“Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the people of Israel defeated them. And Moses the servant of the LORD gave their land for a possession to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.” – Joshua 12:6 

Scripture reading: Joshua 12:1-6 

The chapter starts talking about Sihon and Og, two mighty kings with huge kingdoms on the eastern side of the Jordan outside the land of Canaan. When Israel was on the way to Canaan, they came to the border of their kingdoms and asked politely if they could pass through. But they attacked Israel and Israel defeated them by taking possession of their land.

These events might not stand out for us in the history of Israel, but they’re quite prominent in the Bible. Judging by what Rahab and the Gibeonites said, everyone in Canaan was terrified because of what Israel had done to them. In Psalm 136, among all of the reasons why we should give thanks to the LORD, the psalmist mentions how God struck down Sihon and Og, and gave their land to Israel.

The victories over Sihon and Og weren’t politically important, in the first place, but spiritually important. It was the offspring of the serpent against the offspring of the woman, trying to keep God from giving His people the inheritance He had promised them.

We need to know what God did to Sihon and Og because the offspring of the serpent continues to oppose the offspring of the woman. Those mighty enemies show you that God will never let anyone or anything stand in the way of us receiving the inheritance that Christ has gained for us. We are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us.

Suggestions for prayer

Ask the Holy Spirit to use God’s defeat of Sihon and Og to build up your faith, so that you may wrestle against “the rulers”, “the authorities”, “the cosmic powers over this present darkness” and “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”, in the strength that He provides.

Rev. Dick Wynia is currently the minister of the Vineyard Canadian Reformed Church in Beamsville, ON.