In our text today a king hatefully refuses Israel passage through his territory, just as the king of Edom did. Unlike the king of Edom, this king will mount a preemptive attack on Israel even though Israel comes in peace.
"Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon king of the Amorites: 'Let us pass through your country. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink any water from any well. We will travel along the King's Highway until we have passed through your territory.'" (Numbers 21:21-22) The Amorites were descended from Noah's son Ham, through Ham's son Canaan, according to Genesis 10:15. The king of the Amorites is going to deny the Israelites' request. "But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory." (Numbers 21:23a)
We learned earlier in the book of Numbers that the Edomite king amassed troops at his border to deter Israel from attempting entry. Sihon goes even further; he not only amasses troops but goes on the offensive and attacks Israel. "He mustered his entire army and marched out into the wilderness against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he fought with Israel." (Numbers 21:23b) This action is uncalled for but we'll learn in Deuteronomy that the Lord had already determined to bring defeat upon him. This king is a wicked man who has had many opportunities to repent, but instead of repenting he has continued to grow worse. The Lord has been patient with him so that He can never be accused of not giving the king chances to change his ways, but judgment is now at hand. Just like the Lord allowed evil Pharaoh's heart to grow harder and harder in the book of Exodus because it fulfilled His purpose both for Pharaoh and for Israel, we'll find out in the book of Deuteronomy that the Lord allowed the heart of Sihon to be hard against the Israelites. He allowed the king to behave in this manner as the last straw, so to speak, because He intended to accomplish the king's defeat through the soldiers of Israel.
The Lord could have deposed the king without any human help but I believe Israel needs a military victory at this point in time. It must have been so discouraging to face a second king who, out of hateful prejudice, denied them peaceful passage. Yesterday's text ended on a spiritual high but it's common in this life to face an enemy attack right after experiencing an especially joyous time in the Lord. The people rejoiced yesterday over the good water they found and they praised the name of the Lord but today the devil tries to knock them back down so they'll fall prey to doubt and grumbling once again. But it won't work this time. The Lord is going to discipline Sihon by the sword of Israel. In allowing Israel to be a part of the king's defeat, the Lord gives Israel the faith and confidence to keep moving boldly forward toward the inheritance He promised long ago.
"Israel, however, put him to the sword and took over his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only as far as the Ammonites, because their border was fortified. Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its surrounding settlements. Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon." (Numbers 21:24-26) Sihon had taken this territory by force, at some time in the past, from the king of Moab. As we already know, the Moabites were related to the Israelites. The Moabites were descended from Abraham's nephew Lot and the Lord will tell the Israelites in Deuteronomy 2 not to disturb any of the Moabite settlements because, due to their kinship, the Lord does not intend to give any Moabite land to the Israelites. So we see that Sihon is a cruel and warlike man, for he made war in the past with the Moabites (the kinsmen of the Israelites) who were not at war with him but who were living peacefully in their own settlements. Now in today's passage he makes war with the Israelites who wanted nothing more than to pass through his territory without bothering anyone.
The book of Judges speaks of our passage today, saying that Sihon "did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He mustered all his troops and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel". (Judges 11:20) Why did the king not trust Israel? Israel hasn't bothered a soul on her way to the promised land. In fact, since the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites haven't fought anyone except the Amalekites who sneaked up and attacked them from behind at Rephidim in Exodus 17:8-16. The Lord gave Israel victory over the Amalekites in that battle, but it was a battle Israel wouldn't have had to fight if she had not been unjustly attacked. Also, even though Edom denied Israel entry and amassed troops at the border to prevent her from even thinking about using the highway through Edom, Israel accepted this decision and went around Edom; Israel did not attack Edom's soldiers. There's no basis for Sihon's fear of Israel except his own prejudices. The Israelites are different from the Amorites. The Israelites are perhaps greater in number than the Amorites at this location. But that doesn't mean they aren't peaceful. In his own mind, the king perceives them as a threat and becomes paranoid about the security of his territory and attacks them for no reason.
Numbers 21 is the end of the line for the king. Our text indicates he met his death in this chapter because it says Israel "put him to the sword". We will not find Sihon mentioned alive after this but we will find Israel's victory over him mentioned several more times in the Bible. In Psalms the king will be mentioned as one of the "mighty kings" who were "killed" by Israel, so I think we can safely conclude that this king's life ended in Numbers 21 due to his wicked prejudice and cruel treatment of Israel.
The remainder of our text contains a poem and it's not completely clear who wrote it. Some of the commentaries I consulted say it was composed by the Amorite poets. Other scholars feel the Israelite poets wrote it. Either way, this poem describes Sihon's conquest of Moab, the inability of Moab's chief god to prevent the loss of the Moabite territory in this region, and the defeat of Sihon by the Israelites. "That is why the poets say: 'Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt; let Sihon's city be restored. Fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the citizens of Arnon's heights. Woe to you, Moab! You are destroyed, people of Chemosh! He has given up his sons as fugitives and his daughters as captives to Sihon king of the Amorites. But we have overthrown them; Heshbon's dominion has been destroyed all the way to Dibon. We have demolished them as far as Nophah, which extends to Medeba.' So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites." (Numbers 21:27-31)
I personally feel our verses above are a bit difficult to follow but after much study and thought I believe the Israelite poets likely wrote it about their victory over Sihon and to explain why they inhabited the land of the Amorites and why---although the Lord will not allow the Israelites to take territory directly from the Moabites---the Israelites weren't obliged to return to the Moabites any land that Sihon took from them in the past. Throughout history, land has belonged to whoever is able to take it and hold onto it. At some point during Sihon's reign, from his capitol at Heshbon he ordered his troops to attack the Moabites at Ar. Sihon and his soldiers were exultant that Chemosh, the chief god of the Moabites, was not able to defend the Moabites from Sihon and his army and his gods. The Amorites gloated over their victory and put down the name of the Moabite god, saying this god had handed over the Moabites' sons and daughters to the enemy. So we see that this territory originally belonged to the Moabites but they lost it to the invading army of the Amorites. But Sihon and his people couldn't boast for long, for Sihon made the fatal mistake of attacking Israel---a people who were at peace with him. Neither Sihon's army nor his gods were able to keep the land from falling into the hands of the Israelites because the Lord gave Israel victory over the Amorites. This means Israel now owns the title to the land the Amorites took from the Moabites. It's the Israelites who are speaking in verse 30 of the poem, saying, "We have overthrown them (the Amorites) and "we have demolished them as far as Nophah". Verse 31 goes on to say, "So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites."
The Lord allowed the Moabites of this region to be conquered by the Amorites. That decision appears to be irrevocable, perhaps because the Moabites quickly fell away from the religion of their forefather Lot (who worshiped the same God as his uncle Abraham) and fell into idolatry. The Lord gave the Moabite land into the hand of the Amorites for a time. But the Amorites were heathen idolaters too and their king, Sihon, was a wicked man. In time judgment fell upon Sihon and the Amorites of this region when they attacked the Israelites. Now the Israelites are the rightful owners of this territory because they took it in battle after being wrongly attacked by the Amorites. The Lord does not ask or want Israel to hand the deed to the land back to the Moabites from which it was taken some time ago. This is part of the territory the Lord promised to Israel, for He knew He intended to remove it from the hand of the cruel Sihon, and Israel is under no obligation to return it to the people who possessed it before Sihon took it from them by force.
Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. The prophet Daniel, a man who was shown visions of kingdoms to come, said that the rising and falling of kings and kingdoms is something that is controlled by God who "deposes kings and sets up others". (Daniel 2:21) The Apostle Paul said the same thing in the New Testament, reminding the believers in Rome that all governing authority (whether those rulers are godly rulers or wicked rulers) "have been established by God". (Romans 13:1) The Lord allowed the Moabites to come to power in the region of Ar for a time, then He allowed them to be conquered by the Amorites, then He allowed the Amorites to be conquered by Israel. All this was orchestrated by God. Now, at the end of our passage today, we find Israel inhabiting the region by the will of God.
Join us tomorrow as we find Israel winning the victory in another battle, and this battle involves a king who was not only the general of a mighty army but who was also a literal giant. (Deuteronomy 3:11 says he was so tall that his bed was fourteen feet long!) This king, and perhaps some of his soldiers as well, comprise part of the giants the twelve Israelite spies saw in the land back in Numbers 13. It was these giants that caused ten of the spies to wrongly assert that Israel could not take the land. It was these giants that caused ten of the spies to stir the people up into a rebellion against Moses and against God, causing the people to doubt God's ability to give them the land. But God is bigger than any giant Israel ever faced. He's bigger than any giant you and I will ever face too.
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