The Defeat of Sihon

Deuteronomy 2:26 Then I sent messengers from the Kedemoth Desert to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace: 2:27 “Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the roadway. I will not turn aside to the right or the left. 2:28 Sell me food for cash so that I can eat and sell me water to drink. Just allow me to go through on foot, 2:29 just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the Lord our God is giving us.” 2:30 But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him because the Lord our God had made him obstinate and stubborn so that he might deliver him over to you this very day. 2:31 The Lord said to me, “Look! I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you. Start right now to take his land as your possession.” 2:32 When Sihon and all his troops emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz, 2:33 the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, along with his sons and everyone else. 2:34 At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of them under divine judgment, including even the women and children; we left no survivors. 2:35 We kept only the livestock and plunder from the cities for ourselves. 2:36 From Aroer, which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon (it is the city in the wadi), all the way to Gilead there was not a town able to resist us – the Lord our God gave them all to us. 2:37 However, you did not approach the land of the Ammonites, the Wadi Jabbok, the cities of the hill country, or any place else forbidden by the Lord our God.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Israel asked to pass through Sihon’s land peacefully, but Sihon refused. The Lord had hardened him and gave him over to Israel, who defeated him and took his land. The passage also shows that Israel had to stay within the boundaries the Lord set.

Moses tells how Israel asked King Sihon for safe passage on the road. They promised not to turn aside and to buy food and water. They asked for the same kind of passage that had been given by Edom and Moab.

Sihon would not let Israel pass. The text says the Lord made him stubborn so that he would be handed over for judgment. The Lord then told Moses that he had already begun to give Sihon and his land to Israel.

When Sihon came out to fight at Jahaz, the Lord gave him over to Israel. Israel defeated him and his people. They took his cities under divine judgment. They kept the livestock and the goods from the cities. From Aroer to Gilead, no town could stand against them, because the Lord gave the land to Israel.

The passage also sets a boundary. Israel did not go into the land of the Ammonites, the Wadi Jabbok, the hill country cities, or any other place the Lord had forbidden. So the Lord both gave and limited. His gift came with his command.

• Israel first sought peace and only asked to pass through.
• Sihon’s refusal was not outside the Lord’s control.
• The Lord gave Sihon and his land over to Israel.
• Israel won because the Lord delivered the enemy into their hand.
• The cities were placed under divine judgment in this unique covenant setting.
• Israel did not take what the Lord had forbidden.

• Seek peace when peace is offered.
• Do not turn aside from the Lord’s path.
• Trust the Lord to give what he has promised.
• Do not treat God’s victory as a license for self-willed aggression.
• Respect the boundaries the Lord sets.

This event is an early fulfillment of the land promise. It shows the Lord giving inheritance to his people as part of his covenant plan. It also shows his rule over kings, nations, and boundaries.

We should learn to trust the Lord’s power and timing. We should obey his limits and not use his victories as an excuse for our own plans. God gives inheritance by his word, and his people must receive it with faith and obedience.

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