God’s Word for You
Numbers 21:21-25 Victory over Sihon
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, November 4, 2021
The Defeat of Sihon and Og
21 Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites to say, 22 “Permit us to pass through your land. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard. We will not drink the water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”
Before Israel made their way to Pisgah and Mount Nebo, they needed to cross through the land occupied by the Amorites. This had once been Moabite territory, but in recent years the Amorite chieftain Sihon had driven the Moabites out of the plateau north of the Arnon river. This was a recent development, since Sihon’s victory song about it (see verses 26-30 below) claims the achievement for Sihon alone and not his father. Therefore, sometime between 1425 and 1410 BC, Sihon had occupied this land, conquering Heshbon and the towns within about a ten-mile radius of Heshbon, including Medeba (five miles south), Dibon (ten miles south) and Nophah (somewhere near Medeba).
Israel needed to pass through this region. As they had done with the Edomites, they offered to walk through without violence and even without pausing to drink from any wells or taking anything from the fields or vineyards. But from where they stood, there was no other path into Canaan. Sihon would have to let them Pass through, or fight against God and his people.
23 Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. Instead Sihon gathered all his people together and went out into the wilderness to confront Israel. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. 24 Israel struck him with the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only as far as the Ammonites, because the Ammonite border was strong. 25 Israel took all these cities. Israel began living in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its villages.
Sihon did not agree to their terms. He did not trust a stranger to keep a promise (Judges 11:20). He jealously guarded the deep pools of Heshbon (Song of Solomon 7:4) and the productive fields (Isaiah 16:8) and groves of fruit trees (Isaiah 16:9). So he mustered his warriors and lined up against Israel for battle.
Since Miriam died in the first month of this final, fortieth year of the exodus (Numbers 20:1), and the Book of Deuteronomy begins in the eleventh month of the same year (Deuteronomy 1:3), and there had been 30 days of mourning after the death of Aaron soon after Miriam’s burial (Numbers 20:29), this battle must have taken place (allowing for travel through the wasteland and the detour around Moab) in about the third month of the year, or about June by our calendar. The wadis (gulches) flow during the rainy season which normally ends in May, but even if the brooks and streams were still wet, they would easily have been crossed.
The encounter happened at Jahaz (Yahatz) and the brook or gulch known as the Wadi eth-Themed, some fifteen miles southeast of Heshbon as the crow flies, but a much longer march as the scorpion scuttles or the snake slithers. The weapons in use at the time were mainly clubs (Job 41:29), spears (Psalm 57:4), stones thrown by slings (Proverbs 26:8; 1 Samuel 17:40), bows and arrows (Genesis 27:3), and axes (1 Samuel 13:20). Sometimes improvised weapons were also used, like Shamgar’s oxgoad (Judges 3:31). Swords were not unknown, but it’s doubtful how many swords Israel possessed prior to this battle, since even the ancient weapons of their ancestors, Simeon and Levi (Genesis 34:25) would have been confiscated by the paranoid Egyptians during the oppression (Exodus 1:11). Following the battle, it would have been remarkable if the Israelites did not plunder the Amorite casualties for better weapons.
The brawl at the Jahaz would have been an angry, bloody fistfight, with daggers and knuckles as much as spears and blades. But the Lord fought for Israel: “The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths… He struck down mighty nations and killed mighty kings—Sihon, king of the Amorites” (Psalm 135:6,10-11).
We’re told that the Israelites did not press the fight to the nearby region of Ammon to the north. Content with this victory, Israel was free to move, as we saw in verses 19-20, to the valley below the Pisgah ridge near the Jordan.
God blessed Israel with a victory! It was not yet a time to celebrate, since another enemy was close by, an ally of Sihon the defeated king. But when we receive any victory with God’s help, we should remember to thank him, whether that victory is over an enemy who slanders us, a child’s stubbornness, a co-worker’s gloom, a worrisome stain in clothing, our own ignorance, or just a mountainous pile of dirty laundry, dishes, or household chores. “With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies” (Psalm 60:12). Much more important is the victory of Jesus over death, over the grave, and over the power of the devil (1 Corinthians 15:57). If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). If God permits a setback, he has a reason in mind. If God permits a victory, then there, too, he has our best interests at heart. When we walk according to his will, we can be confident that we are not battling against the One, the only One, who is truly our helper in times of trouble. “God’s grace and mercy are with his elect, and he watches over his holy ones.”
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.