The Saga of Sihon and Og

Moses has been recalling to the people of Israel the time they have spent in the wilderness. He recalled how they had come right up to the promised land, and how the people had refused to go in because they had been afraid of the people there. Now, at the time that Moses is recalling this, the people, the younger generation of Israel (remember that the older generation had passed away in the 40 years in the wilderness); the younger generation had already taken some of the land.

Let’s look back at Deut1.3-5

Deuteronomy 1:3–5 ESV

In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them, after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying,

Now, we know that Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land, that is, the land over the Jordan. But here we see that he got at least a taste of the Lord’s giving of the land, because Moses was still with the people when the Kings, Sihon and OG, were defeated, and then their land ultimately becomes the land given to the tribes of Rueben and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

An important point here is that Moses did not get to see the “good land beyond the Jordan”, but he at least got to see part of the promise.

So back to our context, here is Moses still recalling the history of what has happened to the people from their time in the wilderness until the present time of this history, which is after they defeated the Kings Sihon and Og, and before they cross the Jordan into the promised land.

Last week we observed how God had told the Israelites to leave alone the land he had given to the descendants of Esau, the Edomites, and also the descendents of Lot, the Moabites. God was faithful to his promise to them, and therefore he kept Israel from taking any of their land, or harassing them. We saw that God is faithful and God is sovereign.

Now we get to the story of the defeat of 2 Kings, the Saga of Sihon and Og. I will read the whole narrative, and then we will pick up some important lessons contained there for us.

Deuteronomy 2:24–3:11 ESV

‘Rise up, set out on your journey and go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle. This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’ “So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon the king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, ‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot, as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us.’ But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day. And the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.’ Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. And the Lord our God gave him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and all his people. And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction every city, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The Lord our God gave all into our hands. Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the Lord our God had forbidden us. “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ So the Lord our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. And we devoted them to destruction, as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every city, men, women, and children. But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir), all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. (For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)

We will begin with a look at King Sihon. The first thing we must note is the promise of God to Moses: Deut 2.24-25

Deuteronomy 2:24–25 ESV

God has stated that he has given Sihon into their hands. When God says he has already done something, even though we haven’t seen it done, we can depend on him that it is already determined and will be accomplished. Moses has seen God fulfill many promises already, and he trusts in God’s Word.

Moses, then, knows ahead of time what God is about to do. His trust in God’s faithfulness and that God will complete what he says He will do, his great assurance that if he is obedient and faithful to God, that God will surely do what he said, is admirable. You see, Moses, doesn’t usurp God’s authority. He already learned a very critical lesson in the desert, when God said to speak to the rock, and instead Moses hit the rock, God still caused the water to come out but He told Moses, “You didn’t do it my way. You didn’t follow the instructions. Now you will learn a very tough lesson, because the discipline you will receive for not following my instructions will be that you will not enter the promised land.

Now Moses has learned that God will do what He says He will do, and it is simply our job to obey. So now Moses has a choice. He has been told by God that Sihon is given to him. He could simply go in as a warrior and take it all, or he can do what we see he did do in Deut2.26-29

Deuteronomy 2:26–29 ESV

“So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon the king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, ‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot, as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us.’

So Moses, knowing God has already given this land to Israel, still offers an opportunity to Sihon. Just like Abraham trusted God to provide a sacrifice when He went up with Isaac, just as Joseph trusted that his dreams had a meaning that God would reveal, Moses knows that God will provide the land of Sihon, but from the perspective of Moses, he wants to do things ethically, honestly. He wants to be sure that it not be said of him that he did not give peace a chance.

But just as the flower children of the 60s learned, you can hold hands and sing “Give peace a chance”, but there are evil people in the world who do not serve God and so the offer of peace is often not accepted. But Moses is going to give Sihon a chance for peace. However, Sihon would not do this.

Deuteronomy 2:30 ESV

But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.

This is very similar to language we see about Pharaoh, isn’t it?

Exodus 4:21 ESV

And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

I’ve known believers who have struggled with this concept. They will say, well that isn’t fair. If God hardened their hearts, how can they be held responsible for their sin? There are a few points we can consider in this situation. One is that in the case of Pharaoh, and in the case of Og, we aren’t talking about sinless men who had their innocence destroyed because God hardened their hearts. We were all born into sin. Rom5.12

Romans 5:12 ESV

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

So from our very beginning, we have a nature of sin. So God isn’t taking an innocent and corrupting them. In fact, we know that scripture says that God does not temp people. People really tempt themselves and others. God does test people, and he allows testing as he did with Job.

So neither Pharaoh, nor Sihon can stand before God and say “you hardened my heart, so I am not guilty”. The question is not that. But could we say God made them worse sinners than they already were? No, we can’t say that either. So what does it mean that God hardened their heart? Well, it could be a passive hardening. What I mean by that is that God’s Holy Spirit is a restraining force against sin in our world. Absent the Holy Spirit, sin would be completely unchecked in our world. And you see a taste of that in pockets of our world today and throughout history. What happens when God removes the restraints against sin? The sinful become even more sinful.

So we have examples from scripture clearly of this, and we also have some examples in world history as well? How else do you explain some of the worst, murderous people? How do you explain the cold, calculating murder of someone like Hitler, or Pol Pot, or Putin? God sometimes removes the restraints against sin. Why? In the big picture, God is seeing to it that he will ultimately get glory over his enemies. Enemies of God will get the justice they deserve. You either get justice or grace. Part o the grace is the restraint of the Holy Spirit that keeps us from being even worse than we already are.

But ultimately, when we grapple with questions such as “Why does God harden the hearts of some people?” We must be careful that we do not question God in an unfaithful way, or in a way that reflects our distrust of his goodness that is worked out through his sovereign choices. Paul wrote to the Roman church about the fact that in the end, we must trust that God is doing what is right.

Romans 9:10–29 ESV

And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ” And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.”

So if we are tempted to say about this story, how can God find fault with Sihon? Remember what Paul said, “Who are you, o man, to answer back to God?”

Remember that God is sovereign, righteous and just. And the God who is sovereign, righteous and just hardened the heart of Sihon king of Heshbon, just as he did Pharaoh, and just as he has with others.

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 5: Deuteronomy The Kings are Defeated and Delivered

The Old Testament steadily refuses to see any inconsistency between human freedom and divine sovereignty

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 3: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel a. The Defeat of Sihon (2:26–37)

It is said of Sihon that the Lord God “had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate” (v.30) for the definite purpose of placing him into the hands of the Israelites, or “to deliver Sihon and his country over to you” (v.31). This may account for Moses’ initial offer of peace to Sihon. He was sure that the Lord would, in his own way, give him victory over the Amorite king. The attribution to the Lord of making Sihon stubborn and obstinate without mentioning mediate or contributing circumstances or persons is not an uncommon procedure in the OT. Sihon by his own conscious will refused Israel passage; yet it was certain that God would give Sihon’s land to Israel.

So Moses offered his peaceful terms, even knowing the ultimate result. So in the end, who gets the blame for this defeat? Well, Sihon chose to go to war with Israel, but God chose to give the land to Israel, so the outcome ultimately was already decided.

Deuteronomy 2:32–37 ESV

Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. And the Lord our God gave him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and all his people. And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction every city, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The Lord our God gave all into our hands. Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the Lord our God had forbidden us.

You may wonder what “devoted to destruction” means. When we get to Deuteronomy chapter 7, we will get into this a little deeper, because this is another one of those topics that sometimes people are bothered by. But to give a very brief explanation for now, knowing we will cover in more detail later, this is what is referred to as “Holy War” language. A holy war is a war that God ordains and is considered to be in the fight himself. And we see in the language of the temple that “devoted things” are things that are set apart for God. So we see that sometimes God ordains that all plunder is devoted to him. He doesn’t want his people to be tempted by or steered away from holiness by these things.

So in some cases, we see he forbids the survival of any living thing and the total destruction of all property, livestock, everything. One thing does not burn, and that is metal, so usually metal things devoted to God that are the plunder of war are given to the temple. They can then be melted down and used, but they are made holy, or in other words, they are devoted to God.

In this case, the livestock was kept as spoil, and the plunder of the cities.

Now before we move to King Og, I do want to point out one last thing, a bit of irony in the story. Look at Deut2.36

Deuteronomy 2:36 ESV

From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The Lord our God gave all into our hands.

There was not a city too high for us. Not a city was too high for them. They conquered them all. Remember, this is the younger generation, who had no skill in battle. They only had their faith in God. But what did the older generation say about these lands, the older generation who had seen the miracles of God in the Exodus? They exaggerated the cities:

Deuteronomy 1:28 ESV

Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.” ’

And the sones of Anakim are the giant people, so now let’s look at Og, who was a literal giant of a King.

Deuteronomy 3:3–7 ESV

So the Lord our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. And we devoted them to destruction, as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every city, men, women, and children. But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder.

Again we see the contrast between the older generation who said the cities were too high, the enemies too great, but the younger generation went in and defeated. These cities, sixty of them had walls, gates, and bars, and there were many smaller towns or villages as well. All of them were destroyed by Israel.

We finish this part of the narrative with some information about King OG. He was a remnant of the Rephaim, the giant people. It seems that his sarcophagus, translated bed in my translation, was a tourist attraction. People could come and see it, and it was nine cubits.

Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (c. The Conquest of Transjordan (2:26–3:11))

An interesting detail is here preserved about Og. He was the last of the Rephaim (cf. 2:10–12), so that, strictly speaking, he was a descendant of the original inhabitants of the land and not an Amorite (cf. 2:11, 20). On his death he was buried in a massive sarcophagus (lit. bedstead, ‘resting place’) made of basalt, called iron here because of its colour. Similar large sarcophagi have been found in Phoenicia […] According to the record here the sarcophagus could be seen in Rabbah Ammon (the modern Amman) at the time Deuteronomy was committed to writing. Its dimensions are given as nine cubits by four cubits, i.e. 13 or 14 feet by 6 feet measured by the common cubit (lit. ‘cubit of a man’).

So if we allow that the sarcophagus was a couple feet longer than the body it contained, he was still at least 10 feet tall. The average height of a man in that era was about 5’5”. So to the men of Israel, he truly would have been a monster. Even today, if a ten foot tall man walked into our sanctuary, we would all look in amazement, even those of us whose mothers taught us not to stare.

We have just enough time left to wrap up with the aftermath of the defeat of Sihon and Og:

Deuteronomy 3:11–22 ESV

(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.) “When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning at Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities. The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of Rephaim. Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) To Machir I gave Gilead, and to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, the border of the Ammonites; the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east. “And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel. Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, until the Lord gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the Lord your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’ And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’

So we see hoe Moses gave some of the land to the Reubenites and the Gabites and to the half-tribe of Mannaseh. And now they were to prepare for entering into the land across the Jordan. The men of valor, that is, fighting age men, were to cross over, the wives, little ones and livestock could stay behind in the fortified cities they had just taken, and then once the land beyond the Jordan was taken, they would come and join them. Finally, they are reminded once again of how God fought for them, so they had no reason to fear when they crossed the Jordan.

So many lessons in this narrative today. We see throughout, the sovereignty of God. He is sovereign in salvation, in hardening the heart of Sihon, He is sovereign over the land. And he continues to be faithful. We see that the new generation of Israel have the faith to go and fight and receive the blessings of God because of it. We see that the cities were not too strong to fall under the hand of God, as the previous generation had thought. We see that God wants the people to remember the things he had done, so that they would have the faith to continue to serve him in obedience.

May we learn the same lessons in our own lives. God is sovereign in our lives, he is faithful, he is just. If we have faith to follow him, He will be with us. And we must remember The things He has already done to prove himself, so that we can live in stronger faith, even if our times get tougher.

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