My son is in the military.  He didn’t enlist to merely have employment; he felt a call to serve his country.  As soon as the paperwork was signed; he was sent to basic training, then specific training so he would be able to perform the assignment given to him. He still serves proudly today, doing his best, as a leader and trainer of others joining the military.  A desire to serve, obedient, teachable, yielding to training, allegiance, and relentless loyalty with purpose are all characteristics of one who is called to serve.

The Israelites 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 Israelite 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.  Where God guides; He provides along the way.

Numbers 21

Arad Destroyed

When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some of them. ² Then Israel made this vow to the Lord: “If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities.” ³ The Lord listened to Israel’s plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.

The Bronze Snake

⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; ⁵ they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

⁶ Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

The Journey to Moab

¹⁰ The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth. ¹¹ Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that faces Moab toward the sunrise. ¹² From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley. ¹³ They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the wilderness extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ That is why the Book of the Wars of the Lord says:

“. . . Zahab in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon ¹⁵ and the slopes of the ravines
that lead to the settlement of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.”

¹⁶ From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together and I will give them water.”

¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song:

“Spring up, O well!
    Sing about it,
¹⁸ about the well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people sank—
    the nobles with scepters and staffs.”

Then they went from the wilderness to Mattanah, ¹⁹ from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.

Defeat of Sihon and Og

²¹ Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon king of the Amorites:

²² “Let us pass through your country. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”

²³ But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. He mustered his entire army and marched out into the wilderness against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he fought with Israel. ²⁴ Israel, however, put him to the sword and took over his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only as far as the Ammonites, because their border was fortified. ²⁵ Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its surrounding settlements. ²⁶ Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.

²⁷ That is why the poets say:

“Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt;
    let Sihon’s city be restored.

²⁸ “Fire went out from Heshbon,
    a blaze from the city of Sihon.
It consumed Ar of Moab,
    the citizens of Arnon’s heights.
²⁹ Woe to you, Moab!
    You are destroyed, people of Chemosh!
He has given up his sons as fugitives
    and his daughters as captives
    to Sihon king of the Amorites.

³⁰ “But we have overthrown them;
    Heshbon’s dominion has been destroyed all the way to Dibon.
We have demolished them as far as Nophah,
    which extends to Medeba.”

³¹ So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.

³² After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its surrounding settlements and drove out the Amorites who were there. ³³ Then they turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army marched out to meet them in battle at Edrei.

³⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.”

³⁵ So they struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army, leaving them no survivors. And they took possession of his land.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

What we are reading might seem harsh to us without some background about what is going on at this time.  God is sending His People into a land agriculturally rich but woefully full of sin.  The Canaanites oppose God and hate each other with no regard for the sanctity of human life.  Their religious practices included sacrificing their children to their gods, for example, among other detestable and vile sins.  To “utterly destroy or consume” literally meant to devote something completely to the Lord, wiping out the people and their cities and giving all the spoils to God. This is what Israel would later do at Jericho (Joshua 6:17–21), and because Achan took what belonged to God, he was slain (Joshua 7). The Canaanite culture was unspeakably wicked, especially their religious practices, and God wanted these nations removed from the earth.

SOMETHING TO CONSIDER—

I’m wondering what the twelve original spies are thinking right now?  Are ten spies who said possessing the land to be impossible, changing their minds yet?  Is there an, “I told you with God we can do this” coming from the lips of Joshua and Caleb?

This first victory in battle 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” (Isaiah 40:31) with challenges get too hard in our minds and we can’t see what lies ahead. Courageous faith in 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!

I’m reminded of Paul’s tenacity and devotion to Jesus when he speaks of endurance with purpose to believers, encouraging them in their “race”.  In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV), the apostle Paul uses the imagery of a race to highlight the importance of perseverance and discipline in the Christian life. This passage encourages believers to approach their Christian journey with purpose, discipline, and the goal of an eternal reward—and without grumbling! 

“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”   1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NLT

“Do everything without complaining and arguing, ¹⁵ so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” Philippians 2:14-15 NLT

Snakes—damage control for grumbling that disrupted their focus for the journey?  Did God hear the same complaint against God and Moses just one too many times?  I think of parents who the hear whiny grumblings of their children over and over until they say; “If you say that just one more time, _______.” (You can fill in the blank with your best comeback!) 

Incessant grumbling and complaining is a sin against the One who loves us most and is providing for our every need!  It is a sin against the leaders God has chosen to help us “run the race” set before us!  God proves His point with His people with a lesson in the discipline to replace grumbling with trust and faith in Him that will be remembered for all generations!  And for us! 

God gave Moses (and us) a remedy for our sin—

The wages of sin is still death.  The people begged Moses to pray for them and help them!  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 snakes and healing the people who had been bitten, God instructed Moses to make a snake of bronze and put it on a pole where all the people could see it. If those who had been bitten looked at the snake, they would be instantly healed.

Centuries later, Jesus used the bronze snake 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 snake 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 (Hebrews 9:27), but if they look by faith to Christ, He will save them and give them eternal life. Looking to the bronze snake saved people from physical death, but looking to Christ saves us from eternal death.” –Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe Study Bible

IMAGINE THE JOY IN THE CAMP FOR THE CURE!

Jesus was crucified publicly, outside the city of Jerusalem, and those who hear the gospel can “look to Him”, believe, repent of their sins and be saved.

“Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

The uplifted snake was the only cure in the camp, just as Jesus Christ is the only Savior of sinners in the world (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Imagine the joy in the camp of Israel when the word got out that there was a cure available for everybody! The only people not healed from death were those who didn’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 Timothy 1:15). Camp on this thought—take all the time you need.

Move forward at God’s command.  Depend on the training God provides.

Israel followed a pattern for possessing the Promised Land:

• Joshua would send out spies to get the lay of the land.
• Then he would seek God’s special instructions for each attack.
• Joshua would obey God’s orders by faith, and win the victory.

The two times that Joshua didn’t follow this pattern he was defeated (Joshua 7 and 9).

More battles lie ahead…Stay tuned!  It gets dicey!

Lord,

As we run the race, build our resolve for the race so we may endure and persevere.  Cleanse our hearts, remove all that does not belong.  Renew our minds, transform our behaviors. Refresh our souls with your new mercies that encourage us. Restore the JOY of your salvation at work with us.

In Jesus Name, Amen