Setting - Moses recounts the conquests and division of land. He also gets to view the Promise Land.
Content - Israel defeats Bashan (king Og), just like Heshbon. Gilead (part of Bashan, I think) was divided between the tribes of Rueben, Gad and half of Manasseh (see Numbers 32); it was great land for livestock.
Moses made one last request to God that he might see the Promise Land. But God was angry at his request (this wasn’t the first time he requested this) and once again God denied it. But God did allow him to see the Promise Land (v. 27) from a distance.
Application - v. 22, "Do not fear them, for the Lord your God is the one fighting for you". Israel just needed to follow the Lords leading. In reality, God was winning the battles. God told Moses whether to go up against the opposing nation or not. If He said, yes, then Israel would win.
God remained committed to Moses not seeing the Promise Land as He was His committed with bringing Israel to the Promise Land. We see that God remains faithful to His commitments. But God is merciful. God allowed Moses to at least view the Promise Land. We also see God’s mercy in 1 Chronicles 21:13, where David says, “…please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are very great". God did show mercy (v. 15), "And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but He was about to destroy it, the Lord saw and was sorry over the calamity, and said to the destroying angel, ‘It is enough, now relax your hand’..."
We can count on God’s commitments to His people and we can count of God being merciful. In both situations we (His people) benefit in both areas. 2 Timothy 2:13 states it perfectly, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself". Because God is God, He must remain true to Himself and thus, remaining faithful to His commitments. We should be the same, but we come up short and are faithless. But glory to God (once again) that in spite of ourselves, we have His blessings. It’s a good thing that our faith doesn’t depend upon us.
Content - Israel defeats Bashan (king Og), just like Heshbon. Gilead (part of Bashan, I think) was divided between the tribes of Rueben, Gad and half of Manasseh (see Numbers 32); it was great land for livestock.
Moses made one last request to God that he might see the Promise Land. But God was angry at his request (this wasn’t the first time he requested this) and once again God denied it. But God did allow him to see the Promise Land (v. 27) from a distance.
Application - v. 22, "Do not fear them, for the Lord your God is the one fighting for you". Israel just needed to follow the Lords leading. In reality, God was winning the battles. God told Moses whether to go up against the opposing nation or not. If He said, yes, then Israel would win.
God remained committed to Moses not seeing the Promise Land as He was His committed with bringing Israel to the Promise Land. We see that God remains faithful to His commitments. But God is merciful. God allowed Moses to at least view the Promise Land. We also see God’s mercy in 1 Chronicles 21:13, where David says, “…please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are very great". God did show mercy (v. 15), "And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but He was about to destroy it, the Lord saw and was sorry over the calamity, and said to the destroying angel, ‘It is enough, now relax your hand’..."
We can count on God’s commitments to His people and we can count of God being merciful. In both situations we (His people) benefit in both areas. 2 Timothy 2:13 states it perfectly, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself". Because God is God, He must remain true to Himself and thus, remaining faithful to His commitments. We should be the same, but we come up short and are faithless. But glory to God (once again) that in spite of ourselves, we have His blessings. It’s a good thing that our faith doesn’t depend upon us.
Comments