Deuteronomy 3 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence

After recounting Israel’s refusal to take the land of Canaan by faith and their forty years of wandering in the wilderness in chapter one, Moses retells Israel’s victory over Sihon one the kings of the Amorites in the southern region of the Transjordan in chapter two. In chapter three he describes Israel’s victory over another king of the Amorites in the northern region of the Transjordan and how two and a half tribes are already able to enter their rest having obtained their inheritance as the people of God. Again, this retelling of history serves as a preamble to God’s renewal of the covenant with Israel. Deuteronomy literally means “second law” meaning a retelling of the law for the sake of the next generation since the first generation had died in the wilderness. The purpose in retelling their history is twofold: to remind Israel of the consequences of rejecting God’s Word and to show them what God can do through a people who trust Him and obey His commands.

When Israel made its way toward Bashan in the north, immediately Og the king came out against them and attacked them along with all of his people. But the Lord tells Moses not to fear the king or his people assuring him that the Lord would deliver them into Israel’s hands. There was a good reason to fear King Og, for he was of the remnant of the Rephaim, which was a tribe of giants. In v.11, Moses describes the size of his bed of iron that was found after Israel killed him. It was nine cubits longs and four cubits wide or thirteen and a half feet long by six feet wide. Considering the fact that the king simply didn’t order a king size bed with those dimensions, it is safe to say that it was a custom-made bed to fit his unusual physique. Even if he desired some room to spare, it is likely that he was at least ten to eleven feet tall if not more.

Unlike the first encounter the Israelites had with the peoples of the land and their refusal to obey God’s word out of fear of the inhabitants with their seemingly impregnable cities, this time, by faith, Israel conquered sixty well-fortified cities with high walls, gates and bars for the Lord was fighting for them and gave the enemy into their hands. And because these cities were devoted to destruction by the Lord, Israel killed every man, woman and child living in the area sparing only the livestock and the spoil of the cities. Even though many have a hard time understanding how the Lord could do such a thing to an entire city of people, they forget how the Lord wiped out the entire human race during the time of the flood for the same reason. Rather than being shocked that the Lord would devoted a city to destruction, we ought to be surprised that it doesn’t happen more often. But we know that even now fire is stored up for the sake of the heavens and the earth, being kept until the Day of Judgment for the destruction of the ungodly.

Once the ungodly had been destroyed in both the northern and the southern regions of the Transjordan, Moses gave all their lands to Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh but commanded the men in these tribes to help their brothers to take their lands in Canaan proper, leaving their wives, children and flocks behind in order that all of Israel might enter their rest, and the men agreed committing themselves to their brothers. And we are told that the defeat of these two kings would serve as a constant reminder of the Lord’s power and presence in the camp of Israel to defeat all their enemies. Indeed, the victory over these two kings is mentioned again and again in the history of Israel as sort of paradigm for success. The Israelites would do well to remember such a paradigm remembering that it is the Lord who fights on their behalf.

Finally, the chapter ends with Moses’ plea unto the Lord to allow him to cross over the Jordan River with God’s people in order to see the Promised Land for himself, but the Lord refuses his request unwilling to overturn the punishment that Moses rightly deserves for his sin and doubt. Nevertheless, we also see the graciousness of the Lord in finding a way for Moses to see the land without actually stepping foot in it himself. The panorama that Moses saw from the top of Mount Nebo or Mount Pisgah was and is spectacular, and for a man who had hear of God’s promise unto Abram since the time he was a little boy, it was well-worth the hike. Indeed, God is gracious and merciful to His people when we doubt and longsuffering with us when we sin never failing in His goodness.

But God’s grace is never merely for us as individuals but always on behalf of His Church. Just as the two and a half tribes were still charged to fight on behalf of their brothers even though they had already entered their rest, so Moses was charged to strengthen and encourage Joshua, his successor, to prepare him to lead God’s people into their rest, so Moses continued to prepare him and all God’s people by recounting the covenant of the Lord with Israel and the laws that they would need to keep in order to live in God’s place under God’s blessing. That is the substance of the rest of this book.