Deuteronomy 2:26-37 – Eradicating evil influences

Deuteronomy 2:24-25, the Lord told the people of Israel to “Arise, set out, and pass through the valley of Arnon”. He assured them of the land of Sihon and the Amorites and promised that they would begin to take possession of the promised land. They were told not to be afraid to fight the Amorites for God has already put a fear in the hearts of the people everywhere for the Israelites. Furthermore, God promised to instill fear in the hearts of the people who had received the report of Israel. It would cause them to tremble and be anguished because of them.  

Assured that the Amorites would be fearful of them, Israel began their campaign with a different strategy. Instead of being the aggressor and attacked Sihon, Moses initiated a peaceful negotiation. His messenger told the king that they just wanted to pass through the land and would be willing to pay for the food and water that they would use. But verse 30 tells us that God had already hardened the heart of Sihon so as to deliver them into the hand of His people. So Sihon obstinately refused the peaceful offer given by Israel. This signaled that it was time for the Israelites to deal with them. So verse 32 tells us that the Amorites came out to battle against the people of Israel.  

In a way, the whole event looked as if the aggressor was king Sihon and the Amorites instead of Israel. Israel was seen here as needing to respond to the aggression. It appeared as if they were thrust into battle by default and not by choice. In this way, the Lord gave King Sihon and his land over to Israel who went out and took their cities and destroyed the wicked people till there was no survival. This was the first of the comprehensive victory that they had. This was needed to boost their confidence in the battles coming up.

The troubling issue that confronts us in this passage is: why was there a need to destroy everyone - men, women, and children? Israel could have just taken the city and made the people their prisoners of war without obliterating them. Why was there a need to annihilate the people?  The clearest answer we can get is from Deuteronomy 20:18. God called for the complete destruction of the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. In that verse, he gave the reason, so that “they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God.”

In exterminating the Amorites, God was eradicating the source of the evil influence to ensure Israel’s purity. Few things must be taken into consideration. Firstly that Israel was God’s agent for religious and moral purity. Secondly, God had chosen Israel as His instrument to judge the wickedness of the nations. Thirdly, the destruction of the Amorites was to preserve Israel's holiness. Today, God still wants people who are set apart in purity to be ambassadors here on earth. We must not be influenced by the world to represent Him better. So Romans 12:2 urges us not “to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of our mind….” We are the salt of the world to make people thirst after God!