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CHAPTER 21: Journey Of Children Of Israel In " Compassing" Land Of
Edom - The " Fiery Serpents" And The" Brazen Serpent" - Israel Enters
The Land Of The Amorites - Victories Over Sihon And & Og, -The Kings
Of The Amorites And Of Bashan - Israel Camps In " Lowlands Of Moab"
Close By TheJordan Numbers 21:3-35; 33:35-49; Deuteronomy 2, 3
THE opposition of Edom and the unprovoked attack of the Canaanite king of Arad
must haveconvinced Israel that the most serious difficulties of their march had now
commenced. It was quitenatural that, during the thirty-eight years when they were
scattered up and down in the Sinaiticpeninsula, their powerful neighbors should have
left them unmolested, as the wandering Bedouin areat this day. But when Israel again
gathered together and moved forward as a host, then the tidingsof the marvelous
things which God had done for them, communicated with all the
circumstantialitycommon in the east, would excite mingled terror and a determination
to resist them. The latterprobably first; the former as resistance was seen to be vain,
and the God of Israel realized asstronger than all other national deities. Eastern
idolaters would naturally thus reason; and theknowledge of this will help our
understanding of the Scriptural narrative.
The general direction of Israel's march, in order to "compass" the land of Edom, was
first to the headof the Elanitic Gulf of the Red Sea, or the Gulf of 'Akabah. Thence
they would, a few hours north ofEzion-geber (the giant's backbone), enter the
mountains, and then pass northwards, marching toMoab "by the road which runs
between Edom and the limestone plateau of the great easterndesert" (comp.
Deuteronomy 2:8).
Probably they were prepared to contend for every fresh advance which they made
northwards. Butthe first part of their journey was otherwise trying. That deep
depression of the Arabah throughwhich they marched - intensely hot, bare of
vegetation, desolate, rough, and visited by terriblesandstorms - was pre-eminently
"that great and terrible wilderness," of which Moses afterwardsreminded the people.
(Deuteronomy 1:19) What with the weariness of the way, the want of water,and of all
food other than the manna, "the soul of the people was much discouraged," "and
thepeople spake against God and against Moses." The judgment of "fiery serpents"
which the Lord, "inpunishment, sent among the people," and of which so many died
bore a marked resemblance to allHis former dealings. Once more He did not create a
new thing for the execution of His purpose, butonly disposed sovereignly of what
already existed. Travelers give remarkable confirmation andillustrations of the number
and poisonous character of the serpents in that district. Thus one writesof the
neighborhood of the gulf: "The sand on the shore showed traces of snakes on every
hand.They had crawled there in various directions. Some of the marks appeared to
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