Deuteronomy 3:1 – 11 “Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. But the LORD said to me, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” So the LORD our God also delivered Og king of Bashan and his whole army into our hands. We struck them down until no survivor was left.
At that time we captured all sixty of his cities. There was not a single city we failed to take—the entire region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were fortified with high walls and gates and bars, and there were many more unwalled villages. We devoted them to destruction, as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city. But all the livestock and plunder of the cities we carried off for ourselves.
At that time we took from the two kings of the Amorites the land across the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Hermon— which the Sidonians call Sirion but the Amorites call Senir— all the cities of the plateau, all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as the cities of Salecah and Edrei in the kingdom of Og. (For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.) (Og’s bed was approximately 14 feet long and 6 feet wide (4.3 meters long and 1.8 meters wide).
Just how big was King Og of Bashan? Accounts claim that Og was probably at least 13 feet tall – that’s like putting two huge pro basketball players, one on top of the other. Were there really giants? Possibly. Although there have been tantalizing reports of the finding of giant skeletons, many of these “finds” have turned out to be fakes. But the phrase that argues for the truth of the story about King Og is this: “His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.” Quite evidently, Moses feared that later generations would refuse to believe just how BIG Og really was, so he included the information regarding Og’s bed as a reference.
No matter the size of King Og, he was certainly bigger than any of his subjects or any of the Israelites. The Amorites had a reputation as fierce fighters in addition. It is interesting that God had the Israelites tackle Sihon before they attacked Og. Presumably, Sihon was a normal – sized man and therefore less intimidating. Once the Israelites realized that God really WAS helping them, they could build on their defeat of Sihon to wipe out Og and his sixty villages with all their people.
Where was Bashan? The Encyclopedia Britannica tells us that “Bashan was located in what is now Syria. Bashan was the northernmost of the three ancient divisions of eastern Palestine, and in the Old Testament it was proverbial for its rich pastures and thick forests. In New Testament times, Bashan numbered as one of the great granaries of the Roman Empire.”
APPLICATION: Procrastination is one of the most seductive temptations that many of us must face. We can make up our minds to do anything….. if we only can wait until tomorrow. But the longer we put something off, the larger the problem looms. Wait long enough, and your small problems may truly look like giants.
King Og may have been one of the largest giants that the Israelites had or face. The important word here is “face.” Rather than sit in the tents and whine about how big Og was and how terrible he might be, the Israelites simply went out and attacked. And once the Israelites had killed Og, the rest of the Amorites were probably demoralized and much easier to defeat.
Giant problems confront all of us. As I am writing, several of my friends are coping with family members with daunting health problems. In one case, the family must move a beloved relative into hospice; in another a faithful husband is driving eighty miles round – way several times a week to encourage his wife and to make sure that her rehabilitation after a major illness goes smoothly. One wife is waiting to hear how much brain damage her husband’s MRI will reveal after he has had several seizures. But in all these cases, my friends are facing the giants. When we face giants, we at least have an accurate idea of their size. When we try to avoid giants, we automatically inflate their images in our minds.
May we look to God to help us as He did the Israelites! And may we continue to face our giants, rather than running away from them.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us! Help us to realize that You are always there to support us and that when we are doing Your will, we can rest assured that You will give us strength and courage that we do not have by ourselves. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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