Morning Light – Deuteronomy 2

[Deuteronomy 2] Exiting the Rough Place. In this chapter Moses rehearses the journeyings of Israel as they leave Mount Seir. Seir means “rough place”. We have all done time here. If you are in a rough place the question looming in your mind is “how do I get out of here?” This chapter in Deuteronomy will show you the exit from the rough place into the spiritual geography where you avoid the distractions of the enemy and see the blessings of God come on you in a supernatural way.

[Deu 2:1-37 KJV] 1 Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days. 2 And the LORD spake unto me, saying, 3 Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. 4 And command thou the people, saying, Ye [are] to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: 5 Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau [for] a possession. 6 Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink. 7 For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God [hath been] with thee; thou hast lacked nothing. 8 And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land [for] a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot [for] a possession. 10 The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; 11 Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims. 12 The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them. 13 Now rise up, [said I], and get you over the brook Zered. And we went over the brook Zered. 14 And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, [was] thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the LORD sware unto them. 15 For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed. 16 So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, 17 That the LORD spake unto me, saying, 18 Thou art to pass over through Ar, the coast of Moab, this day: 19 And [when] thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon [any] possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot [for] a possession. 20 (That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims; 21 A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead: 22 As he did to 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 even unto this day: 23 And the Avims which dwelt in Hazerim, [even] unto Azzah, the Caphtorims, which came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.) 24 Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess [it], and contend with him in battle. 25 This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations [that are] under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee. 26 And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, 27 Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. 28 Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet; 29 (As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God giveth us. 30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as [appeareth] this day. 31 And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land. 32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. 33 And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. 34 And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain: 35 Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took. 36 From Aroer, which [is] by the brink of the river of Arnon, and [from] the city that [is] by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us: 37 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.

The Israelites spent many months and years in a holding pattern in various locales. One of those times was the season they spent encamped around Mount Seir. In your lifetime you will do your time camped around you own personal Mount Seir. Seir means “the rough place”. We are all familiar with this territory. When Israel came out of Seir it was because God said it was enough. “You have dwelt in this mountain long enough…” When we are in the rough place we have immediately had “enough”. But God says “wait for it … wait for it… now THAT will be enough of THAT!” When we say “enough” that’s one thing, when God says enough that’s another.

The way out of the rough place for Israel was to the north. What does that mean to us? Joel 3:17 says that God dwells in Zion and Psa. 48:2 says that Zion is in the sides of the North. Spiritually speaking to turn to the north is to turn toward God, to seek His face. Hab. 3:3 says that God comes from Teman. Deut. 28:2 says that the blessings will come upon you and overtake you. So what does this mean? If you seek His face – his judgments in the sides of the north He will come upon you from the south. The south speaks of blessing. When you are in a rough place we want the blessing but we must first seek His face. If you seek His face you will see His hand.

So they turned to the north. The way out of the rough place is to seek His face. When you are seeking the face of God the first thing you run into is the children of Esau. Who are the children of Esau? Those who have sold their birthright for a bowl of beans. Those who are so self interested and so self referred that they will sell their integrity and give up their destiny in God without any thought as to consequences. They will lie, cheat, steal all the while crying out to God like Esau did to Jacob in Gen. 27:34 “Bless me even me also my father!” Esau always has murder in His heart toward Jacob. Jacob was a prince with God but all Esau sees in a conniving little mamma’s boy who stole his birthright. God told the Israelites “leave them alone”. You cannot get mired in contention with this tribe. Why? Because as Jacob they are your twin. When you look at them you will see yourself. It is so easy to get into strife and totally derail the plan of God by contending and getting into bitterness because of treatment at the hands of those closest to you. Especially when you are coming out of the rough place and encountering people who are thoughtlessly making your life more difficult. Just keep moving toward the face of God in the north and don’t get distracted.

The next group of people you will meet in your exit from the rough place will be the children of Moab. Moab means “inbred – as by incest”. This speaks of those corrupted by their associations. They only breed with their own. If you are in their “IN” crowd you will never be accepted. They are spiritually inbred. For this crowd their highest priority and their idea of forward momentum in God is gaining the credibility of those from whom they can gain advancement in the eyes of others.

These are Lot’s people. Abraham had to separate from Lot before God told him “look south, east, west and north – I have given this to you…” Lot’s name means “covering”. His people are those who are dwellers in the plains where the easy pickings are. Lot thought his fortunes lie in association with the cities of Sodom regardless of what went on there. He was hanging out with the “IT” crowd and all the cool kids. These are people who make choices that place expediency above the will of God. Lot knew what was happening in Sodom but what He stood to gain was more important to him than his integrity or the safety of his family. At one point he was even willing to prostitute his own daughters to protect his reputation. Eventually he lost his wife and his own daughters who he cared so little about got him drunk and conceived children by incest with him. What you allow in moderation your children will take to excess. God’s instructions were to leave these people alone – just keep moving toward God. Keep seeking the kingdom. Moab speaks of those who are relationally compromised. They will surround themselves with people among whom they can find an advantage and they don’t care how that impacts you or what that makes them look like or how it affects their walk with God. As Abraham these will be people you love dearly and you will even be called on to rescue them from time to time from situations they get themselves in – but you can never have deep or abiding relationships with the children of Lot and you cannot allow yourself to get mired in conflict with Moab.

Then they encountered Ammon. Ammon also means “in bred” in the sense of being tribal. There are tribes in God but this is an unhealthy association and the idea if you are not with the in crowd you are nothing. You cannot have anything to do with these people and do not allow yourself in seeking the face of God to get detoured by trying to contend with those that think like this. If you get side tracked in contention with this crowd you will waste years and possibly derail your own destiny because they aren’t going to change. This is who they are and what they do – keep seeking the kingdom.

Finally after getting past the pitfalls of Ammon and Moab and Esau the children of Israel come into contention with Sihon king of the Amorites who dwell in Heshbon. What does Sihon’s name mean? Sihon’s name means to “sweep or to wipe out the opposition”. He dwelled in Heshbon and was an Amorite. Heshbon means “intelligent” and Amorite means “talker”. He represents the fasting talking smart guy who thinks he is going to take advantage of you by his wits and his smooth talking ways.

Notice how Moses dealt with this fast talker: He gave him an opportunity to do the right thing but God hardened his heart so that he would be exposed and destroy. If the Amorites had been allowed to live in peace as neighbor’s to Israel they no doubt would have been a contaminating influence and brought much harm to the legacy of God. You have to know how to war against this stronghold and expose them without getting mired in the devastation they leave in their wake. Keep on moving and keep on seeking the face of God in the sides of the north.