Yesterday Moses recounted how King Og (a giant) of Bashan and his entire army met them in the roadway and attacked them. The Lord instructed Moses at that time, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon."
Sihon also came out against Israel with his entire army but the Lord enabled Israel to win the battle and to take over everything that had been under Sihon's rule. Now a similar situation is upon them, only this time the king is a giant, but the soldiers are to think back on how the Lord gave them victory over Sihon and be encouraged. The appearance of King Og was frightening and I believe that's why the Lord had to say, "Do not be afraid of him," but the Israelites knew He helped them win the victory against Sihon and they are to trust that He will help them win the victory against Og.
In this life we'll face small battles and we'll face giant battles. If our first battle was with a giant we might lose heart and go running for the hills. But the smaller battles train us to fight the bigger battles. If the Israelites had met up with King Og before they met up with King Sihon, even the Lord urging them not to be afraid might not have been enough to rally the troops. But because the Lord had already taken them straight through Sihon and his army, Israel's troops trusted Him to take them straight through Og and his army too. There are times in this life when the Lord removes obstacles from our paths and there are other times when He tells us to keep marching forward straight through the obstacles. It may look like there's no way forward but He will make a way, just like He made a way for Israel time and time again.
The Lord told the men not to be afraid. I can't say whether or not any fear lingered in their hearts asthey went into battle but it would be human nature to feel anxiety while charging ahead against a giant and his terrifying army. But, as the saying goes, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear." Whether or not the men still felt any lingering fear as they forged ahead, they didn't let it stop them. They trusted in the Lord's promise. They trusted in the Lord's strength. If He said victory was assured, victory was assured. Period.
"So the Lord our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors. At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them---the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan. All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages. We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city---men, women and children. But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves." (Deuteronomy 3:3-7) What was it the ten faithless spies had said about forging forward toward the promised land? They said, "The people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw the descendants of Anak (giants) there...We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." (Numbers 13:28,31) These men weren't wrong when they said there were huge fortified cities or men of great stature. That was the truth, both inside the promised land and also on the way to the promised land. Where they went wrong was claiming the job couldn't be done. If it depended solely on human strength and ingenuity, then possibly it couldn't have been done, but with God all things are possible. If He says a thing is going to be done, victory is assured.
Moses continues, "So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon. (Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.) We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salekah and Edrei, towns of Og's kingdom in Bashan. (Deuteronomy 3:8-10) Their victories against these two kings acquired them much territory on the east side of the Jordan. After they cross the Jordan, and when they face more giants and more armies and more fortified cities, they'll be able to think back on the victories the Lord gave them on the east side and this will bolster their faith to believe the Lord is going to give them all the victories He promised on the west side.
To conclude our portion of Scripture today, Moses provides this interesting bit of trivia regarding Og, king of Bashan: "(Og king of Bashan was the last of the Rephaites. His bed was decorated with iron and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)" (Deuteronomy 3:11)
Og was the last of the Rephaites on the east side of the Jordan. Later in the Bible we'll find there were still some descendants of the Rephaites on the west side of the Jordan. You'll recall from Deuteronomy 2 that the term "Rephaite" is synonymous with "Anakite", "Emite", and "Zazmummite". Different tribes referred to these men of extra tall stature by different names. You'll also recall from Deuteronomy 2 that the Ammonites had driven all the Rephaites from the region of Ar and had settled in their place sometime before Israel emerged from Egypt. Now we learn that Og's enormous bed ended up on display in Ammonite territory. Did the Ammonites come and get it from Og's palace at Bashan? Did the Israelites give the bed to their relatives the Ammonites? We don't know but it's interesting to think about why the Ammonites would have wanted the bed to put on display. When we convert cubits into feet we find out that the bed was approximately 13.5 feet long which indicates Og may have been somewhere between 12ft and 13ft tall. I think the Ammonites enjoyed having this bed on display so they could point to it and say, "We once fought giants just like the one who slept in this bed! We drove them out of Ar and took what was theirs. What mighty deeds we have done!"
In contrast to the Ammonites, the Israelites had no interest in taking Og's bed with them. I think perhaps this is because Israel gave all thanks to God for the victory. The Israelites felt no need to point to this oversized bed and say, "What mighty deeds we have done!" Israel's troops felt no need to brag on themselves; they knew the victory was won only because the Lord was on their side, for Og and his people were fearsome foes. Instead of pointing to a huge iron bed and boasting about their military prowess, I think the Israelite troops pointed toward their God and boasted about His military prowess. They gave credit where credit was due whereas the Ammonites, in my opinion, likely gave all the credit to themselves. We were told in Deuteronomy 2:21 that it was the Lord who enabled the Ammonites to drive the Rephaites out of Ar, but we don't know whether the Ammonites (who had fallen into idolatry) gave the Lord any credit for this victory.
Whenever we're facing a battle, it helps to think back on battles the Lord already helped us to win. And when we win this current battle, we owe it to the Lord to give Him all the credit for it. That's what we find the Israelites doing in our passage today and we could learn a lot from their example. They encouraged themselves in the Lord by remembering how He came through for them in the past. This helped them to move forward in faith and win an even greater victory. Then, once the victory was won, they gave all the praise to Him.
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