Moses reminds the Israelites of the victories they had over Sihon the King of Heshbon (2 v26-37) and over Og the King of Bashan (3 v1-11). These territories were to the east of the River Jordan and would be given as inheritance to the tribes of Rueben, Gad and Manasseh (v12-17). These tribes though were to send their fighting men over Jordan to help their fellow Israelites conquer the land west of the Jordan (v18-20).

The purpose of sharing these victories was to encourage Joshua and the people as they started conquering the Promised Land (v21-22). Focusing on God’s past victorious acts encourages our faith in what the Lord will do in the future. If we don’t do this God in our thinking becomes too small.

The final section of this chapter is sad as it speaks of God forbidding Moses from entering the Promised Land (v23-29). Moses instead was allowed to go up Mount Pisgah and look over to the Promised Land.

The reason for Moses missing out goes back to the incident of bringing water from the rock and Moses not fully obeying God (Numbers 20 v1-14). These reminds us that even when we are in a relationship of love and grace through Christ, we should still fear falling into sin. Sin can never be taken lightly. Like in Moses case, our sin cans till cause us to miss out on so much.