(Num 21:8) Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole;

and it shall be that everyone who is bitten,

when he looks at it, shall live." {9} So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole;

and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

 

 

(John 3:14-15 NKJV)  ""And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, {15} "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

 

 

The brazen serpent was certainly no type of Jesus Christ; but from our Lord’s words we may learn,

1. That as the serpent was lifted up on the pole or ensign, so Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross.

2. That as the Israelites were to look at the brazen serpent, so sinners must look to Christ for salvation.

3. That as God provided no other remedy than this looking for the wounded Israelites, so He has provided no other way of salvation than faith in the blood of his Son.

 

 

(2 Ki 18:1-4 NKJV)  "Now it came to pass . . . that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. {2} He was twenty-five years old when he became king, . . . {3} And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. {4} He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan."

 

In other words, they worshipped it as a god!

 

 

(Num 21:10) Now the children of Israel moved on and camped in Oboth. {11} And they journeyed from Oboth and camped at Ije Abarim, in the wilderness which is east of Moab, toward the sunrise. {12} . . . {13} From there they moved and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. {14} Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: "Waheb in Suphah, The brooks of the Arnon, {15} And the slope of the brooks That reaches to the dwelling of Ar, And lies on the border of Moab." {16} From there they went to Beer, which is 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! All of you sing to it; {18} . . .{20} and from Bamoth, in the valley that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks down on the wasteland.

Mt. Nebo Amorites Arnon Moab Zered River   Edom

 

{21} Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, {22} "Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into fields or vineyards; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the King's Highway until we have passed through your territory." {23} But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory.

 

 

(Num 21:23 cont.) So Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and he came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. {24} Then Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the people of Ammon; for the border of the people of Ammon was fortified.

This is the territory that they took. Here is the Jabbok           This is the Arnon River This is a very large territory.

 

(Num 21:25) So Israel took all these cities, and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its villages.

This is a major development!  This is a home!  They now have homes with four walls, not just tents to move from place to place.

They are on the east side of the promised land, but they like it.  This land will go to Reuben.

 

Adam Clarke says, “This seizure is justified:

1.    Against the Amorites themselves, for they were the aggressors, and provoked the Israelites to battle;

2.    and yet, perhaps, that would not have been sufficient to entitle Israel to their land, but that God himself, the King of nations, the Lord of the whole earth, had given them a grant of it.

3.    The Amorites formed one of the devoted nations whose land God had promised to Abraham and his seed, which promise should be performed when the iniquity of the Amorites should be full, Gen_15:16. 

 

(Gen 15:13-16 NKJV)  "Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. {14} "And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. . . . {16} "But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.""

(Num 21:25) So Israel took all these cities, and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its villages. {26} For Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and had taken all his land from his hand as far as the Arnon. {27} Therefore those who speak in proverbs say:  [This is like a psalm about Sihon]

"Come to Heshbon, let it be built;

Let the city of Sihon be repaired.

{28} "For fire went out from Heshbon,

A flame from the city of Sihon;

It consumed Ar of Moab,  [Sihon defeated Moab]

The lords of the heights of the Arnon.

{29} Woe to you, Moab!

You have perished,  [They were defeated!]

O people of Chemosh!  [Chemosh was their god]

He has given his sons as fugitives,

And his daughters into captivity,

To Sihon king of the Amorites."

 

 (Josh 2:8-13 NKJV)  "Now before they lay down, she [Rahab] came up to them on the roof, {9} and said to the men: "I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. {10} "For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. {11} "And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. {12} "Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house, and give me a true token, {13} "and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.""

(Num 32:1-19 NKJV)  Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, {2} the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, {3} "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon, {4} "the country which the LORD defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock." {5} Therefore they said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan." {6} And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: "Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? {7} "Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them?

. . .{15} "For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people." {16} Then they came near to him and said: "We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, {17} "but we ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. {18} "We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance. {19} "For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan."

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