THE SERPENT OF BRASS

NUMBERS

CHAPTER 21

            It's a pleasure to have you back with us again at Daily Bread.  We're following Moses along with the children of Israel in their final months in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land.  It's been 40 years now that they have wandered in the wilderness because of all of their defiance against God. It is kinda like Fate and Destiny. Their DESTINY was to get to the Promised Land. Their FATE was their choice to question and test God which hindered them from getting there sooner and for many of them ... At all.

            News of Israel coming to conquer had reached Canaan and when king Arad, who ruled in the south, heard of the spies and that Israel was on it's way, he fought against Israel, and took some of them as prisoners.  God's people made a promise to God that if He would give them His power, they would totally ruin their cities.  The Lord delivered the Canaanites into their hands and Israel prevailed, destroying them and their cities and Israel called the place Hormah, which means, Utter destruction.

            As you recall, the last place that the children of Israel stopped was at mount Hor, where Aaron had died.  From there, the Lord led them south again, all the way down to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom.  On a map, the area of the Red Sea that is referred to is called the Gulf of Aqaba.  The people were discouraged because of this route, because it was in the opposite direction of the Promised Land. 

            The people grumbled against God and Moses again, Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness?  There's no bread or water, and our people hate this light bread (manna).  So the Lord sent fiery serpents among them and they bit the people, and many people of Israel died.

            Now, what does this mean ... Fiery serpent?  It could mean that they were made of fire, or they could have been a fiery red.  It could mean that they were easily provoked, that their bite caused a burning sensation, or that they were inflamed, big huge snakes.  In any case, it must have been a horrifying thing! 

            Oh, you bet the people came running to Moses again, saying, We've sinned, we objected to the Lord and you.  Pray to God that He takes away these serpents from us.  So Moses did pray for the people.

            The Lord told Moses, Make you a fiery serpent and set it up on a pole and whenever anyone is bitten, when they look at it, they'll live.  Moses made a serpent of brass and put it on a pole and it happened just as the Lord said, and the people who were bitten, when they looked at the serpent of brass, they lived.

            Numbers 21:10-16 tells the cities that the children of Israel journeyed on their way around Edom.  When they got to Beer, which means, A well, the Lord told Moses, Gather the people together and I'll give them water.  They were so happy they sang this song:

Spring up, O well;

sing ye unto it:

The princes digged the well,

the nobles of the people digged it,

by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves.

            From Beer they went to Mattanah, then to Nahaliel, then to Bamoth, then to the top of Pisgah.  Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites saying, Let me pass through your land.  We won't pass through the fields or through the vineyards or drink the water from the well.  We'll stay on the kings highway and not wander from it until we have passed your borders.

            But Sihon wouldn't allow Israel to travel through his land Now, remember the king of Edom refused Israel passage so they went all the way around Edom.  They weren't about to go all the way around the land of the Amorites, and God was pretty fed up by Sihon's refusal, so Israel destroyed the Amorites with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from Arnon to Jabbok.  They conquered all the way to the land of Ammon, because the children of Ammon, at the border, were strong.  Israel took all the cities of the Amorites in Heshbon and all the villages of it.  (Sihon had won the land of Moab when he formerly fought with Ar, the king of Moab, and took all the land up to Arnon.

            Here's a little Daily Bread crumb for you.  In Numbers 21:27, it says, Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared: ...  Well, Solomon wasn't born yet so it wasn't him who wrote this proverb, but just as today, we hear historical stories through songs, they had ballad tellers back then too. If you'd like to read the rest of the ballad, or proverb, it continues through verse 30.

            So Israel stayed in the land of the Amorites and Moses sent spies out to Jaazer and they conquered their villages and drove out the Amorites that lived there too.  Then they headed in the direction of Bashan, and Og who was one of the last of the giants, went out to battle against Israel with all his people in Edrei. 

            The Lord told Moses, Don't be afraid of him.  I'll give you victory over him and his people and his land, and you'll do the same to him as you did to Sihon.  So Israel defeated Og and his sons and his people until there were none left alive, and they possessed his land.

            With the conquest of Canaan still before them, the children of Israel are getting a little bit of battlefield training.  When the Lord is with you, the physical part is effortless, He takes care of it all.  If we don't fight with Him, He will fight for us, just ask the children of Israel.

            In our next story ... You will read about a talking donkey ...  It should be mighty interesting.  Join us again, won't you!   

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