Numbers 21: King Arad Defeated / The Bronze Serpent / The Journey to Moab / King Sihon Defeated / King Og Defeated
Three themes permeate today's reading: travel, battle, and storytelling. The storytelling comes from outside sources, which as we will see, can be rather strange.
King Arad Defeated: Numbers 21.1-3
This passage strangely lacks Moses' presence. Until now, the wandering Israelites have been led and represented by Moses, but Israel is seen as an autonomous group.
King Arad, a Canaanite living in the Negeb, hears the Israelites are approaching by way of Atharim. He fights Israel and captures some of their people. Israel vows to God that if he delivers these Canaanites into their hands, they will utterly destroy their towns. God agrees, the Israelites wreak havoc, and so the place is called Hormah, meaning "destruction."
The Bronze Serprent: Numbers 21.4-9
The Israelites manage to make one final complaint in the wilderness. They speak against God and Moses that they were brought out of Egypt to die of hunger and thirst in the wilderness. There is no scene of Moses falling before the people or the Lord declaring his anger. These scenes have already been well-established in the mind of the reader. Instead, the Lord simply sends poisonous serpents that bite the Israelites, so that many die. The people come to Moses and confess that they have sinned. They entreat moses to pray for the Lord to take away the serpents.
But the Lord does not take away the serpents. Instead, the Lord instructs Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. Whenever someone is bitten, they merely need to look at the bronze serpent, and they will live.
It is consistent with his character that God creates a solution to the problem rather than simply removing the problem. God acted similarly when he allowed the children of the Israelites to enter the promised land, while disallowing entry anyone born in Egypt. God has a remarkable way of sticking to his guns, as it were, and instead adding a new variable to the equation, rather than just removing the previous variable he instituted.
The Journey to Moab: Numbers 21.10-20
Numbers 21.10-20 chronicles the Israelites' movements as they journey to Moab. They camp at Oboth, then Iye-abarim, then the Wadi Zered, then the wilderness on the boundary of Moab. Here the biblical author cites "the Book of the Wars of the Lord" to describe the place. This book is today unknown, but the "Lord of Armies", YHWH Sabaoth is a well-known figure. This characterization of God is an important one in the bible, as God is to lead his people on many campaigns.
The Israelites continue to Beer (which means "well") and God here decides to provide them with water. There is no evidence of complaint, and in fact the Israelites sing a song of joy at the digging of the well. This song is likely from another outside text, just like "the Book of the Wars of the Lord." Quoting outside sources bolsters and embellishes your story.
From the wilderness of Mattanah (how the Israelites got there, it is not mentioned) the Israelites head to Nahaliel, and from there to Bamoth, and from there to a valley in Moab that overlooks a wasteland.
King Sihon Defeated: Numbers 21.21-32
Israel asks King Sihon of the Amorites for safe passage through his land. This scene is what as known as a "type scene" because there are multiple scenes of the same "type." Yesterday's post contained the story of the king of Edom refusing passage through his nation (Num. 20.14-21).
The message in yesterday's reading begins by bring the king up to date on the history of Israel, recounting the migration to Egypt, oppression, escape from Egypt, and wandering in the wilderness. The message then asks for safe passage, stating that the Israelites will not not pass through (and thereby destroy) fields or vineyards, and that they will not drink the water of wells; the Israelites will stay on the King's Highway.
Today's message, however, cuts right to the chase, only asking for safe passage. However, it is asked for in the same exact way as the precious story. And in fact it is not Moses that asks for safe passage, but Israel as a whole. Why wasn't the history of Israel included? One possibility is that the Amorites do not has the familial attachment that the Edomites have with the Israelites. If this is the case, the difference in the two type stories indicates the importance of family to the author, as Moses confides in Edom the family history since they last saw each other.
In any case, the Israelites are again refused permission to pass. And in addition, King Sihon sends his army out to fight with Israel, something that the king of the Edomites did not do. Israel kills King Sihon and takes possession of the land. They settle in the Amorite town of Heshbon, and all its villages. This land, the author tells us, was captured from the Moabites by King Sihon. What then follows is a very peculiar poem, a song that commemorates the victory of the Amorites over the Moabites. The reason for this is very unclear, and the ballad seems to be something of an anomaly in an Israel-centric work.
Moses then sends out spies to Jazer, and the Israelites capture the Amorite towns and dispossess the residents.
King Og Defeated: Numbers 21.33-35
The Israelites head up to Bashan, and face off against King Og. The Lord tells Mosds not to be afraid, for the Israelites will defeat King Og and all his people. And indeed, they kill the king, his sons, and all his people. There are no survivors of the slaughter.
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