Giants were not just fabled beings written about in the early chapters of Genesis. Even unto the days of Moses and the wars of the Hebrews prior to their entrance into the Promised Land, giants existed. And even unto the time of a young David. These giants were simply men of a large stature, but of course their scale has at times been exaggerated. Suffice it to say that men of frightful proportions roamed the land and their defeat by the Israelites demonstrated that with God's power we may even slay giants.
In Deuteronomy 3 we hear of one of the more famous of these giant men, Og. Og is mentioned also in Numbers, but here in Deuteronomy we learn of an interesting fact. Deuteronomy 3:11 reads: "For only Og, king of Basan, remained of the race of the giants. His bed of iron is shewn, which is in Rabbath of the children of Ammon, being nine cubits long, and four broad after the measure of the cubit of a man's hand." Nine cubits apparently works out to be about 13 feet in length, and so this would indicate that Og was at least 12 feet in height! Of course these small details are inconsequential to the ultimate meaning of the text, which, again, is meant to show God's might even in the face of earthly power. Og's "bed," which some scholars believe was actually his sarcophagus, is a tantalizing bit of minutiae. I find it even more interesting that Moses even indicates where this bed can still be seen ("in Rabbath of the children of Ammon"). My commentary includes an interesting side-note. It says that Alexander the Great would have beds made for his troops extra large, so that the inhabitants of the region he was conquering would think his army was comprised of giants and be fearful. I suppose a similar thing could have occurred with Og's bed, but we'll never know, at least not in this life.
To get back more on track to what really matters in this book, I want to also mention the utter heartbreak I felt toward the end of the chapter, when Moses relays God's pronouncement that he will not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. I mentioned in an earlier post that Moses's tone in Deuteronomy is much more melancholic than in previous books. He writes with a sadness, perhaps a sadness for the loss of his people and for his own loss. The sins of the people prevented them from entering the Promised Land, and Moses's shortcomings would prevent him as well. In Deuteronomy 3:25 it seems that Moses is still hopeful that he may yet be able to pass over the Jordan. But the Lord responds to Moses, "Go up to the top of Phasga, and cast thy eyes round about to the west, and to the north, and to the south, and to the east, and behold it, for thou shalt not pass this Jordan" (Deuteronomy 3:27). I could feel the utter sorrow Moses must have felt at that moment! He can gaze out over a most beautiful and bountiful land, but he cannot enter. That promise has been made to Joshua. Moses encapsulates the Old Law, and the Old Law can only get us so far in reaching God in heaven. Joshua represents the New Law via his figuring of Jesus Christ, and it is the New Law which will allow us passage into God's dominion in heaven. In the end, of course, Moses enters the eternal Promised Land, as we see him described during Jesus's Transfiguration. His temporary sorrow here on earth when barred from Canaan must now seem as nothing as he enjoys forever the Beatific Vision of God. He is now in eternal bliss!
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