Numbers 21

the Promised Land. On the first day of the fifth month of that fortieth year (33:38), Moses, Aaron, and Eleazar went somewhere on Mount Hor because it was now time for Aaron to die. Moses would say good-bye to a beloved brother and Eleazar to a revered father. Aaron was 123 years old (33:38–39).

However, Aaron’s death didn’t interrupt the ministry of the priesthood, for Eleazar took his place. As John Wesley used to say, “God buries His workmen but His work goes on.” In fulfillment of the law (Ex. 29:29–30), Moses took the holy garments from his brother, Aaron, and put them on Eleazar. He probably anointed him as well for the new office. When Moses and Eleazar returned to the camp without Aaron, and the people saw Eleazar dressed in the robes of the high priest, they knew that Aaron’s life had ended. They mourned for Aaron for thirty days, which takes us now into the sixth month.

Eleazar was the third son of Aaron (Num. 3:2); the first two, Nadab and Abihu, were slain by the Lord for defiling the tabernacle with false fire (Lev. 10). Before becoming high priest, he was the chief leader of the Levites for caring for the tabernacle (Num. 3:32; 4:16). He would assist Moses in taking the census of the new generation (26:1–3) as well as in commissioning Joshua to succeed Moses (27:18–23). When Israel had conquered the land, Eleazar helped Joshua assign each tribe its inheritance (34:17; Josh. 14:1; 19:15).

Moses has experienced two family funerals, two confrontations with critics in the camp, and a personal failure at Kadesh, yet he picks up his rod and goes right back to work. Victorious Christian service, like the victorious Christian life, is a series of new beginnings. No matter what mistakes we’ve made, it’s always too soon to quit.

It’s remarkable how many unconverted people have the mistaken idea that the Christian life is boring. How can walking with God be boring when our Father in heaven arranges the experiences of life for our good and His glory? For the Christian believer, life becomes a school (Ps. 90:12) in which we learn more about God and His Word, as well as more about ourselves and how much we need to grow. Life also becomes a gymnasium and a battlefield (Heb. 12; 2 Tim. 2:1–5) where we must exercise our faith and develop strong spiritual muscles for running the race and fighting the battle.

This truth is well illustrated in Numbers 21, a chapter in which God’s care and discipline of His people are so evident.

Life goes on. The Jews completed their mourning for Aaron and were soon back on the road and back in the battle. Arad was a Canaanite town about twenty miles south of Hebron, so the new generation of Israelites was facing its first conflict with the Canaanites. The Jewish army would spend at least seven years conquering the nations in the Promised Land, so God gave them some military training as they marched on the road to Atharim.

The news of Israel’s march from Egypt to Kadesh had gone before them and the rulers of the city-states in and around Canaan weren’t going to give in to these intruders without a fight. Apparently Israel wasn’t prepared for this first attack because some of their people were taken prisoners, but the leaders immediately turned to the Lord for His help. They vowed to utterly destroy the Canaanites and their cities if the Lord would give them victory.

To “utterly destroy” meant to devote something completely to the Lord (Lev. 27:28–29; Deut. 7:2–6), wiping out the people and their cities and giving all the spoils to God. This is what Israel would do at Jericho (Josh. 6:17–21), and because Achan took what belonged to God, he was slain (Josh. 7). The Canaanite culture was unspeakably wicked, especially their religious practices, and God wanted these nations removed from the earth.

God gave Israel victory over the enemy and the people kept their promise. They destroyed Arad and the other cities connected with it and gave a new name to the area: Hormah, which means “destruction.” This conflict was quite a contrast to the defeat Israel experienced thirty-eight years before when they tried to engage the enemy without the blessing of God (Num. 14:39–45). When Joshua assigned the tribes their inheritance in Canaan, he gave this area to Judah (Josh. 15:30) and Simeon (19:1, 4).

This first victory certainly encouraged the Israelites, but it’s one thing to “mount up with wings like eagles” and quite something else to “walk and not faint” (Isa. 40:31). Courage in the battle must be followed by endurance in the race. Because the Edomites wouldn’t give Israel right-of-way through their land, Moses had to lead the people east of Edom and then north through difficult terrain. It didn’t take long before the difficulty of the march made the people impatient, and they started complaining again. It’s easy for us to win the battle but lose the victory!

Their sin (v. 5). The anger and impatience in their hearts boiled over into harsh words against the Lord and against Moses. In both their attitudes and their words, they were tempting the Lord (1 Cor. 10:9), and that was a dangerous thing to do. It was the same old complaint: Moses had brought them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, and there was nothing to eat but manna. In the difficulties of the daily march, they’d forgotten God’s promise that they would enter the Promised Land and claim it as their home (Num. 15:1). A bountiful supply of manna had been sent from heaven each morning since shortly after the exodus (Ex. 16:1–22), so for forty years, God had been feeding His people the nourishment they needed. Manna was “angels’ food” (Ps. 78:25), but the people had gotten so accustomed to their blessings that they detested it and called it “this good-for-nothing bread.” (See Num. 11:4–6.)

According to John 6, the manna was much more than daily food for Israel: it was a type of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the “Bread of Life” (vv. 32–40). The manna came only to Israel, but Jesus came to be the Savior of the world. All the manna could do was sustain life, but Jesus Christ gives life. When the Jews despised the manna, they were actually rejecting the Son of God. Once more, God had tested His people, and they had failed the test (Deut. 8:15–16).

The Word of God is the “bread of heaven” that God’s people must feed on daily if they’re going to succeed in their pilgrim journey (Matt. 4:4). The way we treat His Word at the beginning of each day reveals whether or not we are yielded to Him and want to obey Him. To enter a new day without first feeding on the heavenly manna is to invite disappointment and defeat.

Their punishment (v. 6). In the past, when Israel had sinned, the glory of the Lord would usually appear and the judgment of the Lord would follow. But this time, there was no warning. The judgment came immediately as the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people. They had rejected God’s gift of life and health from heaven, so God sent them suffering and death from the earth, and many of the people died.

The word “fiery” is the translation of the Hebrew word saraph which means “burning” and also refers to the angelic creatures (seraphim) who minister before the holy throne of God (Isa. 6:2, 6). “Fiery” doesn’t describe the appearance of the serpents but the inflammation and pain caused by their venom. Those bitten died quickly and apparently their death wasn’t an easy one. The wages of sin is still death.

Their confession and plea (v. 7). Israel had complained and rebelled many times, and once before had admitted, “We have sinned” (14:40), but this is the first time their “We have sinned” seems to be sincere. In the past, Moses had fallen on his face before the Lord and interceded for the people, but now the people begged him to pray for them. Did this mean that the new generation had a more sensitive heart toward the Lord? We hope so.

Their deliverance (vv. 8–9). Moses did pray for the people, but the Lord didn’t answer in the way the people might have expected. Instead of immediately removing the serpents and healing the people who had been bitten, God instructed Moses to make a serpent of brass and put it on a pole where all the people could see it. If those who had been bitten looked at the serpent, they would be instantly healed.

Jesus used the bronze serpent to illustrate His own death on the cross (John 3:14). (“Lifted up” was a phrase used in that day to refer to crucifixion.) The comparisons between the bronze serpent in Moses’ day and the cross of Christ help us better understand the meaning of God’s grace in salvation. All people have been infected by sin and will one day die and face judgment (Heb. 9:27), but if they look by faith to Christ, He will save them and give them eternal life. Looking to the bronze serpent saved people from physical death, but looking to Christ saves us from eternal death.

But why should Moses make a model of a serpent, the very creature that was causing the people to die? Because on the cross, Jesus became sin for us—the very thing that condemns people—and bore in His body that which brings spiritual death (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 8:3; Gal. 3:13; 1 Peter 2:22–24). Moses didn’t hide the bronze serpent; he lifted it up on a pole and put the pole where everybody could see it! So our Lord was crucified publicly, outside the city of Jerusalem, and those who hear the gospel can “look to Him” and be saved. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13).

Moses didn’t stick the pole inside the tabernacle or even in the tabernacle court, because nobody is saved by keeping the law. The uplifted serpent was the only cure in the camp, just as Jesus Christ is the only Savior of sinners in the world (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). Nobody could look at the bronze serpent for another person; each dying sinner had to look for himself or herself. The salvation Christ offers is personal and individual, and each of us must look to Christ by faith. No matter how hard they tried, no dying Jew could save himself or herself. The only salvation available was what God had graciously provided, and if you rejected it, you died.

Sin and death came into this world through a look (Gen. 3:6), and the only deliverance from sin and eternal death is by a look of faith: “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth” (Isa. 45: nkjv). To look means to exercise faith, and the only way to be saved is by faith (Eph. 2:8–19). A dying Jew might argue, “It’s a foolish remedy,” but it still worked (1 Cor. 1:18–25). Or the dying Israelite might say, “It’s too simple,” but the remedy still worked.

Imagine the joy in the camp of Israel when the word got out that there was a cure available for everybody! The only people who couldn’t be delivered from death were those who for some reason wouldn’t look by faith, or those who didn’t know that a remedy was available. How important it is for us to get the good news out that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15).

Leaving the field of battle, Israel continued to march north, crossing the Zared River and camping there. Then they crossed the Arnon River and approached the country of the Amorites, traveling between Moabite and Amorite country. In Numbers 22—24, we’ll meet the Moabites again and see how they tricked Israel into disobeying God.

In 21:14–15, we have a description of the area, taken from an ancient record called The Book of the Wars of the Lord. This lost book was apparently a compendium of detailed information about the travels and the battles of Israel. Here it is quoted to describe the geography of the area through which Israel was then passing. It was not comfortable terrain, but the Lord gave His people the strength they needed to make the journey.

When they arrived at Beer (“well”), the Lord anticipated the nation’s need and promised to give them water. (See Ex. 17:1–7; Num. 20:2–13; 21:6.) “What shall we eat?” and “What shall we drink?” seemed to be the major concerns of the people (Matt. 6:24–34), just as they are the major concerns of people today, along with “What shall we wear?” But on this occasion, the people didn’t complain. Instead, they sang a song! As far as the record is concerned, this is the first time we find Israel singing since God delivered them from Egypt forty years before (Ex. 15).

“The Song of the Well” (Num. 21:16–18) celebrated the Lord’s provision of water for the people in the wilderness. It’s not likely that the leaders of Israel actually dug the well with their staffs (niv), because in the sandy wasteland they would have needed much better tools. Since this is a song, we must leave room for poetic expression. What may have happened is that God showed Moses where the water was located, the leaders all thrust their staffs into the ground around that place, and the well opened up and the water gushed out.

The people rejoiced that God gave them the necessities of life, and they found joy in praising Him for His goodness. Water was a precious commodity in the wilderness and the Jews didn’t take it for granted, the way too many people today take natural resources for granted, waste them, and pollute them. When God the Creator is left out of the picture, then men and women cease to see themselves as stewards and behave only as selfish consumers. One day God will destroy those who destroy the earth (Rev. 11:18).

This is a good place to pause and note the pictures of our Lord Jesus Christ that are found in the narrative so far. We’ve seen Him in the manna as the Bread of Life (John 6), and now in the well He’s the giver of the living water (7:37–39). In the Bible, water for drinking is a picture of the Spirit of God, while water for washing is a type of the Word of God (Eph. 5:26–27). But before Jesus could send the Spirit, He had to die on the cross (John 7:39), which leads us to the uplifted serpent in Numbers 21:4–9 and John 3:14. The manna emphasizes His incarnation, the serpent His crucifixion, and the water His ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit.

Before they arrived at the plains of Moab, the Israelites fought two major battles and with the help of the Lord won both of them.

Victory over the Amorites (vv. 21–32). As the Jews continued their journey, they arrived at the country of the Amorites. They were descendants of Noah’s son Ham through his son Canaan (Gen. 10:6–15) and should not be confused with the Ammonites. God prohibited Israel from confronting the Ammonites (Deut. 2:18–19) because they were related to the Jews through Lot, Abraham’s nephew (Gen. 19:30–38).

At one time the Amorites ruled vast areas in Mesopotamia and Syria, but in Moses’ day, their territory was much smaller. The Amorites were located on the western shore of the Dead Sea, north of the Edomites, between the Arnon and Jabbock Rivers. In God’s eyes, they were a wicked people, ripe for judgment (15:16), and Moses knew that the Lord had promised Israel victory over this evil nation (Ex. 23:23). However, Moses first tried diplomacy, as he had done with the Edomites (Num. 20:14–22), assuring Sihon the king of Heshbon that Israel had come in peace and would create no problems (Deut. 2:26–37).

The Lord wanted Israel to possess the land east of the Jordan, so He permitted Sihon to attack Israel. Sihon’s capital was at Heshbon, but he and his army came south to Jahaz, about twenty miles north of the Arnon River, and there challenged Israel. God’s people won the battle and possessed the land from the Arnon to the Jabbock River. Before Israel entered the Promised Land, the territory east of the Jordan River was given to Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh (Num. 32).

In Numbers 21:27–30, Moses quoted an Amorite “war song” and applied it to the people of Israel. The song originally celebrated a great Amorite victory when Sihon defeated Moab and took their cities and their people captive. But now it’s Sihon and the Amorites who are the losers. Sihon had defeated Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, but Jehovah had defeated the gods of the Amorites! The first six lines of the song (vv. 27–28) describe Sihon’s victory over Moab, but the last two lines (v. 30) describe Israel’s victory over Sihon.

In writing the book of Numbers, Moses was led by the Holy Spirit to record this song and apply it to Israel. In fact, the prophet Jeremiah also quoted part of this song in his prophecy concerning the judgment of Moab (Jer. 48:45–46). Does this mean that God’s people today can borrow “secular songs” and use them in worshipping God? No, it doesn’t, for Israel used this “taunt song” on the battlefield, not in the sanctuary. Moses was writing history, not liturgy, and Jeremiah was writing prophecy. Christian lyricists have borrowed secular tunes. but we’re on dangerous ground when we borrow secular words to express our praise and worship to God.

Victory over Bashan (vv. 33–35). After a “mopup” operation around Jazer, Israel turned its attention to Bashan, a very fertile region east of the Sea of Galilee and south of Mount Hermon. During Abraham’s time, a people called the Rephaites lived there (Gen. 14:5). Og, king of Bashan, confronted Israel at Edrei, a town about fifty miles northeast of Jazer, but the Lord assured Moses that Israel would win the victory, and they did.

According to Joshua 2:10, the news of this victory spread to Jericho and brought fear to the hearts of the inhabitants. Ezra mentioned this victory in his prayer (Neh. 9:22) and the psalmists in their songs of praise (Ps. 135:11; 136:19–20). Og had his capital in Ashtaroth (Deut. 1:4) and ruled over sixty cities (Josh. 13:30), all of which Israel captured and destroyed, leaving no survivors (Num. 21:35; Deut. 3:1–11).

In their conquest of Canaan, Israel followed the pattern described in Numbers 21:32–35. Joshua would send out spies to get the lay of the land. Then he would seek God’s special instructions for each attack, obey God’s orders by faith, and win the victory. The two times that Joshua didn’t follow this pattern, he was defeated (Josh. 7 and 9).

The entire region east of the Jordan River was now in the hands of the Israelites and was eventually turned over to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh (Num. 21:32; Deut. 29:7–8). However, Israel would now confront the Moabites who would adopt a subtle strategy that would bring death to 24,000 Jews.