You have roamed around this mountain country long enough; turn northward. (Deuteronomy 2:3)
They were going in circles for forty years. Life had become routine and monotonous.
Movement does not imply direction. Activity is not an indication of fruitfulness and though they were moving on occasion they were getting nowhere. There are some people, if you see them today, they are where you left them forty years ago. No true progress. Does this describe your spiritual progress?
Perhaps the most famous Edomite in the New Testament was Herod the Great. He was hated by the Jews because he was an Edomite but he wanted to be received and respected as a Jew.
Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land: (Deuteronomy 2:5)
Israel was not just some conquering army, out to get whatever land it could take. It probably was strong enough to simply take the land of Edom, but Israel only received what God had promised to them.
How we treat those weaker than ourselves is always a good measure of character. When we have the capability to dominate or abuse others and do not, it shows that we have good character. For some of these reasons, God commanded Israel to treat the weaker nation of Edom well.
One of the more famous Moabites in the Bible was Ruth. She was a Moabite woman who married an Israelite man name Boaz, and became grandmother to King David and one of the ancestors of the Messiah.
For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing. (Deuteronomy 2:7)
They were going around the same mountain and they still did not lack.
“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
The Giants
(The Emim dwelt there in times past, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. These also are known as Rephaim [of giant stature], as are the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. (Deuteronomy 2:10-11)
(That also is known as a land of Rephaim [of giant stature]; Rephaim dwelt there formerly, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, A people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before [Ammon], and they dispossessed them and settled in their stead, (Deuteronomy 2:20-21)
The LORD destroyed the giants that came against the Moabites and the Ammonites. Would He not do it for His people?
When they hear reports about you, they will tremble with dread and fear (Deuteronomy 2:25)
The people must hear the reports about what God is doing.
The LORD said tell your staff this.
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