3:21-22 And Moses commanded Joshua at that time, saying, “Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings; so Yahweh shall do to all the kingdoms into which you are about to cross. Do not fear them, for Yahweh your God is the one fighting for you.”

Despite recording the people’s journey in the closing chapters of Numbers, Deuteronomy begins with another recounting, this time with more exposition and analysis. God has declared to Moses that his death is imminent, and as Israel prepares for the war Moses gives a final counsel in the form of this Book of Scripture. Moses depicts the mortal sin of the previous generation, as upon hearing the report of the size of the Canaanites and their fortifications they stubbornly refused to trust Yahweh’s proven strength and take the land. This is an important lesson; the new generation will soon see the giants and their power for themselves, and be tempted to shrink back in the same way as their fathers.

From there Israel’s wanderings through the wilderness are described, specifically their interactions with the peoples of Edom, Moab, and Ammon with respect to their own territories. Remarkably, Yahweh explains that He has given each of these people their land Himself, by destroying the great and tall and numerous inhabitants before them. What Israel is being commanded at this time is not extraordinary or unique in nature. Through this we can observe that even though this nation is God’s chosen people and special possession, He is in fact at work in all the nations. Israel (and us in the church as well) should never forget that their blessing has always been within the framework of being a blessing to the world for the sake of God’s glory and fame in the eyes of all people (Ex. 9:16; Num 14:21 etc).

In the last part of this section, Moses expounds upon the recent victories in Heshbon and Bashan, along with the vengeance upon the people of Midian. We see that the kingdom Bashan has sixty cities, and along with the other kingdoms, this campaign only took five months (Num 33:38-39 and Deut 1:3). This demonstrates to the people that Yahweh is truly an unstoppable force, and this mini-conquest should be remembered as a model of success in their upcoming test of faith.