Deuteronomy 2

God was giving the land of Canaan to His people, the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all those who were adopted into their number. He commanded them to take that land by conquest.

That did not mean that He was giving them every land. The land of Seir belonged to the descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother. The lands of Moab and Ammon belonged to the descendants of Lot, Abraham's nephew.

The hand of the Lord governs the affairs of peoples and nations.

God had spoken concerning Israel in the wilderness. He had blessed them for forty years with great provision. Moses said to them, “You have lacked nothing.” But he also said concerning the Passover generation that, “the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.”

But now the time had come for Israel to move into their possession, the land of Canaan. This was not their idea. It was the plan and gift of God. He would put the dread and fear of them upon all peoples.

Even before they came to Canaan, the Lord gave to Israel the land of Sihon. Sihon defied Israel and Israel's God and would not let them pass by unharmed on their way to Canaan. His territory became part of the Lord's gift to His people.

The God of Israel is the God of all creation and providence. Kingdoms rise and fall according to His command.

His sovereignty over Canaan should not surprise us. He is sovereign over all lands on the face of the earth. He gives them to whomever He pleases.

But there was something different going on in the Lord's gift of Canaan to Israel. The Lord would establish there the seed of a kingdom that would go far beyond the borders of any nation. This would be His kingdom, and it would extend over all the earth.

Israel would first move forward by conquest, but this conquest would be very limited. It was not to include Edom and Moab, at least not in the days of Moses.

But in the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a new king and kingdom would be announced to the world. The methods of its expansion would be very different. It would move forward not by killing but by dying. Yet it would be a kingdom of life.

Not only would the method of kingdom expansion be different, the extent of that kingdom would go far beyond the borders of Canaan and the territories east of the Jordan. The message of dying love and eternal life would press forward to all the peoples of the earth. The conquest of God's love would conquer the hearts and lives of people everywhere. This new kingdom would never end.