Dividing the Nation | Sunday, June 7, 2020

The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, "You have dwelt long enough at this mountain." ... "Behold, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers." (cf. Deuteronomy)

Moses looks back at God's faithfulness and forward to a land he will see but never enter.

Remembering the Story

As we come to Deuteronomy 3, Moses is in the middle of recounting Israel's journey for a new generation. These are stories that have to do with us as much as with them. Moses uses the past — the battles fought, the victories won, the failures endured — to teach the people who they are and who their God is. The whole point of retelling the history is so that the people will remember and will not forget the faithfulness of the Lord.

This is a generation that did not stand at the foot of the mountain. They were not the ones who refused to go in. Moses recounts the past so that the present generation will trust God for the future. The story continues the escalation of all that we have seen, and it shows us what God is doing among His people from beginning to end.

The Brothers and the Land

We are told of the brothers — the tribes who would receive their inheritance. Moses recalls the conquests east of the Jordan, the defeat of kings, and the cities taken. The land is examined and described, given to the people for their inheritance. God's care here is orderly and specific. He does not simply hand the people a blessing; He provides, He divides, and He establishes them.

Remember that the Lord told Abraham, "In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." That promise carries forward to this generation. The blessing of the Lord comes to the people as they trust Him and go in to possess what He has set before them.

God's Faithfulness Through Human Failure

These are the stories God wants us to learn from. The punishment of the past — the unbelief, the rebellion — remains part of the record. God does not erase Israel's failures from the story. Yet His faithfulness persists. He works through the failures of His people, and He moves the story forward.

This is one of the great themes here: even where there has been disobedience, God remains true to His word. The promised land waits on the other side of the Jordan, and God is bringing His people to it. He is the strength of the weak, the One who carries the people who could not carry themselves.

Moses' Plea Denied

Then comes one of the most poignant moments in the chapter. Moses pleads with the Lord to let him cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan. But the Lord's last word to Moses on this is that he would not cross over. Because of his earlier failure, Moses would not set foot in the Promised Land. No amount of pleading would change it.

This is hard. Moses had led the people faithfully, and yet there was a consequence he had to bear. The heart of steel here is the heart that must accept God's righteous judgment without bitterness. Moses had tried prayer; he had tried pleading. And the answer stayed the same.

A Vision and a Successor

Yet God does not leave Moses without grace. The Lord tells him to go up to the top of Pisgah and look — west and north and south and east — and to see the land with his own eyes, even though he will not enter it. God gives Moses the vision of the inheritance.

And God provides for the future. He commands Moses to charge Joshua, to encourage and strengthen him, for Joshua would go over and lead the people in to possess the land. The work would continue. God's purposes are not bound to any one servant; the story goes on, and the people are not abandoned.

Setting Our Hearts on the Things of God

This is a passage I think people know fairly well but do not always pause to consider. There is much in our world right now that pulls at us — division, conflict, strife in the nation, distress on every side. Turn off the newspaper for a moment and consider what is essential.

The apostle reminds us: set your mind on the things above, not on the things of the earth. Set your heart and mind on the faithfulness of God. The world is filled with division and trouble, but our trust is not in the world. It is in the God who keeps His promises, who carries His people, who gives the vision even when the road is hard, and who provides a way forward.

So entrust your heart and mind to Him. Fix your eyes on His faithfulness and His grace. Whatever the world is doing around us, the Lord our God is faithful, and He will bring His people in.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You. Father, we receive Your grace. Help us to set our hearts and minds on the things that are above, on Your faithfulness and Your promises, even in the midst of a divided and troubled world. We trust You, and we give You our hearts and minds. In Jesus' name, amen.