Scripture Daily

Context No. 1814 of 4322 · Deuteronomy

Context · Reflection

Deuteronomy 2:13-19: in context

13“Now rise up and cross over the brook Zered.” We went over the brook Zered. 14The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea until we had come over the brook Zered were thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the middle of the camp, as the LORD swore to them. 15Moreover the LORD’s hand was against them, to destroy them from the middle of the camp, until they were consumed. 16So, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, 17the LORD spoke to me, saying, 18“You are to pass over Ar, the border of Moab, today. 19When you come near the border of the children of Ammon, don’t bother them, nor contend with them; for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession, because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.”

As Israel journeys toward the promised land, God directs their path around the territories of neighboring peoples. When you come near the land of the Ammonites, he says, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will give you none of their land; I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession. The same held for Moab. Israel was to pass by these lands without seizing them, because God had assigned them to others.

There is a principle in God's instruction easy to miss: he has given other peoples their portions too, and Israel is to respect them. The Ammonites and Moabites were not Israel's to conquer; God had assigned those lands to the descendants of Lot, and Israel was to pass by without grasping what belonged to another. God's gift of a land to his own people did not entitle them to seize whatever they wished; there were boundaries and possessions God had given to others, and those were to be respected. This is worth pondering, because it runs against a grasping instinct we know well. We can be tempted to think that if God has blessed us, we are entitled to reach for whatever we can take, that our advantage justifies grasping what belongs to another. But God has given others their portions too, their possessions, their place, their due, and to respect those is part of walking rightly before him. Contentment with our own portion, and respect for what God has assigned to others, go together. We are not to covet or seize what God has given to someone else, however much we might want it, however able we might be to take it; the boundaries of others' God-given portions are to be honored. There is a kind of humility and justice in this: to receive gladly the portion God has given us, and to leave to others, unmolested, the portion he has given them, not reaching to seize what is not ours. Israel was to pass by Moab and Ammon without contending for their land, because God had given it to others. And we do well to respect, in the same way, what God has assigned to those around us, content with our own portion rather than grasping at theirs.

Am I tempted to reach for what belongs to another, thinking my advantage or ability entitles me to grasp it, or can I respect, as Israel was to respect Moab's and Ammon's lands, the portions God has assigned to others, content with my own portion rather than reaching to seize what is not mine?

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