Deu 2:36 | KingComments | STEP | In their dealings with their related nations, Israel has had to respect their possession. They were not allowed to take possession of anything from the inheritance that those related nations had received from the LORD. Nevertheless, there are also nations whom they have met on their way to the promised land to whom they have had to adopt a very different attitude. With such nations they had to fight if they were not willing to give the land. Despite this, to these nations too, the Israelites were not allowed to approach with haughtiness. Sihon, initially, was given a chance to capitulate without battle. He refused to, and thus, through his obstinacy lost his land, his empire and his life. The hardening of his heart by the LORD only confirms the already present inflexible attitude. Sihon was the king of the Amorites. Heshbon originally belonged to the Moabites, but the Amorites had conquered it ( ) and expelled the Moabites. Already in the area on the wilderness side of the Jordan, the Amorites had to be destroyed and the land inherited. The LORD has given His people the land. His people only had to take possession of it. What God gives must be conquered by us. He could have thrown it into our laps without a fight, but He has chosen that we have to conquer it. He wants us to show that we appreciate what He gives, by fighting for it to acquire it. He also teaches us that we are to depend on Him for the fight. We must learn where to fight and where to avoid fighting. It is not a fight against believers, but against systems and teachings. The area before the Jordan is as much the inheritance as the promised land on the other side of the Jordan. The actual blessings of the land are not the only blessings reserved for us. Besides the blessings of the land – for us: the heavenly blessings – there are also earthly blessings, such as food, clothing, health. Of such blessings, the area before the Jordan, that is the area on the wilderness side of the Jordan, is a picture. There are spiritual blessing like the new birth counted as earthly blessings too; a blessing to be enjoyed on the earth. Such spiritual blessings can be found for example in the letter to the Romans. When we read there about justification and other consequences of the death of the Lord Jesus, it has to do with our life as a righteous person on earth which has become for us a wilderness. When the Lord Jesus speaks in John 3 of “earthly things” ( ), He does so in response to what He has said earlier about being “born again” ( ). Then He goes on to speak of “heavenly things” and tells us of eternal life ( ). God wants us to receive the earthly blessings from His hand as well. Taking possession of the area before the Jordan is presented here as the will of God. The end of the book of Ezekiel describes the division of the land in the future, when the Lord Jesus will reign. There we see that all tribes have a large part of the land and also a part of the area in the wilderness side of the Jordan. The problem of the two and a half tribes is not that they wanted the area before the Jordan, on the wilderness side thereof, but that they only wanted that area and nothing of the land. All the people despised the land thirty-eight years ago and because of that, wandered in the wilderness all this time. The two and a half tribes did not learn anything and they did not want to enter the land even now. It is God’s purpose that we own the ‘area before the Jordan’, but according to the manner He provides it. In the Reformation there was little eye for the heavenly blessings; only the earthly blessings were seen. How about us? How is the relationship between enjoying the earthly blessing and the heavenly blessing with us? Our prayers give an indication of this. What are the topics? Are we praying primarily for health, work and family, or are we talking to the Lord mainly about the spiritual growth and well-being of ourselves, our family members and the members of God’s church? It’s easy to point a finger of blame at the two and a half tribes, but what about us? We can possess the earthly blessings in the manner of Sihon and Og. Then, we possess the earthly blessings as the world possesses them. Many unbelievers also have good health and clothing, while believers can be ill and suffer lack. Taking possession of the heavenly blessings begins with taking possession of the earthly blessings as the LORD provides. Therefore the LORD says in and in : “Begin to take possession” and “begin to occupy”. God gives Sihon over to Israel. In this way we too can continue in spiritual strength in the awareness that no spiritual city is too high for us ( ). The Lord also makes everything available to us. That is not dogma, but something we learn in practice. Paul is at the end of his life, in the plains of Moab, as it were, looking back on his wilderness journey and can say: “I have fought the good fight” ( ), whereby no city was too high.

‏ Deuteronomy 2:36

Sihon Given into the Hand of Israel

In their dealings with their related nations, Israel has had to respect their possession. They were not allowed to take possession of anything from the inheritance that those related nations had received from the LORD. Nevertheless, there are also nations whom they have met on their way to the promised land to whom they have had to adopt a very different attitude. With such nations they had to fight if they were not willing to give the land. Despite this, to these nations too, the Israelites were not allowed to approach with haughtiness.

Sihon, initially, was given a chance to capitulate without battle. He refused to, and thus, through his obstinacy lost his land, his empire and his life. The hardening of his heart by the LORD only confirms the already present inflexible attitude.

Sihon was the king of the Amorites. Heshbon originally belonged to the Moabites, but the Amorites had conquered it (Num 21:26-29) and expelled the Moabites. Already in the area on the wilderness side of the Jordan, the Amorites had to be destroyed and the land inherited.

The LORD has given His people the land. His people only had to take possession of it. What God gives must be conquered by us. He could have thrown it into our laps without a fight, but He has chosen that we have to conquer it. He wants us to show that we appreciate what He gives, by fighting for it to acquire it. He also teaches us that we are to depend on Him for the fight.

We must learn where to fight and where to avoid fighting. It is not a fight against believers, but against systems and teachings. The area before the Jordan is as much the inheritance as the promised land on the other side of the Jordan. The actual blessings of the land are not the only blessings reserved for us. Besides the blessings of the land – for us: the heavenly blessings – there are also earthly blessings, such as food, clothing, health. Of such blessings, the area before the Jordan, that is the area on the wilderness side of the Jordan, is a picture.

There are spiritual blessing like the new birth counted as earthly blessings too; a blessing to be enjoyed on the earth. Such spiritual blessings can be found for example in the letter to the Romans. When we read there about justification and other consequences of the death of the Lord Jesus, it has to do with our life as a righteous person on earth which has become for us a wilderness.

When the Lord Jesus speaks in John 3 of “earthly things” (Jn 3:12), He does so in response to what He has said earlier about being “born again” (Jn 3:3-8). Then He goes on to speak of “heavenly things” and tells us of eternal life (Jn 3:13-16). God wants us to receive the earthly blessings from His hand as well.

Taking possession of the area before the Jordan is presented here as the will of God. The end of the book of Ezekiel describes the division of the land in the future, when the Lord Jesus will reign. There we see that all tribes have a large part of the land and also a part of the area in the wilderness side of the Jordan.

The problem of the two and a half tribes is not that they wanted the area before the Jordan, on the wilderness side thereof, but that they only wanted that area and nothing of the land. All the people despised the land thirty-eight years ago and because of that, wandered in the wilderness all this time. The two and a half tribes did not learn anything and they did not want to enter the land even now. It is God’s purpose that we own the ‘area before the Jordan’, but according to the manner He provides it.

In the Reformation there was little eye for the heavenly blessings; only the earthly blessings were seen. How about us? How is the relationship between enjoying the earthly blessing and the heavenly blessing with us? Our prayers give an indication of this. What are the topics? Are we praying primarily for health, work and family, or are we talking to the Lord mainly about the spiritual growth and well-being of ourselves, our family members and the members of God’s church? It’s easy to point a finger of blame at the two and a half tribes, but what about us?

We can possess the earthly blessings in the manner of Sihon and Og. Then, we possess the earthly blessings as the world possesses them. Many unbelievers also have good health and clothing, while believers can be ill and suffer lack. Taking possession of the heavenly blessings begins with taking possession of the earthly blessings as the LORD provides. Therefore the LORD says in Deu 2:24 and in Deu 2:31: “Begin to take possession” and “begin to occupy”.

God gives Sihon over to Israel. In this way we too can continue in spiritual strength in the awareness that no spiritual city is too high for us (Deu 2:36). The Lord also makes everything available to us. That is not dogma, but something we learn in practice. Paul is at the end of his life, in the plains of Moab, as it were, looking back on his wilderness journey and can say: “I have fought the good fight” (2Tim 4:7), whereby no city was too high.