Beginning of the End: How God Revealed His Love to Wicked Nations

 These nations on the borders of Canaan would have been spared if they had not stood to oppose Israel in defiance of God’s word. The Lord gave Abraham the promise, “In the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Genesis 15:16). God spared them for four hundred years to give unmistakable evidence that He was the only true God. All His miracles in bringing Israel from Egypt were familiar to them. They could have known the truth, but they rejected the light and clung to their idols.

When the Lord brought His people to the borders of Canaan a second time, those heathen nations were given more evidence of His power. They saw that God was with Israel in the victory over King Arad and the Canaanites and in the miracle to save those dying from the sting of the serpents. In all their journeys and encampments the Israelites had done no harm to the people or their possessions. On reaching the border of the Amorites, Israel had asked permission only to travel directly through the country, promising to observe the same rules that had governed their relations with other nations. When the Amorite king refused and defiantly gathered his armies for battle, their cup of iniquity was full, and God would now exercise His power to overthrow them.

The Israelites crossed the river Arnon and went forward against the enemy. A battle took place, and the armies of Israel won. Soon they were in possession of the Amorite country. The Captain of the Lord’s host defeated the enemies of His people. He would have done the same thirty-eight years earlier if Israel had trusted in Him.

The army of Israel eagerly pressed forward and soon reached a country that might well test their courage and faith in God. Before them lay the powerful kingdom of Bashan, crowded with great stone cities that to this day excite the wonder of the world—“sixty cities ... with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a great many rural towns.” The houses were made of huge black stones, so large as to make the buildings unconquerable by any force brought against them. It was a country filled with wild caverns and rocky hide-outs. The inhabitants, descendants from a giant race, were of impressive size and strength, and known for such violence and cruelty as to be the terror of all surrounding nations. Og, the king, was remarkable for size even in a nation of giants.

But the cloudy pillar moved forward, and the Hebrew soldiers advanced to Edrei, where the giant king waited for them. Og had skillfully chosen the place of battle. The city of Edrei stood on the border of a high, broad flatland rising abruptly from the plain and covered with jagged rocks. It could be approached only by narrow pathways, steep and difficult to navigate. In case of defeat, his forces could find refuge in that wilderness of  rocks where it would be impossible for strangers to follow.