Day 50: I've got your back - Deuteronomy 3 vs 1 – 20.

It’s a longer reading today but verses 17-20 have an important lesson.

1-2 “Next we turned and headed for the land of Bashan, where King Og and his entire army attacked us at Edrei. But the Lord told me, ‘Do not be afraid of him, for I have given you victory over Og and his entire army, and I will give you all his land. Treat him just as you treated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.’ 3-7 “So the Lord our God handed King Og and all his people over to us, and we killed them all. Not a single person survived. We conquered all sixty of his towns - the entire Argob region in his kingdom of Bashan. Not a single town escaped our conquest. These towns were all fortified with high walls and barred gates. We also took many unwalled villages at the same time. We completely destroyed the kingdom of Bashan, just as we had destroyed King Sihon of Heshbon. We destroyed all the people in every town we conquered—men, women, and children alike. But we kept all the livestock for ourselves and took plunder from all the towns.

8-10 “So we took the land of the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River - all the way from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon. (Mount Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians, and the Amorites call it Senir.) We had now conquered all the cities on the plateau and all Gilead and Bashan, as far as the towns of Salecah and Edrei, which were part of Og’s kingdom in Bashan. 11 (King Og of Bashan was the last survivor of the giant Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

12-13 “When we took possession of this land, I gave to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the territory beyond Aroer along the Arnon Gorge, plus half of the hill country of Gilead with its towns. Then I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan - Og’s former kingdom - to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (This entire Argob region of Bashan used to be known as the land of the Rephaites. 14 - 17 Jair, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh, conquered the whole Argob region in Bashan, all the way to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. Jair renamed this region after himself, calling it the Towns of Jair, as it is still known today.) I gave Gilead to the clan of Makir. But I also gave part of Gilead to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The area I gave them extended from the middle of the Arnon Gorge in the south to the Jabbok River on the Ammonite frontier. They also received the Jordan Valley, all the way from the Sea of Galilee down to the Dead Sea, with the Jordan River serving as the western boundary. To the east were the slopes of Pisgah.

18-20 “At that time I gave this command to the tribes that would live east of the Jordan: ‘Although the Lord your God has given you this land as your property, all your fighting men must cross the Jordan ahead of your Israelite relatives, armed and ready to assist them. Your wives, children, and numerous livestock, however, may stay behind in the towns I have given you.  When the Lord has given security to the rest of the Israelites, as he has to you, and when they occupy the land the Lord your God is giving them across the Jordan River, then you may all return here to the land I have given you.’” Deuteronomy 3:1-20 New Living Translation.

In preparing Israel to cross the Jordan river to take possession of the land God had promised, Moses reminds them of the victory God gave over a strong King who had come out against them. (vs 1-2) There's a quaint comment in vs 11 describing how large King Og's bed was, indicating that he was a descendant of some large people who had lived in those days. (Like Goliath the giant).

But the main focus here is that vs 12-13 tell us that the land they had already won on the East side of the river was given to some of the Israeli tribes. So for them the 'war was over' and they could settle down. Or could they? What did Moses instruct them to do in verses 18-20?

We see something similar to what Moses said to those who already had land about helping their brothers in Philippians 2 vs 3-4 where Paul says to Christians: “Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. And look out for one another's interests, not just for your own.”

We live in a world where most people only look out for themselves to make sure they're ok. Many grow up in families where each one does their own thing and always wants their own way. But this is not how we are called to live in God's family. God teaches us to care deeply for each other - to share - and to help one another grow in His love. If you are someone who knows the rest and joy Jesus gives, then be ever ready to reach out a helping hand to your brothers and sisters, even in the most humble ways. We of all people should be able to say of each other 'I've got your back'.