Joel M Bradshaw

5I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession...9I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession...18I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.—Deuteronomy 2

Moses was recounting the directions on how to enter the land. They were to seek passage through other people’s lands, but were to treat them fairly. Buying food and water instead of taking or demanding. I love that God remembers the people from the past.

Esau gets some Bible time. He is the one famously remembered in Genesis 25 as the twin who sold his birthright to his brother Jacob (whom God later renamed Israel). And when it came time to get the blessing, Jacob deceived his father Isaac into thinking he was Esau. Isaac did proclaim a type of place for Esau (Genesis 27), and we are told Esau landed in the Seir region (Genesis 32). When Jacob met Esau again and wanted to give him or bribe him with gifts, Esau claimed to have plenty (Genesis 33).

As for Lot, we remember him from the time when Abraham was known as Abram and before he became a father. Lot was his nephew and was like a lieutenant to Abram. Abram let Lot choose the territories he wanted (Genesis 13) and would later rescue Lot from kings of that land (Genesis 14). Lot would be delivered by angels when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19).

Think of Esau as the father of the Edomites and Lot as the father of the Moabites and the Ammonites. So here in our chapter today, God told Israel not to harass or provoke these people to war. They are peoples tied to Abraham and his story. I like that God remembers them here. They have parts to play in God’s great story, and Israel was to leave them in God’s hands.

One of the reasons that we view God as faithful is that he keeps his promises. He remembers Jacob and he remembers Esau. He remembers Abram and he remembers Lot. We often don’t know how the people that God brings into our lives play a part in God’s story. But as we focus on glorifying God (1 Corinthians 10:31), we love our neighbors and ultimately leave their stories in God’s hands. Our focus now is trust and obedience. Dependance upon God. You might have a Lot or an Esau in your story. You might just be a Lot or an Esau in somebody else’s story. God expected Israel to obey him. No excuses. To show covenant love for Him by loving others. That remains our story, too.–JMB