Deuteronomy 2:20-25: a reflection

20(That also is considered a land of Rephaim. Rephaim lived there in the past, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, 21a great people, many, and tall, as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them from before Israel, and they succeeded them, and lived in their place, 22as he did for the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place even to this day. 23Then the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza: the Caphtorim, who came out of Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.) 24“Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. 25Today I will begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole sky, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

In the middle of Israel's journey, Deuteronomy pauses to note something about the lands they are passing through. Various peoples had lived there before, the Rephaim, the Horites, the Avvim, great nations in their day. But God had removed them, dispossessing one people to give the land to another, again and again, across the generations. The same God who was now giving Israel its land had long been at work moving peoples in and out of these territories throughout history.

Notice the sweep of God's governance the passage reveals. Behind what looks like the ordinary rise and fall of nations, one people replacing another, the strong dispossessing the weak, stands God, quietly directing it all. He removed the Horites for Esau's descendants; he removed others for still others; and now he is giving Sihon's land to Israel. The movements of peoples across history, which we might read as mere geopolitics, are, this passage insists, under the hand of God.

That is a steadying perspective on history, ancient and modern. The rise and fall of nations, the movements of peoples, the shifting of powers, can seem like a chaos of human ambition and force. But behind it all, Scripture insists, is the sovereign hand of God, who has long been directing the affairs of nations toward his own purposes. When world events seem chaotic and beyond anyone's control, remember the God who moved peoples in and out of lands throughout history. He governs the rise and fall of nations still. History is not out of his hands.

Lord, Deuteronomy shows you at work across history, moving peoples in and out of lands, governing the rise and fall of nations. When world events seem like chaos, a jumble of human ambition and force beyond anyone's control, remind me that behind it all stands your sovereign hand, directing the affairs of nations toward your purposes. You governed history then; you govern it still. Help me trust that history is not out of your hands, and rest in your rule over the nations.