What it Means to Have God on Your Side
November 13, 2020
Commentary
Although Edom, Ammon, and Moab had harassed Israel God would not give Israel their land (vv. 16-23). Instead, they were instructed to bypass their nations and let God take care of them. However, the situation changed with Sihon and the Amorites (vv. 24-25). The Amorites under King Sihon’s leadership had driven out the Moabites from this section of land and had taken over. Moses sent messengers to Sihon with words of peace (v. 26), but Sihon rejected the proposal and was hostile toward Israel (vv. 30-36). God then told Israel to destroy Sihon and his people completely.
By worldly standards, Israel’s army was not very powerful, but Israel had God on their side. He told Moses that he would make the enemy nations afraid of Israel (v. 25). This meant that Moses no longer had to worry about his enemies because his enemies were worried about him. In fact, by the time Joshua was ready to enter the land, the news of Israel’s invincible march had already gone before them (Josh 2:8-11).
God’s decision to protect Edom, Ammon, and Moab and His command to destroy Sihon is an illustration of His sovereignty over all nations. It was a reminder to Israel of what God had done for them and became a source of encouragement to them. The Lord does this for many of us today. He permits us to have a difficult experience to prepare us for life or to be helpful to others.
Application
God often goes before me in my daily battles, preparing the way and overcoming barriers. I need to keep in mind that God has a sovereign plan for my life, and it is wise for me to follow Him where He wants me to go. When He says for me to go, I need to move and when He says stop I need to stop.
Deuteronomy 2:16–37 (NET)
16 So it was that after all the military men had been eliminated from the community, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab, that is, of Ar. 19 But when you come close to the Ammonites, do not harass or provoke them because I am not giving you any of the Ammonites’ land as your possession; I have already given it to Lot’s descendants as their possession.”
20 (That also is considered to be a land of the Rephaites. The Rephaites lived there originally; the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. 21 They are a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed the Rephaites in advance of the Ammonites, so they dispossessed them and settled down in their place. 22 This is exactly what he did for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites before them so that they could dispossess them and settle in their area to this very day. 23 As for the Avvites who lived in settlements as far west as Gaza, Caphtorites who came from Crete destroyed them and settled down in their place.)
24 “Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look, I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Go ahead—take it! Engage him in war! 25 This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach.”
26 Then I sent messengers from the Kedemoth wilderness to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace: 27 “Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the roadway. I will not turn aside to the right or the left. 28 Sell me food for cash so that I can eat and sell me water to drink. Just allow me to go through on foot, 29 just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the Lord our God is giving us.” 30 But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him because the Lord our God had made him obstinate and stubborn so that he might deliver him over to you this very day. 31 The Lord said to me, “Look! I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you. Start right now to take his land as your possession.” 32 When Sihon and all his troops emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz, 33 the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, along with his sons and everyone else. 34 At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of them under divine judgment, including even the women and children; we left no survivors. 35 We kept only the livestock and plunder from the cities for ourselves. 36 From Aroer, which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon (it is the city in the wadi), all the way to Gilead there was not a town able to resist us—the Lord our God gave them all to us. 37 However, you did not approach the land of the Ammonites, the Wadi Jabbok, the cities of the hill country, or any place else forbidden by the Lord our God.
It is God on The Throne
There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God’s sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that sovereignty overrules t … Continue