And we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as Jehovah had said unto me; and we went round mount Seir many days.
Deuteronomy opens with Moses retelling Israel's history to a new generation. Here he reaches the moment after Kadesh-barnea, when Israel refused to go up into the land and turned south again. One sentence carries almost forty years. It raises two questions: why did God let it take so long, and who walked it with them?
One verse holds everything between the refusal at Kadesh and the crossing of the brook Zered. Darby marks how few words Scripture spends on it:
Scripture says only this about the journey, in Deuteronomy 2:1: "we traveled around Mount Seir many days." Thirty-eight years passed from Kadesh to the brook Zered (Deuteronomy 2:14).
Mount Seir was no small hill to walk around. It is the long range running south from below the Salt Sea toward the Gulf of Akaba, later known as Edom:
The Horites lived there first. Later the descendants of Esau took it, and it gained the name EDOM. Israel had to go right round this whole mountain range to reach their entrance to the promised land.
Moses does not say "you turned back." He includes himself, though he had believed God and was ready to go up. Mackintosh dwells on that pronoun:
There is great moral beauty in the little word "we." Moses fully links himself with the people. He and Joshua and Caleb all had to turn back into the wilderness with the unbelieving crowd. To our natural judgment this may seem hard, but we can be sure it was good and profitable. There is always deep blessing in bowing to the will of God, even when we cannot see the reason for things. We never read one word of complaint from these honoured servants of God about turning back into the wilderness for forty years. They were quite ready to go up into the land. No; they just turned back.
Gaebelein names who else had to turn back:
Moses, Aaron, his sons, Joshua, Caleb and the faithful Levites turned back with the unfaithful, murmuring Israelites. Moses and all who had not shared in the people's unbelief bowed to the sovereign will of the Lord. How strange it would have been if they had complained about sharing in the judgment on the mass of the people. This is true obedience and humility.
Israel turned back at God's word, "as the LORD told me" — and they did not turn alone. The pillar that led them out of Egypt swung round toward the desert with them:
God sends them back from Kadesh-barnea to the Red Sea because of their sin and provocation, but the Pillar goes back with them. If Israel have brought these desert wanderings on themselves, it will go round one barren mountain after another, and take the road from one wilderness to the next. And it never grows tired.
Mackintosh measures that grace against what Israel had earned:
If Israel would not enter Canaan with Jehovah, He would go back into the wilderness with Israel. Nothing can exceed the grace that shines in this. If God had dealt with them as they deserved, He might at least have left them to wander alone through the desert.
The hardest part was not the distance. It was accepting a road that existed only because of their own unbelief:
There is huge difficulty in walking humbly and patiently along the path that our own failure has made necessary for us. Israel's unbelief, in refusing to go up into the land, made it necessary, in God's dealings with them, that they should turn about and wander in the wilderness for forty years. They were unwilling to submit to this. They kicked against it. They could not bow their necks to the necessary yoke.
The distance itself was never the problem:
"It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea" (Deut. 1:2). A few days would have been enough to reach the border of Canaan. Yet more than thirty-eight years after they left Sinai we meet the people at Kadesh-barnea again (Num. 20:1). So today, the spiritual progress of a soul can be rapid, but often many years are wasted through lack of faith, vigilance, and love for the Lord.
- Turning. Unbelief at Kadesh sent the nation back toward the Red Sea. A journey of eleven days became thirty-eight years, and one verse holds them all.
- Circling. "Many days" covers a whole circuit of Mount Seir. Israel had to walk right round that range before they could reach the way into the land.
- Company. God would not go up to Canaan with them in their self-will. But He went back into the desert with them. Nothing exceeds the grace in that.
- "We." Moses, Joshua and Caleb turned back with the guilty and never complained. Sharing a judgment they had not earned is true obedience and humility.
- Submitting. The real test is walking humbly along the road your own failure made necessary, instead of kicking against it.
And Jehovah spoke to me, saying,
Deuteronomy 2 opens with Moses recalling the long circuit around Mount Seir. Then a fresh word breaks in: the Lord speaks to him again. Two questions follow: who decides when a delay is over, and what does it cost to answer God with a will of your own?
The years of circling had a term set on them, and only God could announce it. One writer distinguishes this moment from an earlier attempt to cross Edom's territory, which Edom refused:
This was a proposal to cross Edom at once. But Edom would not agree. They wander there a long time. At last God says, "You have gone around this mountain long enough."
The Lord who now speaks had not stood at a distance during the wandering. Moses says "we turned," not "you turned," and the whole detour was shared:
But what wonderful grace! Jehovah went along with them; and of course the faithful turned back just as much as the unfaithful. How good is the Lord!
Notice what is missing from the verse. There is no cloud lifting, no trumpet — only a voice.
The word of the Lord determined everything. It fixed how long the people were to stay in any place. It showed just as clearly where they were to go next. There was no need at all for them to plan or arrange their movements. It was Jehovah's place and right to settle everything for them; it was theirs to obey. There is no mention here of the cloud and the trumpet. It is simply God's word and Israel's obedience.
Israel could have answered back — a little longer here, or a different direction. One writer imagines that, and follows it to the end:
When God said, "You have gone around this mountain long enough," suppose Israel had replied, "No; we want to go around it a little longer; we are very comfortable here, and we do not wish to make any change." Or suppose that when God said, "Turn northward," they had replied, "No; we would much prefer going eastward." What would the result have been? They would have forfeited the divine presence with them; and who could then guide, or help, or feed them? They could count on God's presence only while they walked the path His command marked out. If they chose to take their own way, there was nothing for them but famine, ruin and darkness. The water from the rock and the manna from heaven were found only in the path of obedience.
A word to wait, then a word to move, tests more than the feet. A soul can receive God's dealings at three different depths:
The soul may be found in three distinct attitudes toward the dealings of God: subjection, acquiescence, and rejoicing. When the will is broken, there is subjection. When the mind sees God's object clearly, there is acquiescence. When the affections are taken up with God Himself, there is real rejoicing.
The obvious objection is that Israel had a voice and we do not. One writer answers it head-on:
We cannot admit for a moment that Israel in the desert were better guided than God's heavenly people are on their way through this world. How did Israel know the length of their halts or the line of their march? By the word of God. Are we worse off? Far be the thought. In fact we are far better off than they. We have the word and Spirit of God to guide us.
But what about the times when no direction is clear? There is a rule for those:
If God has not given me light to move, it is my plain duty to be still. We should never move in uncertainty. We often trouble ourselves about moving or acting when God would have us be still and do nothing. And this is a fixed principle: if we are following Jesus, we will have the light of life.
- The word starts it. Nothing moves until the Lord speaks. The circling around Seir ends when God says it has lasted long enough, not when Israel tires of it.
- The word sets the clock. His word fixed how long they stayed and where they went next. No cloud, no trumpet — just God's word and Israel's obedience.
- The word keeps the company. If they had held out for a little longer here, or a different direction, they would have lost His presence, His guidance and their food.
- The word tests the heart. A broken will bows. A mind that sees God's purpose agrees. A heart taken up with God Himself rejoices.
- The word still guides. We are better off than Israel, with the word and Spirit of God. And when God gives no light to move, the duty is to stand still.
Ye have gone round this mountain long enough turn you northward.
In Deuteronomy 2 Moses looks back on the long detour, and on the moment when one word from God ended it. Why did the circling last so long, and what made it stop?
The distance was never the problem. The trip from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea was a short one. One writer sets that distance against the years it actually took:
"There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea." They could have reached the place where they now stood, facing the Jordan and the land, in eleven days. It took them almost forty years. Unbelief had kept them back.
Moses says "we," not "you." He puts himself inside the sentence. The men who had believed God walked the same long circuit as the men who had not:
There is great moral beauty in the little word "we." Moses links himself fully with the people. He and Joshua and Caleb all had to turn back into the wilderness, along with the unbelieving people. To natural thinking this might seem hard, but we can be sure it was good and profitable. There is always deep blessing in bowing to the will of God, even when we cannot see the reason for things. These honoured servants of God were quite ready to go up into the land. Yet we do not read of a single complaining word from them about turning back into the wilderness for forty years. No; they just turned back. And well they might, when Jehovah turned back also.
This verse settles two things: how long they stay, and which way they go. God settles both, and no cloud or trumpet appears here:
The word of the Lord determined everything. It fixed how long the people were to remain in any given place, and it showed just as clearly where they were to go next. They had no need at all to plan their own movements. It was Jehovah's place and right to settle everything for them; their part was to obey. There is no mention here of the cloud and the trumpet. It is simply God's word and Israel's obedience.
Israel could have answered with a preference of their own. The same writer imagines that reply, and follows where it leads:
God said, "You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough." Suppose Israel had replied, "No; we want to circle it a little longer. We are very comfortable here, and we do not want any change." Or God said, "Turn northward," and they answered, "No; we much prefer going eastward." What would have been the result? They would have forfeited the divine presence with them. And who could guide, or help, or feed them then?... They would find the stream from the struck rock and the heavenly manna only in the path of obedience.
The turn north took them along the land of Esau's descendants. Freedom to move was not freedom to take:
The great principle which runs through Deuteronomy stands out in this command of Jehovah. He guided them, gave His instructions, and they were to depend on Him and be obedient to His will. They might have wanted the plains of Moab, or Mount Seir and the lands of Ammon. The Lord forbade it. Disobedience would have been disastrous. Though Edom had harassed Israel badly and shown an arrogant pride, Jehovah still would not give Edom's land to Israel. He remembered His own word: He had given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. So they were not to seek what the Lord had not given them. And this is obedience and a lesson of faith. How happy and content God's people would be, if they followed this rule.
Israel knew the length of each stop and the line of the march from God's word. One writer applies that to believers today, and refuses the idea that we have less:
It is our sweet privilege to have our path marked out for us, day by day, by divine authority... We must not let the convincing-sounding arguments of unbelief rob us of this rich blessing. God has promised to guide us, and His promise is certain... We cannot admit, for a moment, that Israel in the desert were better guided than God's heavenly people are on their way through this world. Are we worse off? Far from it. We are far better off than they, for we have the word and Spirit of God to guide us.
- Circle — an eleven-day journey took nearly forty years. Unbelief, not distance, kept Israel going round Mount Seir.
- Word — one sentence ended the circling. God's word fixed how long they stayed and where they went next. This verse names no cloud and no trumpet.
- Company — Moses says "we." Joshua and Caleb turned back too, without complaint, because God Himself turned back with them.
- Turn — obedience had to be immediate and exact. Asking for a little longer, or for a different direction, would have cost them His presence, the water and the manna.
- Limit — the road north ran past Edom's land, which God told them not to touch. Contentment means not reaching for what God has not given.
And command the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you; and ye shall be very guarded
God tells Israel to turn north and march along the border of Edom, the land of Esau's descendants. The odd part is the warning. God is arming this nation for conquest, yet here He tells them to be careful with a neighbour's land.
Moses recalls the long detour. The first thing the command settles is what Israel was not free to do.
Moses says, "We turned," not simply "You turned." … So from the very first the LORD was teaching them. They were not sent out to conquer whatever land they liked. It was not in His mind to offer men His law or the sword. They could take possession of no lands at all by their own will. He gave them no such license as a right to kill, burn, or plunder others as they pleased. It was a question of being subject to God and obeying Him. From the first He had a plan for the nations, with Israel at their centre.
The wording reaches back into a family quarrel. God once protected Jacob from his brother Esau. Now the protection runs the other way.
Esau had a serious grudge against Jacob. God stepped in directly, so Esau was not allowed to touch a hair of his brother's head. Still, on the other side, Israel must not meddle with Esau's possessions. Jacob had supplanted Esau; and Israel must not attack Edom. … So we see that the same God who would not let Esau touch Jacob in Genesis 33 now will not let Israel touch Edom in Numbers 20.
Being God's people gave Israel no free hand with a neighbour's land. Mount Seir was Esau's because God had given it to him.
Rulers and statesmen forget that God takes an interest in the affairs of nations. He gives kingdoms, provinces and lands as He sees fit. At times they act as if it were only a question of military conquest. They act as if God had nothing to do with national borders and who owns what land. This is their great mistake. They do not understand the meaning and force of this simple sentence: "I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession." God will never surrender His rights here. He would not allow Israel to touch a single scrap of Esau's property. They were to pay cash for whatever they needed, and go quietly on their way. The people of God were not to think of killing and plundering.
Living in a land first does not settle who owns it either.
People who held a territory first do not gain undisputed rights to it that way. God had decreed that Edom was to have Seir, and that the Moabites were to have the country of Moab as it is today. In the same way He has decreed that Israel is to have the land of Canaan.
Israel had real reason to resent Edom. God's ruling passes over the grievance.
There was no doubt at all that Esau had behaved so badly that the children of Israel were not likely to forget it. … But no, God would not have them meddle. "I will not give you of their land." The LORD was most careful exactly where He had least sympathy. The fact of Esau's pride and contempt for Israel gave them no license to take their land. "I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession." God always holds to His own principles, and He teaches us to respect them in others.
God's care for Israel in the desert is the reason they could leave Esau's land alone.
They could well afford, then, to let Esau alone and leave his possessions untouched. They were the favoured objects of the LORD's tender care. He took notice of every step of their weary journey through the desert. In His infinite goodness He had taken on Himself all their needs. He was going to give them the land of Canaan, as He had promised Abraham. But the very same hand that was giving them Canaan had given Mount Seir to Esau.
Others treat the same restraint as a lesson in faith.
They might have wanted the plains of Moab, or Mount Seir, or the lands of Ammon for themselves. The Lord forbade them. Disobedience would have been disastrous. … They were, therefore, not to seek what the Lord had not given to them. And this is obedience and a lesson of faith. How happy and content God's people would be if they followed this rule.
- Given, not grabbed — Seir belonged to Esau because God gave it. That one sentence settled the matter for a whole nation on the march.
- Given to others too — the hand giving Israel Canaan had already given Mount Seir to Esau. God's giving does not stop at the borders of His own people.
- Given despite the grudge — God was most careful where He had least sympathy. Esau's pride gave Israel no claim on his land.
- Given, so be careful — the warning is aimed at Israel's own wanting. They were not to seek what the Lord had not given them.
- Given enough already — God had taken on all their needs, so they could leave a neighbour's property untouched.
attack them not; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot-breadth; for I have given mount Seir as a possession unto Esau.
Israel is on the move again after years of circling Mount Seir. The first command about the nations ahead is not attack — it is keep off. Edom is off limits, and not because Israel is too weak. God had already given that land to Esau's descendants, and His gift settles the boundary.
The ban rests on something God did long before Israel arrived. That principle reaches far past Edom:
This is a magnificent fact to keep before the mind. Emperors, kings, princes, governors and statesmen take little account of it. They forget that God takes an interest in the affairs of nations. He gives kingdoms, provinces and lands as He sees fit. At times they act as if it were only a question of military conquest. They act as if God had nothing to do with national borders and who owns which land. This is their great mistake. They do not understand the meaning and force of this simple sentence: "I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession." God will never give up His rights here. He would not allow Israel to touch a single scrap of Esau's property.
Israel was marching toward a land God had promised them. Was everything on the way theirs to take? The first order of the march answers that:
So from the very beginning the Lord was teaching them that they were not sent out on an errand of indiscriminate conquest. It was not in His mind to offer people His law or the sword. They could take possession of no lands whatever by their own will. The Lord gave them no such licence as a right to kill, burn, or plunder others as they pleased. It was simply a question of being subject to God and obeying Him. From the first He had a plan for the nations around Israel as their centre.
Esau and Israel had history, and none of it was warm. That history is exactly what makes the command a test:
There was no doubt at all that Esau had behaved so badly that the children of Israel were not likely to forget it. We know how such memories linger among people, especially in the East. But no, God would not have them meddle. "I will not give you any of their land." The Lord was most careful exactly where He had least sympathy. The fact of Esau's pride and contempt for Israel gave them no licence to take their land. "I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession." God always holds to His own principles. He teaches us to respect them in others.
Years earlier God had stood between these two brothers. Now the protection runs the other way:
Esau had a serious grudge against Jacob. God stepped in directly, so Esau was not allowed to touch a hair of his brother's head. But on the other hand, Israel must not meddle with Esau's possessions. Jacob had taken Esau's place, and Israel must not trouble Edom… So we see that the same God who would not let Esau touch Jacob in Genesis 33 now will not let Israel touch Edom.
There is a reason behind the order, and it is kindness. The God who was fencing off Edom had already taken charge of Israel's needs:
They could well afford, then, to leave Esau alone and leave his possessions untouched. They were the favoured objects of the Lord's tender care. He took notice of every step of their weary journey through the desert. In His infinite goodness He had taken responsibility for all their needs. He was going to give them the land of Canaan, as He had promised Abraham. But the very same hand that was giving them Canaan had given Mount Seir to Esau.
The command reaches past what Israel did to what Israel wanted:
Why should they covet? They must learn not to seek what God would not give them. That is the point — to do God's will. The Lord had blessed Israel, and would have them content and thankful instead of coveting their neighbour's goods.
- Given — the whole command rests on four words: I have given. God had already given Mount Seir to Esau. That gift, not Israel's strength, drew the border.
- Given to others — God gives to people outside Israel too. He hands out kingdoms and lands as He sees fit, and will not give up that right, even for His chosen nation.
- Given, not grabbed — Israel was never sent out to conquer at will. Their calling was to obey God, not a licence to kill, burn or plunder.
- Given despite grudges — Esau's old pride and contempt gave Israel no claim on his land. God is most careful exactly where He has least sympathy. He teaches His people to respect His principles in others.
- Given enough — the hand that was giving them Canaan had given Seir to Esau. God had taken charge of their needs, so they had no reason to covet a neighbour's land.
Ye shall buy of them food for money, that ye may eat; and water shall ye also buy of them for money, that ye may drink;
Israel is marching north past Edom, the land of Esau's descendants. God tells them to pay for every meal and every drink they take there, because the food and water in front of them belongs to someone else.
The command to pay rests on the sentence just before it: mount Seir already had an owner by God's own decision. One writer sees the world's rulers forgetting that God hands out lands at all.
Rulers and statesmen forget that God interests Himself in the affairs of nations; that He gives kingdoms, provinces and lands as He sees fit. At times they act as if it were only a matter of military conquest. They act as if God had nothing to do with national borders and who owns which land. This is their great mistake. They do not grasp the meaning and force of this simple sentence: "I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession." God will never give up His rights here. He would not allow Israel to touch a single atom of Esau's property. They were, to use a modern phrase, to pay ready cash for whatever they needed, and go quietly on their way. God's people were not to think of killing and plundering as they pleased.
Israel had an army and a promise of land. Neither gave them the right to take what they wanted.
So from the very first Jehovah was teaching them that He had not called them out to conquer wherever they pleased. It was not in His mind to offer men His law or the sword. They could take possession of no lands whatever of their own will. Jehovah gave them no such license as the right to slay, burn, or plunder others as they liked. It came down to submitting to God and obeying Him. From the first He had a plan for the nations, with Israel at their centre.
Esau's descendants had treated Israel badly, and nobody had forgotten it.
There was no doubt at all: Esau had behaved so badly that the people of Israel were not likely to forget it… But no, God would not have them meddle. "I will not give you any of their land." Jehovah was most careful exactly where He had least sympathy. The fact of Esau's pride and contempt for Israel gave them no licence to take their land. God always holds to His own principles, and He teaches us to respect them in others… Why should they covet? They must learn not to seek what God would not give them. That is the point — to do God's will. Jehovah had blessed Israel, and would have them content and thankful instead of coveting their neighbour's goods.
Paying was no hardship for Israel. God had carried them through forty years in the desert.
They could well afford, therefore, to leave Esau alone, and leave his possessions untouched. They were the favoured objects of Jehovah's tender care. He took knowledge of every step of their weary journey through the desert. He had, in His infinite goodness, taken on Himself all their needs. He was going to give them the land of Canaan, as He had promised Abraham. But the same hand that was giving them Canaan had given Mount Seir to Esau.
Edom was not the only land Israel had to walk past and leave alone.
They might have longed to own the plains of Moab, or Mount Seir, or the lands of Ammon. The Lord forbade them to do so. Disobedience would have been disastrous… He remembered His word: "I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession." So they were not to seek what the Lord had not given them. And this is obedience and a lesson of faith. What happy contentment there would be among God's people if they followed this rule!
God allowed the trade. The record never shows it happening.
They were free to buy food and water from Edom. But the historical record does not say that they bought anything, because Edom flatly refused to let them pass through their land.
- Given — God had already given Mount Seir to Esau. He hands out the lands of the earth, and He never gives up that right.
- Guarded — since God had given it away, Israel could not touch "a single atom" of it. They were not sent out to conquer wherever they pleased.
- Grudge — Esau's pride and contempt gave Israel no claim. God was most careful at the very point where He had least sympathy.
- Given to them too — after forty years of God's care they lost nothing by paying. The hand giving them Canaan had given Seir to Esau.
- Gain — leaving alone what God has not given is obedience and faith. It brings contentment among His people.
for Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand. He hath known thy walking through this great wilderness these forty years hath Jehovah thy God been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.
Moses is retelling Israel's journey. Here he says why Israel must buy food and water from Edom instead of seizing it: God had already blessed them, walked with them, and left them lacking nothing.
The word "for" makes this verse a reason. Israel had old grievances against Esau's descendants. Even so, God would not let them touch Esau's land. His reason was His own goodness to Israel.
There was no doubt that Esau had behaved so badly that the children of Israel were not likely to forget it... But no, God would not have them meddle. "I will not give you of their land." The Lord was most careful exactly where He had least sympathy. The fact of Esau's pride and contempt for Israel gave them no licence to take their land... Why should they covet? They must learn not to seek what God would not give them. That is the point — to do God's will. The Lord had blessed Israel. He would have them content and thankful, not coveting their neighbour's goods.
The same God assigned both portions. The promise of Canaan gave Israel no claim over Seir.
So they could well afford to leave Esau alone and leave his possessions untouched. They were the favoured objects of the Lord's tender care. He took notice of every step of their weary journey through the desert. In His infinite goodness He had taken on Himself all their needs. He was going to give them the land of Canaan, as He had promised Abraham. But the same hand that was giving them Canaan had given Mount Seir to Esau.
Writers draw a wider lesson from this: God's interest in who owns what is not limited to His own people.
They forget that God takes an interest in the affairs of nations; that He gives out kingdoms, provinces and lands as He sees fit... God will never surrender His rights in this respect. Israel had to pay cash for whatever they needed, and go quietly on their way.
"He knows your going through this great wilderness" is not distant awareness. It describes a God who travelled the road Himself and kept a record of it.
He went before them every step of the way. He travelled over every stage of the wilderness. In all their afflictions He was afflicted. He took care of them like a tender nurse. He did not let their clothes wear out, or their feet swell, for these forty years. And here He retraces the whole way by which His hand had led them. He carefully notes down each stage of that remarkable pilgrimage, and every spot in the desert where they had halted. What a journey! What a travelling companion!
The claim is enormous once you count the people involved and the length of time.
"Forty years" of evidence of what was in the heart of God toward His redeemed people. "Six hundred thousand footmen" clothed, fed, kept and cared for. And all this during "forty years" in "a vast howling wilderness!" What a noble and soul-satisfying display of the fullness of divine resources! The history of Israel's desert wanderings lies open before us. How could we ever hold on to a single doubt or fear?
These same forty years were years of murmuring and unbelief. That makes the summary Moses gives all the more striking.
Can there be anything more beautiful than the testimony Moses gives in verse 7!... Think it over well. These people had accused Him, insulted Him, and disbelieved His word. Yet He carried them through the great wilderness so that they lacked nothing. May we take courage. Our failures, our shortcomings, our unbelief do not stop the gracious tenderness of His loving heart.
If God can keep people from lacking anything, why put them in a place of need at all? The answer given: need is what displays His care.
In heaven there will be no broken hearts, no trials, no hunger, no thirst. But here the blessed God finds a place like this suited to display His heart as equal to it all. The difficulties, the trials and sorrows His people pass through only give Him the occasion to show how He can care for His own. It is the greatness of His love that enables Him to enter into it all — nothing too great and nothing too small for His care and interest. We on our side need the wilderness. It is a place that tests dependence and subjection.
- Blessed — The verse opens with what God has already done for Israel. The command about Edom rests on that, not on Israel's old grievance.
- Known — "He knows your going" means God travelled every stage of the desert with them. He kept a record of each halting place.
- Supplied — God fed, clothed and kept six hundred thousand men for forty years. That record answers every future doubt and fear.
- Undeserved — He carried the very people who accused Him and disbelieved His word. Failure did not stop His tenderness.
- Content — Because the hand that gave them Canaan gave Seir to Esau, they could buy their bread and walk on. Blessing received is the cure for coveting.
And we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, by the plain, by Elath, and by Ezion-geber, and we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
Deuteronomy 2:8 is a line of travel notes — Israel skirts Edom, passes two Red Sea ports, and turns toward Moab. Behind the route lies the question of the whole chapter: why did God's people walk around land instead of taking it?
The first port named is Elath. Its story ran on long after Israel passed by.
Seaport town at the far north of the Gulf of Akaba branch of the Red Sea. It is first mentioned in the wanderings of the Israelites. Later it belonged to Solomon's kingdom, and near to it, at Ezion-geber, he had a fleet of ships. Later still we read that Azariah built it, and that Judah regained it. After that Rezin conquered it, and the Syrians held it, until it became a frontier town of Rome.
The verse calls Edom "our brothers, the people of Esau." Edom would not let Israel take the short way, so Israel turned aside.
Edom, full of jealousy, will not let the way be shortened; Israel turns away from him. There are people who oppose us, and it is right to turn away from them, because of some outward relation between them and ourselves. They may be driven by an unrelenting hatred, but we must know how to recognise them. God will judge them in His own time; our hand must not be upon them.
The march past Seir taught Israel what their calling was not.
So from the very first Jehovah was teaching them that they were not called out on an errand of indiscriminate conquest. It was not in His mind to offer men His law or the sword. They could take possession of no lands at all by their own will. Jehovah gave them no such license as the right to kill, burn, or plunder others as they pleased. It was simply a question of being subject to God and obeying Him. From the first He had a plan for the nations around Israel as their centre.
Israel could leave Esau alone because of how God had treated them.
They could well afford, then, to let Esau alone, and leave his possessions untouched. They were the favoured objects of Jehovah's tender care. He took notice of every step of their weary journey through the desert. In His infinite goodness He had taken on Himself all their needs. He was going to give them the land of Canaan, as He promised Abraham. But the very same hand that was giving them Canaan had given Mount Seir to Esau.
The point reaches far beyond one detour. Rulers who redraw the map by force miss it.
They forget that God takes an interest in the affairs of nations. He gives kingdoms, provinces and lands as He sees fit. At times they act as if it were only a question of military conquest — as if God had nothing to do with national boundaries and territorial possessions. This is their great mistake. They do not understand the meaning and force of this simple sentence, "I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession." God will never surrender His rights in this respect.
The shape of the journey carries a lesson of its own for the believer.
The wearisome journey around Mount Edom shows that we cannot overcome the flesh. We must flee from its desires, which war against the soul. How often the opposition of the flesh causes a long detour in what should be a straight course from earth to heaven.
- Route. Israel took the Arabah road past Elath and Ezion-geber, two ports at the head of the Gulf of Akaba, and turned toward Moab.
- Restraint. Edom's hostility gave Israel no right to hit back. Where an outward tie exists, we hold our hand and leave the judging to God.
- Reason. God had met every need of theirs in the desert, so they could afford to leave Esau's land untouched.
- Ruler. The same hand that was giving them Canaan had given Mount Seir to Esau. God, not conquest, sets national boundaries, and He never gives up that right.
- Result. Obedience meant the long way round instead of the short way through. Opposition costs a detour, and God's care makes it bearable.
And Jehovah said to me, Distress not the Moabites, neither engage with them in battle; for I will not give thee of their land a possession; for unto the children of Lot have I given Ar as a possession.
Israel was marching toward Canaan, and before a single battle God put Moab off limits. Ar already belonged to Lot's descendants by God's own gift, which raises a question bigger than one border: who decides which people holds which land?
Behind this border rule stands a fact that rulers seldom weigh.
This is a very magnificent fact to keep before the mind. Most people think little of it. Emperors, kings, princes, governors and statesmen take little account of it. They forget that God interests Himself in the affairs of nations, and that He gives out kingdoms, provinces and lands as He sees fit. At times they act as if it were only a question of military conquest, and as if God had nothing to do with national boundaries and territorial possessions. This is their great mistake... God will never surrender His rights in this matter. Wholesale slaughter and plunder were not to be thought of by the people of God.
Land claims usually rest on who arrived first. God settles them another way.
This tells us that because certain people possessed a certain territory first, this does not give them indisputable rights to it. God had decreed that Edom was to have Seir and that the Moabites were to have the country of Moab, just as He has decreed that Israel is to have the land of Canaan. Whoever fights against this will not prosper.
The verse does not call them Moabites. It calls them "the people of Lot," and that line of descent carries a meaning.
What, then, do these children of Lot represent to us? Their descent is naturally the first thing that should help us. They are the offspring, by way of shame and sin, of the man who stands as the exact opposite of Abraham, the man true to the divine call. Lot is the man who, though himself "righteous," settled down in the world and sank into it... His territory lies outside Israel's, though it borders it, and it takes its name from its chief city Ar, which means only "city."
Moab's origins were shameful, and Moab would later hire a prophet to curse Israel. Neither fact loosened the command.
Were they to lay hands on the Moabites, who were not as closely related to Israel as the Edomites? No. What we find here is a warning. They were not to give way to the sight of their eyes or the violence of their hands. They had to guard against a covetous spirit that pays little regard to what God has assigned to others. It is always the same duty of submission to God's will. The first chapter deals with the people themselves; this second chapter tests them in front of other people. Their duty stayed the same, even though the earlier history of Moab and Ammon, just as much as that of Esau, was far from good.
Balak, king of Moab, was afraid of Israel. He had misjudged what God intended for His people.
In reality Balak had nothing to fear... The LORD had a better portion in view for Israel than the land of Moab. Moab pictures the comfortable, self-satisfied man of the world — "at ease from his youth and settled on his dregs" (Jer. 48:11), and proud and arrogant as a result (Isa. 16:6). God's saints today need not envy such people, for they have a better and more lasting portion.
Moab and Midian both drew Israel into sin at Peor. Yet Israel destroyed only Midian.
But the daughters of Moab were also in the sin. Again we hear the command, "Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites." Why not on the Moabites? Then the destruction of Moab would have been complete, as Midian's was. But God had said that Israel should not trouble Moab. So judgment here does not fall on Moab itself, but falls without sparing on Midian. Is this not an example of the discriminating judgment of God, Who will have mercy on whom He will?
- Given. God hands out lands as He chooses. Borders are His business, not just the prize of conquest.
- Given to others. Ar belonged to Lot's line by God's decree. Being there first secures nothing, and fighting God's decree never prospers.
- Guarded. God guarded His gift to Moab even from His own people. Israel had to check both its eyes and its hands.
- No excuse. Moab's shameful past did not cancel the command. God never tied Israel's obedience to a neighbour's record.
- Kept. God held to His own word. Israel later destroyed Midian, but Moab, though guilty at Peor, still stood — mercy given where God chose.
(The Emim dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall as the Anakim.
This verse is a short historical footnote. Moses drops it into the middle of his speech: long before Moab held that land, a giant race called the Emim lived there. Why pause the story to say so, and what did Israel — standing on the edge of a land full of giants — need to learn from it?
Verses 10 to 12 break the flow of Moses' words. He is telling Israel not to meddle with Moab. He breaks off, then picks the instruction up again in verse 13. Commentators mark these three verses off from the rest:
Deuteronomy 2:10-12 and Deuteronomy 2:20-23 should be read as parentheses: they are valuable historical notes.
These notes are not filler. One writer explains what they are worth, and where he thinks they came from:
These accounts of the country are vivid records of great value. They matter as history — the surest we have — and they show God's ways, and men's ways, in the settling of the earth: violence, war, and so on… My impression is that these passages are a divine prophetic addition. I do not think they are there just to encourage the Israelites, though they would do that by showing the ways of God… But they showed important history — these giant races, their pride, their removals, and their destruction when God so willed.
The same writer adds that there is no difficulty at all in supposing Moses wrote it himself.
The verse names a people most readers have never heard of. Scripture mentions them in only a few places:
A people, described as "great and many, and tall as the Anakim," who lived on the east of the Dead Sea. Chedorlaomer and his allied kings struck them down. Their land later passed to the Moabites, who called the people EMIM, that is, 'terrible.'
The next verse calls them Rephaim. That is the Hebrew word behind "giants," and its root carries the same idea as their nickname:
rapha means 'a fearful one.' In the plural, with the article, it works as a proper name: the REPHAIM, or sons of Raphah. They were a race of giants who lived beyond the Jordan, and Og the giant king of Bashan came from them… At times the term Rephaim applies to any people in Canaan who were very tall.
Moses picks one comparison: the Anakim. A generation earlier, Israel had looked at those giants and left God out of the sum:
Not a word about God. He is entirely shut out. If they had thought of Him — if they had set the giants beside Him — it would have made no difference at all whether they were grasshoppers or men. But in fact their shameful unbelief reduced the God of Israel to the level of a grasshopper.
Here is the sting of the footnote. Moab had already driven out giants as great as the ones Israel feared.
Verse 10 notes that the Emim had held that land before. They were giants, as great and as many as the Anakim. The Moabites drove them out. So could Israel not drive out the people of Canaan, when they had the Lord with them?
Another writer adds a limit. Israel could not use this history as a reason to attack Ammon:
But this was no reason to expect the LORD to destroy the Ammonites now. Both cases were powerful reasons not to dread the Canaanite nations, which were doomed to destruction.
Behind every change of owner in this chapter stands one hand.
The lands spoken of here had long ago been in the hands of giants. But God purposed to give their territories to the children of Esau and Lot, and so He destroyed these giants. For who or what can stand in the way of God's purposes?
The same rule works both ways. It keeps Israel out of Moab's land, and it secures Canaan for Israel.
This tells us that holding a territory first does not give a people an unquestionable right to it. God had decreed that Edom was to have Seir, and the Moabites the land of Moab. In the same way He has decreed that Israel is to have the land of Canaan. Whoever fights against this will not prosper.
- Aside — Verses 10 to 12 pause Moses' speech. They are valuable historical notes, and they show God's ways in the settling of the earth.
- Terrible — The Moabites named the Emim for the dread they caused. The linked word Rephaim means "a fearful one."
- Comparison — Moses measures them against the Anakim. Those giants once made Israel feel like grasshoppers.
- Argument — If Moab could drive out giants like these, then Israel, with the Lord, had no reason to fear Canaan.
- Owner — The land changed hands because God gives it, not because anyone held it first. Nothing can stand in the way of His purpose.
They also are reckoned as giants like the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.
Moses breaks off his travel record to say who once lived in Moab: giants known by two names, Rephaim and Emim. The aside looks minor, but it strikes at Israel's fear of the giants in Canaan.
Verses 10 to 12 break the flow of the story. One writer reads them as a parenthesis, and rates what they record highly.
Verses 10-12 and 20-23 are both clearly parenthetical... These accounts of the country are vivid notes of great value. As history they are the surest we have. They also show God's ways and men's ways in peopling the earth: violence, war, and so on.
The verse gives two names for the same people, and measures them against a third giant race, the Anakim. One name is what the Moabites used, and it describes the effect these people had.
A people, described as "great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim," who lived on the east of the Dead Sea. Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him struck them down. Their land later passed to the Moabites, who called the people EMIM, that is, 'terrible.'
The other name, Rephaim, is the wider term. One writer explains what that name says about them.
The valley of Rephaim means "those who dissolve" people with terror. These giant races are the enemies of God's people. They overthrow you by the mere sight of them. They are pictures of the enemy's power — monsters, and, so to speak, superhuman.
The note is not history for its own sake. It aims straight at Israel's fear of Canaan.
Verse 10 notes that the Emim had held that land before. They were giants as great and as many as the Anakim. The Moabites drove them out. Could Israel not drive out the inhabitants of Canaan, when they had the Lord with them?
A few verses on, Moses tells the same kind of story about Ammon. One writer sets the two cases side by side.
Giants had lived there in times past, and the Ammonites called them Zamzummim. They were a people great, many, and tall, like the Anakim. But Jehovah destroyed them before the Ammonites, who took their place and lived there. This was no reason to expect Jehovah to destroy the Ammonites now. Both cases were powerful reasons not to dread the Canaanite races, who faced certain destruction.
The verse says the Moabites named them. One writer says who removed them, and why.
The lands mentioned here had been in the hands of giants long ago. But God purposed to hand their territories over to the children of Esau and Lot, and so He destroyed these giants. Who or what can stand in the way of what God has planned?
The same writer draws a general rule from it.
Being first in a territory does not give a people undisputed rights to it. God had decreed that Edom was to have Seir, and that the Moabites were to have the land of Moab. In the same way He has decreed that Israel is to have the land of Canaan.
Moab came from Lot, and God had fixed a place for them. One writer asks what use such a people served.
We find, too, that Lot's children have their use. They have been the means of destroying certain giants, the Emim and the Zamzummim, out of the lands those giants occupied. It is nothing new for God to overrule the growth of one evil for the destruction of another, so that the world may be at least more bearable for those who live in it. People who have no intention of serving God are in this way forced to serve Him.
- Bracket. Verses 10-12 stand apart from the story. They record how peoples spread over the earth, and God's ways in it.
- Terror. Emim means "terrible." Rephaim means "those who dissolve" people with terror — enemies who beat you by sight alone.
- Precedent. Moab drove out giants the size of the Anakim. Israel had the Lord with them, so why fear Canaan?
- Decree. No one holds land by right of arriving first. God assigned every border, and He removed whoever stood in the way.
- Overruling. God even used Lot's descendants, whom Israel could not touch, to destroy an evil greater than themselves.
And in Seir dwelt the Horites in times past; and the children of Esau dispossessed them, and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did to the land of their possession, which Jehovah gave to them.)
Moses is retracing Israel's route past Edom. He pauses to say who lived in Seir before Esau's family did — a small note that shows God moving nations in and out, and warns Israel off Esau's land.
Verses 10-12 interrupt the travel account. One writer treats them as a bracket. He values them as solid history and as a view of how the earth filled up with peoples.
Verses 10-12 and 20-23 are both clearly parenthetical. These accounts of the country are vivid notes of great value. They are the surest history we have. They also show God's ways and men's ways in peopling the earth — violence, war, and so on.
The verse names the earlier people of Seir but says nothing more about them. A reference work fills in the gap, down to the homes they left behind.
The Horites were descendants of Seir and the original inhabitants of Mount Seir. The children of Esau destroyed them. Genesis 14:6; Genesis 36:20-21, 29; Deuteronomy 2:12, 22. It is thought that they were cave-dwellers, as the name implies. The sandstone rocks of Mount Seir are full of carved-out dwellings. Traces of the same appear throughout the region of Edom.
Esau's descendants did the fighting. Another purpose decided the outcome.
The possessions spoken of here had once been in the hands of giants. But it was God's purpose to hand their territories over to the children of Esau and of Lot. So He destroyed these giants. For who or what can stand in the way of the divine counsels?
Seir was not a special case. The same hand has been at work ever since Noah's family spread out over the earth.
The descendants of Noah scattered abroad with their different languages. They seized lands here and there as it pleased them. All the while, the invisible hand of God guided them to where He would need them when Israel came on the scene. No one understood this divine working at the time… Men may lay violent hands at any time on territories they want. But they can only get them by God's permission. The all-wise Creator sees some way in which the wrath of man will serve His purpose. So an overruling hand controls the movements of nations, little as men see it. This was true in the earliest days, and it is true still.
Canaan's tall inhabitants had frightened Israel. The parenthesis answers that fear from the neighbours' own history.
Verse 10 notes that the Emim once held that land. They were giants, as great and as many as the Anakim. The Moabites had dispossessed them. So could Israel not dispossess the people of Canaan, when they had the Lord with them? In the same way, the Horites had previously lived in Seir, but the descendants of Esau had dispossessed them (v.12).
The verse ends by setting Esau's takeover beside Israel's own. That line has made some readers doubt Moses wrote it, since Israel's conquest of Canaan still lay ahead.
The only question is about the words "as Israel did to the land of their possession." Whatever their possession was, they entered it by dispossessing the inhabitants. There is not the least difficulty in supposing Moses wrote it; he had already partly entered into possession by casting out the Amorites. What is stated is the way Israel entered in, not the history of an event. Still, from the way it comes in, my impression is that these passages are a divine prophetic addition.
Israel had no reason to envy Edom. God had carried them through the desert and met every need.
They could well afford, then, to leave Esau alone and leave his possessions untouched. They were the favoured objects of the LORD's tender care. He took note of every step of their weary journey through the desert. In His infinite goodness He had taken responsibility for all their needs. He was going to give them the land of Canaan, as He had promised Abraham. But the very same hand that was giving them Canaan had given Mount Seir to Esau.
Esau's record was poor, and so was Moab's and Ammon's. That changed nothing about Israel's duty.
What we find here is a warning. They were not to give way to the sight of their eyes or the violence of their hands. They were to guard against a covetous spirit that pays little regard to what God has assigned to others. It is always the same duty of submission to God's will… The earlier history of Moab and Ammon was far from good, just as Esau's was. That did not alter their duty.
- Given, not grabbed. Esau's people took Seir by force, but the land was God's to hand over; nothing can block His purpose.
- Given everywhere. The same hand set where every nation lives. Men seize land, but only when God allows it.
- Given as evidence. Giants once held these lands and lost them. If Esau's sons could displace the Horites, Israel had no reason to fear Canaan.
- Given to another. The hand giving Israel Canaan had already given Seir to Esau, so Israel was to leave it untouched.
- Given, so restrain yourself. A bad record in Edom, Moab or Ammon gave Israel no licence to covet what God had assigned to them.