Conquest of Bashan
Audio:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/FhLutTxfIaU?list=PL4ByrircmXL6VuLmlYnLfeCfCukv68cCu
In their contest with Og and Sihon the people were brought to the same test beneath which their
fathers had so signally failed. But the trial was now far more severe than when God had commanded Israel to go forward. The difficulties in their way had greatly increased since they refused to advance when bidden to do so in the name of the Lord.
It is thus that God still tests His people. And if they fail to endure the trial, He brings them again to the same point, and the second time the trial will come closer, and be more severe than the preceding. This is continued until they bear the test, or, if they are still rebellious, God withdraws His light from them and leaves them in darkness.
Before them lay the powerful and populous kingdom of Bashan, crowded with great stone cities that to this day excite the wonder of the world--threescore cities . . . with high walls, gates, and bars; besides unwalled towns a great many. Deuteronomy 3:5