Deuteronomy 2:1 – 15 “Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir. At this time the LORD said to me, “You have been wandering around this hill country long enough; turn to the north and command the people: ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful. Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Esau Mount Seir as his possession. You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”
Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.
So we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber, and traveled along the road of the Wilderness of Moab. Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar as a possession to the descendants of Lot.”
(The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites. The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the LORD gave them as their possession.)
“Now arise and cross over the Brook of Zered.” So we crossed over the Brook of Zered.
The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them. Indeed, the LORD’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished.”
Thirty – eight years! After the Israelites failed to enter the Promised Land according to God’s orders, they wandered in the wilderness for thirty – eight years until the entire generation of fighting men had died, leaving only Joshua and Caleb among the living.
If you look at the map, you will realize that the Israelites were following the King’s Highway north until they crossed the Brook of Zered, also known as the Zered River. As the Israelites traveled, God gave them very specific instructions about how to behave towards the tribes they were to encounter, including ordering payment of silver for food and water. After watching all the fighting men who had rebelled against the Lord die off, their children and grandchildren were ready to follow God’s orders VERY carefully!
APPLICATION: What must the younger Israelites have thought as they watched the older fighting men die off one by one? The fate of these men must have served as a graphic illustration that God really was not kidding when he gave instructions. These deaths might also have served as a lesson for the next generations so that they would faithfully follow God’s orders.
What must these fighting men have thought as they watched one another die? Were their hearts still hardened or did they repent in tears, begging the Lord to save their descendants from a similar fate?
Jesus once quoted a parable to his followers that “The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth have been set on edge.” We must always remember that we are not merely living for ourselves, but also for those who come after us.
Steve Green has a song entitled “May All Who Come Behind Us Find Us Faithful. The words can serve as our prayer for today:
We’re pilgrims on the journey Of the narrow road,
And those who’ve gone before us Line the way.
Cheering on the faithful, Encouraging the weary,
Their lives a stirring testament To god’s sustaining grace.
O may all who come behind us Find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion Light their way.
May the footprints that we leave, Lead them to believe,
And the lives we live Inspire them to obey.
O may all who come behind us find us faithful.
… Surrounded by so great A cloud of witnesses,
Let us run the race Not only for the prize,
But as those who’ve gone before us. Let us leave to those behind us,
The heritage of faithfulness Passed on thru godly lives.
After all our hopes and dreams Have come and gone,
And our children sift thru all We’ve left behind,
May the clues that they discover, And the mem’ries they uncover,
Become the light that leads them, To the road we each must find.
O may all who come behind us Find us faithful.
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