Numbers 25

Numbers 25:1 While Israel stayed in Shittim, the people began to prostitute themselves with the daughters of Moab.

Numbers 25:2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.

Numbers 25:3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And Yahveh’s nose was ignited against Israel.

Numbers 25:4 And Yahveh said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang them in the sun in the sight of Yahveh, that the fierce anger of Yahveh may turn away from Israel.”

Numbers 25:5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

Numbers 25:6 And notice, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the conference tent.

Numbers 25:7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, saw it, he stood up and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand

Numbers 25:8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman, through her belly. This is how the plague on the people of Israel was stopped.

Numbers 25:9 Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

Numbers 25:10 And Yahveh said to Moses,

Numbers 25:11 “Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.

Numbers 25:12 Therefore say, ‘notice, I give to him my covenant of peace,

Numbers 25:13 and it will be to him and his seed after him the covenant of the permanent priesthood because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.'”

Numbers 25:14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, leader of a father’s house belonging to the Simeonites.

Numbers 25:15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a father’s house in Midian.

Numbers 25:16 And Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said

Numbers 25:17 “Attack the Midianites and strike them down,

Numbers 25:18 because they attacked you treacherously when they deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”

Numbers 25 quotes:

“This story thus serves as a prologue and a warning for all that is to follow. As great as the trials and temptations of the wilderness may be, they are always and ever minor in comparison to the major temptations of “settled” life. At the beginning of this story, Israel got into major trouble when they became a little too “settled” while waiting for Moses to come down from Mount Sinai (read the story of the golden calf in Exod. 32). For the rest of Israel’s story (beginning in Joshua), sins of the “settled” will be the focus of the tirades of Israel’s prophets and the tears of Israel’s God. This is what all the testing and preparation of Leviticus and Numbers is getting Israel ready for, and here at almost the end (as at the beginning and the rest of the way through), Israel fails. This too then becomes a sharp word and a critical story for any people or congregation whose leading verb becomes “to dwell.””

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 228.

“While these sordid events took place in the Moabite camp, the Lorp’s anger burned against them (3). The Israelite men had offended his holiness, ignored his word, dishonoured his name, marred his testimony and incurred his wrath. Moses was told to act in judgment towards the leaders whose clansmen had participated in this outrage, presumably because they had not used their influence to restrain them. Those who had joined in worshipping the Baal of Peor (5) were to be executed. The offence was such a public act of apostasy that it could not possibly be overlooked. Along with the golden-calf incident, with which it has many parallels,’ it went down in Israelite history as one of their worst acts of idolatrous behaviour, an ugly stain impossible to obliterate from their corporate memory.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 230.

“There comes a time when the person who is obedient to God must act in judgment on that which is evil. The time when acceptance of evil is widespread is a call for someone to rise up from the ranks and openly do what God wants done.”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 121.

“It is a sad scene pictured in the first three verses of this chapter. Here was the nation which had been chosen of God, and destined for high purposes, though just on the border of the Promised Land, lapsed into idolatry and abominations worse than those of Egypt. No wonder the anger of the Lord was kindled, and at God’s command all the men who were joined unto Ballpeor are slain by the judges of Israel.

How God’s dealings with this nation remind us of a parent’s dealings with a child. In our last lesson we saw that when an enemy came against the people, God stepped in front of them, as it were, and would not allow a hair of their head to be touched, or a word to be spoken against them by an outsider. But He must train the nation aright, both for His own glory and their highest good ; and in this lesson we see Him chastising them severely for their faults.”

Saxe, Grace. Studies in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Grace Saxe, 1921. p. 51.

Numbers 25 links:

a jealous walk
gateway drug
the attack at Peor
this has to stop

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Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, May 5, 2023

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The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

Numbers 24

Numbers 24:1 When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahveh to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens but set his face toward the open country.

Numbers 24:2 And Balaam lifted his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Breath of God came upon him,

Numbers 24:3 and he took up his parable and said, “The oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

Numbers 24:4 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling with his eyes uncovered:

Numbers 24:5 How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel!

Numbers 24:6 Like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that Yahveh has planted, like cedar trees beside the water.

Numbers 24:7 Water will flow from his buckets, and his seed will have much water; his king will be higher than Agag, and his kingdom will be exalted.

Numbers 24:8 God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he will eat up the nations, his adversaries, and will break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows.

Numbers 24:9 He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.”

Numbers 24:10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and notice, you have blessed them these three times.

Numbers 24:11 Therefore, now run away to your place. I said, ‘I will certainly reward you,’ but Yahveh has held you back from any reward.”

Numbers 24:12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your agents whom you sent to me,

Numbers 24:13 ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of Yahveh, to do either good or bad of my own will. What Yahveh speaks, that I will speak’?

Numbers 24:14 And now, notice, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”

Numbers 24:15 And he took up his parable and said, “The oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

Numbers 24:16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Highest, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling with his eyes uncovered:

Numbers 24:17 I see him, but not now; I notice him, but not near: a star will come out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel; it will crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.

Numbers 24:18 Edom will be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, will be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly.

Numbers 24:19 And one from Jacob will exercise dominion and exterminate the survivors of cities!”

Numbers 24:20 Then he looked on Amalek and took up his parable and said, “Amalek was the firstfruits among the nations, but its end is utter destruction.”

Numbers 24:21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable and said, “Enduring is your staying place, and your nest is set in the rock.

Numbers 24:22 Nevertheless, Kain will be burned when Asshur takes you away captive.”

Numbers 24:23 And he took up his parable and said, “Alas, who will live when God does this?

Numbers 24:24 But ships will come from Kittim and will discipline Asshur and Eber, and he too will come to utter destruction.”

Numbers 24:25 Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Numbers 24 quotes:

“Though all we may have to offer is words, the right words are often enough. Words of proclamation rather than propaganda. Words of witness rather than willfulness. Words of the sermon and words of the benediction. Words in the anthem and words in the aisle. Words offered in the hospital and the classroom and the office, by those who are ordained, nonordained, or not even in the family. When words are preceded by earnest listening to the Lord and followed by faithful proclamation, they do not return void but accomplish the things for which they are purposed (Isa. 55:11).”

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 224.

” … it is a future hope. Inevitably, at that time, Israel’s gaze was focused on the conquest of Canaan. Balaam’s concluding message transferred their thinking from the present to the future, from the immediate to the ultimate. No worthwhile community can live merely for today. It needs noble ambitions to lure it on to better things.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 222.

“What a faithful preacher he was, yet he served the pagan king! It is sobering to realize that I can have my way if I insist upon it, but I will forfeit God’s blessing. In that case I will not be able to accomplish anything, because God sets limits upon what I am allowed to do.”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 119.

“The next oracle of the seer was considerably shorter than the others, and he repeated his common introduction. Balaam described the bleak fortunes of Moab and Edom going against Israel. From Jacob would come a star and a scepter. The star (Heb. Kokab), once used by Isaiah to describe the king of Babylon whom some say represented Satan (Isa. 14:12), also depicted the “Root and the Offspring of David” (Rev. 22:16). Such a “ruler will come out of Jacob” and “rule in the midst of” her enemies (Ps. 110:2).”

Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002. p. 343.

“See the progress of thought in these four prophecies. In the first one the main thought is separation. “The people shall dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations” (23:9). In the next one, the particular thing is God’s presence: “The Lord his God is with him” (23:21). In the third prophecy, Israel is a channel of blessing to others: “He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters” (24:7) ; and in the fourth prophecy, we have a prediction of Christ: “There shall come a Star out of Jacob” (24:17). So in these four prophecies we see Israel, first, a separated people; second, a people among whom God dwelt; third, a people who are to be God’s channel of blessing; and fourth, a people through whom the Deliverer of the race is to come.

What could be more magnificent than that? How such a future stretching out before them should have aroused and inspired them to high and noble ideals ! But we, as Christians, have a still more glorious outlook. Why does it not lift us above the things that would discourage and drag us downward, and Inspire us to holy noble living every day?”

Saxe, Grace. Studies in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Grace Saxe, 1921. p. 49.

Numbers 24 links:

a realistic walk
introducing the breath of God
utter destruction

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Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, May 3, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, May 5, 2021

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The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

Numbers 22

Numbers 22:1 Then the people of Israel advanced and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.

Numbers 22:2 And Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

Numbers 22:3 And Moab was very afraid of the people because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel.

Numbers 22:4 And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This congregation will now chew up all that is around us, as the ox chews up the grass of the field.” So Balak, the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,

Numbers 22:5 sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, and this is what he said: “notice, a people have come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the land, and they are staying just opposite me.

Numbers 22:6 Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Maybe I will be able to defeat them and drive them from the land because I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

Numbers 22:7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message.

Numbers 22:8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as Yahveh speaks to me.” So, the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

Numbers 22:9 And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”

Numbers 22:10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, and this is what he said,

Numbers 22:11 ‘notice a people have come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the land. Now come, curse them for me. Maybe I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.'”

Numbers 22:12 God said to Balaam, “You will not go with them. You will not curse the people because they are blessed.”

Numbers 22:13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land because Yahveh has refused to let me go with you.”

Numbers 22:14 So the princes of Moab got up and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

Numbers 22:15 Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and higher ranking than these.

Numbers 22:16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak the son of Zippor says: ‘Let nothing keep you from coming to me,

Numbers 22:17 because I will indeed treat you with great honor, and whatever you say to me, I will do. Come, curse this people for me.'”

Numbers 22:18 But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak was to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of Yahveh my God to do less or more.

Numbers 22:19 So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more Yahveh will say to me.”

Numbers 22:20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.”

Numbers 22:21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.

Numbers 22:22 But God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the agent of Yahveh took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now, he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him.

Numbers 22:23 And the donkey saw the agent of Yahveh standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey to turn her into the road.

Numbers 22:24 Then the agent of Yahveh stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side.

Numbers 22:25 And when the donkey saw the agent of Yahveh, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So, he struck her again.

Numbers 22:26 Then the agent of Yahveh went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.

Numbers 22:27 When the donkey saw the agent of Yahveh, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff.

Numbers 22:28 Then Yahveh opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?”

Numbers 22:29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand because then I would kill you.”

Numbers 22:30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”

Numbers 22:31 Then Yahveh opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the agent of Yahveh standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face.

Numbers 22:32 And the agent of Yahveh said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Notice, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse in the sight of me.

Numbers 22:33 The donkey saw me and turned aside at my face these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now, I would have killed you and let her live.”

Numbers 22:34 Then Balaam said to the agent of Yahveh, “I have sinned because I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now, therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.”

Numbers 22:35 And the agent of Yahveh said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So, Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

Numbers 22:36 When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, on the border formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the border.

Numbers 22:37 And Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?”

Numbers 22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Notice, I have come to you! Do I now have any power of my own to speak anything? I have to speak the word that God puts in my mouth.”

Numbers 22:39 Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.

Numbers 22:40 And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep and sent for Balaam and for the princes who were with him.

Numbers 22:41 And in the morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw a fraction of the people.

Numbers 22 quotes:

“Little do they know … that the biggest battle of the first five books of the Bible (excluding the victory at the Red Sea) is staring them dead in the face—closer than Jericho, indeed as close as the hills above their heads. While their journey has been continually jeopardized by threats within, and while the chapters preceding and following this story provide practice skirmishes regarding threats without, the Mother of All Battles now looms in these hills so peaceful in appearance (“Is that smoke, or just fog on that peak toward Bamoth-baal?” see Num. 22:41); yet all they, their leaders, and Moses do (for the next three chapters!) is “camp” (22:1). We enter now one of Scripture’s grandest stories of the providential care and protection of our God. “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Rom. 11:33).”

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 203.

“It was not the most comfortable of journeys either for the animal or for its passenger. On three occasions an angel blocked their path. Each time, the donkey, aware of this divine messenger brandishing a sword, kept turning aside, and during one encounter Balaam’s foot was badly crushed against a wall. Not knowing why the animal was being so extraordinarily stubborn, Balaam struck her with his staff. Annoyed by this unjustified beating, the donkey suddenly provided a unique contribution to the story by making a strident vocal protest. Astonished to be in the company of a talking donkey, Balaam suddenly saw the angel for himself and promptly realized why his normally compliant animal had been so difficult. The angel told him that the awkward donkey had saved his life, and but for her repeated refusal to go ahead God’s messenger would have killed him.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 205.

“Here is a grave warning for all preachers, teachers, and parents: If we get our desire without God’s blessing, His purpose will be accomplished in spite of us. Each attempt by Balaam to do the king’s wishes resulted in the prophecy of blessing upon Israel.”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 119.

“Meet Balaam, a prophet for hire. His focus on the almighty dollar, metaphorically speaking, was known by God and by the king of the Moabites, Balak. Would Balaam compromise principle to gain wealth? Was Balaam’s conscience so seared that he would sell out God’s people for advancement? And what would God think of all this? The story of Balaam is a picture of many people in this world who are caught between desire and faithfulness to God.”

Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002. p. 339.

“When studying any character or subject in the Bible, one should first gather together and consider all that Scripture says about it, and then draw conclusions. Regarding Balaam, first look at 2 Peter 2:15,16. Here we learn that Balaam “loved the wages of unrighteousness.” Then see Jude 11, which tells us that Balaam was in error regarding this reward. Now read Numbers 25:1-3, in connection with Revelation 2:14 and Numbers 31:15,16.
From these last passages we gather that Balaam had failed to get Balak’s gold by cursing the people, but yet he was determined to have it. So, back from his far-off northern home he comes, and counsels Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, by inviting them to join in the worship of their gods, which worship was accompanied by vile and obscene practices. Of course, if Israel had joined the Moabites and Midianites in worship, there was no fear of hostilities, and this is what Balak sought to avoid. So the women of these heathen tribes beguile the Israelites, and we read in Numbers 25:1, 2 and 31 :15, 16 the sad result. Balaam perishes with these people who have hired him against Israel (Numbers 31 :8). Poor, wretched, self-willed, covetous Balaam! He said in one of his parables: “Let me die the death of the righteous.” Many others would like to die the death of the righteous ; but they forget that the way to die the death of the righteous is to possess and exhibit the life of the righteous.”

Saxe, Grace. Studies in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Grace Saxe, 1921. p. 48.

Numbers 22 links:

a dangerous walk
bless or suppress?
crisis of confidence
enough rope
what the donkey saw

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Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, May 2, 2019

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The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

Numbers 21

Numbers 21:1 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.

Numbers 21:2 And Israel pledged a solemn pledge to Yahveh and said, “If you will really give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.”

Numbers 21:3 And Yahveh heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So, the name of the place was called Hormah.

Numbers 21:4 From Mount Hor, they advanced by the way to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. And the throats became impatient on the way.

Numbers 21:5 And the people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the open country? Because there is no food and no water, and our souls loathe this worthless food.”

Numbers 21:6 Then Yahveh sent fiery snakes among the people, and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died.

Numbers 21:7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahveh and you. Pray to Yahveh that he takes away the snakes from us.” So, Moses prayed for the people.

Numbers 21:8 And Yahveh said to Moses, “Make a fiery snake and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten when he sees it will live.”

Numbers 21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and set it on a pole. And if a snake bit anyone, he would look at the bronze snake and live.

Numbers 21:10 And the people of Israel advanced and camped in Oboth.

Numbers 21:11 And they advanced from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the open country that is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise.

Numbers 21:12 From there they advanced and camped in the Valley of Zered.

Numbers 21:13 From there, they advanced and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the open country that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

Numbers 21:14 Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of Yahveh, “Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,

Numbers 21:15 and the slope of the valleys that extends to the seat of Ar and leans to the border of Moab.”

Numbers 21:16 And from there they continued to Beer; that is the well of which Yahveh said to Moses, “Gather the people together, so that I may give them water.”

Numbers 21:17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well! — Sing to it! —

Numbers 21:18 the well that the princes made, that the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter and with their staffs.” From the open country, they went on to Mattanah,

Numbers 21:19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

Numbers 21:20 and from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah that looks down on the desert.

Numbers 21:21 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, and this is what he said,

Numbers 21:22 “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into a field or vineyard. We will not drink the water from a well. We will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”

Numbers 21:23 But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the open country and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.

Numbers 21:24 But Israel defeated him by the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, because the border of the Ammonites was strong.

Numbers 21:25 And Israel took all these cities, and Israel took possession of all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and all its villages.

Numbers 21:26 Because 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, as far as the Arnon.

Numbers 21:27 Therefore the ballad singers say, “Come to Heshbon, let it be built; let the city of Sihon be established.

Numbers 21:28 Because fire came out from Heshbon, flame from the city of Sihon. It devoured Ar of Moab and swallowed the heights of the Arnon.

Numbers 21:29 Tragedy has come to you, O Moab! You have perished, O people of Chemosh! He has made his sons fugitives and his daughter’s captives to an Amorite king, Sihon.

Numbers 21:30 So we overthrew them; Heshbon, as far as Dibon, perished; and we laid waste as far as Nophah; fire spread as far as Medeba.”

Numbers 21:31 This is how Israel came to possess the land of the Amorites.

Numbers 21:32 And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

Numbers 21:33 Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Og, the king of Bashan, came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

Numbers 21:34 But Yahveh said to Moses, “Do not fear him, because I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land. And you will do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”

Numbers 21:35 So they defeated him and his sons and all his people until he had no remaining survivor. And they possessed his land.

Numbers 21 quotes:

“With the beginning of chapter 21, a new chapter in the story of Israel’s wanderings begins. Up to this point, all the threats to God’s people’s forward progress have been internal (feuds, fights, despair) or, if external (as with Edom in Num. 20), fairly easily avoided. Indeed, the key reason for Israel’s circuitous wanderings, which take up ten verses at the heart of Numbers 21 (vv. 10-20), is its desire, at least while on the east bank of the river Jordan, to “pass through” this territory without a fight. But here, at this point in the journey, the resistance to this priestly nation’s transit in the world stiffens, and its swords are for the first time unsheathed—not against rebels and malcontents in its own ranks, but against a series of three enemies without. They are in order: the king of Arad (“the Canaanite,” 2:1), and the kings of the Amorites and of Bashan, King Sihon and — King Og.”

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 194.

“This initial victory was won at the place of earlier defeat. The Lord was assuring them that, in coming days, things would be different. When the Lord gave the Canaanites over to them (3) it was an immense boost to their morale. This first conquest became the precursor of later triumphs (21:21-35). On the threshold of Canaan, the Lord was assuring them that, by his grace and in his power, life could be different.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 183.

“God did not argue with them. He just acted. What He did was to send fiery serpents among them. When bitten by these serpents, many of the people died. This was all part of the judgment of God.”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 115.

“The people sought relief and confessed their sin to Moses, asking him to pray to remove the snakes. Moses prayed for them, and God answered by instructing Moses to make a snake and put it up on a pole. Whoever looked at the pole would recover from the snakebite. The Lord had them construct the bronze snake as “an emblem of healing rather than an object of veneration” (Harrison, 278). But later the Israelites, probably under the influence of Canaanite religion, worshiped and burned incense to this object. Still later, godly King Hezekiah destroyed the serpent (2 Kgs. 18:4).”

Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002. p. 332.

“Here is the Gospel, preached in plainest language, by object-lesson again. The Israelites were bitten by the serpent, and were dying. God lifted up the remedy, upon which if they would but look, they might live. Just so, the old Serpent has bitten everyone of the human race and they are dying. God lifted up the remedy — Christ Jesus, upon whom if one but looks with the eye of faith he lives.

Saxe, Grace. Studies in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Grace Saxe, 1921. p. 45.

Numbers 21 links:

a hopeful walk
bless us with boring
faith to destroy
having life, or awaiting wrath
recover, remember
Spring up, Oh Well
The dead will hear, and come out
The desert snake
when his enemies attack

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Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, May 4, 2021

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The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library