Disappointment to Victory:
Criticism and Penalty to Supply and Victory
Numbers 21:4-35
I. Rebellion leads to discontentment with God’s provision; 21:4-9.
4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
The people grew impatient and ungrateful for what the Lord had provided them. They described their food supply as miserable, thereby criticizing and degrading what God had graciously given to them for forty years. When a person's heart is intent on rebellion and beset by discontentment, even the best of gifts from the Lord can lose their savor; nothing will fully satisfy until the heart is made right.
In response to the people's complaints and rebellion, the Lord sent venomous snakes, which resulted in death to the many who were bitten. They appealed to Moses to intercede with God on their behalf. Moses responded to their repentant pleas with a humble heart and prayed on behalf of the people.
God does not simply call off the snakes. Rather, he commands Moses to create a visual antivenom, which Moses does by crafting and displaying a snake out of bronze. Anyone who had been bitten by the snakes could then look at the snake-bearing sign and would live rather than die. To confront the serpent sculpture is to confront one's own sin and its result. It is the spiritual equivalent of looking in the mirror. That unspoken confession is all it takes to live. If they reject the bronze serpent as they have the manna that God provided, they will simply go on dying. The choice is theirs.
The remedy is too easy and too good to be true. It does not make sense in human terms. That is precisely the point: By doing something that is humanly irrational, the people will show faith in the Lord's power and promise of healing, which is their only hope.
One night Jesus said to 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" (John 3:14-15). Thus, Jesus identified Himself as the ultimate antidote to the "snakebite of death that results from sin”. By looking at Him, lifted up and dying for our sin, we see the depth of our fall, the fate we deserve, and the magnitude of His mercy.
II. Trust and obedience brings victory; 21:10-20.
10 The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth. 11 Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the desert that faces Moab toward the sunrise. 12 From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley. 13 They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the desert extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 That is why the Book of the Wars of the LORD says:"... Waheb in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon 15 and the slopes of the ravines that lead to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab." 16 From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people together and I will give them water." 17 Then Israel sang this song: "Spring up, O well! Sing about it, 18 about the well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people sank-- the nobles with scepters and staffs." Then they went from the desert to Mattanah, 19 from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.
Having sought the Lord faithfully in the case of the bronze serpent, they were prepared to follow Him faithfully on their journey to experience again the joy of victory. Moving on, another potential crisis over water turns into an example of divine-human cooperation when the Israelites dig a well at the Lord’s direction. The song that follows celebrates the wondrous gift of water provided by the Lord. With such a long history of complaining about the lack of water, the celebration of God's granting of water by instruction to Moses marks another turning point in the story of God's dealing with Israel.
Trust and obedience to God’s word brings victory. God expects us to follow Him faithfully on our journey in life to experience again the joy of victory. Celebrating instead of complaining is a turning point in our growing relationship with God and spiritual maturity.
III. God continues to provide opportunities for victory; 21:21-35.
21 Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon king of the Amorites: 22 "Let us pass through your country. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king's highway until we have passed through your territory." 23 But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. He mustered his entire army and marched out into the desert against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he fought with Israel. 24 Israel, however, put him to the sword and took over his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only as far as the Ammonites, because their border was fortified. 25 Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its surrounding settlements. 26 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. 27 That is why the poets say: "Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt; let Sihon's city be restored. 28 "Fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the citizens of Arnon's heights. 29 Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He has given up his sons as fugitives and his daughters as captives to Sihon king of the Amorites. 30 "But we have overthrown them; Heshbon is destroyed all the way to Dibon. We have demolished them as far as Nophah, which extends to Medeba." 31 So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. 32 After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its surrounding settlements and drove out the Amorites who were there. 33 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. 34 The LORD said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon." 35 So they struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army, leaving them no survivors. And they took possession of his land.
To proceed further north to reach the Jordan River and enter Canaan from the east, the Israelites asked to pass through the territory of Sihon, king of the Amorites. The stipulations were essentially the same as with Edom. Sihon's response was the same as the king of Edom - refusal of passage and the sending of troops to push back Israel's advance. The armies of Sihon and the Amorites suffered a resounding defeat. Israel sings another song of God’s victorious provision. By the hand of their God, they triumphed over the Moabite region the Amorites had conquered.
Two subsequent victories over the Amorites are recounted as the Israelites continued northward through the region against Jazer and vicinity and finally against Og the king of Bashan. Moses sent out the spies to scout out the situation in Jazer, which was followed by another victory over the Amorites who were living there. The message from the Lord is that they should not fear the oncoming enemies. To hesitate in fear would be to rebel against God, but to advance would give evidence of their faith in a God who fights for them.
At the beginning of Israel’s becoming a nation, the Lord employed several strategies to turn His people into a victorious obedient people of God. He showed that He was always victorious. By defeating Egypt, He showed the Israelites that if they were obedient, they would be victorious too. In practical matters such as food, water, and physical security, God emphasized that victory comes through trust in Him. The Lord tested His people by giving them opportunities to demonstrate what they had learned. When the Israelites failed a test, God repeated it until they could pass.
Christ's victory is for His disciples. Because Christ has already won, we who believe in Him are victorious, and we too become energized, follow in obedience, and sacrifice rather than make up excuses. We give rather than hoard, encourage rather than criticize, serve others rather than try to be the greatest, obey rather than rebel, trust over complaining, and share the gospel over selfish living.
Now here is something to sing about! "Spring up, O well!” Those who are willing to receive the refreshing gift of salvation and God’s Spirit are ready for any battles with evil that may come on the way to their Promised Land. If we get stuck in basic training, we will likely find ourselves repeatedly coming back to the same testing points from various angles until we learn to give up on our own strength and wisdom and rely on God in obedience.
