“Moses continued, “From the wilderness of Kedemoth I sent ambassadors to King Sihon of Heshbon with this proposal of peace: ‘Let us travel through your land. We will stay on the main road and won’t turn off into the fields on either side. Sell us food to eat and water to drink, and we will pay for it. All we want is permission to pass through your land. The descendants of Esau who live in Seir allowed us to go through their country, and so did the Moabites, who live in Ar. Let us pass through until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.’ “But King Sihon of Heshbon refused to allow us to pass through, because the Lord your God made Sihon stubborn and defiant so he could help you defeat him, as he has now done. “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Look, I have begun to hand King Sihon and his land over to you. Begin now to conquer and occupy his land.’ “Then King Sihon declared war on us and mobilized his forces at Jahaz. But the Lord our God handed him over to us, and we crushed him, his sons, and all his people. We conquered all his towns and completely destroyed everyone—men, women, and children. Not a single person was spared. We took all the livestock as plunder for ourselves, along with anything of value from the towns we ransacked.”
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Deuteronomy‬ ‭2‬:‭26‬-‭35‬ ‭NLT

It is important to note that God did not abandon his people. This applied to the children of the rebellious Israelites but it also applied to those surrounding the great Patriarch, Abraham. Whether it be the descendants of Esau or Lot, God was clear that their connection to Abraham stood the test of time. He wanted the relationship with them honored, even if they hadn’t been the specific vehicle of his specific nation. This is a point which often gets overlooked in these passages. God has a plan and those who honor that plan, even indirectly are blessed, while those who don’t are destroyed. Interestingly, this leads to the confrontation with king of Sihon. Here we see an extension of peace to the heshbonites, with an offer to join the ranks of adjacent blessing, but this ends in conflict. It should be noted that these people were not neutral parties, attacked by a war over land. The Hebrew people were agents of God’s moral cleansing. This was an opportunity to confess, repent and be blessed. Just as Lot had fled Sodom, they too could have done the same. Instead they chose to wage war and received the punishment that was already due them. They should’ve heeded God’s blessings. History would’ve been kind to them.

God’s Plan and Blessings: God has a plan and those who honor it, even indirectly, are blessed, while those who don’t are destroyed.

Israelites’ Relationship with God: God did not abandon the Israelites, even those who rebelled, and honored their connection to Abraham.

Confrontation with the King of Sihon: The Heshbonites, who attacked the Israelites, were not neutral parties but guilty in God’s moral cleansing, and could have chosen to repent and be blessed.