In the previous chapter we how after being refused entry through the land of Edom, Moses didn’t want to get involved in any war with Israel’s brother Edom, Numbers 20:14-21. Here, we read that the Canaanite king, Arad, heard what was going on and decided to attack Israel and take some of them captive, Numbers 21:1.
After being attacked Israel make a vow to God saying if God will deliver them into Israel’s hands, then, in turn, Israel will totally destroy them, their cities and their towns, Numbers 21:2. It’s difficult to understand why they would make such a vow when we remind ourselves that Israel were commanded by God to destroy all the Canaanites in the first place, Deuteronomy 20:18. However, God listened to Israel’s plea and gave the Canaanites over to them and they completely destroyed them and their towns and so the place was named Hormah, Numbers 21:3.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Canaanites of Arad took the offensive against Israel. Perhaps they did so because 38 years earlier the Israelites had suffered defeat at Hormah (which means ‘destruction’). Hormah lay very near Arad. The Israelites had experienced this defeat when they sought to enter the land after God had sentenced them to wander in the wilderness for 38 more years, Numbers 14:45.’
On their travels around Edom, Numbers 21:4 / Numbers 20:14-21, Israel, once again, complain against God and Moses, Numbers 21:5 / Exodus 15:24 / Exodus 16:2 / Exodus 17:3 / Numbers 12:1 / Numbers 14:2 / Numbers 16:3 / Numbers 16:41 / Numbers 20:2. They also question why were they brought up from Egypt in the first place, Numbers 21:5, which is a repeat of what their forefathers said whilst in the wilderness, Exodus 17:3-7.
They make the complaint that there was no bread, Numbers 21:5, which obviously wants true because God had provided manna and quail for them to eat, Exodus 16:13-14. This is obviously a faith in God issue. They also make the complaint that there is no water and they detest this miserable food, Numbers 21:5 / Exodus 16:3 / Numbers 20:3-5.
As a result of Israel’s lack of faith and lack of gratitude, God sent venomous snakes among them, Numbers 21:6. The KJV uses the words, ‘fiery serpents’, Deuteronomy 8:15; Isaiah 14:29 / Isaiah 30:6.
The term ‘fiery serpent’ refers to the bronze serpent Moses was instructed to create. The Hebrew word for ‘fiery’ can also mean ‘burning,’ possibly describing the burning sensation of the snake bites or the appearance of the bronze. Serpents were common in the desert regions where the Israelites travelled, and their presence here serves as both a literal and symbolic representation of sin and judgment.
The snakes bit people and many in Israel died from the snake bite, Numbers 21:6 / Hebrews 1:7. It appears that it took a bunch of venomous snakes to bring Israel to their senses, Deuteronomy 8:15 / Isaiah 14:29 / Isaiah 30:6, hence, why they confessed they had sinned against God and Moses, Numbers 21:7.
After praying to God on behalf of the people again, Numbers 21:7, the Lord tells Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole and anyone who looked at it would be granted life, Numbers 21:8 / Isaiah 45:22. What we find happening here is a very clear picture of the Christ, who in His sacrificial death, would be lifted upon the cross for the spiritual healing of all men, John 3:14-15 / Isaiah 53:5-6 / Romans 8:3 / 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Notice how simple this was for those in Israel to be saved, all they had to do was to look at the bronze serpent and they would be healed and saved, Numbers 21:9 / Isaiah 45:22 / John 3:14-15. The snakes were miraculously produced by God to punish them and when they looked at the bronze snake, they would be miraculously healed, Numbers 21:9.
We may wonder, what ever happened to this bronze snake? We don’t have to wonder, because the Scriptures tell us that the bronze snake was taken by the Israelites to Canaan, and preserved until the time of Hezekiah, who had it broken into pieces because the idolatrous people presented incense offerings to this holy relic, 2 Kings 18:4.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following, concerning the snake and Christ.
1. Man’s enemy, Satan, appears here in the form of the venomous serpents, which like ‘That Old Serpent’, Revelation 12:9, were the cause of sin and death.
2. The uniqueness of the remedy God here proposed is like that of Christ himself, being no other.
3. The lifting up of the serpent foretold the manner of Jesus’ death on Calvary.
4. Just as the brass serpent had the likeness and form of the serpents themselves, Jesus also was ‘made in the likeness of sinful flesh’, Romans 8:3. And just as the brass serpent which was lifted up was without any evil whatever, so was Christ.
5. Faith in what God commanded, demonstrated by ‘looking unto’ the serpent was like the faith that obeys the Word of God with reference to what Christ commanded. Healing in both cases resulted from hearing, believing, and obeying the Divine commandments.
6. Some have equated ‘looking unto’ with ‘faith alone’ as the means of appropriating healing and salvation, but there is a fatal flaw in that analogy. ‘Looking unto’ was a positive and obedient objective action. ‘Saving faith’ as understood by solifidians is none of this!
7. The ‘lifting up of the serpent upon the standard’ is typical of the ‘lifting up of Christ’, not solely restricted to this death on a cross, but also applicable to the worldwide, and perpetual ‘lifting up’ of the Saviour himself in the worship and adoration of all nations and tribes and tongues and peoples.
After the incident with the snakes, Israel continues their journey into Canaan. They set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that faces Moab toward the sunrise, Numbers 21:10-11.
From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley, Numbers 21:12 / Deuteronomy 2:13-14. They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the wilderness extending into Amorite territory, Numbers 21:13. We ate told that the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites, Numbers 21:13.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The list of places where Israel camped, Numbers 21:10-13, is different from that in Numbers 33, making this an abbreviated account, or minor adjustments associated collectively with the same camp. It makes no difference at all.’
That is why the Book of the Wars of the LORD says, Zahab in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon and the slopes of the ravines that lead to the settlement of Ar and lie along the border of Moab, Numbers 21:14-15. The Book of the Wars doesn’t exist today and it wasn’t inspired of God but it was a record of Israel’s military exploits, especially the military conquest of the land of Canaan.
Clarkes, in his commentary, says the following, concerning the Book of the Wars.
‘This book seems to have been some book of remembrances and directions, written by Moses for Joshua’s private instruction for the management of the wars after him, Exodus 17:14-16. It may be that this was the same book which is called the book of Jasher, i.e., the book of the upright, or a directory for Joshua, from Moses, what to do and what to expect in his wars; and in this book it seems as if Moses directed the setting up of archery, 2 Samuel 1:18, and warrants Joshua to command the sun, and expect its obedience, Joshua 10:13.’
From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the God told Moses to gather the people together and He will give them water, Numbers 21:16. Then Israel sang this song, spring up, O well! Sing about it, about the well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people sank, the nobles with sceptres and staffs, Numbers 21:17-18 / Exodus 15:1. Before the snake incident, the people complained they had no water, Numbers 21:5, here, we read that God once again would provide water, but this time the Israelites had to dig a well to access it.
According to some commentators, the song which was sung here was sung for centuries in the temple in Jerusalem on every third Sabbath.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This song, recognized by all authorities as dating from the earliest times and suggested apparently by the fact that God in this place gave the people water not from the rock, but by commanding Moses to cause a well to be dug, bespeaks the glad zeal, the joyful faith, and the hearty cooperation among all ranks, which possessed the people. In after time, it may well have been the water-drawing song of the maidens of Israel.’
Then Israel went from the wilderness to Mattanah, from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland, Numbers 21:18-20.
Israel sent messengers to Sihon, who was the king of the Amorites, Numbers 21:21. The Amorites were one of the main cultural groups of the Canaanites, Genesis 10:16. The name was sometimes used to refer to all the Canaanites of the region, Deuteronomy 1:7 / Deuteronomy 1:19 / Deuteronomy 1:27.
When Israel arrived, Sihon was ruling over a part of the Amorites to the east of the Jordan River. The messengers as Sihon to allow them to pass through his country and assures him that they won’t turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well, Numbers 21:22.
The messengers tell him that they will travel along the King’s Highway, Numbers 20:17, until we have passed through their territory, Numbers 21:22. It’s clear that it wasn’t Moses’ original plan to go to war against the Amorites and so, Sihon wouldn’t allow Israel to pass through the land, Numbers 21:23 / Deuteronomy 2:24-25 / Deuteronomy 2:30, but came out to fight against Israel, Numbers 21:23.
However, Israel fought against the Amorites and Sihon, both of whom were defeated by Israel, Numbers 21:24-25. 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, Numbers 21:26.
That is why the poets say: come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt; let Sihon’s city be restored. Fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the citizens of Arnon’s heights. 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 Numbers 21:27-29.
It’s interesting to note that Chemosh was a Moabite god, Judges 11:24 / 1 Kings 11:7 / Jeremiah 48:7. The point is that because God defeated Israel’s enemies, would let everyone know that there is only One true living God and that He was very much working in and through His people.
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, Numbers 21:30 / Isaiah 15:1-2. The city of Heshbon’s name means city of daughters or the mother city.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following concerning the poets.
‘The original word is almost equivalent to ‘the poets’. The word supplies the title of the Book of Proverbs itself and is used in the parable proper in Ezekiel 17:2, of the prophecies of Balsam in Numbers 23:7-10 / Numbers 24:3-9, etc. and of a song of triumph over Babylon in Isaiah 14:4.’
As a result of the victory over the Amorites and Sihon, Deuteronomy 3:1-17, Israel now occupied all the cities of the Amorites, Numbers 21:31 / Deuteronomy 2:30-37. After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its surrounding settlements and drove out the Amorites who were there, Numbers 21:32. 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, Numbers 21:33.
Although many of the cities didn’t have fortified walls around them, Deuteronomy 3:5, Og who was one of the last of the tribes of giants in Canaan, was the king of a warrior nation who lived within walled cities.
However, well-fortified city walls are no match for God, they too were destroyed. The land where Og reigned was beautiful pastureland and so, because of this, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh desired to dwell in this land, Deuteronomy 3:15-17. God had told Israel not to be afraid of Og and his army, Numbers 21:34, and Israel took God at His word, and so, God gave them the victory, Numbers 21:35.
We must remember that the Israelites weren’t warriors, they had little to no experience of war, and yet God blessed them with the victory because they trusted Him.