The Stiffened Heart of a Sovereign God: Text: Deuteronomy 2:24-37
Introduction: The Author of the Story
We live in an age that is allergic to authority, particularly divine authority. Modern man wants to be the author of his own story, the captain of his own soul. He wants a god who is a celestial butler, available when needed, but otherwise unobtrusive. He certainly does not want a God who writes the entire script, directs every scene, and assigns all the roles, including the role of the villain. But the God of the Bible, the only true God, is precisely this kind of author. He is not a character in the play; He is the playwright. And if we fail to grasp this, we will misread every line of Scripture, and particularly those passages that make our modern sensibilities squirm.
This passage in Deuteronomy is one such place. It presents us with what appears to be a series of contradictions. God gives Israel a command to provoke a king to battle, and in the next breath, Israel offers that same king words of peace. God declares that He has already given Sihon's land to Israel, but then commands them to take it. And most pointedly, God holds Sihon accountable for his refusal to cooperate, a refusal that was the direct result of God stiffening his spirit and making his heart obstinate. Our therapeutic age reads this and cries foul. It sounds like entrapment. It sounds unfair.
But this is only a problem if we begin with the assumption of human autonomy. If man is the center of the story, then God's actions here are unjust. But if God is the center of the story, if He is the sovereign Creator and we are the creatures, then these events are not a problem to be solved, but rather a profound revelation of how God governs His world. This is not a story about the free will of Sihon versus the power of God. This is a story about how the sovereign will of God is accomplished through the responsible choices of men, even rebellious men. God is not constrained by Sihon's choices; Sihon's choices are the very instruments of God's unassailable purpose. This passage is a master class in divine providence, showing us that God's decrees are not fragile things that can be thwarted by a stubborn king, but are rather robust, intricate, and always accomplished, down to the last detail.
The Text
'Arise, set out, and pass through the valley of Arnon. Look! I have given Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land into your hand; begin to take possession and provoke him to battle. This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under the heavens, who, when they hear the report of you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you.'
"So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, 'Let me pass through your land, I will go only on the highway; I will not turn aside to the right or to the left. You will sell me food for money so that I may eat, and give me water for money so that I may drink; only let me pass through on foot, just as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God is giving to us.' But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land, for Yahweh your God stiffened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to give him over into your hand, as he is today. And Yahweh said to me, 'See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possess, so that you may fully possess his land.'
"Then Sihon with all his people came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz. But Yahweh our God gave him over to us, and we struck him down with his sons and all his people. So we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction the men, women, and little ones of every city. We left no survivor remaining. We took only the animals as our plunder and the spoil of the cities which we had captured. From Aroer which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon and from the city which is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was not a town that was too high for us; Yahweh our God gave all over to us. Only you did not go near to the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Yahweh our God had commanded us.
(Deuteronomy 2:24-37 LSB)
Sovereign Decree and Human Means (vv. 24-29)
The section opens with a direct, unambiguous command from God.
"'Arise, set out... Look! I have given Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land into your hand; begin to take possession and provoke him to battle.'" (Deuteronomy 2:24)
Notice the grammar of God's sovereignty. The verb is in the past tense: "I have given." From God's perspective, in the council of His will, the deed is already done. The land grant is signed, sealed, and delivered. Israel's task is not to win the land, but to take possession of what has already been granted. This is the foundation of all Christian confidence. We do not fight for victory; we fight from victory. Christ has already conquered, and our task is to take possession of the inheritance He has won.
But this divine declaration does not lead to passivity. It leads to action. "Begin to take possession and provoke him to battle." God's sovereignty is not a cosmic hammock for us to lounge in; it is a divine trumpet blast, calling us to arms. The certainty of the outcome does not eliminate the necessity of the means. God has decreed both the ends and the means. He decreed the end (Israel possessing the land) and He decreed the means (provoking Sihon to battle).
And how does Moses provoke him? With a peace treaty. This is glorious. "So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace" (v. 26). Is this disingenuous? Is Moses being deceitful? Not at all. The offer is a genuine offer. Sihon is presented with a clear choice. He is given the opportunity to deal peaceably with Israel, to sell them food and water, and to let them pass. This offer of peace serves two of God's purposes simultaneously. First, it establishes the righteousness of Israel's cause. They did not come looking for a fight. They came with a reasonable request, the same request that was honored by Esau's descendants and the Moabites. Sihon's refusal will be entirely his own fault, proceeding from his own pride and hostility. Second, this offer is the very instrument that God will use to bring about the battle He has already ordained. The offer of peace is the provocation.
The Hardened Heart and the Revealed Purpose (v. 30)
Here we come to the theological heart of the matter, the verse that causes so much consternation.
"But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land, for Yahweh your God stiffened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to give him over into your hand, as he is today." (Deuteronomy 2:30 LSB)
Sihon was "not willing." This was his choice, his decision, proceeding from his own character. The text does not say God forced him to do something against his will. Rather, God worked upon his will. God "stiffened his spirit and made his heart obstinate." This is the same language used of Pharaoh. God does not create evil in a man's heart. He finds a heart already bent toward pride, rebellion, and arrogance, and He simply gives it a shove in the direction it is already going. He removes restraints. He confirms the man in his chosen path. A heart that is already hard, God makes harder. A spirit that is already proud, God makes prouder. God is the author of the story, and He can intensify the characteristics of His villains to serve the plot.
And the text is explicit about the purpose: "in order to give him over into your hand." God's hardening of Sihon's heart was not a capricious act. It was purposeful, judicial, and directed toward the fulfillment of His covenant promise to Israel. Sihon's sin was real, and he was responsible for it. But God, in His sovereignty, wove that very sin into the tapestry of His redemptive plan. This is the consistent testimony of Scripture. Joseph's brothers sinned grievously in selling him into slavery, yet Joseph could say, "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Gen. 50:20). The greatest sin in all of history was the crucifixion of the Son of God, yet Peter declares that it happened according to "the definite plan and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). God ordains all things, yet He is not the author of sin, and the liberty of the creature is not violated, but rather established.
Conquest and Consecration (vv. 31-36)
The result of Sihon's hardened heart is the battle that God intended from the beginning.
"Then Sihon with all his people came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz. But Yahweh our God gave him over to us..." (Deuteronomy 2:32-33 LSB)
Sihon marches out in his pride, thinking this is his battle. He is, in reality, marching to a divine appointment. He is a pawn in a much larger game, and Yahweh, the God of Israel, gives him over. The victory is total and complete. "We struck him down with his sons and all his people. So we captured all his cities at that time..." (vv. 33-34). There was no town too high, no fortress too strong. When God gives, the victory is assured.
But this victory is followed by a terrible and holy duty. "...and devoted to destruction the men, women, and little ones of every city. We left no survivor remaining" (v. 34). This is the practice of herem, or "the ban." This is not ethnic cleansing or genocide, as the scoffers would have it. This was a direct, divine judgment. The iniquity of the Amorites was now full, as God had told Abraham centuries before (Gen. 15:16). Their culture was saturated with idolatry, child sacrifice, and sexual perversion. This was not an act of racial animosity; it was an act of corporate capital punishment, executed by Israel acting as God's bailiff. The entire civilization was put to death, consecrated to God as a thing accursed, so that its spiritual poison would not infect Israel. It was a holy act of sanitation. This is a terrifying picture, but it is a picture of the holiness of God and the reality of His judgment against sin. What happened to the cities of Sihon is a type, a small-scale preview, of the final judgment that will fall upon all who harden their hearts against the King of kings.
Covenantal Boundaries (v. 37)
The passage concludes with a crucial clarification.
"Only you did not go near to the land of the sons of Ammon... and wherever Yahweh our God had commanded us." (Deuteronomy 2:37 LSB)
This final verse underscores the fact that Israel's warfare was not a self-directed, imperialistic conquest. It was a covenantal task, strictly governed by the Word of God. They were not to attack the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. Why? Because God had given that land to them. God is the great King who distributes the nations and sets their boundaries (Acts 17:26). Israel's right to the land of Canaan was not based on their own might or virtue, but solely on God's specific grant. And their warfare was limited by that same grant.
This demonstrates that the holy war was not a universal principle for all time, but a specific, limited command for a particular period in redemptive history. It was a unique act of judgment to cleanse the promised land and establish the beachhead for the coming of the Messiah. The church's warfare now is not with carnal weapons, but with spiritual ones: the preaching of the gospel, the administration of the sacraments, and the power of prayer. We do not wield the sword against cities, but we wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, against principalities and powers.
The Gospel According to Sihon
So what does this ancient battle have to do with us? Everything. This entire episode is a dramatic illustration of the gospel. Every human heart, by nature, is a fortress ruled by a king named Sihon. We are obstinate, stiff-spirited, and unwilling to let King Jesus pass through on His own terms. We want to be sovereign in our own land.
And so God, in His mercy, sends messengers with words of peace. This is the free offer of the gospel. He comes to us not demanding battle, but offering terms of surrender that are, in fact, terms of life. "Let me pass through your land," He says. "Submit to my lordship, and you will have peace." He asks for passage, but He has every right to the entire kingdom.
And what is our natural response? Like Sihon, we are "not willing." We stiffen our spirits. We make our hearts obstinate. We march out our pathetic armies of self-righteousness and pride to do battle with the Almighty. And in this, God gives us over to the hardness of our own hearts, so that our rebellion might be made manifest and His justice be seen as perfect.
But for His elect, God does something more. He does not simply harden. He conquers. He does not just give us over; He gives us Himself. The same sovereign power that gave Sihon into Israel's hand is the power that gives us into Christ's hand. He performs a divine heart transplant. He takes the stiff, obstinate heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). He does not provoke us to a battle we will lose; He fights the battle for us and gives us the plunder of His own righteousness.
The story of Sihon is the story of every person outside of Christ, a story of culpable rebellion being used for God's ultimate glory. But by the grace of God, it does not have to be our story. The offer of peace has been sent. The King stands at the gate. Do not stiffen your spirit. Do not make your heart obstinate. For if you do, you will find that God is a terrifyingly competent author, and He has written endings for both the heroes and the villains. The difference lies in whether you bow to the Author or foolishly attempt to wrestle the pen from His hand.