Deuteronomy 2 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence

As Moses leads the next generation of Israel in this covenant renewal ceremony with the Lord, he continues to recount for them what happened to the previous generation from the time they left Mt. Horeb (Sinai) till that very moment in which they were standing in the Transjordan area waiting to cross over the Jordan River to take their land. After recounting their initial rebellion in refusing to invade Canaan due to the size of their enemies, he quickly summarizes thirty-eight years of their wanderings in the wilderness by saying that they travelled around Mt. Seir for a time. Then, finally, the Lord called them to go north through the territories of Esau, Moab and Ammon in order to receive their inheritance in the land of Canaan.

But God gives very explicit instructions telling Israel not to harm the Edomites, the Moabites and the Ammonites for the Lord God had given them their own land as an inheritance as well conquering the Canaanite peoples in their respective lands. Even though these distant relations of Israel did not seek the Lord, God had graciously given them their own inheritance and Israel had no right in taking it from them. Why then did God command Israel to take the land from the Amorites and the Canaanites? Because of their sin and because they had forfeited their inheritance through great wickedness. Just as God had wiped out mankind from the face of the earth during the time of Noah because of their wickedness, he still reserves the right to bring his judgment upon any people group or nation who does not acknowledge the Lord and whose sins offend their Creator. And God is not a respecter of men or of nations, for he would do the same with the nation of Israel and Judah later on in the historical narrative.

In the case of the Amorites, their judgment was overdue, so the Lord sent Israel to take their land and to wipe them out as a people. But before he sent Israel on her mission, he assured her of the victory in advance and told them to rise up and conquer by faith in the promises of God. Just as God had hardened the heart of the Pharaoh in Egypt to bring forth his judgment against him, so God had hardened the heart of Sihon, King of Heshbon. When Israel offered terms of peace to the king and his people, he flat out refused to listen. These terms of peace, of course, would have included their becoming slaves to the Israelites, for this was not a peace treaty but rather a means of mercy given to people who were certain to be conquered. Nevertheless it was the Lord’s will to wipe them out as a people because of their great wickedness, so the Lord assured their destruction by hardening the king’s heart.

If you remember, the first generation of Israel was commanded to conquer these same people but refused saying in 1:27 “Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of Egypt, to give us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.” But now the Lord is assuring them, “I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite.” He also says, “This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’ Israel could have conquered these same people and taken their land forty years prior if they had only believed and obeyed God’s command. The only difference between this account and the one in the book of Numbers is that Israel trusted the Word of the Lord. Previously, the Israelites had complained in 1.28 that “the people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven.” But now by trusting in the Lord, they say in v.36, “there was not a city too high for us. The Lord our God gave all into our hands.”

But that didn’t mean that the Israelites merely sat back and watched God conquer their enemies; they had to pick up the sword and fight. And we see this combined work of God and men in v.33 when Moses says, “And the Lord our God gave him over to us, and we defeated him.” The same victory over the nations is assured for Christians today as well, not in terms of conquering nations by the sword but of winning them through the gospel. When Jesus sent out his disciples into all the world to preach the gospel he tells them in Matthew 28:18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples.” In the same manner, there is no foreign city or foreign philosophy so great that it can withstand the power of the gospel, for in 2 Corinthians 10:4,5 the apostle Paul says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” It is because of these two promises: God’s authority over the nations and the power he gives us to destroy strongholds that we are ensured of the success of Christ’s gospel.