Og King of Bashan (Numbers 21:31-35)

2023-03-13

And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei. And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. (Numbers 21:33-34)

After Israel defeated Sihon and the Amorites, they dwelt in their land and further drove out the Amorites. From there, they went toward Bashan, and the giant king Og pursued Israel and they battled at Edrei. The LORD promised, “Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land” (Numbers 21:34). The king, his sons, and his people all died, and Israel received the land. They gained 60 cities from winning this battle (Deuteronomy 3:4).

Og was a giant. “For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man” (Deuteronomy 3:11). His bed was over 13 feet long! Somehow, the Ammonites got a hold of it.

The half-tribe of Manasseh received the land as their inheritance. “And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants” (Deuteronomy 3:13).

This miraculous defeat is also commemorated in the Psalms in Psalm 135:11 and Psalm 136:20.

Og was one of many giants the Lord defeated through His people. It does not matter how big your issues are; the Lord can get you through them all.