The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion. The Wilderness Years. Now thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley, until that entire generation of the men of war had died from within the camp, just as the LORD had sworn to them. Deu 2:14
INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Law Repeated for the New Generation
I FIRST DISCOURSE OF MOSES, Deuteronomy 1-4
1. Review of Israel’s History from Sinai to the Jordan, Deu_1:1-46; Deu_2:1-37; Deu_3:1-29
3. Why was Israel not to fight with the inhabitants of Seir or Moab?
INTRODUCTION
This is again the Greek name for this book, and signifies the “second giving of the Law.” It contains the records of public addresses to Israel, delivered in the eleventh month of the fortieth year of their wanderings through the Wilderness. As Moses uttered them on the eve of his own speedy removal, he was able to speak with unusual emphasis and urgency. The allusions to the natural features amidst which these addresses were given are consistent with the place and speaker. It has been shown also by competent scholarship that Deuteronomy has all the peculiarities of Moses’ style; and any differences of hortatory entreaty and appeal may be accounted for by the mellowing effect of age.
The special references to this book in the New Testament are very significant. Our Lord quoted from it thrice in His Temptation, Mat_4:4; Mat_4:7; Mat_4:10. See also Rom_10:19; Act_3:22; Act_7:37. There are touches by a later writer, and an appendix, Deu_34:1-12; but the origin of the treatise as a whole must be ascribed to the great Lawgiver.
THE PENALTY FOR ISRAEL’S REBELLION
“Then you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD. We will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God has commanded us.’ So you equipped every man with weapons of war, and regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country.
But the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up and do not fight, for I am not among you [because of your rebellion]; otherwise you will be [badly] defeated by your enemies.”‘
So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the LORD, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country.
Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do, and struck you down in Seir as far as Hormah.
And you returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not listen to your voice nor pay attention to you.
So you stayed in Kadesh; many days you stayed there.
THE WILDERNESS YEARS
“Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, just as the LORD had told me; and we circled Mount Seir for many days.
And the LORD spoke to me, saying,
‘You have circled this mountain long enough; turn northward,
and command the people, saying, “You are passing through the territory of your brothers the sons of Esau (the Edomites), who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful;
do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even as little as a footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.
You shall buy food from them with money so that you may [have something to] eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money so that you may [have something to] drink.
For the LORD your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known about your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”‘
“So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who lived in Seir, away from the Arabah (wilderness) road, away from Elath and from Ezion-geber. Then we turned and passed through by the way of the Wilderness of Moab.
And the LORD said to me, ‘Do not harass [the descendants of] Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons (Moab and Ammon) of Lot as a possession.’ [Gen_19:30-38]
(The Emim lived there in times past, a people great and numerous, and as tall as the Anakim.
These also are regarded as Rephaim [an ancient people], as are the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
The Horites also used to live in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them. They destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land which the LORD gave them as their possession.)
‘Now arise and cross the valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed the Zered Valley.
Now thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley, until that entire generation of the men of war had died from within the camp, just as the LORD had sworn to them.
Moreover the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from within the camp, until they were all dead.
Comments by
F.B.Meyer
On
JOURNEYING AND DYING IN THE WILDERNESS
We cannot obtain by our impetuosity and insistence what God offers only as a free gift to our faith. The Land of Promise is not to be obtained by strength of hand, but by the soul that lives in the will of God. Even when we are rebellious and unbelieving, God does not forget nor forsake us, Deu_2:7. He knows our walking through the great wilderness which we have chosen. Through all the forty years He goes with His people as their fellow-pilgrim. Even under such circumstances they lack nothing that is necessary to a complete and blessed life.
Edom was not to be injured, because of the ancient grant, Gen_32:3. So with Moab. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. He will remember His Abrahams and His Lots long after they have passed from this mortal sphere, and will care for their children and children’s children. See Isa_59:21.
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