I heard a few years back that the animated series The Flintstones that aired during primetime was a cartoon aimed largely at reaching an adult audience. That tidbit makes sense based on a couple of things. For one, no network, it would seem, would give up a primetime slot to a show merely aimed at children. But, second, the storylines aren’t the typical storylines that would make sense to or attract only children. If you watched and remember the animated series (whether watching it live or as re-runs), you’ll remember a series where the main couple, Fred and Wilma, almost always found something to argue over, Fred and his neighbor, Barney, both faced struggles at work, and Barney and Betty (the Flintstones’ neighbors) battled infertility and ended up adopting a little boy named “Bam Bam.”
Now, I don’t know how hard it was to pitch to a major television network a cartoon dealing with issues like infertility, but I imagine more than a few thought the idea ridiculous. But the reasoning was behind it was no doubt the thought that if adults are going to watch this, then it needs to correspond to real life. And real life is rarely summed up with the phrase “happily ever after” is it? That’s not to say that life doesn’t provide many moments of unbridled joy, but simply to note that it also includes such realities as infertility, loss of jobs, financial struggles, cancer, depression, loneliness, and death. Real life is not something children typically mimic when they’re playing with dolls. Not many little girls, I would imagine, lie in bed at night, fantasizing about getting married, only to lose her husband in a car accident so that she is left alone with their children. That’s simply not the stuff of fantasies. But it is the stuff of real life, isn’t it?
And with that being the case, I bet few of us this morning feel like we’re living a fairy tale. But the good thing about the Bible is that it deals with real life. And because of that, it doesn’t read like a fairy tale. If we created or imagined the story of Israel, it probably wouldn’t read anything like the book of Numbers, where Moses, Aaron, and Miriam die before entering the promised land. It wouldn’t tell of a people who constantly grumble, though they have every reason to praise. After all, we like heroes. We like people who give thanks when others have provided for them. But the bible is not a fairy tale or an imagined story. It’s real life. So, when we come to our text this morning, what we find is real life. We find Israel, now right on the verge of entering the promised land after years of wandering in the wilderness, running into constant and consistent struggle at every turn. We find a generation, ready to finally obey God struggling to obey and being met with adversaries again and again.
But we can relate, can’t we? If the Bible did read like a fairy tale, we’d probably rightly say that it doesn’t seem to apply to our lives – while we live in a world where death and sin reign. But because it doesn’t, and because this text specifically was penned in order to help us walk in obedience and not desire evil as Israel did, this text aids us by teaching us truths we need to hold tightly to, consider, and remember, as we strive to walk in obedience and yet find struggles along the way. And it’s these truths that I want to highlight for us this morning as we look at Numbers 20:14-22:1. Specifically, I want to start out by noting from our text that:
Our text takes place in the final year of the wilderness wandering. Israel has wandered in the wilderness for forty years, with an entire generation dying off. And now they’re ready to go and enter the promised land. They’re ready for their journey. And they’d like to go straight through Edom. It would be a simpler journey than to go around Edom, on their way to the land. And Edom shouldn’t have a problem with it. After all, Israel and Edom are brother nations. Jacob was the father of the twelve tribes of Israel while Esau, his brother, had been the father of the Edomites. They had every reason to acquiesce and let Israel pass through.
And if the relationship wasn’t enough, Israel was quite gracious in their request, making sure they wouldn’t disturb anything. So, we read in 20:14-17, “Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: ‘Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers. And when we cried to the LORD, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from a well. We will go along the King's Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’”
Again, it’s reasonable, and it would cost Edom nothing. But the response is less than great. We read, “But Edom said to him, ‘You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you’” (20:18). In fact, the response is so unreasonable that Israel appeals again, saying, “We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more” (20:19). You can almost feel them thinking, “Well, surely they’ve missed something. I mean, we’ll cost them nothing.” But Edom didn’t miss anything, and repeats the response, even ratcheting it up a bit, saying, “You shall not pass through,” while coming out against them with a large army and with a strong force (20:20).
So, the journey of the next generation into the promised land starts on this note. And don’t think it gets a whole lot better right out of the gate. In 20:22-29, we’re told that Aaron dies, bringing enough sadness to the people that they weep for thirty days. Then, in 21:1, a Canaanite king takes some Israelites captive on their journey so that they have to go out against him and defeat him in battle.
Now, the point that I want us to see here is that obedience didn’t mean smooth sailing for Israel. I’m sure they expected that once they obeyed, doors would be opened, roads would be smoothed out, etc. But instead, Edom refuses, Aaron dies, and a Canaanite king takes some Israelites captive. Obedience to the Lord rarely results in a life of our expectations being met.
And for our purposes of fighting against sin, I long for us all to have a mindset that understands this reality. It may well be that we walk in sexual purity before marriage, honor the Lord together as husband and wife, and then realize we can’t have children. It may mean that you go on the mission field, a child dies, and your wife goes crazy. It may mean that you try to pastor faithfully but the church just doesn’t want you to be their pastor anymore. And, if you’ve lived long enough, you know these aren’t merely theoretical situations. They happen all the time.
I’ve noted it before, but sometimes we say, “I knew the Lord was in this because it went so smoothly.” But that’s just not always the case. The Lord was in this and Edom refused was reasonable request. The path was hard. The journey was long. Obeying the Lord may cost us all kinds of discomfort and afflictions. But it’s okay. The Scriptures tell us to expect this.
Yet, this text isn’t simply a text that reminds us that things aren’t rosy when we obey. It also reminds us that:
In 20:22-29, we read of a sad event. Aaron dies. And Aaron dies specifically as a consequence of his sin. The Lord says in 20:24-26, “Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar, his son and bring them up to Mount Hor. And strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron shall be gathered to his people and shall die there.”
This is painful to witness, isn’t it? Miriam has died, the people have died, Moses isn’t going into the land, and now Aaron has died. It’s getting downright depressing. But, at the same time, the Lord shows them that his work is not ending. In fact, the Lord had accounted for Aaron’s death, providing Eleazar with the garments to function as the high priest for Israel.
You see, Aaron’s death and Eleazar’s appointment both send the same message: God is faithful to his Word. He’d told Moses and Aaron that there would be judgment for their sin at Meribah. And he’d told Moses that Aaron’s sons would serve after him at the altar. Now, God is bringing both to reality. He’s keeping his word.
This is what we count on. Though our expectations through life may not be met and trials accompany where we feel like blessings should, we can always count on God’s Word. He is faithful and true. So, everything God has promised, we would do well to hide in our hearts, remember, and rest in as we go through life, seeking to obey the Lord.
So, thus far, we’ve been reminded that obedience rarely means our expectations are met, and yet we can count on the faithfulness of God’s Word. Yet there are more truths as well. We also see in this text that:
Numbers 21:4-9 is a popular story of the fiery serpents. Many of us are probably familiar with the story. The people complain about to Moses, as they often do, saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food” (21:5). And the Lord answers by sending them “fiery serpents,” which probably means venomous serpents, so that the people are being bitten, and they die.
So, the people repent, saying to Moses, “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” (21:7). Instead of just removing the serpents, though, the Lord instructs Moses to make a serpent and set it on a pole. And Moses does, making a bronze serpent, putting it on a pole, and having the people look at the bronze serpent so that they might live instead of die.
Again, it’s a story we know. But notice two things about the text. First, notice the settling. In 21:4 we read, “From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way.” You see, the people grow impatient in the midst of things not going as they’d hoped or expected. It was Edom’s unreasonableness that put them in this position.
And that’s often when temptation comes, isn’t it? We sin against others, often by telling ourselves, “Well, if they hadn’t done that, then I wouldn’t be struggling so much.” And it’s true that people will sin against you, put you in rough places, and make your life one of struggle. But even in those times, we are called to obey. When our expectations aren’t met, we are still called to obey.
And, second, notice what happens in 21:10-20. The people go on from that point where they complained about not having water, and the Lord takes them to a place called Beer where the Lord says to Moses, “Gather the people together, so that I may give them water” (21:16).
You see, you might begin thinking that the reason the people complained is because God wasn’t providing for their needs. But he was. Numbers 21:10-20 proves it. God had prepared for them to have water. And this time, they are patient, God gives water in a well, and they praise and thank God for it, singing, “Spring up, O Well,” as we read in 21:17-18.
This provides instruction for us. Though we do not know what life holds, and we know that it often holds things for us that we’d rather it not, our call is to obey God, trust God, and praise God. This is our call as believers. Obey, even though people sin against you and make your circumstances harder. Trust God, even though you’d do things differently if you were in control of your own life. And praise God, every time you see him showing his rich grace to you. That is what we see Israel finally doing, and it is a model for us that we might imitate their faith and not desire evil.
So, we walk through life, realizing obedience may rarely mean our expectations are met. We walk through life, knowing that God’s Word is faithful. And we walk through life, knowing that we are called to obey, trust, and praise God in the midst of our unmet expectations. But there is something else to encourage us as we walk through this life, fighting to obey the Lord. We need to realize that:
It can be tempting to move past Numbers 21:21-22:1 a little too quickly. There are two stories in these verses that are remarkably similar. Again, Israel sends messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, asking him to let them pass through his land. And again, they are rejected. So, Sihon gathers his people to fight against Israel, and the Lord leads Israel to triumph over them.
Then again, they go up by the way to Bashan, and Og, the king of Bashan, leads his people against Israel, and again the Lord leads them to conquer him so that they possess his land. The stories are similar, they seem predictable, and they’re easily skipped over. But these are big events in Israel’s history.
Now, I admit, they wouldn’t have felt like monumental events to any individual Israelite perhaps at first. Maybe they’re thinking, “Why won’t people just let us start passing through their land and stop insisting that we fight them?” They could have thought of this as a great inconvenience when they’re just trying to make it to the land.
But notice what God was doing. First, God was no doubt honoring himself. The reason Israel was against to defeat Sihon and Og is because God was flexing his might against them. It wasn’t because Israel was great. It’s because God was great. Second, God was preparing Israel for a blessing. We read in 21:26, “For 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, as far as the Arnon.”
So, Sihon and the Amorites had defeated the Moabites, and now Israel has defeated the Moabites. What do you think that does to the Moabites? Of course, it makes Balak, king of the Moabites, get real nervous so that he seeks after someone to curse Israel, while God uses it as an opportunity to bless his people. We’ll see this in detail next week, but we already see that God was doing more in this moment than Israel could see.
But there’s even more. This section ends with the words of 22:1, “Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.” Now, Jericho is a city we’re pretty familiar with. It’s the first city that will be conquered in the land.
But we also know that not everyone was killed there. When Joshua sent spies into the land, there was a prostitute named Rahab who decided that instead of turning the spies over to the king and having them executed, she would hide them. In fact, she told them that she knew that their God was going to give them the land. But how did she know? After all, Jericho was an impressive walled city. It would be reasonable to think that Israel couldn’t conquer Jericho, fortified as it was. What made her believe so that she was ready to hide the spies when they came?
We find the answer in Joshua 2:9-11, where Rahab tells the spies, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.”
Do you see? As soon as they heard what Israel did to Og and Sihon, their hearts melted, and Rahab realized that Israel’s God was indeed the God of the heavens and of the earth. And her conversion was no small matter. She’d go on to marry Salmon, and they’d give birth to Boaz, who would marry Ruth. And they’d give birth to Obed, who was the father of Jesse, who as the father of King David. Do you see, the Lord was paving the way for the Messiah to come into the world through the line of David, and it was dependent on a prostitute in Jericho believing deeply enough to hide a couple of spies one night. And one reason she was so willing to believe that she risked her life hiding those spies was because she had heard what God had done through Israel to Og and Sihon.
God was doing more in that moment that anyone could see or imagine. And that God is our God. And we can certainly trust that he is doing more in this moment in your life and in my life than we can imagine. It may be that life hasn’t turned out as you’d hope. Maybe you’re fighting battles you wish you didn’t have to fight. But God is in control, and he’s doing more right now that you can see and imagine. He’s more passionate about glorifying himself and building up his church than we are. And he’s working to that end – even in the details of our lives that we are battling through right now.
In fact, on that day when the Lord had Moses hold up a bronze serpent in the wilderness – a day, I’m sure, many Israelites would like to forget – the Lord was providing us a picture of salvation. Even as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness that day so that people might see it and have life, he was preparing us to look to his Son who would one day be lifted up on a cross on a hill outside Jerusalem so that all who look to him in faith might have eternal life. And we remember his grace in living, dying, and being raised for us by coming to the table now.
Therefore, this morning, as we consider that obedience hasn’t meant met expectations in our lives, we can realize that it’s okay. We’re still called to obey, trust, and praise God. And we can because his Word is always true and faithful and because we know that he is doing more – much more – in any one moment than we can see or imagine. So, let us proclaim our trust and faith in him now as we come to the table. Amen.