“From the Desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying, “Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left. Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot— as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us—until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.” But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.”-Deuteronomy 2:26-30
From verse 24, we’re told Israel fired the first shot to start the holy war to take Canaan by sending “messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying, ‘let us pass through your country’“.
Right here at the beginning of this war, we encounter something interesting.
We see a replay of what happened when Moses approached Pharaoh in Egypt.
The King of Heshbon was offered peace.
All he had to do was let Israel pass through his land on the way to Canaan…
…and all would have been fine and dandy.
The King of Heshbon didn’t have to worry about eventually being occupied by Israel because his ruling territory was on the east side of the Jordan River.
In other words, it wasn’t part of the Promised Land.
But noooooooooo, the King of Heshbon had to be stubborn.
What was the result of his stupid stubbornness?
The result was the complete and total destruction of the Amorites.
This is precisely what happened with Pharaoh in Egypt.
Moses first approached Pharaoh with an offer of peace asking that he let the Hebrews go so they could worship their God.
Pharaoh said no.
What was the result?
The complete and total destruction of Egypt.
Do you see now how the Bible works in REPEATING patterns?
Let’s take a look at another pattern.
Take a look at verse 30.
“But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.”
Verse 30 essentially tells us that HASHEM hardened King Sihon’s heart.
Hmmm…where did we encounter that before?
Yup…that’s right…with Pharaoh in Egypt.
Once God hardened King Sihon’s heart, that was it.
He had reached the point of no return.
The die had been cast.
And so it was with Pharaoh.
I reiterate again.
The Torah establishes patterns that will continue to repeat throughout all the Scriptures.
We see this same pattern in the New Testament as well.
HASHEM is reaching out to mankind offering peace and salvation.
However, how will HASHEM respond to the person who remains defiant and stubborn?
We’re told there comes a time when God will no longer pursue that person.
Once that happens, that person will be permanently left in his state of wickedness.
You can call it whatever you want.
Whether you say God hardened that person’s heart…
…or He abandoned that person to eternal doom.
It doesn’t matter.
We’re just talking semantics at that point.
Either way, all hope has been lost for that person.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and eat with him,
and he with me.”
-Revelation 3:20
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