Old Testament: Deuteronomy 2.5–6

To read the Bible in a year, read Deuteronomy 1–2 on March 6, In the year of our Lord Christ 2025

By Don Ruhl 

God only promised a certain piece of property to Israel, which, by comparison to the rest of the world, was very small. Nevertheless, it was theirs but they could not take other lands: “Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink” (Deuteronomy 2.5–6). 

Israel was not simply about conquering land. The Lord only wanted them to conquer the Land of Canaan, because he wanted them to eliminate the evil people who were inhabiting the land. 

He needed a nation to whom he would give laws, promises, prophecies of a Messiah, and so on, and the Lord did not need a large piece of land to accomplish those things. 

Questions from today’s reading and devotional: 

• Are you content with what you have? 
• How long has Israel been in the land? 

To subscribe go to EmailDevotionals.com and click “Follow” 

Don preaches with the Savage Street Church of Christ in Grants Pass, Oregon. 

Listen to his sermons here: GrantsPassChurchOfChrist.com