King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 4 notes
1And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.
2And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
3And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
And the Lord hearkened to their voice. Why?
Because it tallied with the plan of God. They had aligned right with God.
The invasion of the promised land was God's idea 💡 in the first place, and now there comes a people who wanted the same thing as God.
And indeed it was further fuelled ⛽ by the capture of their brethren.
It is interesting that God watched on as some of them, the chosen people of God, were captured.
How? Impossible 🙅. God's darling choice Israel 🇮🇱 captured?? 😳. Were they not doing the work of God? Was not this whole journey sanctioned by him? How could they be taken prisoners..?
And it would have remained so if they did nothing. It kind of aligns with the book of Acts, when James was captured and nothing was done.
Then he was beheaded. Now Peter too was captured, and constant prayers were offered for him by the church.
Acts 12:5 KJV
Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
4And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
5And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
Could it be that some of the people actually died because of the difficulty of the journey and the lack of food and water 💦?
Very plausible, and it might well have been a strategy to continue killing the people as the forty years drew nigh.
6And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
10And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.
What was the point of complaining, when it would not yield any benefit but suffering? At the end of it all they still had to continue the journey to their destination, and their complaining was pointless; indeed it was detrimental, because many of them died because of their murmurings.
God dealt with them by a strong hand; it looked like God wanted to just rid the earth of them, as he had promised.
He had wanted to kill them all at once, but Moses pleaded for mercy, so he let them wander for 40 years, and in those days of wandering he killed them all and left their children. They died, but over a time frame instead of all at once.
It was mercy in a sense — their punishment was deferred.
I wonder if the serpents bit specifically the complainants only — the scripture is silent on that though.
11And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ije-abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.
12From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.
13From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
14Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,
15And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.
16And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.
17Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:
18The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah:
19And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:
20And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.
21And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
22Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king’s high way, until we be past thy borders.
23And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
24And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.
25And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.
26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.
27Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:
28For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.
29Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.
30We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.
31Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
32And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.
33And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.
34And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.
35So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.
Hmm 🤔, interesting.
This time it was not captivity that triggered the war and victory, but a direct attack.
Either way, God got himself the victory and his name glorified.
So in crises, unexpected 😱 or pending doom, whatever the challenge, it's all for his glory.
Amen