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Tuesday 11 April 2023

Deuteronomy 3:12-20 - The Lord your God has given you this land

3:12-17

Next comes the division of the land. While Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land itself, he did oversee the division of the land to the tribes who had asked to have the land before crossing the Jordan. This was the land given to the Reubenites, Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.


3:18-20

Moses had allowed the tribes to have this land on the understanding that they would still fight with their fellow Israelites in taking the Promised Land itself. So here Moses reminds them that their able-bodied men must go up and fight. Their wives and children, along with their livestock, could remain in the towns allocated to them. The able-bodied men could only return once the battle for the Promised Land was won. Note the phrase “until the Lord gives rest”. The Israelites had to fight, but it was the Lord who determined the outcome.


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