44. Beginner Bible Course: The book of Numbers, Pt. 3

EPISODE 44  The simple Bible overview of…CONQUERING THE EAST SIDE OF THE PROMISED LAND

In Numbers 21, Generation two is on its way to the Promised Land yeah, there's a few old geezers left from Generation one, but they're dropping like flies on the journey North. None of them, except Joshua and Caleb, the two faithful spies will enter the promise land. At least the West side of the promise land. God routs the children of Israel toward Edam, Ammon, and Moab. As I said, in the last episode, Eden was the descendants of Jacob's brother, Esau and Ammon and Moab were lots to children. Israel asked Edam if they could pass through on the highway, Eden would have know part of it and block them.

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So Israel rerouted, when Israel came to Amman, Israel ask the same of Amman cyan King of Ammon came out and full-blown attack Israel defending itself, went on the counter attack and completely obliterated the Ammonite army. And they took their land. This is big, God it? Promised the Land Abraham got a little graveyard. Jacob bought the land around <inaudible> but now God has giving them the large area of Bay Shan. Next was Moab Bay Lac. The King of Moab had much advanced learning that they were coming. So he sent a delegation up to the Euphrates river to look for bail him, the heck's guy of the Euphrates bill and was quite a character apparently well known as a prophet for higher, a profit for profit.

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You might say after two trips, they convinced him to come to Moab to put a hex on the Israelites. What follows in the story is one of the strangest stories in the old Testament, a talking donkey skeptics of the Bible, roll their eyes at this, go read it in numbers. Chapter 22, Moses who we believe wrote Numbers doesn't seem to apologize for it at all. Perhaps he remembers Satan entered a serpent in the garden of Eden and spoke to Eve. So this was not unheard of. The new Testament. Also cites this incident and treats it as if it actually happened. Would you put this, roll your eyes story in the text.

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If it didn't actually happen, bill gets to Moab and on three separate occasions from three separate mountain tops, overlooking Israel puts a quote hex on them. Only. It wasn't a hex at all. It was a blessing on the first Hill. He pronounces who can count these people. I want my life to end like there's on the second Hill. His hex is God is with them. God does what he says. No hex can ever hold back. This lion on the third Hill, his hexes look at those beautiful tents, how those people flourish, their kingdom will be majestic. And that lion down there while nap, presumably to sleep off of food, coma Baylock is ticked.

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He refuses to pay the profit for profit Bay alum. So he gives him a few more hexes on the house, including one that a great, great King will come out of Judah. In chapter 25, we hit a low point. What the golden calf incident was to Generation one. What happened at bale P or was to Generation to bail worship. The men of Israel got together with the Moabites specifically the Moabite ladies and worshiped the bale and then engaged in shameless activities. You'll note throughout the old Testament bill worship and these shameless activities were almost always connected.

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In fact, they were a part of the bale worship. Perhaps it was intimacy with God and intimacy with each other are kissing cousins. Both are a gift of God, but they shouldn't be confused. They're mixed ever God and Moses are discussing this contemptible sin. When one of the Israelite men walks by Moses with one of these giggly ladies on his arm and walks right into his tent, Phineas, the son of Elizar Aaron son. Now the high priest watches this shameless display. He grabs the spear and enters the tent and shish kabobs. The couple in the act, then God's disciplined, pours out on the perpetrators, 24,000 die.

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The Generation to Apple apparently has not fallen far from the Generation one tree Generation to guys and gals are still gross, but will God be gracious or will he send them back out into the wilderness? God decides to move forward with his promise. He asked Moses to take a census of Generation too. The number in Numbers is 601,730. And Generation to fighting men ages 20 to 50. Almost exactly the number of that came out of Egypt 40 years earlier, ready to take the Land in chapter 27, we have an interesting situation. Five daughters come to Moses there of the tribe of Manasseh.

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There's no sun in this family to inherit Land they're questioning to Moses. Why can't girls inherit property, Moses consults God and God says, yeah, why can't they? They should, in this patriarchal society, that's an incredible elevation of women's rights. Remembering that Moses can't enter the land. God says it's time to hand off your role. Moses handed to Joshua and Moses does God then tells them once they enter the land, he wants to not be forgotten. So he implements festivals requiring the children of Israel to come together on regular basis, not just for the Passover or the day of at one mint, but for other feasts and festivals.

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One of these listed in chapter 29 is the festival of tents, an eight day event, where they came back together from their homes all over Israel and stayed in tents as they had in the wilderness. As you read this, you may be reminded of the song, the 12 days of Christmas, I'll just leave it at that. Generation two runs into the Midianites and takes the vengeance on them. They utterly destroy this people group. When they plunder the dead, they find an interesting character there. They alum the profit for profit. Perhaps he'd been called by the Midianites to hex Israel to having conquered Land on the East side of the Jordan to tribes approach Moses with the request, the tribes are Reuben and GAD their request, Moses, this lands perfect for grazing our cattle.

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When God a lots of the Land can we be on this East side? Moses agrees as long as the fighting men of Reuben and GAD Promised to cross over and help their brothers conquer the rest of the Land Numbers ends with God telling Moses to set up certain cities for the Levis. These towns are peppered evenly all over the promised land so that no one would be more than one day's journey from a Levi town where they could consult the Levi's on how to approach God and do the necessary offerings and sacrifices. God ordained six of these Levi towns to be cities of refuge. Again, within one days hard travel from anywhere in the promised land, the cities of refuge, where meant to be for someone who claimed to accidentally have shed someone's blood in these cities of refuge, that person would be spared from the revenge of a relative until the courts could hear his case.

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When we get to the end of Numbers, the children of Israel have conquered the East part of the promised land and are sitting across the Jordan river from the walled city of Jericho. 80% of the promised land is sitting before them waiting to be conquered, but they won't just rush across the river. There's something Generation to needs desperately before they go. And we'll hear about that in our next wordpicture.