Question Concerning the Hardening of King Sihon's Heart

[Seeking1]

For those who need more information about King Sihon,

 

Numbers 21:21-31 records the following:

 

And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king’s high way, until we be past thy borders. And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon. Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, 

 

Come into Heshbon,

let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:

for there is a fire gone out of Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon:

it hath consumed Ar of Moab,

and the lords of the high places of Arnon.

Woe to thee, Moab!

thou art undone, O people of Chemosh:

he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters,

into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.

We have shot at them;

Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon,

and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah,

which reacheth unto Medeba.

 

Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. 

 

While Deuteronomy 2:24-33 provides more details:

 

Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee. And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet; (as the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the Lord our God giveth us.

 

But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land. Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. And the Lord our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

 

Here is my question: What was the purpose of hardening/strengthening the Amorite King Sihon's heart at all???

 

God already stated in Genesis 15:16 that the iniquity of Amorites was already full by this time. Also, King Sihon was not a righteous king and was a ruthless conqueror, even of the Moabites. Why did God first give an offer of peace to King Sihon which He never intended to fulfill? God could have justly instructed the Israelities to simply destroy King Sihon and his Amorite subjects without offering such a "deal." Such an offer has seemed insincere to me. Why was this whole "offer" and subsequent "hardening" even necessary? I can understand why it was necessary to harden Pharaoh of Egypt, but not so much in the case of King Sihon. The King of Egypt had to be strengthened in his own evil desire to do as he pleased in order for God to give Egypt multiple judgments without Pharaoh soon surrendering due to raw fear, rather than sincere repentance. However, King Sihon's judgment was merely a single event.

 

I do have an idea of why God might have done this, but I would like to see if others have their own thoughts. Thank you!

 

 

 

[Seeking1]

Wait a minute -- I realized something almost immediately after I originally submitted this for posting, but couldn't comment on sooner -- Moses made the "offer" to Sihon, but God Himself never did, if the passage is read carefully! God told Moses to contend with Sihon in battle, but nowhere in Scripture it is recorded that He ever instructed Moses to offer "peace." I didn't read this carefully enough. I was thinking about why God would have made such an insincere "offer," but now I am going to apply the following reasoning instead to Moses, and why God would allow Moses to be deceptive like this. 

 

The Israelites were actually quite faithless and cowardly many times, and God didn't even want them to pass through the land of the Philistines due to their lack of faith (Exodus 13:17). I believe that if the Israelites had been ordered by Moses to attack King Sihon directly, instead of getting him to attack the Israelites first, the Israelities may have turned back in the day of battle and refused to rid the land of these sinners. I believe this is why Moses wanted to "offer" King Sihon "peace" first, so that he would likely refuse the "deal" and attack them first, so that the Israelites would be forced to go to battle against that Amorite nation in self defense. 

 

I believe I may have figured out the answer myself. I regretted posting this once I did (which was almost immediately afterwards). However, someone else may have this question, too, and now they have a potential answer to it. However, if others have anymore ideas or comments in general, I would like to read them. Thanks!

[Willa]

The Israelites had been instructed to wipe out all the inhabitants of the promised land because their sins had become so abominable.  They burnt their children alive and sacrificed them to their gods.  Their practices of fertility idolatry had become so perverted that God said that they were beyond the point of no return.  They weren't supposed to make any treaties with them to begin with.   When they did not completely wipe out those peoples, God left some in the land to become a thorn in their flesh.