Conquests Recounted
3 “Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og, king of Bashan, [a]with all his people came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 2 But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand; and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ 3 So the Lord our God delivered Og also, king of Bashan, with all his people into our hand, and we smote [b]them until no survivor was [c]left.4 We captured all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates and bars, besides a great many [d]unwalled towns. 6 We [e]utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, [f]utterly destroying [g]the men, women and children of every city. 7 But all the animals and the spoil of the cities we took as our booty.
8 “Thus we took the land at that time from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the [h]valley of Arnon to Mount Hermon9 (Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir): 10 all the cities of the plateau and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 (For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his [i]bedstead was an iron [j]bedstead; it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. Its length was nine cubits and its width four cubits [k]by ordinary cubit.)
Now, it doesn’t tell us how many soliders King Og had, but he controlled sixty towns (possibly more villages, that isn’t quite clear). Beyond that, King Og was a formidable figure, being the last of one of the races of giants (the Rephaites).
These were the type of people that had made the Israelites turn back in fear 40 years ago, but when they trusted in God, there was no army that could stand against them.
It sounds so simple, just trust in God. But we see it with the Israelites time and again, and we see it in our own lives over and over: it is far too easy to get going on your own steam. Then once you’ve got going, you think you need no one and nothing else, and can do all things on your own.
But Paul reminds us “I can do all things… through Him who strengthens me.” Yes, we can and will do incredible things, but only if we trust in the one who can give us the power to do His will. “Trust in the Lord will all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, and He will direct your path.”