For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You have 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.
Why Israel Must Not Touch Edom
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.
William KellyThere 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.
One Hand Behind Both Portions
The same God assigned both portions. The promise of Canaan gave Israel no claim over Seir.
C. H. MackintoshSo 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.
C. H. MackintoshThey 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.
Known Through Every Stage
"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.
C. H. MackintoshHe 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 Weight of "You Have Lacked Nothing"
The claim is enormous once you count the people involved and the length of time.
C. H. Mackintosh"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?
Care That Their Failure Never Stopped
These same forty years were years of murmuring and unbelief. That makes the summary Moses gives all the more striking.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinCan 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.
Why the Desert at All
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.
W. T. TurpinIn 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.
Summary
- 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.