begin a conflict with Moab. |
10 (The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. 11 They were also regarded as giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the LORD gave them.) 13 “‘Now rise and cross over the Valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered. 14 And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, just as the LORD had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed. 16 “So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, 17 that the LORD spoke to me, saying: 18 ‘This day you are to cross over at Ar, the boundary of Moab. 19 And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot as a possession.’” 20 (That was also regarded as a land of giants; giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, 21 a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But the LORD destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, 22 just as He had done for the descendants of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day. 23 And the Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.) 24 “‘Rise, take your journey, and cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and engage him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’
| v. 10 the Emim – Another race of giants similar to the Anakim (See note on Chapter 1:28) but called “Emim” by the Moabites, their name means “terror.” v. 12 the Horites – The name “Horite,” meaning “cave or rock dweller,” was given to a race of people that lived in holes and caves in rocks and mountains. This is a possible Biblical reference to some of the ancient people who are commonly called “cavemen” today. A remnant of these people was still around when the Greek civilization came into power, and the Greeks called them “troglodytes.” v. 14 consumed – The penalty for Israel’s disobedience was that all men old enough to go to war would die in the wilderness, leaving only children too young to have intelligently chosen disobedience for themselves to enter the Promised Land (See note on chapter 1:39). v. 19 do not harass the people of Ammon – Once again, the Israelites are instructed not to cause conflict with those nations that had also descended from their father Abraham. The people of Ammon were also children of Abraham’s nephew Lot, and the story of their origin is told in Genesis 18:36-38. These passages that describe God’s goodness to Edom and Moab are reminders of God’s faithfulness to His promises, even those He makes to unfaithful people. Israel itself had been and will again be recipients of God’s grace and faithfulness — as have all of us. | v. 20 giants…the Ammonites call them Zamzummim – The word “giants” is the Hebrew word “Rephaim,” which means “strong, vigorous giants.” They are originally seen in the Scriptures in Genesis 14:5 and were listed as among those people conquered by the pagan kings during the battle in which Lot was taken captive. Abraham had gone out and fought against them, rescuing Lot. In the process, the lands of that area were promised to the descendants of Lot in future generations. “Zammzummim,” the name which the people of Ammon called them, means “inventors of cruel and terrible things”, leading many to believe that they were a people who constantly terrified their neighbors by forming evil, hostile designs against them. In the following verse, we learn that they were judged and destroyed by the Lord. v. 25 dread and fear of you upon the nations– The Lord began to strike fear in the hearts of the nations, which would later try to stand against Israel and keep them from possessing the Promised Land. This would be an important step in Israel’s domination of them. Joshua 2:10-11 tells of how Rahab had spoken to the Hebrew spies and informed them that all of the nations that lived in Canaan had heard about Israel and how their God had caused plagues to fall on Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and caused them to defeat Sihon and Og. Thus, she said, the Canaanites were “fainthearted” at the thought of the approaching children of Israel. (It is noteworthy that these were the same people who had caused the Israelites to be fainthearted and turn back from entering into Canaan in Numbers 14.) |
King Sihon Defeated 26 “And I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, 27 ‘Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the road, and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left. 28 You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on foot, 29 just as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD our God is giving us.’ 30 “But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.
| King Sihon Defeated v. 30 hardened his spirit – The parallels between this passage and the account of Israel’s struggle with the Pharaoh of Egypt are striking. Here God reveals that He had hardened Sihon’s heart so that he would not let Israel pass through his land. The Lord did this because He wanted to defeat Sihon and wipe his people off the earth because of their wickedness. He wanted to use Israel as His instrument to accomplish it. What is important to remember, however, is that just as in the account of Pharaoh, God did not initiate the hardness of heart. Sihon, like Pharaoh, already desired to resist the commands of the Lord; all that God did was give those men the strength of resolve to continue opposing Him so that God could accomplish His will. It is important to remember that God never overpowers a person’s free will. But on occasion, He will give him the added strength he needs to do what is already in his heart — if it matches His purposes. | v. 34 utterly destroyed – This is called a “herem,” or a holy war in Hebrew. In Deuteronomy 7:1-5, God describes the conditions of these unfortunate encounters, and reveals that the purpose for bringing such wholesale destruction upon entire civilizations was to prevent the spread of their infectious false religions that included such abominations as ritual sex, bestiality, and the sacrifice of live infants. As we read these accounts, it is also important to remember God’s words to Abraham in Genesis 15:16. He told Abraham that He would not destroy these people until they had over 400 years to repent of their wickedness. It would become clear by then that they would not. |
