Moses has been recalling the time when Israel defeated King Sihon the Amorite. On their way to the promised land, the Israelites requested to pass through his territory, but instead of allowing them peaceful passage he attacked them.
Moses describes how he made the request of King Sihon. "From the Desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying, 'Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left. Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot---as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us---until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.'" (Deuteronomy 2:26-29)
We have something interesting here. In Numbers 20 we were told that Esau's descendants rejected Israel's request to pass through. We were never specifically told that the Moabites didn't allow passage but we know the king of Moab wanted to drive the Israelites away and that he hired a prophet to curse them. We might infer from this that the Moabites didn't allow passage either.
How do we resolve this issue? Scholars offer several possible explanations. We know Israel has come full circle in the wilderness during the past four decades. It may be that they were rejected the first time they wanted to pass through the Edomite and Moabite territories but not the second time. Another explanation is that the Hebrew words rendered as "pass through" in verse 28 are the same Hebrew words rendered as "pass by" in Genesis 18:3. If that's the case, then Moses may be saying that the Edomites and Moabites allowed them to pass by (but not through) unharmed and that they also sold them food and water. Yet another explanation is that the king of Edom and the king of Moab rejected Israel's request but that some of the citizens who lived on the outskirts of those territories were sympathetic to the Israelites and let them pass through on the fringes of the land and also sold them food and water. Some scholars believe, if you read our passage today in the original Hebrew (which I cannot), that Moses isn't saying the Edomites and Moabites allowed them to pass through but that the Edomites and Moabites were willing to sell them food and water in exchange for silver.
I don't know the answer but I don't believe the Bible contradicts itself anywhere. I don't believe there is a single error on the pages of God's holy word. If Moses says the Edomites and Moabites helped Israel in some way, then we can be sure they did. It may not have been a majority of the citizens who helped. It may be that they were willing to take Israel's money but weren't willing to let Israel use their major highways. But I do not believe there are any errors in the Scriptures. I think in this case it's simply a matter of us not having all the information at hand. We don't know every detail of Israel's time in the wilderness; Moses is simply hitting the highlights. The people he is talking to would have known all about whatever the Edomites and Moabites allowed and Moses doesn't go over that here because he's talking about their interactions with King Sihon. In the context of our chapter there's no reason for Moses to go back over Israel's dealings with the Edomites or the Moabites. He just tells King Sihon that the Edomites and Moabites showed some form of kindness or lenience to Israel at some point and that the Israelites were peaceful toward those peoples. He's telling the king this so he will know he has nothing to fear from Israel.
Sihon has nothing to fear from Israel until he makes himself her enemy, that is. If he had merely refused entry, he wouldn't be doing anything others hadn't done. It wouldn't be an act of war to tell them they couldn't pass through. But he's a wicked man and, for whatever reason, he hates Israel. He wants to attack her. He welcomes the opportunity to fight her. Like the king of Egypt, his heart is hard toward the Lord and toward the Lord's people. As He did with the king of Egypt, the Lord allows him to be who he wants to be and the Lord allows him to do what he wants to do. Sihon wants to be cruel and hard-hearted and the Lord lets him have his way so he can be defeated. "For the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as He has now done." (Deuteronomy 2:30b) The Lord doesn't force anyone to be stubborn and hard-hearted. But He doesn't force anyone to have a willing spirit and a loving heart either. Sihon works himself up into a rage and the Lord does nothing to stop it because He's going to use Sihon's wickedness to bring him down. The Lord is going to let Sihon attack Israel so Israel will have the right to fight him and take his territory.
The Lord hasn't always prevented people from being mean to us, has He? I definitely believe there are times when He keeps people from carrying out their bad intentions toward us but I also believe there are times when He allows them to be the sinners they are and do the wicked things they want to do in order to bring about something good for us through those circumstances. And He uses it as a means of bringing down judgment or discipline upon our enemies. In the Bible we can find several references to people's sins being complete or filled up, meaning they reach a point where they bring the Lord's wrath upon them. I've heard this referred to as a tipping point, with this analogy being used: They've been filling up their bucket of sins one drop at a time for a long time but then suddenly one last drop tips it over. That's what I believe happened to King Sihon. We don't know all the wicked things he's done in his life but attacking Israel is the tipping point for his bucket of sins. His time is up. The Lord has given him decades to repent and change his ways but he has grown progressively more evil. We can know that the Lord gave him many opportunities to see the error of his ways because the Bible tells us that He is not slack concerning His promise to bring judgment against wickedness but that what may appear to us as slackness is actually a display of His patience with mankind, for we find Him "not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance". (2 Peter 3:9) The Lord was patient with Sihon because He didn't want him to perish. He wanted Sihon to come to repentance but he never did and never will. As a result, Sihon is going to lose not only his territory but also his life, and when he stands before the great and holy Judge he will not be able to accuse Him of never giving him opportunities to be a better man. Sihon refused all the Lord's overtures, causing the shell around his heart to grow harder every day. In the judgment, this king will have no one to blame but himself.
When Sihon refused to allow Israel safe passage, and when he amassed his entire army against Israel, Moses must have felt dismayed. But the Lord encouraged him that this was all part of His good plan for Israel. "The Lord said to me, 'See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess the land.'" (Deuteronomy 2:31) What looked like a terrible situation was actually a blessing. That's why the Lord says something like, "Don't be afraid of this wicked king or his vast army. Don't look on this situation with human eyes; look at it with spiritual eyes. I'm using this man's sin to take what belongs to him and give it to you. He just put the final nail in his coffin by coming out to fight and try to kill My people. I won't allow his wicked intentions toward you to come to pass. Instead I'll use his wickedness to bless you. Trust in Me, no matter what your eyes are telling you. I know the situation looks bad according to human understanding but I am the one who is in control here, not the wicked king of the Amorites. Pharaoh of Egypt thought he was in control too, and look where that got him! I showed him who the true King is and I took enslaved Israel away from him. I'm about to show Sihon who the true King is and I'm going to give all that he has into your hands."
Our circumstances in this world sometimes look bleak but if we could see them from God's perspective we'd know He's in control of them and has a purpose for them. He never allows anything to happen to us that is not for our ultimate good. Our situation may be difficult, we may not understand it, and it may not be what we wanted. It may, in fact, be a bitter pill to swallow. We may not know the reason for it until this life is over and we stand in the presence of our Lord. But I believe when that day comes we'll be able to look back over our lives and see how all the puzzle pieces fit together perfectly. And, difficult as our circumstances were at the time, we'll be able to thank Him for them once we see them from His perspective.
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