044. XXX. East-Jordan Conquests And Moses’s Farewell
§ XXX. EAST-JORDAN CONQUESTS AND MOSES’S FAREWELL Numbers 21:21-31; Numbers 32:39-42, Deuteronomy 31:14-23, Deuteronomy 34
1. Victory over Sihon. Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, Let me now pass through your land. We will not turn aside into field or vineyard; we will not drink from the water of the wells; we will go by the king’s highway, until we have passed through your territory. But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. Therefore Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, where he fought against Israel. And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and seized his land from the Amon to the Jabbok, even to the Ammonites.
2. The occupation of Sihon’s land. Then Israel took and dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its dependent villages. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon. Therefore the bards sing:
Come to Heshbon!
Let it be rebuilt!
Let the city of Sihon be re-established! For fire went out from Heshbon, Flame from the city of Sihon;
It devoured Moab, The lords of the high places of Arnon.
Woe to thee Moab!
Undone art thou, O people of Chemosh, Who has made his sons fugitives And his daughters captives, So their offspring have perished from Heshbon to Dibon And their wives ... to Medaba.
Thus Israel came to live in the land of the Amorites.
3. Conquest of Gilead and Bashan. And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein. And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took their tent-villages and called them Havvoth-jair [Tent-villages of Jair]. And Nobah went and took Kenath, and its dependent towns, and called it Nobah after his own name.
4. Jehovah’s command to Moses. Then Jehovah said to Moses, Behold, thy time approacheth that thou must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. And Jehovah appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud; and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the tent. And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge saying, Be courageous and strong; for thou shalt bring the Israelites into the land which I promised them with an oath; and I will be with thee.
5. The closing scenes of Moses’s life. Then Moses went up to the top of Pisgah. And Jehovah showed him all the land. And Jehovah said to him, This is the land which I promised with an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to thy descendants’; I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Moab. And Jehovah buried him in the ravine in the land of Moab over against Beth-Peor; but to this day no man knows of his burial-place. And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom Jehovah knew face to face.
I.Victories over the Amorites. Later conquests may perhaps be reflected in the tradition of the victory over the Amorites, but there is doubtless an underlying basis of historic fact. The ancient song in 2 is probably an extract from an older and fuller poetic source to which the prophetic writers had access. This extract apparently refers to the victories which the Hebrews won over the Moabites. It implies that the Israelites had already captured Heshbon, the Amorite capital, and made it the base of attack against the Moabites in the south. As in the book of Joshua, the historical perspective may be foreshortened, so that the events of a century or more are represented as taking place in one year. It seems probable that at least some of the Hebrew tribes succeeded in capturing certain territory to the east of the lower Jordan and there intrenched themselves, preparatory to the westward movement toward Canaan.
II.Importance of the East=Jordan Conquest. As has already been noted, throughout all its history the east-Jordan land has been the territory in which the nomads from the desert have made the gradual transition from their wandering life to the settled occupations of an agricultural people. The plateaus furnish abundant grass for the herds and flocks. At many points there are fruitful fields which yield abundant crops of grain. Here the nomad learns how to till the soil and tastes the joys of settled agricultural life. From these eastern highlands the Hebrew immigrants looked longingly across the deep valley of the Jordan to the rolling hills of Judea and Samaria. The pressure behind, of other tribes moving in from the desert, and the rapid increase in their own numbers, which would result from a more settled and favorable method of life, were powerful forces impelling the Hebrews to cross the Jordan and seek homes among the hills to the west.
III.Moses’s Farewell. Tradition records that on these heights east of the Jordan, Moses was given his first and last view of the promised land of Canaan. In the older traditions, the account of his farewell and death is very brief. Joshua the son of Nun, who had attended Moses in the tent of meeting, is given command to lead the Israelites across the Jordan into the land of their hopes. With the assurance that the ultimate goal of their wanderings would soon be attained, the servant of Jehovah laid down the heavy burden, which he had borne so nobly. Tradition fails to recall the spot where Israel’s great leader was buried. Mystery surrounds the death scene of the great prophet. Like Elijah of the later story, the background of his activity was the lonely, mysterious wilderness, with its caves and dry, jagged mountains. On the borders of civilized life, he suddenly disappears and his work is done.
IV.Literary Setting of the Book of Deuteronomy. Later generations, recognizing that Israel’s early judge and prophet had laid the foundations for all later Hebrew legislation, naturally regarded him as the author of that remarkable collection of exhortations and laws found in the book of Deuteronomy. Its literary setting is dramatic and appropriate. The laws and exhortations anticipate the various needs that arose in the later experiences of the Israelites in Canaan. As the Hebrews were about to pass from the wilderness to the conquest of Canaan, Moses is represented as giving these detailed laws in the form of a long prophetic address. In a very real sense the implications of this literary setting are historically true. Later prophets like Amos, Hosea and Isaiah still further interpreted the fundamental principles of Israel’s faith. Their disciples formulated these principles in the definite laws found in the book of Deuteronomy. It was, however, the initial work of Moses that made this later national and social development possible. It was his spirit and faith that inspired his race to conquer and to achieve. It was his simple prophetic message that lay at the foundations of the growing body of Israel’s legislation. Though in divine Providence other voices and other pens determined the final form of the laws, they nevertheless represent Moses’s message to his race in the midst of its new life and environment.
V.The Real Work of Moses. Every student of the Old Testament is familiar with the profound impression which Moses made upon succeeding generations. It is more difficult to determine the real nature of the work which he did for his own age and race. About his person have gathered so many traditions, that it is also difficult to gain a clear conception of his personality. In the preceding sections an attempt has been made to trace his character and work in the light of the oldest narratives. Contemporary historical conditions and analogies in the experiences of later prophets also aid in this task. Moses was doubtless a man of his times, subject to the limitations of the primitive age in which he lived. Yet, like every true prophet, he rose as a towering mountain peak above his contemporaries, and with inspired vision caught glimpses of truth which made him a man of conviction with a message to his race.
Prophet that he was, he saw conditions as they were, and having seen, he did not hesitate to speak and act. Like every inspired leader of men, he was doubtless gifted with a constructive imagination, which enabled him to picture, to a certain extent, the noble destiny in store for his people. Above all, he was conscious of a Divine Power ruling over Nature and the destinies of his race, of a God not only powerful but personally interested in delivering the oppressed and in righting the wrongs of those who put their trust in him. In the mind of Moses the keen sense of his people’s need, on the one hand, and of Jehovah’s presence and character on the other, crystallized into a conviction that the God of Sinai was able and would deliver his people. Moses also recognized that he himself was called to be the herald of this great truth. His conviction and message were similar to those of the true prophets of a later age. His method was adapted to the peculiar conditions of his day. He was called, not merely to proclaim, but to lead. The dramatic experiences of his followers in the exodus and wilderness life confirmed his authority and gave him a supreme opportunity to impress his message upon them. The very simplicity of his message added to its strength. Briefly expressed, it appears to have been: (1) Jehovah is able and eager to deliver his people from their bondage and to lead them to a land of freedom and opportunity. (2) The people must be loyal to Jehovah, rendering to him their full worship, expressed in gifts and ritual. In addition, it is probable that Moses emphasized the necessity of their showing loyalty to Jehovah by the just treatment of their fellowmen. Thus it would appear that Israel’s faith was from the first unique, because of this close blending of ethics and religion. As prophet, judge and leader, Moses touched every side of the life of his nation and left an impress which was simply deepened by later experiences.
VI.The Desert Training. The Hebrews acquired in the desert characteristics which may be traced in all the later stages of their history. There is a certain sternness and austerity in their character which they have never lost. Their tendency to stand aloof and to regard all other peoples as hostile is but the survival of a habit first engendered by the life of the desert, where every alien tribe is regarded as a foe. Their intense racial loyalty is another mark of the primitive tribal instinct. Throughout their history they showed themselves restive under any strongly organized central authority. Only under the pressure of direst necessity did the different tribes consent to lay down their individual independence and acknowledge a common authority. From the desert they also brought that spirit of freedom and democracy which is so marked under the tribal organization. Each man is the equal of his fellow, and the tribal leader rules only by common consent and as a servant of the whole. To preserve this sacred heritage of democracy, the Israelites repeatedly passed through bloody and disastrous revolutions.
Even though they came under the sway of the polytheistic Canaanite civilization, their desert instinct, which led them to revere but one God, as the God of the tribe and nation, repeatedly asserted itself in response to the appeals of their prophets. Loyalty to Jehovah was therefore their supreme heritage from their desert days and from their great prophet Moses. It was also the foundation stone upon which was reared Israel’s later political, social and ceremonial institutions. Standing on this same foundation, the inspired Hebrew prophets, priests and sages in later days developed that noble, ethical religion which is Israel’s supreme contribution to the faith and progress of humanity.