 |  |
Sihon. Sihon, however, "would not suffer Israel to pass through his border". Our
inheritance lies beyond the borders of this earth, even in the heavenlies, but the conflict
started by Amalek is perpetuated by Sihon even here and now. Israel consequently smote
Sihon and possessed his land "this side of Jordan" (Deut. 4: 47). In Numb. 21: 1-3 we
have one more encounter recorded:--
"And when King Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel
came by way of the spies, then he fought against Israel, and took some of them
prisoners."
By way of the spies.--We know that Moses sent the spies (Numb. 13: 17) at the
command of the Lord (13: 1, 2), but we must not forget the words of Ezek. 20: 6:--
"In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of
Egypt into a land that I HAD ESPIED for them, flowing with milk and honey, which
is the glory of all lands."
Was there any element of unbelief in this spying out of the land? Was it a concession
to the weakness of the flesh, much like the law of Moses concerning divorce
(Matt. 19: 3-8)? It appears to have made one more opponent, and led to the captivity of
some of Israel. There is a lesson for us here. Let us so fully trust the goodness and the
word of the Lord that we shall "walk by faith and not by sight", needing neither the
evidence of the grapes of Eshcol to encourage us, nor the description of our giant foes to
dishearten us, resting in the blessed victory already ours in Christ (Rom. 8: 37, 38), and
recognizing that "as our day so shall our strength be". We are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us.
King Og of Bashan.--This king was the only one left of the giants, thereby connecting
him with the seed of the serpent, and fit type of the principalities and powers that war
against the purpose of the Lord. The reader may know the book entitled The Giant Cities
of Bashan, where the literal character of the word "giant" is demonstrated. The
destruction of King Og of Bashan is recounted in Psa. 136: 20 and followed by the
refrain, "for His mercy endureth for ever". The satanic character of the Canaanites
justifies this somewhat strange use of the word mercy.
These opponents, Amalek, Sihon and Og set before us the character of the attack we
may expect "this side of Jordan". The full triumph follows the crossing of the Jordan.
The third conquest.
Joshua reaches the banks of the Jordan and lodges there "three days" before passing
over (Josh. 3: 1, 2). They were to go on a new journey, "For ye have not passed this way
heretofore" (3: 4). The passage of the ark and of the people through the Jordan was to be
taken as a pledge that the Lord was among them, "and that He will not fail to drive out
from before you the Canaanite" (3: 10). Twelve men were chosen, one for each tribe,
who took twelve stones from the firm bed of the river as a memorial. All Israel were
involved in this crossing, the ark of the covenant also pledging God's word and power in