Deuteronomy 2:1-37
1 Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days.
2 And the LORD spake unto me, saying,
3 Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.
4 And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore:
5 Meddle not with them; for I will not givea you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.
6 Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink.
7 For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.
8 And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
9 And the LORD said unto me, Distressb not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.
10 The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims;
11 Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims.
12 The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeededc them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them.
13 Now rise up, said I, and get you over the brookd Zered. And we went over the brook Zered.
14 And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brooke Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the LORD sware unto them.
15 For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed.
16 So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,
17 That the LORD spake unto me, saying,
18 Thou art to pass over through Ar, the coast of Moab, this day:
19 And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.
20 (That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;f
21 A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead:
22 As he did to the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day:
23 And the Avims which dwelt in Hazerim, even unto Azzah, the Caphtorims, which came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)
24 Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: beging to possess it, and contend with him in battle.
25 This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.
26 And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,
27 Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left.
28 Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet;
29 (As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God giveth us.
30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.
31 And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.
32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.
33 And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.
34 And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men,h and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:
35 Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.
36 From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us:
37 Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the LORD our God forbad us.
So we turned, and took our journey by way of the wilderness back toward the Red sea. And the LORD spake to me saying, you've compassed this mountain long enough: go north. And he commanded the people. saying, You're to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwelled in Seir. But don't meddle with them; for I have not given you their land, not as much as a foot in it; because I've given mount Seir unto Esau for his possession. So you're to buy your meat and your water but you're only to pass through. For the LORD God has blessed thee in all the works of your hands; and he knows that they walking through this great wilderness: for these forty years that the LORD thy God hath been with thee; you have lacked nothing (Deuteronomy 2:1-7).
And therein is a miracle. And over a million people, forty years, and yet not lacking in that wilderness.
And when you pass by our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelled in Seir, you came to the plains of Eziongaber, and turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. And the LORD said, Don't distress the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give you their land as a possession; because it's given to the children of Lot (Deuteronomy 2:8-9).
Now he is pointing out something: This area of Moab was once inhabited by the Emims and the Emims were relatives to the Anakims who were giants. Now, their fear of going into the land was because there were giants there. Now he's really thinking to build up their faith in God. "Look, you don't have to worry about the giants. God can deliver the giants in your hand. They're not supermen." The Emims used to dwell in this area of Moab until the children of Lot took it and moved in and took it. And they threw the Emims out because God had promised this area to the children of Lot. So, he's pointing out that these giants have been driven out of other territories and one of them, of course, was the territory of Moab which was inhabited by the descendents of Lot.
And the Horims also dwelled in Seir beforetime; but the children of Israel succeeded them, and destroyed them and dwelt there in their stead; And so the space that we came from Kadeshbarnea unto the brook Zered was thirty-eight years (Deuteronomy 2:12-14).
It took them thirty-eight years to make that short journey.
until all of that generation of the men of war were wasted, as the LORD had sworn unto them. For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them. [And so he said] You are to pass through Moab, this day: And when you come near against the children of Ammon, don't distress them, or meddle with them: for I will not give thee the land of the children of Ammon and any possession; because I have given it to the children of Lot. (That also was accounted a land of giants: for giants dwelt there in old times; and the Ammonites called them the Zamzummims (Deuteronomy 2:14-15; Deuteronomy 2:18-20);
Even their name strikes terror in the hearts. Can't you imagine the guys talking around the fire at night saying, "Wow, the Zamzummims are over there"? But again he's pointing out the fact that you don't have to worry about giants. The report was there are giants in the land. You don't have to worry about these giants. These giants were existing here in this land that God gave to the descendents of Lot. In Moab, in Seir and in the area of Ammon, giants were there but God delivered them.
[And so] Rise up, take your journey, pass over the river Arnon: and behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon the Amorite, the king of Heshbon, and his land: and so begin to possess the land (Deuteronomy 2:24).
So north of the area of Jabbok they began to possess the land and they began to destroy the king.
Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for God hardened his heart, made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as he has done. So Sihon came out against all, with all of his people, to fight at Jahaz. And the LORD delivered them; and smote them, and we began to take the land (Deuteronomy 2:30; Deuteronomy 2:32-33)
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