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ISRAEL CONQUERS OG, KING OF BASHAN
MONDAY, JULY 19
Deuteronomy 3:1-17

2 Corinthians 6:4-7

 

“By the word of truth, by the power of
God, by the armour of righteousness

on the right hand and on the left…”

 

ISRAEL CONQUERS OG, KING OF BASHAN
 
Israel’s conquest of Og, king of Bashan, was very similar to that of Sihon, king of Heshbon. Moses was rehearsing again in the ears of Israel how the battle went and described the extent of the land that the Lord gave Israel. This was the land of Og, king of Bashan. Like Sihon, this king also resisted Israel. The Lord delivered all the people and land into the hand of Israel as He had promised. This is Moses’ narrative of those events.
 
The new territory given to Israel: After capturing Heshbon and her cities, the next target for Israel was Bashan. The king of this land was aware of what Israel had done to his neighbours; nevertheless, they did not readily surrender. They resisted Israel. They went against Israel with full force, but that was how the Lord delivered them to Israel. God encouraged Moses not to fear them for He would deliver them to his hand. Og did not know the Lord and he depended on his own strength. Israel had already rehearsed the strategy in the conquest of Sihon and the pattern would be the same. When the battle began, the Lord delivered Og and all his people into the hands of Israel. They took all the sixty cities of Bashan, walled and unwalled towns in the region of Argob the territory of the king of Bashan. Moses said that they utterly destroyed them and exterminated all her inhabitants.
 
When Moses was narrating these past events, Israel had already seen how the battle went. However, they had not secured the land that God had promised them. It was not an easy task before them; and Moses was not going to lead them as the Lord had told him that he would die in the land of Moab. Joshua had been chosen as the new leader. At that time only two tribes of Israel and half the tribe of Manasseh had claimed their inheritance. The rest of the tribes were to have their land in Canaan. Moses used these past successes, and how God helped them, to strengthen their hearts to face the Canaanites without fear before they went into the battlefield.
 
THOUGHT: When God is the Commander in war, victory is assured.

PRAYER: Father, may I remember Thy presence in every spiritual warfare.

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