Introduction
‘Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei. The LORD said to me, “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.” 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. 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. (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 3:1-11
Defeat Of Og King Of Bashan
As long as Israel feared their enemy, they demonstrated a lack of faith in God and God wasn’t with them, Deuteronomy 1:19-21 / Deuteronomy 1:26 / Deuteronomy 1:29-32. However, when they trusted God and God was with them, their fears left and God gave them the victory.
The Scriptures teach that our fear can be seen as a lack of faith in God, Matthew 8:25-27, and a demonstration of doubting His promises, Matthew 14:24-31. As Christians, we have nothing to fear from men, Matthew 10:24-31/ 2 Timothy 1:7.
Og were a ‘remnant of the Rephaim’, Deuteronomy 3:11, and the Rephaim were a race of giant people, Genesis 14:5. Israel totally defeated Og, the king of Bashan, Numbers 21:33-35 / Psalms 135:5 / Psalms 135:10-11 /Psalm 136:17- 21, and as a result of that victory, Israel celebrated and became greatly encouraged. Og were the last hurdle to entering Canaan, Nehemiah 9:22 / Psalm 135:11 / Psalm 136:19-20.
The victory was so great that they took sixty cities, but because they were heavily fortified cities, this would make the battle long and hard as they must have taken one city at a time.
The sixty cities didn’t include the surrounding towns and villages. They utterly destroyed cities with fortified walls, gates, and bars in addition to the giants of the land.
Notice the size of Og’s ‘bed’, it was around thirteen and a half feet long, and six feet wide. This tells us just how big the people of Bashan were, which in turn tells us how much more glorious their defeat was.
The size of the bed implies that the people of Bashan were physically larger and stronger than the Israelites, but through faith in God, the Israelites were victorious.
Israel finally ‘took the land’, which is exactly what God commanded them to do the first time, Deuteronomy 1:21.
Division Of The Land
‘Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns. The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites. Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maakathites; it was named after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.) And I gave Gilead to Makir. But to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory extending from Gilead down to the Arnon Gorge (the middle of the gorge being the border) and out to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites. Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah, from Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah. I commanded you at that time: “The LORD your God has given you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of the other Israelites. However, your wives, your children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you, until the LORD gives rest to your fellow Israelites as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the LORD your God is giving them across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you.” Deuteronomy 3:12-20
The land north of the valley of Arnon up northward through Gilead now belonged to Israel. Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh were given this land with the promise of their fighting men crossing the Jordan to wage war with their brethren, Numbers 32:1-42.
At this time, however, only the wives, children and livestock of these tribes remained in the land. The fighting men were obligated to continue with their brethren in the suppression of the nations from the land of Canaan west of the Jordan.
Once again they are commanded to take possession of the land, which is defined as waging war, the only way to take the land was to obey God’s commands. Israel were to remember that God would fight for them, Deuteronomy 1:29.
Moses Forbidden To Cross The Jordan
‘At that time I commanded Joshua: “You have seen with your own eyes all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. The LORD will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you.” At that time I pleaded with the LORD: “Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do? Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon.” But because of you the LORD was angry with me and would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan. But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.” So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.’ Deuteronomy 3:21-29
Moses recognized the all-powerful state of the Lord God as many before and later would, Genesis 18:14 / Jeremiah 32:17 / Jeremiah 32:27. Joshua had a massive responsibility in bringing the whole nation into the land and fighting for it, hence why the Lord told him not to be afraid, Numbers 27:12-23.
Moses himself, desired earnestly to see the land of Canaan but because of his sins and Aaron’s sin at the waters of Meribah they were unable to enter in, Numbers 20:1-13.
Moses pleads with God the Lord but God didn’t want to speak to him anymore about it, Jeremiah 15:1. God only allowed Moses to see the land from Pisgah, but not to go over and experience the land.
It was at this time the Lord got angry with Moses, Numbers 27:14 / Deuteronomy 32:51, and because he had been given the privilege of leading Israel from Egypt to this point, and so, carried the great responsibility of leadership, James 3:1.
With such responsibility comes great judgment, which judgment was brought upon him for striking a rock for water at Meribah. Moses and the water from the rock point us to Jesus, who was that rock, 1 Corinthians 10:4.
Because of Moses’ sin, the responsibility of leading God’s people into the Promised Land was given to Joshua, Numbers 27:12-23.
Beth-Peor is located in the vicinity of Mount Peor, Numbers 23:28. The name means ‘house of Peor,’ which comes from a temple of the Moabite god, Peor. Baal-Peor was the area where the initial entry into Canaan occurred, Numbers 25-26.
