Numbers - Chapters 21-36

In these chapters of Numbers, we learn that the Israelites did not enter the Promised Land right away because they doubted their ability to conquer it. Only Caleb and Joshua believed they could do it. Moses and Aaron were also not allowed to enter the land because of their disobedience. The Israelites defeated two kings and took possession of the land east of the Jordan River. Balak, the king of Moab, tried to curse the Israelites but it always turned into a blessing. Balaam, the prophet hired by Balak, was later rebuked for his wrongdoing. The Israelites fell into sin by worshiping idols and had to face consequences. The Reubenites, Gadites, and half of Manasseh requested to stay on the eastern side of the Jordan River, but they still had to fight with the rest of Israel. The Levites were given towns to live in throughout the land. I am Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If, by chance, you want to contact me, you can do that at vab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are covering chapters 21 through 36 of Numbers, and when I cover so many chapters, it reminds me of what one of my seminary professors said, an overview of the Bible is not the Bible. I hope you are actually reading the passages and letting the Lord speak to you through His word. Last year I took two lessons to cover these verses, and so if you are interested, you can look for The Nation of Israel Began to Conquer the Land and the Story of Balaam and King Balak on February 9, 2023, and The Preparations for Entering the Promised Land on February 10, 2023. The book of Numbers began with a census of the people of Israel once they left Egypt. The purpose of Numbers gives us information about why the children of Israel did not go right away into the Promised Land, and that is because 10 of the 12 leaders saw the mighty people and the fortified cities, and they thought they could not do it. Their disbelief caused the people to doubt, and they rebelled against Moses and Aaron and the two who believed God would give them the land, Caleb and Joshua. Their punishment of their disbelief was that that generation would die in the wilderness except for the two who believed in their families. Moses and Aaron also were not allowed to enter because of their sin at Meribah when they hit the rock instead of speaking to the rock as the Lord commanded. The Lord told them in chapter 20 verse 12, Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them. Chapter 20 started with Miriam their sister's death and it ended with Aaron's death. His son Eleazar took his place. The old leadership is dying off and the new is taking over and we find in chapter 27 that Joshua son of Nun will take Moses' place. In chapter 21 the Canaanite king of Arad heard the Israelites were coming, the Israelites were coming, so they attacked first. So in verse 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 called Horma. One of the best explanations of why in these wars the Lord commanded complete destruction came from my evangelism professor Dr. Bucher and he explained it was like cancer cells. Those cells are living but we know that they bring forth death. So when a doctor does surgery and he gets it all we are relieved but when he can't get it all out of our bodies then we fear that death will be coming soon. In chapter 33 verse 51 the Lord told Moses to tell the people when you cross the Jordan into Canaan drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you, destroy all their carved images and their cast idols and demolish all their high places. In other words remove all the idols and the places of false worship. Then in verses 55 and 56 but if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allowed to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you live and then I will do to you what I plan to do to them. One interesting thing to note is that in light of the war in Israel today, throughout the Bible the Israelites never captured the Gaza Strip and that has been a thorn in their side ever since. Also in chapter 21 we have the story of the Israelites grumbling against God and Moses and the Lord sent venomous snakes among them. They confessed their sins to Moses and asked him to pray for them so he did. The Lord commanded Moses, make a snake and put it on a pole and anyone who is bitten can look at it and live. Moses obeyed and made the snake out of bronze and placed it on a pole and all who looked on the snake lived. In the New Testament book of John chapter 4 verses 14 through 17 Jesus references this passage and he told Nicodemus, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert so the son of man must be lifted up that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. Way back in Genesis 3 it was the serpent that deceived the woman and she ate and animate too. Sin entered the world and with sin comes death but God made a way for us to find everlasting life and that is through his son Jesus. Jesus was also raised up on a pole which is called the cross and he shed his blood for you and me. The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. God loves you, he loves the world, all people but only those who look to him, who put their faith in him will find true life. Now these chapters tell us that the Israelites defeated two kings, Sion the king of the Amorites and Og the king of Bashan and they took possession of the land which was east of the Jordan River. This brought fear to the surrounding nations. Chapters 22 through 24 tell the story of Balak the king of Moab who hired a prophet named Balaam to curse the Israelites. He was willing to pay big bucks for it. Balaam ends up going to Balak but on the way the Lord sent an angel to kill him. But his donkey saw the angel with the drawn sword in his hand so the donkey first went off the road to save him. She was beaten. Then the angel appeared again in a narrow path with walls on each side and the donkey crushed Balaam's foot against the wall. She was beaten again. The third time the angel appeared at a place where the donkey could not move out of the way so she laid down under Balaam. She was beaten a third time. This time the Lord opened the donkey's mouth and she spoke to Balaam. And what is even more interesting is that Balaam answered the donkey. It was then that Balaam's eyes were opened and he saw the angel. He bowed down and realized the donkey had saved his life. Balaam tried to curse the Israelites five times but the Lord always made it into a blessing. In the first one chapter 23 verses 7 through 10 the Israelites were described as a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations. In his second oracle in chapter 23 verse 21 he declared the Lord their God is with them. The shout of the king is among them. In his third blessing found in chapter 24 verse 7b says their king will be greater than Agag. Their kingdom will be exalted. The fourth oracle in chapter 24 verses 15 through 19 verse 17a says I see him but not now I behold him but not here a star will come out of Jacob a scepter will rise out of Israel. Chapter 24 ends with Balaam and Balak each went their own ways but this is because of chapter 25 when Moab seduced Israel with their women and their gods which led Israel to fall into sin by worshiping their God Baal of Peor. We learn later on in chapter 31 when Israel got vengeance on the Midianites in verse 8 that they killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword and in verse 16 it tells us they were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the Lord in what happened at Peor so that a plague struck the Lord's people. Last year when I read through the entire Bible I was surprised at how many times Balaam was mentioned as an example not to follow. In second Peter chapter 2 verse 15 Peter said they have left the straightway and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor who loved the wages of wickedness but he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey a beast without speech he spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophets madness. In Jude verse 11 Jesus' half-brother said woe to them they have taken the way of Cain they have rushed for profit in Balaam's error they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion and he is even mentioned in Revelation chapter 2 verse 14 nevertheless I have a few things against you. You have people there who hold to the teachings of Balaam who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. This makes me think of another thing one of my professors said not all people in the Bible stories are to be emulated some are examples of how we should be and what we ought not to be and we need to be discerning about what we see in our own lives. Chapter 26 is the second census verses 64 and 65 say not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the desert of Sinai in other words in that first census for the Lord had told those Israelites they would surely die in the desert and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. Then there was a review of daily offerings Sabbath offerings and monthly offerings then the Passover the Feast of Weeks the Feast of Trumpets the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles these have been discussed in other lessons. Chapter 30 talks of making vows to the Lord and then chapter 31 is the vengeance on the Midianites and the dividing of the spoils. Chapter 32 we learn that the Reubenites Gadites and half of the tribe of Manasseh asked if they could stay on the eastern side of the Jordan River because it was good land for their herds. It was decided they could stay but they still had to fight with the rest of Israel as they took the promised land on the west side of the Jordan. Chapter 33 covers the stages of Israel's journey. Chapter 34 the Lord shares what their boundaries are in Canaan and in chapter 35 we learn that the Levites who did not inherit land because the Lord is their portion were given 48 towns to live in plus pasture lands outside the cities. These were scattered throughout the land of Israel and six of those cities were refuge cities, three on each side of the Jordan River where someone who accidentally killed someone could stay until trial or if it was an accident they could live there without fear of the avenger of blood taking their life. The last chapter 36 is tied to chapter 27 which is tied to chapter 26 verse 33. In the line of the second census with the names of all the descendants of men comes verse 33. Zelophehad son of Hefer had no sons he only had daughters whose names were Mala, Noah, Pogla, Milca and Terza. This was from the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph. Chapter 27 shows us that the Lord provided the daughters to also give them property as an inheritance of their father. Then in chapter 36 the family heads were worried that if the woman were to marry outside their clan then the land would go to a different clan and it was decided that if the woman were to keep the land they needed to marry within the clan. Verse 7 says no inheritance in Israel is to pass from tribe to tribe for every Israelite shall keep the tribal land inherited from his forefathers. The daughters did as the Lord commanded and married within their clan. Numbers ends with verse 13. These are the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. Dr. Betts my Old Testament professor said at the end of this book is a question. Will this generation rise to the challenge and accept the blessings of God and take the promised land? Another thing I was reminded in his class was that the land was promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and now to the nation of Israel but God just didn't give it to them. They had to go fight and possess the land. They had to trust that God was with them as they went. They were to obey as the Lord led them. So must we. What has the Lord called you to do? Can you identify with any of the characters of this story of the Bible? If you have heard his voice today, please don't harden your heart like the Israelites did many times. Instead, let's be women of faith who hear from the Lord and obey. Until next time and thanks so much for listening.