Have you ever felt like echoing the Israelites by crying out, "Oh Lord, how much longer . . . ?"

Numbers Chapter 21: Victories, More Complaints, God’s Judgment with Serpents, the Bronze Serpent, and Journey to Moab

Numbers 21:1-35

Day 74. Violent protests last night all over America; quieter ones also in Toronto and London. About six years ago someone predicted that what the ruling class needs next were curfews and quarantine. Well, now they have both. What remains to be seen is how the authorities react. Things are very tense. Will America even be able to have its next election without first going through some form of mass civil unrest, if not another civil war. Some have been predicting that as well. I’m so glad I’m a believer in God Almighty. He’s got this. And His record is great as we find out again from our study in Numbers. Read on.

The Passage

Verses 1-3 describe a battle with the king of Arad that took some of the Israelites captive. The people then promised God that if He would deliver them into their hand, they would destroy them. And God delivered the Canaanites to them, and the Israelites utterly destroyed them and their cities. And they called the place Hormah.

Verses 4-5 describe how Israel travelled from Mount Hor, via the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. This journey caused the people to be very impatient. They spoke against God and Moses again, with the usual complaints.

Verse 6-9 describe how God sent fiery serpents to bite the people to the point where many died. The people then run to Moses again, indicate their remorse for sinning, and asking him to intercede for them so that God would remove the serpents. Moses did, and God instructed him to make a serpent, set it on a standard. When the Israelites that were bitten looked at it, they would live. Moses did just that using bronze, and God kept His word.

Verses 10-20 describe how the Israelites moved on to Oboth and then to Iye-abarim, in the wilderness opposite Moab. From there to Wadi Zered, then the other side of the Arnon (near the border of the Amorites and the border of Moab. In verse 14, we have a quote from the Book of the Wars of the Lord which also describes their route. And then they move to Beer where God give the people water, and Israel sang a song as recorded in verses 17-18. From there to Mattanah, on to Nahaliel, then Bamoth, and then the valley that is the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah which overlooks the wasteland.

Verses 21-35 describe more victories over kings they had to encounter on the way. First Sihon, king of the Amorites who refused them and actually went out to battle with them, only to lose to the Israelites who took possession of his lands and lived in the various cities. And this included Heshbon which Sihon had taken from the king of the Amorites.

Verses 27-30 quote the account of that as given in the prophets in verse 15, then later in Numbers 32:3,24; Jeremiah 48:18, 22, & 46; and Isaiah 16:2.

Verse 31-35 tell us Israel continued to live in the land of the Amorites; Moses sent spies to Jazer which they conquered; and then they went via Bashan where Og the king of Bashan was preparing to battle with them at Edrei. God tells Moses not to fear him and that He had given these enemies into their hands as well. And so it happened that they killed them all and possessed that land too. 

Thoughts on the Passage

It appears that the Israelites never really learned. No wonder God found ways to eliminate more and more of them along the way as He had promised none of the originals who left Egypt would see the promised land.

Chuck Smith says that there are two types of people – ones that can easily find something to complain about in every aspect of their lives; and ones that can easily find something to be thankful about in every aspect of their lives. We know what the Israelites were. We know what kind of people God wants. The only left to ask ourselves is “What kind of person am I?”

We know that the children of Israel were tired; they had been travelling in the desert for over 37 years by now. Getting frustrated would be understandable – it was such a long time. Some Christians today, you may be one of them, can rightfully say with the Israelites, “How long oh Lord will I need to put up with this pain or this hurt or this situation?” There’s no doubt about it – you are in a difficult space. And many of us may have been there or will be there one day. I need us to see that God has not changed. He will still answer our prayers. And He will still deal with our sins as we utter those complaints. But as we see in the next few verses, He will provide a way out if we’re willing to keep on trusting Him.

And thus, in this chapter we have the great story of God sending fiery serpents to bite and kill the Israelites. [First note that they were sent by God – sometimes we forget that God can send challenges and tests our way.  And fiery because they may have been a red color or because their bite produced a burning sensation. If Isaiah 14:29 is relating this event here in Numbers, then we could also assume that these fiery serpents were also the flying type.] But God also provides a way for them to be saved. We will note that in verse 7, the people actually wanted Moses to pray and ask God to “remove the serpents” from them. But God did not. Sometimes, God does not solve our problems our way – just ask the Apostle Paul and his thorn in the flesh.

Now, I have to admit I find this account most interesting as it relates, or compares, to what Christ has done for us. It is a foreshadowing of that. (Many seem to think it is indeed an image of how Christ can save us.) If that is the case, notice two things here: First, God does not, to my knowledge, eliminate the fiery serpents. Instead, He has Moses build a bronze serpent and put it on a standard or staff to which the people can look at and be saved. To me, this says God does not always eliminate our problems (those serpents were still around) but He provides a way out for us, a way of safety and security. Second, please notice the people actually had to do something to be saved – they had to look up at the bronze serpent. I’ll say no more, but I think when we argue about man’s role in salvation and call it absolutely ‘nothing’, we are quibbling over ideas such as whether actually “accepting the gift of salvation” is doing something or it’s not doing something. Who really cares except those two factions that like to argue over everything? Salvation, is indeed, a free gift of God, but its effect as a gift becomes operable when I accept it. We can choose to live or to die. If the Israelites wanted to live, they had to look up. They had to do something. [It’s like a proposal for marriage – the power of that proposal can change one’s life, but only if it is accepted. Enough said here.]

The other thing we note about this event is that Jesus refers to it in John 3:14-15 where His words clearly make the story a foreshadowing of His own sacrifice. This symbol is also the source for the ancient figure of healing and medicine that we still see today. And by the way, David Guzik tells us that Charles Spurgeon was so impacted by this story in Numbers, that he used this symbol for all his publications. Unfortunately, later on, in 2 Kings 18:4 during Hezekiah’s reign we see this symbol being made into an idol that had to be destroyed.

In verse 14 we have reference to some writing referred to as The Book of the Wars of the Lord. This is ancient literature lost to history, but it is not a missing part of the Bible just as the reference quoted by Paul in Acts 17:28 from a pagan poet does not make it a missing part of the Bible.

The song recorded in verses 17 and 18 are passages of poetry which Guzik says, “are meant to show what a mighty people the Amorites were, and in contrast, how glorious Israel's victory over them was.

The rest of the chapter mainly deals with various battles that the Israelites are engaged in and their victories over their enemies. All with God’s enabling. It’s one thing for us to simply review this chapter and skim over all the historical events of battle; it’s another thing to have lived through them all and died in one of them. Can you imagine how those left behind felt? Was their future to be like that of their parents and grandparents?

Guzik ends his thoughts on this chapter as follows:

“The new generation of the children of Israel are making wonderful progress to the Promised Land, and experiencing victory after victory. Yet their challenges are not over, as the subsequent chapters will show.” Stick with us.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.