“But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the LORD your God has made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.”
– Deuteronomy 2:30
Hi James and Ellen,
It is 1404 B.C. A new day has dawned. Anticipation is running high. Tents are being taken down. Personal effects are being packed. The manna allotment has been eaten. After 38 years of wandering in an arid desert, you will do whatever it takes to cross into the land area that God said that He was giving to your people group of guys and gals to always have to live in as their very own land. The last guys – except for Moses, Joshua and Caleb, who were 38 years ago 20 years old and older have finally died. Because your people group’s guys and gals were faith challenged 38 years ago, you had to suffer the consequences of their lack of faith by having to do wilderness time for 38 years in a sweltering wasteland. All the fighting age guys 38 years ago had to die first before God will let you go into the land area that He said that He was giving to your people group of guys and gals to . . . now that the last fighting guys 38 years ago have died, explicit marching instructions for going into the land area that God said that He was giving to your people group of guys and gals to . . . have just been given to your tribal clan leaders. Moses’ travel directives are encapsulated in Deuteronomy 2. The logistics to have your people group’s guys, gals and kids move as a group to . . . were always daunting. Two million or so guys, gals and kids are to go from where you are presently camped through hostile people group land areas to where you will ultimately cross into the land area that God said that He was giving to your people group of guys and gals to . . . Moses has you trekking on a route that will have you heading towards the Dead Sea. The route will have you spending time making your way around the Seir hill country or mountainous region. Because the Seir hill country or mountainous region is Esau’s central stomping ground and because Esau is an extended family member – albeit a black sheep, to your people group of guys and gals, Moses gave specific instructions not to do anything that will upset Esau’s descendants – who are called Edomites. Because the towns of Elath and Ezion Geber are located at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba – which is the land area where Lot’s extended family – which became the Moabites and Ammonites, is living and because your people group’s patriarch – who was Abraham, and Lot were close kin, Moses tell you not to do anything to provoke Lot’s descendants. You understand that just as God is about to give your people group of guys and gals a land area to live in as their very own land, God also gave Esau and Lot land areas to live in that they could call their very own land. It will take you another 2 years before . . . it just feels right though to start walking again.
Once you get past the Edomite, Moabite and Ammonite people group land areas and cross the Arnon Gorge, you have Moses’ okay to begin to engage in battles – such as with Sihon the Amorite who is the city of Heshbon’s king. Moses tells you that as you pass through these hostile people group’s land areas that you can use the silver that you took with you from Egypt to pay for food to eat and water to drink, that you are not to worry about the hostile people groups whose land areas that you will be traveling through as these people groups will have God sent spirits of terror causing them to tremble and be filled with angst as they see you approaching with a massive confluence of 12 tribal clans totaling two million or so guys, gals and kids and that even though King Sihon will be offered a peace offering to let your people group of guys, gals and kids pass through his land area, that King Sihon will refuse to let you pass through his land area. Verse 30 confirms what you were told would happen, “But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the LORD your God has made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.” Because God sent spirits of stubbornness and obstinacy to dictate King Sihon’s decision making, you will see your battle ready guys totally wipe out King Sihon’s army, his kids and all the guys, gals and kids who lived in and around the town of Heshbon plus you will end up with all kinds of loot and all the livestock that the guys and gals had who had King Sihon as their king.
It is now 2011 A.D. It is another new day. What are you hoping to do today? Are you going to go to a place where you have never been before? Will you be doing something that you have never done before? Do you believe that it is up to you to set your own lives’ destinies? Are you pursuing lifestyles that has you responding to quests for personal self-achievement or are you letting God lead in your lives today and in the future? Do you believe that you are marching on a life track that God customized for you before He created planet Earth or do you believe that you can formulate your own life track and that God will sign off on whatever it is that you decide to do? Why is it do you think that God will at times embed in the life of a non-Christ-follower the spirit of terror or fear or obstinacy or stubbornness and/or . . . your grandpaa believes that God – in a constant, non-stop way, has unfolded, is unfolding and will unfold in the lives of every guy, gal and kid who has, is and will live on planet Earth – whether the guy, gal or kid is a Christ-follower or a non-Christ-follower, a personalized life plan or schematic. It took the Israelite people group guys and gals 38 years to get it that they needed to dutifully heed God’s overt expectations in order to . . . are you getting it? To get it is to wholeheartedly tell God that your lives are His lives to use for His sake on planet Earth.
Deuteronomy 2 (1171)