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Deuteronomy 2:16-21 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 2:16 “When all the fighting men had died among the people,

Deuteronomy 2:17 Yahveh spoke to me, and this is what he said:

Deuteronomy 2:18 ‘Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.

Deuteronomy 2:19 When you get close to the Ammonites, don’t show any hostility to them or provoke them, because I will not give you any of the Ammonites’ land as a possession; I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.'”

Deuteronomy 2:20 This too used to be regarded as the land of the Rephaim. The Rephaim lived there previously, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummim,

Deuteronomy 2:21 a great and numerous people, tall as the Anakim. Yahveh exterminated the Rephaim at the advance of the Ammonites, so that they took possession from them and settled in their place.

pine boxes

A death in the family or social group is a terrible thing, and always brings sadness and a feeling of despair. There is something wrong about death, and I am grateful that God has death on his enemies list. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.¹ But in today’s text, it was the death of the last warrior who rebelled against God’s command that made it possible for the Israelites to go forward.

Lord, although we don’t understand when the people we know and love start filling pine boxes, we choose to trust you to finish your plan.