Deuteronomy 3

Deuteronomy 3:12-22

Assignment of Conquered Lands (3:12-22) The defeat of Og was an event of magnitude in the life of Israel. This monster was the last obstacle to the entrance of the Promised Land. Many centuries later the slaying of both Sihon and Og was celebrated in the hymnody of Israel (Psalms 135:11; Psalms 136:19-20). All credit was given to God, “who smote many nations and slew mighty kings” (Psalms 135:10). The conquered territory was assigned to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh. Reuben received the southern half of Sihon’s kingdom, Gad the northern half, and half-Manasseh the kingdom of Og. But the warriors of these three tribal groups were not yet free to settle down on their lands. They had yet to fight side by side with their brethren beyond the Jordan until all had received their inheritance. “One for all and all for one” was the principle by which Israel lived. No man was free to enjoy the fruits of his conquests until all were free. The spirit of brotherhood here displayed rebukes our contemporary indifference to individuals and nations who have yet to enter into their God-appointed inheritance. The passage also elucidates the relationship between God and man in the historical process. Though the Hebrews gave all credit to God, they knew full well that God does not work in history alone. Men are his instruments, and it is by their wholehearted cooperative effort that God’s ends are accomplished. The Israelite warrior, as he pressed forward in battle, feared not his enemies, for he believed that the Lord his God was fighting for him (3:22). Paul expressed the same truth on a deeper level when he wrote, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).

Deuteronomy 3:23-29

Rejection of Moses’ Prayer (3:23-29) Moses died on the east side of the Jordan without setting foot in the Promised Land proper. This was the fate of almost all the adult people he led out of Egypt, the only exceptions apparently being Caleb and Joshua, the two affirmative spies (1:34-40; Numbers 13-14). The great leader himself was denied the privilege of seeing the consummation of his lifework— a bitter disappointment which was hardly mitigated by a distant view of the land from the top of the Moabite plateau overlooking the north end of the Dead Sea. Pisgah was a projecting point of the Abarim Mountains, a short distance from Mount Nebo and connected by a saddle to the latter. It is about 2,600 feet above sea level and nearly 4,000 feet above the Dead Sea. Projecting westward from Mount Nebo, which is behind and slightly higher, Pisgah offers a magnificent panorama in clear weather: Mount Hermon to the far north; Mount Tabor to the northwest; the peaks of Ebal and Gerizim in Samaria, between which ancient Shechem lay; the rugged mountains of Benjamin and Judah, with the Mount of Olives clearly identifiable; the tumbling hills to the south of Jerusalem, in which Bethlehem and Hebron lie; the Jordan rift, with a green gash of life winding crazily through its barren bottom; the Dead Sea, shimmering eerily under the haze of its massive evaporation; and, directly north, the lush forests of Gilead. To one standing here, especially if he had come out of the merciless deserts behind him, it would seem life’s ultimate catastrophe to be denied the right to step across the Jordan into the goodly land. Moses’ spirit here exhibits the qualities which so clearly marked his career. Although he was old, he was still full of adventure and dauntless courage: “0 LORD God, thou hast only begun to show thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand .. .” (3:24). He knows full well that the toughest battles lie ahead, but he is eager to get on with the struggle and personally to participate in it. But when it becomes clear to him that his work is done and he will have to pass the leadership over to Joshua, he accepts his disappointment with equanimity and seeks to prepare his successor for the role that he himself so much wanted to play. Humble submission to the will of God and the role marked out for him by God, with no claim to special prerogatives, is the essence of that meekness which was so prominent a characteristic of Moses (Numbers 12:3). The reason for Moses’ failure to get into the Promised Land is not clearly indicated in the Old Testament. It is suggested in Numbers 20:2-29 that Moses and Aaron in smiting the rock at Kadesh, instead of speaking to it, were guilty of unbelief and rebellion against God. Deuteronomy 32:48-52 also lays the blame on Moses’ and Aaron’s own sin. But other passages place the blame upon the people and suggest that Moses, though personally innocent, somehow shared in the punishment meted out by God to the people (Deuteronomy 1:37; Deuteronomy 3:26; Deuteronomy 4:21). Perhaps the explanations are not mutually exclusive (see Psalms 106:32-33). Aaron defected seriously in the incident of the golden calf (Exodus 32), and we are not led to believe that Moses’ faith and obedience were perfect.

But that Moses suffered bitterly because of the sins of his people, far beyond any consequences of his own doing, is altogether clear. The good often suffer with the evil while they seek to rescue them from their evil. In this respect Moses was like the Second Moses— Jesus Christ— and the prototype of the Servant of the Lord of Isaiah 53. It must be borne in mind, of course, that the explanations of Moses’ death outside the Promised Land are only “explanations.” The theology of the early Hebrews tended to view every misfortune as punishment for sin, and this is particularly true of Deuteronomy. Natural factors in the death of Moses— he is said to have been 120 years old at the time of his death (34:7)— must not be overlooked.