We all know Moses, right? The guy who led the Israelites out of Egypt, received the Torah on Mount Sinai… a pretty big deal. But even Moses, seasoned leader and prophet, felt a tremor of fear when he encountered Og, king of Bashan.
Why? Well, for starters, Og wasn’t your average king. He was a giant. And not just any giant, but a giant whose strength and size Moses witnessed firsthand. It’s one thing to hear stories; it’s another thing entirely to stand face-to-face with a behemoth.
But it wasn’t just Og's size that gave Moses pause. Moses, as the text tells us, wasn’t just worried about Og's physical prowess. He reasoned, "I am only one hundred and twenty years old, whereas he is more than five hundred. Surely he could never have attained so great an age, had he not performed meritorious deeds." (Legends of the Jews). In other words, Moses wondered if Og's longevity was a sign of divine favor, a reward for good deeds that Moses couldn't see.
And there was more. Moses remembered that Og was the only giant who had escaped the clutches of Amraphel (perhaps another story for another time!). Could this escape also be a sign of God's protection? Moses even worried about the Israelites themselves. Had they sinned in their recent war against Sihon? Would God withdraw his support? "The pious are always afraid of the consequences of sin, and therefore do not rely upon the assurances God had made to them."
So, here's Moses, wrestling with doubt, fear, and a healthy dose of humility. Even with God’s promise of victory, he hesitated. Have you ever been there? Promised success, but still feeling that nagging fear of failure?
But then, God speaks. And what does God say? It's fascinating. God essentially tells Moses, "Don't worry about Og's supposed good deeds or his age. His fate was sealed long ago." God reminds Moses that Og's destruction was decreed when he looked with an evil eye upon Jacob and his family when they arrived in Egypt. "O thou wicked knave, why dost thou look upon them with all evil eye? Verily, thine eye shall burst, for thou shalt fall into their hands" (Legends of the Jews).
Think about that for a moment. According to this tradition, Og's downfall wasn't about his strength or even his present actions. It was about a past act of malice, a moment of looking upon the children of Israel with ill intent. It was about that "ayin hara," the evil eye.
So, what's the takeaway? Maybe it's this: Appearances can be deceiving. A long life doesn't necessarily equal a righteous life. And sometimes, the seeds of our destruction are sown long before we even realize it. Og may have seemed invincible, but his fate was already written. And Moses, despite his fears, was exactly where he needed to be.