Egypt to Israel Part 13

Egypt to Israel part 13

Numbers 21

⁴ Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very ^[b]discouraged on the way. ⁵ And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.”

spoke against God and against Moses: Here the people once again speak against God and Moses, there complaint is simple, they have had the same food for 40 years, they have been wandering for 40 years, they are at the edge of the promised land and are going the wrong way.

Worthless-They found no value in it, yet it kept them going for 40 years in the wilderness.  This is not just a rejection of food, but a rejection of Gods grace and mercy and provision. 

⁶ So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.

fiery serpents- In this area of the middle east there are pit vipers that are extremely poisonous and also just as deadly, scorpions and lizards.  Some of these are colored like fire, and some of them make you feel like you are on fire when bitten.  But we do not know what it meant by fiery serpents.  Duet 8:15

Bit the people: This is not the punishment, but the first part of the punishment.  One bit not good, but normal, many bites, all over not natural.

Died: This was a result of the bite, the bite a result of the serpents, the serpents because of their sin, people understood this. 

⁷ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

Sinned-The punishment made it clear what the problem was, it was fast server and supernatural.  One snake bite is bad but many in a short time, like the plagues of Egypt, you want to go back to Egypt, remember the plagues. 

Pray-They knew they messed up and they when to the mediator between God and Man, at this time it was Moses. 

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.

Make-This is not making an idol, it was not to be worshipped but to show faith, faith that something that should not heal, would heal, all because God said it would.

Set– Moses was to raise it above the camp so that everyone would have a chance to look at it who would need to.

Look-this was a simple act of faith. 

Numbers 27

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see the land I have given the Israelites. ¹³ After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, ¹⁴ for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)

see the land-Supernatural vision given to see the land possible, or just a great vista! 

seen it, you too will be gathered- He is going to die, Moses knew that the end was here

For- the reason why Moses was to die before entering the promised land

¹⁵ Moses said to the Lord, ¹⁶ “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community ¹⁷ to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

appoint someone-He was not worried about death, he was not mad about not entering the land, he was worried about the people. 

¹⁸ So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him. 

lay your hand-This is an ancient custom of approval.

¹⁹ Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. ²⁰ Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. ²¹ He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

some of your authority-Moses was to show the whole nation that Joshua was the man to replace him and that Moses and God approves of him. 

who will obtain decisions- Moses and God talked face to face, but here Joshua can only go through the high priest,

²² Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. ²³ Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses.

DeuT 3:23-29

²³ At that time I pleaded with the Lord: ²⁴ “Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do? ²⁵ Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon.”

²⁶ But because of you the Lord was angry with me and would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the Lord said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. ²⁷ Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan. ²⁸ But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”

Deut 34:5-12

⁵ And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. ⁶ He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. ⁷ Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. ⁸ The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.

He buried- No man knew where he was buried, this would mean God buried him, either himself or an angel Jude 1:9

⁹ Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.

Filled with– God blessed Joshua

¹⁰ Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, ¹¹ who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. ¹² For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. Until the messiah!

The next step is Jericho