Sermon - Audio
Num 21-22 - Audio
Num 21-22 - Daily Reading
Daily Insights - Please Comment
21
v1 - Israel is not the aggressor here, but it was the king of Arad.
v2-3 - "devote their cities to destruction (v. 2). Canaanite cities that resist Israel are to be totally destroyed, according to Deut. 20:16–18 (see note). Hormah was the place this policy was first implemented. Its name, “Destruction,” commemorates this (Num. 21:3)." -ESVSB-
*The cities may have been destroyed for multiple purposes:
1. To make sure that all idols and other items were completely destroyed.
2. To make sure that people knew that God got all the glory, the wars were not for their own profit.
v4-5 - The people begin to complain again. You knew it was coming, and how does God respond this time?
v6 - Fiery Serpents of course! The word "fiery" means poisonous. You think these people would realize that bad things happen each time they complain, but they don't. There was an "antidote" supplied once the people repented:
v7-9 - Bronze Serpent. "The Hebrew term translated “bronze” can also mean “copper” (see ESV footnote). The area through which the Israelites were traveling had copper mines, and archaeologists have found a 5-inch-long (13 cm) copper snake in a Midianite shrine at Timna, so it seems likely that copper is meant here. The redness of copper suggested atonement (see 19:1–10), so symbolically it was well chosen for this occasion. Jesus compares his own death on the cross to the uplifted serpent (John 3:14–15). By the time of King Hezekiah of Judah (c. 715 B.C.), this copper serpent had become an object of worship among the Israelites and had to be destroyed (2 Kings 18:4)." -ESVSB-
Thoughts:
The good - Jesus is lifted up (resurrected and exalted to glory) so whoever believes in him may have eternal life!
The bad - Did you catch the end of that? The people end up worshiping this thing...ugghhh
v14-18 - The Book of the Wars of the LORD was perhaps a collection of ancient songs like the book of Jashar (see Josh. 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18). The ESV represents the Hebrew text as it exists today for Num. 21:14–15. Because of the difficulty in understanding these verses, some have suggested that the text may have suffered from a copyist’s error. Minor changes to the Hebrew text have been proposed, but none of the suggestions can be verified with any degree of certainty. These verses summarize Israel’s journey through the territory of the Amorites, who lived north of the Arnon on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, as is explained more fully in vv. 21–30. Verses 16–18 celebrate the finding of an abundant well. -ESVSB-
v10-35 - The people travel to Moab. They defeat Og and Sihon. God is quickly giving the people land and defeating their enemies, fulfilling promise after promise.
22
v1-4 - Balak, the king of Moab, is terrified of how Israel has grown and advanced on their way into his land. He wants no part of Israel coming his way.
v5-6 - Balak calls on Balaam who we are now just introduced to. No one really knows who this person is, but it is certain that he believed in the one true God. There were people outside of the Israel who believed in Yahweh. examples - Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18) and Jethro (Exodus 18)
v-7-21 - Now these verses can be a bit confusing, because at first glance we may wonder what exactly Balaam did wrong. When you look closer you will see that Balaam was not all that faithful. God makes it plain to Balaam that it was not his will to curse Israel. Except, Balaam would keep inquiring of God for His will. This was in the best interest of Balaam's pocketbook, honor, and so on. Finally, God gives in to Balaam and tells him to go. The ESVSB states "what more the LORD will say to me. It is hard to think that there was some part of v. 12 that Balaam did not understand. It is likely that he wanted the money and the honor that Balak offered."
2 Peter 2:15-16 - "Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness."
Some of Balaam's comments may sound so "spiritual," but they are only met for his gain. He doesn't seem to obviously care what God's desire is.
Thought about the donkey - While on the journey to Moab, Balaam’s donkey was more sensitive to God’s moving than was a prophet. God will use whatever means necessary to accomplish His purpose.
The ESVSB states it, "This is a hilarious put-down of Balaam’s pretensions. The international expert on magic cannot see the angel, but his donkey can. and the angel upbraids him for his temper and cruelty." I would agree.
*Balaam's attitude now changes as he will bless Israel instead of cursing them in the next couple chapters...but that's for tomorrow.
Q. What things in our lives are we "spiritualizing" in order to justify them to others and God? This is still sin.
9 comments:
So every time they moved did they move and reset up the tabernacle? That must have taken a lot. I know that was the Levites job but wow. I never thought about what that involved.
does it seem strange that God wanted them to make a bronze snake to look at and be healed?
In the days of Moses, the culture was huge into gods of everything and images of those gods. It seem to me that to put a brass snake on a pole, then look at it and you are cured, would send a confusing message to the Israelites. Why not a lamb? Or a dove? Why use the symbol of evil? Is there more to the story?
Num 22:28 We don't get any indication what the other men saw or herd when Balaam was talking to the LORD, let alone what the Donkey had already spoken. I'm sure things had to look pretty strange for them.
Makes me wonder if there have been any times where I was witness to something "strange" like this?
Rebecca,
Numbers 1:51 states "Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who goes near it shall be put to death."
The ESVSB states, "The Levites’ task was to ensure God’s continuing presence with Israel. They dismantled, carried, and reassembled the tabernacle (vv. 50–51). They also guarded it from intruders. Entry to the tabernacle by laypeople could lead to divine wrath breaking out and the death of many Israelites, so the Levites were told to execute any outsider breaking in."
*This was actually seen as an honorable task since they were entrusted with guarding the Tabernacle (God's dwelling among His people). Some believe that this was a reward for remaining loyal to God by not participating in the calf worship (Ex 32:25-29). I'm sure it was a pain, but there was much honor in it.
PART 1
Anonymous and dheuker777,
More on the bronze serpent:
The people of Israel became impatient with God and Moses in the wilderness once again. In 21:4-5 we see them whining about the food, and wanting to go back to Egypt. Think about this logically...they were in the desert with thousands of people and God was keeping them from dying off, and they get angry with Him. So...
After the people complain God sends judgment upon them in the form of poisonous snakes that kill off a large group of them. The people immediately start repenting of their actions and ask Moses to pray for them to go away. So...
God answers in the form of a symbol of salvation, the erected bronze snake on the pole. If the people look to this pole they will be healed. It is only by God's grace that this pole is offered, the people deserve to die for their sins. So what does all this mean?
1. In John 3:13-17 we read the following:
"No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him!"
Explanation in PART 2!
PART 2
Key Phrase = "So must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." This explains a lot from this passage:
We are complainers, sinners, and just generally broken and evil people. Sin has bitten us and the wages of sin is death! However, the cross was lifted up or "erected" with Jesus Christ on it for our sins. Jesus was then lifted up from the grave 3 days later in triumph over death! Now as we look to the cross in faith, our salvation and deliverance is secure! Jesus is telling Nicodemus in this passage that His death will provide salvation and we must look to the time where the Son of Man will now be lifted up much like the serpent was in Numbers 21 for the restoration of the people. On the cross, Jesus became the very embodiment of what was killing us. He became the curse, took the burden of our sin, and he absorbed the venom. Death could not hold Him. In Acts 2:23-24 Peter expounds on this idea as well.
2. The salvation came by God's grace, the serpent pole didn't posses any "magical power." This is an interesting thought from the Jewish Study Bible:
"The bronze serpent as an apotropaic (turn from) symbol seems to be the etiological account for the bronze serpent...In Egypt, the uraeus, an amulet of an upreared cobra, symbolized kingship and divinity. It was worn on the pharaoh’s forehead and was believed to protect him with its fiery saliva."
Could it be that the bronze snake symbolized Jesus' kingship and divinity coming to the world for the forgiveness of sins and to usher in the new kingdom for those who look to Him for salvation? Scofield states, "The snake here is a symbol of judged sin; bronze speaks of the divine judgment, as in the bronze altar (see Ex. 27:1–2, notes, and of self-judgment as in the basin of bronze. The bronze snake symbolizes the future Christ." Christ is fully divine and is king over all.
3. There are other thoughts as well on the snake pole, but in all of them it is clear to see that Jesus points to this OT symbol of death, judgment, healing, forgiveness of sin, and restoration in His coming death and resurrection.
Great Stuff!
Rich,
A few more times this happened in the Bible:
Jn 12:28-30 - God Speaking, they thought it was thunder or something else.
Acts 9:7 - Saul on the road to Damascus, people stood speechless and didn't know the meaning of what they heard, etc.
Comment from the Jewish Study Bible on this: "Balaam becomes the object of mockery: He is portrayed as being blind to divine will; it is the ass that sees what the seer cannot." A renowned prophet can't see what the donkey does. There's a few good midrashes in there
:)
The incident of the serpent in the desert also reminds us of another important part of how we interpret the Bible: the New Testament gives us the proper interpretation of Old Testament texts. So as we look at the serpent in the desert it is very important, as Ryan points out, to see it through the eyes of the New Testament.
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