Remember back in Numbers 13:33 when Israel cried because they claimed they would be “grasshoppers” in the sight of the Canaanites? That fear led them to want to turn around and run back to Egypt, choosing slavery over what they thought was certain death in the supposed conquest.
The tables have turned. It’s still the same people that are occupying Canaan, but now, a new generation of Israelites have emerged. And this group has been through some battles—literally. They’re not scared of the Ammonites like their predecessors were.
In some ways, the fear from the earlier generation was warranted. The nation of Canaan is possessed by giants, the smallest of which would’ve been bigger than the average Israelite by at least a foot.
King Og by himself is said to sleep in a bed that was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide (Deuteronomy 3:11). For reference, I’m 6’4” and I sleep in a bed that is nearly seven feet long. A thirteen foot bed would take up most of my bedroom.
It’s a testament to this group of Israelites that when Sihon rose up in battle, Israel didn’t flinch (Numbers 21:23-24). And when God told them to “not fear” Og, they bravely went into battle. So complete were these victories that Deuteronomy 3 records that not a single survivor was left.
But these weren’t the only victories that Israel enjoyed during this stretch of time. Moses casually mentions tin Deuteronomy 3:4 that they took sixty cities—sixty!—from Og in Bashan. That’s a mini-conquest in itself, and Moses got to be a part of it.
In fact, Moses tells them to remember these victories as they head into Canaan—how God was with them, how they stood against giants, and how every single one of them was delivered into their hand.
Numbers 21 is more than just a series of battles, though. It’s a creation of the gateway into Canaan. As the book of Joshua begins, Israel is positioned on the east bank of the Jordan River. They’ll cross and slice right through the middle of Canaan, splitting the land in two. Jericho is one of their first targets, and is the first major city that they’ll topple.
What they did in these earlier stages should’ve set the stage for what they do later. People can debate the morality of exterminating every last living thing in these cities, but that’s what God commanded. Their failure to do it in the rest of Canaan is what allowed the sin from the land to creep into Israel.
That wasn’t the case with Sihon and Og. They annihilated every part of their existence. If they had done that everywhere, maybe Israel could’ve enjoyed a longer time of peace and prosperity in the land.