Deuteronomy 2:36 …there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us
All of us have probably seen a little child who is disappointed or maybe a downright brat when not given something he or she wants. All of us have been to Walmart and seen a child throwing a fit and mom looking at the ceiling in despair. The child wants candy or a toy that his mom will not grant and he just throws a fit. The same child who resents not being given what he wants doesn’t realize that everything he has was given to him by his dad or mom in the first place. It can be easy to see that in a little child, yet as adults we are exactly the same way with God but don’t even know it.
In Deuteronomy 2 we find God’s provision. Now, we find God’s provision in a wonderful way, the land of Canaan, the land filled with milk and honey, the land God had promised to Israel. The premise for all this is that it all belongs to God. It didn’t belong to Israel, the nations that came before them, or the nations that came before the nations that came before Israel. It belonged to the Creator God. That has to be the premise for everything we see and say from Deuteronomy, including this chapter.
But in Deuteronomy 2 we not only see God’s provision, we see God’s withholding. Let me show you the contrast. In verse 24 God is speaking to Israel and says, “Behold, I have given into thine hand…” Then He goes on to talk about the nations before them. Israel didn’t take it. Canaan didn’t relinquish it. God gave it. God owned it and God gave it to them.
It is interesting to note that in verse 22 it says of a previous nation, “The children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead unto this day.” So, even the nations that Israel found in Canaan were not the original occupants. In fact, the Bible says of the descendants of Esau that they had succeeded another nation.
We often think that “succeed” means “to win and be victorious.” It can mean that, but it also means “to come in succession, to be the next one on the scene.” They “dwelt in their stead.” They took the place of the people who were dispossessed. We are not talking about Israel; we are talking about Esau and his descendants. That is the context in which we find the verse where God says, “I have given unto you the land.” So, God was giving them the land to succeed in the sense that they came next or dwelt in the stead of the people who had been there before. This was all at God’s provision. God delivered.
Verse 36 says, “There was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us.” So, as there is a recounting of God’s dealing with these people. They are told that God delivered them. They didn’t take. God gave. They didn’t give. God delivered. Then, in contrast, verse 37 says, “Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the LORD our God forbad us.” So, God had given land and God had also withheld land. We find that who they succeeded was a matter of God’s intent and God’s plan. Now, there is more to this than we are going to see in Deuteronomy 2. God had a long history with many of the people who were already in the land of Canaan.
We can learn from this that success is taking what God provides without fear and without pride. When I say success, I mean that in the sense that one triumphs and also in the sense that you are succeeding what came before you. All of us are in a world in which people were here after us and people were here before us. How do you find your place? How do you find success in that sense? Success is taking what God provides without fear and without pride.
The children of Israel were tempted to fear the giants in the land, yet God said, “Look, don’t fear them. I am going before you.” The time would come when they would be tempted to become smug and think, “We have these houses. We have these fields and land.” God says, “There is coming a time when you will have fields you didn’t plant, houses you didn’t build, success you didn’t deserve, and I am the one who provided this for you.” So, they should have had neither pride nor fear.
Success is also a matter of regarding what God has given or not given with gratitude and contentment. So many people have so much, yet there is no contentment and gratitude because they don’t realize that God is the great Giver. Other people feel smug, as if what they have done is purely a matter of their talent, vigor, virtues, and values. Even the gifts you have were given to you by God. You can use them or you can lose them. You can squander them or you can enhance them by hard work, but the truth is, a place to begin in life is realizing that God is the Creator and owner, the sustainer. Whatever you do or do not have ought to be a function of what God has provided and God has forbidden. Nothing that God forbids is ultimately good for you and nothing that God provides is to be taken for granted.
Success is taking what God provides without fear and without pride. It is regarding what God has given and not given with gratitude and contentment. Are you content and grateful today? Are you living in confidence and humility?