The God of the Wilderness

This morning we continue on with the narrative, and we learn more of the wanderings. Much of this passage coincides with the narratives found in the book of Numbers.

Deuteronomy 2:1–25 ESV

“Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. Then the Lord said to me, ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.” ’ So we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber. “And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. And the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.’ (The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.) ‘Now rise up and go over the brook Zered.’ So we went over the brook Zered. And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished. “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, the Lord said to me, ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend 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 sons of Lot for a possession.’ (It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle. 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.’

Deuteronomy 2:1–4 ESV

You have been traveling around this mountain long enough. We saw a similar phrase in 1.6. There God had said, you have stayed long enough at this mountain.

In Moses’ narrative, he is now describing how God had told them to pass through the territory of Esau. These people would be afraid of the Israelites, so they were to be careful. Deut2.5

Deuteronomy 2:5 ESV

Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.

God is faithful, not only to Israel, but to the Edomites, that is, the descendents of Esau. Even though Esau had given up his birthright, still God provided for his descendents. The command not to contend with Esau’s people was not only because of God’s provision to them, but also as warning of sorts to Israel. They were to trust God and the land he had given them, and believing it would be a good land, they were not to covet land that was not yours.

If you ever go to a restaurant, and you’ve already placed your order, and you see the waiter coming with that big tray, only to see the tray brought to someone else’s table, well then it is easy to look over there and see what food that is, and that other table probably had something different than what you were getting. Yet it is very tempting to look over at that other food, longing for it, even though you know that soon your own plate will come, with the food made especially as you ordered.

When God has promised us something good, and we wait for it, we are not to long for something other than that which He himself is going to provide. So the people are to know right off, this land you are passing through, the land of Edom, is not for you. There is something better coming for you, so don’t let your eyes wander or begin to covet what the Edomites have. For one thing, that has been given to them, and besides, I have something better for you.

Instead of taking by force, or even just taking from the land as they pass through, they are to pay for water and food. God had blessed Israel with many provisions, so they had the means to purchase their own food and water, so they are to pay for their needs. Now, if you look in the book of Numbers, you will find they actually were not allowed by the Edomites to go in: Numb20.18-21

Numbers 20:18–21 ESV

But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.” And the people of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.” But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.

Obviously, God knew what would happen. He is sovereign and omniscient, but still he warned the Israelites that they were to pay their share in land that was not theirs.

Deuteronomy 2:6–7 ESV

You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.” ’

They were to trust God for their provision. God is faithful even in dealing with unfaithful people:

John Maxwell writes: The people who had insulted God by not trusting Him wanted for nothing! The Lord gave them food, clothing, and protection. He knew their path in the wilderness and for forty years He took care of them.

Moses continues to remind the people of the faithfulness of God. And then he mentions that they ended up not going into Sier, where the people of Esau were in verse 8.

Now we see the people turning towards another place, the place of the Moabites. And here they are also told not to harass or contend with them, because God had given Ar to the people of Lot. Deut2.9

Deuteronomy 2:9 ESV

And the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.’

Now the Moabites are the descendents of Lot. If you care to read more about that, you can read in Genesis 19 about the sordid tale of Lot and his daughters. But we do learn from that narrative the origins of two people groups, ,the Moabites and the Ammonites:

Genesis 19:36–38 ESV

Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.

But just like Esau’s people, Lot’s descendents are also given a place to call their own, a place where the Israelites were not to contend with, or covet after. I’m not going to spend much time in 10-12, But just to give a quick explanation from the Preacher’s Commentary Series

The “Emim” were giants whose name meant “terrors” or “dreaded ones” (vv. 10–11). The Horites were non-Semitic people who lived in scattered groups in Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia. They occupied Seir before Esau drove them out. The explanatory notes (vv. 10–12) leave the impression that no enemy is invincible. If the Moabites could drive out the people of Emim who were “great and numerous and tall” and if Esau’s descendants could expel the Horites, then surely God could give Canaan to Israel, regardless of the opposition.

Deuteronomy 2:13–15 ESV

‘Now rise up and go over the brook Zered.’ So we went over the brook Zered. And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

Here again we are reminded of the cost of disobedience, which was the main topic of the message last week. The time from leaving kadesh-barnea until they crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years. Now, you may be thinking it should be 40 years. Well, the total time wandering was about 40 years. In fact, it was 5 days short of 40 years from the time they left Egypt until they entered the promised land. Here it says 38 years, this is not for the entire time of the journey, it was just as Moses says, from leaving Kadesh-barnea until they crossed the brook Zered. That was 38 years.

Now the older generation has died off, so the Lord speaks again to Moses that now they are to cross the border of Moab Ironically, they are referred to here as men of war, which is what they should have been. But instead they were men of comfort, who did not want to risk their lives to take the land God had given them :

Deuteronomy 2:16–23 ESV

“So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, the Lord said to me, ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend 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 sons of Lot for a possession.’ (It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.)

Remember the Moabites and the Ammonites are the descendents of Lot.

Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 6A: Deuteronomy 1:1–21:9, Revised (Form/Structure/Setting)

The legendary Anakim, who occupied the land of the Rephaim (v 20) of the distant past, were divided into subgroups that were displaced by the nations of Edom, Moab, Ammon, and Israel as ordained by YHWH:

The two Amorite kings that Moses defeated in Transjordan, Sihon and Og, are also part of the larger picture. Og, in particular, is described as the last of the Rephaim (3:11).The legendary stories of the Rephaim displaced by the nation of Israel in Deut 2–3 were used to shape the narrative traditions in Genesis. Israel and Edom are described here as Israel’s “brothers the children of Esau” (2:4). In the Genesis narrative, Jacob and Esau are presented from the outset as the nations of Israel and Edom. At the moment they were born to Isaac and Rebekah, YHWH himself announced, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger” (Gen 25:23).

Also, some scholars believe the Caphtorim mentioned in 23 were Cretians, or Greeks, who had come over and conquered the Avvim.

God is sovereign and faithful.

He is faithful to the chosen people Israel. Even in their unfaithfulness, he provided for them. He was faithful to Esau. He was Faithful to Lot.

Now, what can we learn from all of this? Paul wrote that all of this happened so it would be an example for us. In scripture, as in life, we find both negative and positive examples.

1 Corinthians 10:1–22 ESV

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

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