An examination of the last portions of the exodus prompted some questions, especially: why did they continue north into Bashan? If they could see the land of Canaan at Pisgah (Numbers 21:20), why go so far north? Also, why would the king of Moab be concerned after Israel had already gone around Moab?
Perhaps this is why: (granted, there’s speculation here, but the Bible doesn’t give details)
The view of Canaan, the wilderness areas toward the north end of the Dead Sea, the mouth of the Jordan, the plains of Moab, and the vicinity of Jericho from the top of Mt. Pisgah (also called Nebo) was only that: a view (Numbers 21:20). At Pisgah they were on top of the rugged escarpment on the east side of the Jordan River/Dead Sea valley. They could not go directly down to the plains opposite Jericho. I’m guessing they needed a reasonable route from the top to the bottom. Therefore, they needed to do more than just cut across a corner of Sihon’s territory; they had to go all the way across it. That’s just what they asked to do. (Nu 21:22) They asked to travel the king’s highway until they passed through Amorite territory. The king’s highway did not go from the highlands into the valley. It continued north toward Aram (Damascus) and beyond (Mesopotamia). It could well have corresponded very closely to modern-day Highway 15. King Sihon met them ready for battle at Jahaz (modern Al Jiza south of present-day Amman, Jordan?). But the Israelites routed them and took over their capital city, Heshbon, and with it their whole land.
Image from Google Earth:
They were probably headed for the Yarmuk River region. The topography just south of that would offer a gradual descent into the Jordan valley and which had been an established route from the east into the valley from the times of Abraham and Jacob. But the Jabbok River was the northern boundary of the Amorites and the southern of Bashan. They needed to go into Bashan and to be safe from attack by Og, king of Bashan. So, they met Og at Edrei (modern Daraa in southern Syria) and defeated him. This gave them control over the whole region from the Yarmuk River to the Jabbok and points north, including the location of nearby Ramoth-Gilead that would be a contested city in years to come.
From Edrei they would be able peacefully to descend the slopes just south of the Yarmuk River to the Jordan, and be able to appreciate the quality of the land they were going through such that Reuben, Gad, and half of Manassah asked that it be their inheritance. From the confluence of the Jabbok and Jordan they would have to turn south again to get to the “Plains of Moab” across from Jericho. Such a move would likely alarm Balak, king of Moab. “I thought they were gone, but they’re coming back! They’re going to do to us what they did to the Amorites!”
Numbers 32:26 suggests an additional possibility; namely, that chapter 32 is not in strict chronological sequence after chapter 31 (Not everything in Genesis is.) They said “here in Gilead.” The plains of Moab are not in Gilead. Chapter 32 might well have happened while they were coming down into the Jordan valley. (32:35-42 could be commentary added later, although v. 40 suggests that at least some additional activity – and time – took place before their arrival on the plains of Moab.)
Evidently, there was also a group of Midianites living near the mouth of the Jordan opposite Jericho in the area of Shittim. They convinced the Moabite women to seduce the Israelites and God gave Moses his last charge to execute God’s vengeance on those Midianites. (Numbers 22:4,7; 25; and 31) The cooperation of Midianites with Balak of Moab, and the action against the Midianites in the valley also suggests that while the border between Moab and the Amorites was the River Arnon on the heights (Numbers 21:13), in the valley Moabite territory reached the plains of the Jordan. In fact, the Arnon may have been the border only in its upper basin, for the top of Pisgah was in a valley in Moab (v. 20) Note also that Heshbon, too, was once Moabite territory (v. 26) and had been taken by Sihon and made his capital. That would shed light on Numbers 21:27-30, citing poets (probably Amorite) celebrating Sihon’s victory, but following up with, “but we have overthrown them…”
It’s also evident that the Israelites spent considerable time on the plains of Moab, opposite Jericho. Balak sent for the prophet Balaam who lived near the Euphrates River, quite a ways away, and Balaam didn’t come until the first envoys returned to Balak and a second group arrived. There was also time for seducing Israelites through the Moabite women to engage in Baal worship at Peor. (Peor might not be a specific geographic site, but simply the place where the Israelites participated in a particular kind of Baal worship.) It would be logical for them to spend time there. It had plenty of water not only from the Jordan but also from the streams coming down from the heights. It was a good place to rest from the exodus and build up some strength. (It may be that this was once the well-watered plains of the Jordan where Sodom and Gomorrah had once stood.)
The NIV footnote on Numbers 22:1 says, “Israel now marched back to their staging area east of the Jordan…” I don’t think they went back, but reached it for the first time.
One can imagine what was going through the minds of the people of Jericho as the Israelites camped on the east side of the Jordan directly opposite their city. Even if news of their departure from Egypt was not in mind, they had just routed two kingdoms and were poised to come against them.
One might ask, if the main body of Israelites did go as far north as the Yarmuk River and then came south again to camp opposite Jericho, why didn’t they cross the Jordan right away? First, we don’t know if the main body went that far or just the military. Second, the plain of the Jordan opposite Jericho is wide and would offer an excellent place for staging and preparing for the invasion. Third, there could have been good reason to rout the strongest defenses first. Ultimately, we can’t answer that question. The Bible simply makes it clear that they crossed the Jordan near Jericho.
One might also ask, if they had to go almost to the Yarmuk River to get down into the Jordan Valley, how is it that Moses went directly up from the plains of Moab to Pisgah/Nebo (Dt. 34:1)? Answer: Moses was one man, not a whole nation with flocks and children. And though he was 120 years old, he had not lost any of his strength (Dt. 34:7).
The events recorded in Numbers 20:22 through the end of Numbers all occurred during the last year of the exodus. Aaron died at Mount Hor (20:28) at the age of 123 (33:39). This was the first day of the 5th month of the 40th year. (33:38) When Israel was traveling, it did not take them all that long to get from one place to another. Goshen to Sinai took them three months. It would be possible to go from Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea in eleven days (Deut. 1:2), even though it took them longer than that. Moses began his address in Deuteronomy 1 on the first day of the 11th month of the 40th year, exactly 6 months after Aaron’s death. The Israelites mourned for Aaron 30 days.
After the Israelites came to the plains of Moab, Balak sent for Balaam, who lived on the Euphrates River, about 350 miles away. There were two round trips to Balaam, for he refused to come the first time. Two round trips at 14 miles a day would have taken 100 days. After that came the apostasy of Baal Peor (Numbers 25), the census (Numbers 26), and God’s vengeance against the Midianites (Numbers 31). That means there was only about 2 months for the travel from Mt. Hor (including the event of the bronze snake) and for the total conquest of both King Sihon (Amorites) and King Og (all of Bashan), as well as the partial settlement of Gilead and Amor by Reuben, Gad, and half of Manassah. It must have been a blitzkrieg.