Power of Chessed

Moshe Rabbeinu was the first to conquer parts of the Land of Israel. He did this by personally doing battle with the giants, Sichon and Og. Upon his victory, their territories, some of which are known today as the Golan Heights, now belonged to the Jewish people.

When Moshe fought עוג, he needed special assurances from Hashem that he would be victorious. He was afraid that עוג had special merits, because he informed Avraham that Lot was taken captive.

This is pretty surprising when we consider that he had an ulterior motive. He was hoping that Avraham would die in battle, and he would marry Sara.

Nevertheless, עוג still gets credit for having done a meritorious act. The same is true when we perform the Mitzva of שכחה. We did not intend to give those particular stalks to the poor. It is only because of our forgetfulness that this meritorious act came into play.

Rabbi Twerski pointed out based on a Rashi and Midrash, that even if a person lost money, and it was found by a poor person, he is rewarded for having given צדקה.

We must remember that the donor of an act of charity, is the greater beneficiary of the Mitzva than the recipient. Moshe knew this and was concerned that עוג had an advantage over him. Hashem needed to tell him that it was time for the giant to fall.