The Lord called his people to treat the Moabites with the same kind of respect as they did to the descendants of Esau. For the land of Moab had been allotted to the descendants of Lot as a possession/inheritance, and thus was not part of Israel's Promised Land. Fighting, holy war or otherwise, was not to happen.
9 L'Eternel me dit: N'attaque pas Moab, et ne t'engage pas dans un combat avec lui; car je ne te donnerai rien à posséder dans son pays: c'est aux enfants de Lot que j'ai donné Ar en propriété.