14-15 “Thirty-eight years passed from the time we first left Kadesh-barnea until we finally crossed the Zered Brook! By then, all the men old enough to fight in battle had died in the wilderness, as the Lord had vowed would happen. The Lord struck them down until they had all been eliminated from the community. 16-19 When all the men of fighting age had died, the Lord said to me, ‘Today you will cross the border of Moab at Ar and enter the land of the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. But do not bother them or start a war with them. I have given the land of Ammon to them as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.’”

20-23 That area was once considered the land of the Rephaites, who had lived there (though the Ammonites call them Zamzummites). They were also as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed them so the Ammonites could occupy their land. He had done the same for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, for he destroyed the Horites so they could settle there in their place. The descendants of Esau live there to this day. A similar thing happened when the Caphtorites from Crete invaded and destroyed the Avvites, who had lived in villages in the area of Gaza.

24 Moses continued, “Then the Lord said, ‘Now get moving! Cross the Arnon Gorge. Look, I will hand over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and I will give you his land. Attack him and begin to occupy the land.” Deuteronomy 2:14-24 New Living Translation.

I trust you got through all the 'ites' in this passage. If there were aliens in space I guess we'd call them the 'Meteorites'! But this passage shows us an important truth. We know that God gave Abraham's descendants a land to be their own. But what do we also see in verses 16-23?

We see that God gave other nations land too! In fact, this is a good example of what Paul told the proud people of Athens when he said: “God created from one man all the nations throughout the whole earth. And He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and He determined their boundaries. His purpose was for the nations to seek after Him and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him.” (Acts 17:26-27) And in a letter to Christians in Rome Paul also said: “Is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.” Romans 3:29-30

This is an important truth. Arabs and Muslims are just as dear to God as Jewish people and Israel. They all need to hear the gospel! They all need to hear that God saves us through faith in Christ and not by keeping strict religious rules. When Isaiah prophesied what God said about the Messiah he wrote: “I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)

The other important lesson of this Chapter is in vs 14-15, and in what the writer of Hebrews wrote to Christians who were thinking about turning away from Jesus because of the hostile opposition they were facing. He said “Today when you hear His voice don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested Me in the wilderness. There your ancestors tested and tried My patience, even though they saw My miracles for forty years. So I was angry with them, and I said, ‘Their hearts always turn away from Me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ So in My anger I took an oath (and said) ‘They will never enter my place of rest! (Hebrews 3:7-11)

What was God's command to Israel in vs 16 and vs 24, and do you think it was a suggestion, or was there was a sense of urgency?’

So too with the gospel! In 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 Paul says: “As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvellous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.”

May God help us to be urgent about our own souls, and urgent too in telling the gospel to all nationalities.