Chapter 3 recounts the war with Og, King of Bashan. As it turns out, he was the last survivor of the Rephaites, a race of giants. His bed was about 13 feet long, which gives some indication as to how tall he was.
It is a strange story. Who were these people? How is there a race of giants in the Bible? Who knows.
Deuteronomy 4 covers some of the basic principles of the law with a particular focus on idols and that there is only one "God". The is only one God that brought them out of Egypt, spoke to all of them from Mount Sinai, and wanted to establish them as a nation.
It also says the ever so famous, but actually quite controversial - don't add to or take away from the commands that I am giving you. Wait - what commands? These are all commands. Everything in the Mosaic law is a command. It presents a difficulty for us modern readers, which I think people take for granted. I don't know of anyone who still does the entire Mosaic code, so I would say that every Christian tradition has said that some laws are not applicable, but this is actually a warning against doing just that.
On the flip side, there are plenty of good reasons in the New Testament that many rules are no longer applicable. But at the very least, this is a warning that the people under the Mosaic law are not to add or take away rules.
Chapter 4 ends with cities of refugee begin established on the east side of the river. Basically, where they are currently camped. So, before they even enter the Promised Land, people have committed manslaughter or accidentally killed someone can go in peace right now.
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