Verses 1-5, “Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan; and Og king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. And the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand; you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.’ So the Lord our God also delivered into our hands Og king of Bashan, with all his people, and we attacked him until he had no survivors remaining. And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a great many rural towns.” Just as they did to Sihon, they utterly destroyed all the people and kept the animals as booty. Despite the fact that these were fortified cities with high walls and gates, they managed to capture all sixty cities plus some rural land, all because God delivered them.
Verses 8-10, “And at that time we took the land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were on this side of the Jordan, from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir), all the cities of the plain, all Gilead, and all Bashan, as far as Salcah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.” The children of Israel had not even crossed the Jordan before experiencing great success, making their previous doubts seem foolish and unwarranted. This land would be divided between Rueben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. Verses 12-14, “And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the River Arnon, and half the mountains of Gilead and its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites. The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. (All the region of Argob, with all Bashan, was called the land of the giants. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and called Bashan after his own name, Havoth Jair, to this day.)”
Verses 16-17, “And to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave from Gilead as far as the River Arnon, the middle of the river as the border, as far as the River Jabbok, the border of the people of Ammon; the plain also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the east side of the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.” Even more land was given to the tribes of Rueben and Gad, with the command that they must cross the Jordan and fight with the rest of the people before returning to take their posession. Verses 18-20, “Then I commanded you at that time, saying: ‘The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. All you men of valor shall cross over armed before your brethren, the children of Israel. But your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall stay in your cities which I have given you, until the Lord has given rest to your brethren as to you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God is giving them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’ ”
Verses 21-22, “And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings; so will the Lord do to all the kingdoms through which you pass. You must not fear them, for the Lord your God Himself fights for you.’ ” Having seen the Strength of Israel first hand, Moses encouraged Joshua to put his trust in the Lord, who fights on their behalf. Once they cross the Jordan River, the battles may be bigger, but not bigger than God. Using reverse logic, we can conclude that if Jesus can defeat death and the power of sin for our salvation, can He even more handle any earthly situation we find ourselves in, which is much smaller in comparison? II Corinthians 4:17-18, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Verses 23-27, “Then I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying: ‘O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds? I pray, let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon.’ But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the Lord said to me: ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift your eyes toward the west, the north, the south, and the east; behold it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan.” Not even Moses, the most humble man on the earth (Numbers 12), could change the outcome of God's judgement. Being a leader of the people, we can assume that he was held to a higher standard and therefore received stricter judgement. Those today who think they can misrepresent God and sin openly yet still receive salvation are sorely mistaken.
Moses was a man of prayer, knowing the power of prayer to change things, but not in this case. God even told Moses not to come to Him again in prayer on this matter anymore. You cannot sin and simply expect God to change His mind and accept your sin. God is not like man, who relents and changes his mind, and there are consequences you cannot avoid. Saul, who was once small in his own eyes, rejected God. It probably did not happen overnight, with chances along the way to repent. But when God finally had enough, He determined to reject Saul from being King of Israel. I Samuel 15:28-29, So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.” Moses was humble and repentive, even though he could not get God to reverse the consequences of his sin...he accepted God's will. We should be willing to submit to God's authority, even when we do not like the situation. It demonstrates that we are truly His child.
Our exhortation comes from Hebrews 3:7-15, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, “They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.” So I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest.” ’ Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ ”
Then I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying: ‘O Lord God , You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds? I pray, let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon.’ “But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the Lord said to me: ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift your eyes toward the west, the north, the south, and the east; behold it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.’ Deuteronomy 3:23-28
ReplyDeleteMoses is still speaking to the Israelites trying to prepare them to go into the promised land. Trying to encourage them to make good decisions. Telling them all that has happened from the past forty years, good and bad. Also telling them of how he pleaded with God to cross the Jordan to see the promised land, God got mad at Moses and would not let him speak of this matter, but God did let him see over the Jordan on top of Pisgah.
Even though Moses made mistakes, he knew that he did and was willing to talk about it to the Jews. He didn't try to act like he never sinned by never speaking of it. He was humble to the fact that he sinned.
If we sin as christians we should not only repent, but we should be humble to the fact that we just sinned. So many people try to cover up that they sinned. Their pride is so strong and don't want others to see that they sinned. As christians we should admit our sin, and use it as a reminder, but also to try prevent others from making the same mistake you did.