NUMBERS LESSON 27
We will begin this lesson in Numbers 21:1 "And [when] king Arad
the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came
by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took
[some] of them prisoners."
Arad was the name of a king, but was, also, the name of the place
he came from. Arad was located about 20 miles south of Hebron. It
appears, this was not an all out battle. He, probably, caught some
spies out looking over the land, and captured them.
Numbers 21:2 "And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If
thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly
destroy their cities."
This vow to the Lord must be kept, since they made it to the
LORD. This seems cruel in modern times, but God had given these people
ample time to repent, and they had not. The Israelites, now, {children
of those who were here before} realize they can win the battle with
God's help.
Numbers 21:3 "And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and
delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their
cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah."
The LORD was with them, and Israel did just as they had vowed to
the LORD. The LORD delivered them. In other words, the LORD caused
them to win the battle. "Hormah" is translated from the word Chormah,
which means devoted.
Numbers 21:4 "And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of
the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people
was much discouraged because of the way."
This is just saying, they went the long way around to avoid Edom.
The people were discouraged, because the route they took was near the
Red Sea, where they had begun.
Numbers 21:5 "And the people spake against God, and against
Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the
wilderness? for [there is] no bread, neither [is there any] water;
and our soul loatheth this light bread."
The "light bread" they are speaking of, is the manna which
miraculously fell from heaven to feed them. This bread symbolized the
body of the Lord Jesus. What a terrible thing to say about this bread.
God had just caused water enough for the thirst of this nearly 3
million people to come from the Rock. They are a very ungrateful
people.
Numbers 21:6 "And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people,
and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died."
These serpents were sent of God to destroy these wicked people.
Their "fiery" appearance is because they are judgement from God upon
these ungrateful complaining people. Everyone, who this judgement came
upon died of the serpent bite. The serpent symbolizes Satan,
generally. God has turned loose evil upon them at any rate.
Numbers 21:7 "Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We
have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee;
pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses
prayed for the people."
This is the first time recorded in these travels that the people,
themselves, ask Moses to pray for them, so God will take the serpents
away. They took the correct step toward help, when they admitted their
sins. Moses prays to God for them.
Numbers 21:8 "And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery
serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every
one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live."
The fiery color, here, is speaking of the brass it is made of.
They were to wrap it around a pole and lift it up for all to see. The
"brass" means judgement. This symbolizes the Lord Jesus being raised
up on the cross. Jesus had the sin of the entire world upon His body,
when he was on the cross. Sin was judged and died on the cross. This
looking upon it, was like transferring their sins to the serpent on
the pole. We live when we look to Jesus for life. It is interesting,
to me, that doctors today have as their emblem of healing, a serpent
wrapped around a pole.
Numbers 21:9 "And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon
a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man,
when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived."
We see from the following statement of Jesus, Himself, what the
raising of the serpent symbolized. John 3:14 "And as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
up:" John 3:15 "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life." The serpent that bites everyone of us is sin. We
must look to Jesus for forgiveness for that sin. When we look to
Jesus, He takes our sins away. Jesus is life. To look to Him brings
life.
Numbers 21:10 "And the children of Israel set forward, and
pitched in Oboth."
When the plague of the serpents was gone, The Lord led them to
Oboth.
This tells us that the Israelites went around the southern end of
the mountains of Edom.
Numbers 21:11 "And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ije-
abarim, in the wilderness which [is] before Moab, toward the
sunrising."
The sunrising is in the east. Ije-abarim is a place of ruins or
heaps. This was east of Moab, near Jericho.
Numbers 21:12 "From thence they removed, and pitched in the
valley of Zared."
Valley, in the verse above, could have been translated brook.
Perhaps, they stopped in this place, because of the water.
Numbers 21:13 "From thence they removed, and pitched on the other
side of Arnon, which [is] in the wilderness that cometh out of the
coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon [is] the border of Moab, between
Moab and the Amorites."
This is all near the Dead Sea, or the Salten Sea. Moab was
founded by the descendents of Lot and his younger daughter. They were
wild heathen people. The Amorites were a tribe descended from Canaan.
They, too, were heathen people. These are people not living for God.
Numbers 21:14 "Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of
the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,"
This book of the wars of the LORD is not speaking of the Bible,
but of another book of that period. Someone was so moved by the
miraculous victories of the LORD, that he wrote a book about it.
Numbers 21:15 "And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to
the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab."
It seemed, there were many brooks which ran through this marshy
area at the foot of the mountains.
Numbers 21:16 "And from thence [they went] to Beer: that [is] the
well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together,
and I will give them water."
This is where the LORD has them to dig their own well. This is
changing them over, from depending on God miraculously bringing water,
without any effort upon their part. They, now, will dig the well
themselves. The water is still a miracle, but they are learning to be
more dependent upon their own labors.
Numbers 21:17 "Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well;
sing ye unto it:"
This song is an act of faith. They believe the water will come
into the well.
Numbers 21:18 "The princes digged the well, the nobles of the
people digged it, by [the direction of] the lawgiver, with their
staves. And from the wilderness [they went] to Mattanah:"
It appears, Moses told them where to dig, and the leaders of each
tribe dug the well. Some of these wells are still producing water
today. Mattanah was their next stop.
Numbers 21:19 "And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel
to Bamoth:"
This is describing their journey. It is interesting to note that
"Nahaliel" means valley of God.
Numbers 21:20 "And from Bamoth [in] the valley that [is] in the
country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon."
There have been many songs written about mount Pisgah. From this
vantage point, was the very first sight of the valley of the Jordan
River and of the hills of Palestine.
Numbers 21:21 "And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the
Amorites, saying,"
The Amorites were not relatives of the Israelites. This is not a
message asking for help, because they are related like that to Edom.
The Edomites were related to Israel.
Numbers 21:22 "Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn
into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink [of] the
waters of the well: [but] we will go along by the king's [high] way,
until we be past thy borders."
The message is the same as the one sent to Edom. They want to
pass through, with no problem to the Amorites.
Numbers 21:23 "And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through
his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out
against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought
against Israel."
We see the same answer as Edom gave, but you might expect this
answer from people who did not know them.
Numbers 21:24 "And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword,
and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children
of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon [was] strong."
We see this generation was ready to fight. They had never seen
war before, but God was with them, and they won the battle.
Numbers 21:25 "And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt
in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages
thereof."
When God was with them, they could not be defeated. A better
statement would have been, Israel's God took these cities. They were
able to take the cities, because it was the will of God for them to
take them. He blessed them in battle.
Numbers 21:26 "For Heshbon [was] the city of Sihon the king of
the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and
taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon."
This is mentioned, again, in the book of Joshua which gives more
details on the cities they took. Sihon had defeated Moab earlier, and
taken this same land from them.
Numbers 21:27 "Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come
into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:"
Proverbs were a popular thing in this day. We find that one book
of the Bible is Proverbs. This has a message deeper than the natural
eye can see. It appears, they used Heshbon and Sihon as a sign in
these proverbs.
Numbers 21:28 "For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame
from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, [and] the lords
of the high places of Arnon."
The people around them certainly would have been aware of a fire
so great, that it destroyed Ar of Moab and the high places of Arnon.
Numbers 21:29 "Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of
Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into
captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites."
"Chemosh" was a false god worshipped by the people of Moab. These
Moabites had placed their faith in this false god, and are now
destroyed. The false gods Molech, Milcam, and Baal came from the same
root. The false goddess Ashteroth was worshipped with Baal. This false
god did not help in time of war against Sihon.
Numbers 21:30 "We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even
unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which
[reacheth] unto Medeba."
Regardless of how powerful these people, like Heshbon, had been
in the past, they are now defeated by God's army.
Numbers 21:31 "Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites."
The Amorites are destroyed, and Israel took over their land.
Numbers 21:32 "And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took
the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that [were] there."
This was the last of the Amorite villages that Israel defeated.
Numbers 21:33 "And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan:
and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his
people, to the battle at Edrei."
It appears, that some Amorites were in this area, also, and the
Israelites followed. Og is a well known evil king. He was thought of
as an equal in ability to Sihon. They were not an equal for God,
however.
Numbers 21:34 "And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I
have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land;
and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the
Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon."
Even though Og had a reputation for being a fierce fighter, God
tells the Israelites not to be afraid of him. God leads the
Israelites, and no army can defeat them as long as they are in the
will of God. God will see that Og is defeated by the Israelites.
Numbers 21:35 "So they smote him, and his sons, and all his
people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his
land."
Not only was Og defeatd, but they were wiped out as a people. The
Israelites were under orders from God. He saw that they were
victorious in this battle.
Numbers 27 Questions
1. Who took some prisoners of Israel?
2. Where was Arad located?
3. What vow did Israel make to God?
4. Did the LORD do as they asked?
5. What is another word for "Hormah"
6. Why did the people get discouraged, when they moved?
7. The people spoke against _______, and against ________.
8. What was the "light bread" they were speaking of?
9. This bread symbolized what?
10. What did God send in punishment?
11. Why did they look "fiery"?
12. When the serpents were sent among them, what did the people do?
13. What did God tell Moses to do?
14. "Brass" means ____________.
15. What did the serpent on the pole, that Moses built symbolize?
16. Looking on the serpent was as if they were doing what?
17. What does the author find interesting about doctors today?
18. Quote John chapter 3 verses 14 and 15.
19. Ije-abarim is a place of _______, or ________.
20. Where is Arnon?
21. What was in the book of the wars of the LORD?
22. Where did God have them to dig their own well?
23. What song did Israel sing at the well?
24. Who digged the well?
25. What does "Nahaliel" mean?
26. What could they see from mount Pisgah?
27. Why was Israel winning the battles?
28. They spoke in ___________.
29. What was "Chemosh"?
30. What other false gods came from the same root?
31. ___ was a well known king in this area. What happened to Og?
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