24. The Place of the Serpent

Read Deuteronomy 3 as a report grounded in particular places. Israel travels to Bashan, where King Og meets them for battle at Edrei. The passage names cities, boundaries, and Mount Hermon, and says Og was the last remnant of the Rephaim. The large iron bed associated with Og makes his size memorable, but the account’s emphasis is also on the land Israel takes and on God’s promise to give it into their hands. The map matters: Bashan and Hermon are not vague symbols in the text; they locate the events in a real landscape.

In Heiser’s reading, Bashan and Hermon carry more than political meaning. He links the Rephaim and this region with serpentine and underworld imagery, and presents Hermon as the place where the sons of God descended in the account of 1 Enoch. These are interpretive connections, so test them carefully. Deuteronomy 3 itself identifies Og with the remnant of the Rephaim and gives the route and place names. It does not mention serpents, an underworld gateway, or the descent described in 1 Enoch. Keeping those distinctions clear lets you consider Heiser’s proposal without making the biblical passage say more than it says.

Notice how the story holds danger and trust together. Og comes out to fight, but the Lord tells Moses not to fear and promises the victory. The fortified cities and the formidable king make the threat concrete; the outcome is attributed to God. This is not a promise that every frightening situation will end in an easy victory. It is a reminder, within Israel’s story, that the people’s confidence rests on God’s word and action rather than on their ability to overpower a stronger-looking enemy.

As you locate Bashan and Hermon, ask what the map adds and what it cannot prove. Does the geography help you understand why this region stands out in Heiser’s account? Which parts of the proposed supernatural pattern come from Deuteronomy, and which depend on links to other texts or traditions? Careful reading can take spiritual realities seriously while still distinguishing a passage’s direct claims from an author’s wider interpretation.

The passage also describes Israel’s destruction of the cities and their inhabitants. That is morally difficult to read. Do not soften the words or rush past the weight of the account. For this session, attend to what the text says about the command, the victory, and the land, and bring hard questions honestly to God and to a trusted pastor or mature Christian. Then let the map and the passage guide your reflection: God’s presence in Scripture is not an invitation to speculation, but a call to listen closely and trust him with what remains difficult.