Israelites’ Initial Conquests:
The Lord has Moses pass by the land of Seir, given to the sons of Esau, and He has them pass by Moab, given to the sons of Lot as their possession. They too had destroyed the previous resident “giants” called: “The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; like the Anakim they are also known as Reph′aim, but the Moabites call them Emim.” (Deut. 2:10-11) Other conquered ‘giants’ were: “known as a land of Reph′aim; Reph′aim formerly lived there, but the Ammonites call them Zamzum′mim, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before them; and they dispossessed them, and settled in their stead.” (Deut. 2:20-21) “Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. And the Lord our God gave him over to us; and we defeated him and his sons and all his people. And we captured all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed every city, men, women, and children; we left none remaining.” (Deut. 2:32-34) After defeating Sihon, Moses and the Israelites headed north to Bashan and king Og. And, the Israelites attacked King Og and the 60 cities of Bashan: “we utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, destroying every city, men, women, and children.” (Deut. 3:6) Thus, did Moses and the Israelites defeat the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon of Heshbon and Og of Bashan.
Giant King Og of the Rephaim:
“For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Reph′aim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.) (Deut. 3:11) Og of Bashan was one of the race of “giants.” For this, Moses gives a measure of his bed, which was nine cubits long and four cubits wide. Or, in other words, which would put his bed at about 13.5 feet long x 6 feet wide. There is some dispute over the actual size of a cubit, but it is roughly 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 feet long. There is also a textual link with these dimensions to Ugaritic texts. The implication being to the Hebrew mind, that through destruction of Og of Bashan, and his kingdom, this proves the superiority of Yahweh over the Canaanite kings and pagan gods and religion.
Joshua to Lead the Israelites in Taking the Promised Land:
“And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings; so will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are going over. You shall not fear them; for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’ (Deut. 3:21-22) And, Moses entreated God to let him behold the Promised Land, even though he was forbidden from entering. He said: “Let me go over, I pray, and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that goodly hill country, and Lebanon.’ But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not hearken to me; and the Lord said to me, ‘Let it suffice you; speak no more to me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and behold it with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him; for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land which you shall see.’” (Deut. 3:25-28) The Lord tells Moses to climb the mountainous area of Pisgah on from the plains of Moab, specifically Moses climbs up Mount Nebo (in Jordan) to behold the Promised Land.