(REFLECTIONS ON Deuteronomy 3:1-20)

As we read through Deuteronomy it serves as a reminder for the path Israel took towards the Promised Land. In today’s Scripture, we are also challenged with asking, “what is the Promised Land?” In Numbers 32, which Moses refers to in today’s Scripture, we see the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh desiring the land east of the Jordan.

Although this initially created some tension between the two and a half tribes and Moses, in the end since they commitment to crossing over the Jordan and to help the rest of Israel to inherit the land of Canaan, Moses allowed them to possess the land that they desired.

In today’s Scripture, we are also reminded that although the land east of the Jordan was desired by Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and this request was granted by Moses, in the end it was the Lord that gave them this land.

18 I commanded you at that time: “The Lord your God has given you this land to take possession of it.”

This should also lead us to consider what the actual Promised Land was. When we think of the Promised Land, we perhaps automatically think of Canaan, the land west of the Jordan, but if that is so, did Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh fall short of the Promised Land?

Perhaps this will help us redefine what we think of as the Promised Land. Physically speaking, the Promised Land was Canaan, the land west of the Jordan, but spiritually speaking, the Promised Land isn’t just a physical piece of land, but it is the land that the Lord has given.

That is why Moses emphasized, “The Lord your God has given you this land.” If it was just the land that the tribes wanted, and that Moses gave, then it would be outside of the Promised Land. However, since it was the land that the Lord gave them and helped them to obtain, it was their Promised Land.

This reminds us that the blessings of God in our life, our church community, cannot be defined and evaluated just based on physical markers, like land, the church building, where we are physically located, but what the Lord has given is the blessing and the Promised Land no matter where it has been given.

Let us be reminded today that we are a church, not just because we have a physical location in Taipei, Shuanglian Church, or the 7th floor Chapel, but because of what the Lord has given. No matter where we gather, where we pray, where we worship, that is our Sanctuary, Holy ground, our Promised Land.

The Lord has given us life in His Son, Jesus Christ. The Lord has given us faith to believe in the faithfulness of Christ, and to desire to be in relationship with Him through Jesus. The Lord has given us hope, peace, and joy despite our circumstances.

What the Lord has given, is the Promised Land!

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy 3