The Pulpit Commentaries
Numbers 21:10-35
EXPOSITION
THE END OF JOURNEYS, THE BEGINNING OF VICTORIES
The children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth. In the list of Numbers 33:1, there occur two other stations, Zahnonah and Phunon, between Mount Hor and Oboth. Phunon may be the Pinou of Genesis 36:41, but it is a mere conjecture.
All we can conclude with any certainty is that the Israelites passed round the southern end of the mountains of Edom by the Wady el Ithm, and then marched northwards along the eastern border of Edom by the route now followed between Mekba and Damascus. On this side the mountains are far less precipitous and defensible than on the other, and this circumstance must have abated the insolence of the Edomites. Moreover, they must now have seen enough of Israel to know that, while immensely formidable in number and discipline, he had no hostile designs against them. It is therefore not surprising to find from Deuteronomy 2:6 that on this side the mountaineers supplied Israel with bread and water, just as they supply the pilgrim caravans at the present day. That they exacted payment for what they supplied was perfectly reasonable: no one could expect a poor people to feed a nation of two million souls, however nearly related, for nothing. Oboth has been identified with the modern halting-place of el-Ahsa, on the pilgrim route above mentioned, on the ground of supposed similarity in the meaning of the names; but the true rendering of Oboth is doubtful (see on Leviticus 19:31), and, apart from that, any such similarity of meaning is too vague and slight a ground for any argument to be built upon.
And pitched at Ije-abarim. Ije (עִיִיּ), or Ijm (עִיִּים), as it is called in Numbers 33:45, signifies "heaps" or "ruins." Abarim is a word of somewhat doubtful meaning, best rendered "ridges" or "ranges." It was apparently applied to the whole of Peraea in later times (cf. Jeremiah 22:20, "passages"), but in the Pentateuch is confined elsewhere to the ranges facing Jericho. These "ruinous heaps of the ranges" lay to the east of Moab, along the desert side of which Israel was now marching, still going northwards: they cannot-be identified.
Pitched in the valley of Zared. Rather, "in the brook of Zered." בְנַחַל זֶרֶד Perhaps the upper part of the Wady Kerek, which flows westwards into the Salt Sea (see on Deuteronomy 2:13).
Pitched on the other side of Arnon. The Arnon was without doubt the stream or torrent now known as the Wady Mojeb, which breaks its way down to the Salt Sea through a precipitous ravine. It must have been in the upper part of its course, in the desert uplands, that the Israelites crossed it; and this both because the passage lower down is extremely difficult, and also because they were keeping well to the eastward of Moabitish territory up to this point. It is not certain which side of the stream is intended by "the other side," because the force of these expressions depends as often upon the point of view of the writer as of the reader. It would appear from Deuteronomy 2:26 that Israel remained at this spot until the embassage to Sihon had returned. That cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites, i.e; the Aruon, or perhaps one of its confluents which comes down from the northeast. For Arnon is the border of Moab. It was at that time the boundary (see on Deuteronomy 2:26).
Wherefore, i.e; because the Amorites had wrested from Moab all to the north of Arnon. In the book of the wars of the Lord. Nothing is known of this book but what appears here. If it should seem strange that a book of this description should be already in existence, we must remember that amongst the multitude of Israel there must in the nature of things have been some "poets" in the then acceptation of the word. Some songs there must have been, and those songs would be mainly inspired by the excitement and triumph of the final marches. The first flush of a new national life achieving its first victories over the national foe always finds expression in songs and odes. It is abundantly evident from the foregoing narrative that writing of some sort was in common use at least among the leaders of Israel (see on Numbers 11:26), and they would not have thought it beneath them to collect these spontaneous effusions of a nation just awaking to the poetry of its own existence. The archaic character of the fragments preserved in this chapter, which makes them sound so foreign to our ears, is a strong testimony to their genuineness. It is hardly credible that any one of a later generation should have cared either to compose or to quote snatches of song which, like dried flowers, have lost everything but scientific value in being detached from the soil which gave them birth. What he did in the Red Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon. Rather, "Vaheb in whirlwind, and the brooks of Arnon." The strophe as cited here has neither nominative nor verb, and the sense can only be conjecturally restored. וָהֵב is almost certainly a proper name, although of an unknown place. בָּסוּפָה is also considered by many as the name of a locality "in Suphah;" it occurs, however, in Nahum 1:3 in the sense given above, and indeed it is not at all a rare word in Job, Proverbs, and the Prophets; it seems best, therefore, to give it the same meaning here.
And at the stream of the brooks. Rather, "and the pouring (וְאֶשֶׁד) of the brooks," i.e; the slope of the watershed. Ar. עָר is an archaic form of עִיר, a city. The same place is called Ar Moab in Numbers 21:28. It was situate on the Arnon somewhat lower down than where the Israelites crossed its "brooks." The peculiarity of the site, "in the midst of the river" (Joshua 13:9, cf. Deuteronomy 2:36), and extensive ruins, have enabled travelers to identify the spot on which it stood at the junction of the Mojeb (Arnon) and Lejum (Nahaliel, Numbers 21:19). It is uncertain whether the Greeks gave the name of Areopolis, as Jerome asserts, to Ar, but in later times it was Rabbah, a town many miles further south in the heart of Moab which bore this name. Ar was at this period the boundary town of Moab, and as such was respected by the Israelites (Deuteronomy 2:9, Deuteronomy 2:29).
And from thence … to Beer. A well; so named, no doubt, from the circumstance here recorded. That they were told to dig for water instead of receiving it from the rock showed the end to be at hand, and the transition shortly to be made from miraculous to natural supplies.
Then Israel sang this song. This song of the well may be taken from the same collection of odes, but more probably is quoted from memory. It is remarkable for the spirit of joyousness which breathes in it, so different from the complaining, desponding tone of the past.
By the direction of the lawgiver, בִּמְחֹקֵק. Literally, "by the lawgiver," or, as some prefer, "with the scepter." The meaning of michokek is disputed (see on Genesis 49:10), but in either ease the meaning must be practically as in the A.V. It speaks of the alacrity with which the leaders of Israel, Moses himself amongst them, began the work even with the insignia of their office. And from the wilderness … to Mattanah. Beer was still in the desert country eastward of the cultivated belt: from thence they crossed, still on the north of Arnon, and probably leaving it somewhat to the south, into a more settled country.
And from Mattanah to Nahaliel. The latter name, which means "the brook of God," seems to be still retained by the Encheileh, one of the northern affluents of the Wady Mojeb. From Nahaliel to Bamoth. Bamoth simply means "heights" or "high places," and was therefore a frequent name. This Bamoth maybe the same as the Bamoth-Baal of Numbers 22:41; Joshua 13:17, but it is uncertain. A Beth-Bamoth is mentioned on the Moabite stone.
And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah. The original runs simply thus: "And from Bamoth—the valley which in the field—Moab—the top—Pisgah." It may therefore be read, "And from the heights to the valley that is in the field of Moab, viz; the top of Pisgah." The "field" of Moab was no doubt the open, treeless expanse north of Arnon, drained by the Wady Waleh, which had formerly belonged to Moab. Pisgah ("the ridge") was a part of the Abarim ranges west of Heshbon, from the summit of which the first view is gained of the valley of Jordan and the hills of Palestine (cf. Numbers 33:47; Deuteronomy 3:27; Deuteronomy 34:1). Which looketh toward Jeshimon. Jeshimon, or "the waste," seems to mean here that desert plain on the north-east side of the Salt Sea now called the Ghor el Belka, which included in its barren desolation the southernmost portion of the Jordan valley.
And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon. The narrative here returns to the point of time when the Israelites first reached the Upper Arnon, the boundary stream of the kingdom of Sihon (see on Numbers 21:13, and cf. Deuteronomy 2:24-5). The list of stations in the preceding verses may probably have been copied out of some official record; it may be considered as marking the movements of the tabernacle with Eleazar and the Levites and the mass of the non-combatant population. In the mean time the armies of Israel were engaged in victorious enterprises which took them far afield. King of the Amorites. The Amorites were not akin to the Hebrews, as the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites were, who all claimed descent from Terah. They were of the Canaanitish stock (Genesis 10:16), and indeed the name Amorite often appears as synonymous with Canaanite in its larger sense (Deuteronomy 1:7, Deuteronomy 1:19, Deuteronomy 1:27, c.). If at one time they are mentioned side by side with five or six other tribes of the same stock (Exodus 34:11), yet at another they seem to be so much the representative race that "the Ammorite" stands for the inhabitants of Canaan in general whom Israel was commissioned to oust on account of his iniquity (Genesis 15:16). It is not, therefore, possible to draw any certain distinction between the Amorites of Sihon's kingdom and the mass of the Canaanites on the other side Jordan. Both Sihon and his people appear as intruders in this region, having come down perhaps from the northern parts of Palestine, and having but recently (it would seem) wrested from the king of Moab all his territory north of Arnon. It was the fact of the Amorites being found here which led to the conquest and settlement of the trans-Jordanic territory. That territory was not apparently included in the original gift (compare Numbers 34:2 with Genesis 10:19 and Genesis 15:19-1), but since the Amorite had possessed himself of it, it must pass with all the rest of his habitation to the chosen people.
Let me pass through thy land. Cf. Numbers 20:17. Israel was not commanded to spare the Amorites, indeed he was under orders to smite them (Deuteronomy 2:24), but that did not prevent his approaching them in the first instance with words of peace. If Sihon had hearkened, no doubt Israel would have passed directly on to Jordan, and he would at least have been spared for the present.
And he came to Jahaz, or Jahzah, a place of which we know nothing.
And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword. This was the first time that generation had seen war, if we except the uncertain episode of the king of Arad, and they could have had no weapons but such as their fathers had brought out of Egypt. It was, therefore, a critical moment in their history when they met the forces of Sihon, confident from their recent victory over Moab. We may suppose that Joshua was their military leader now, as before and after. From Arnon unto Jabbok. The Jabbok, which formed the boundary of Sihon on the north towards the kingdom of Og, and on the east towards the Ammonites, is the modern Zerka: it runs in a large curve northeast, north-west, and west, until it fails into Jordan, forty-five miles north of the mouth of the Arnon. Even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. This is perhaps intended to explain rather why the Amorites had not extended their conquests any further, than why the Israelites made no attempt to cross the border of Ammon; they had another and more sufficient reason (see Deuteronomy 2:19). Rabbah of Ammon, which stood upon the right (here the eastern) bank of the Upper Jabbok, was an extremely strong place which effectually protected the country behind it, even until the reign of David (see on 2 Samuel 11:1, 2 Samuel 12:1).
And Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites. The territory overrun at this time was about fifty miles north and south, by nearly thirty east and west. It was not permanently occupied until a somewhat later period (Numbers 32:33); but we may suppose that the flocks and herds, with sufficient forces to guard them, spread themselves at once over the broad pasture lands. Heshbon, and all the villages, thereof. Literally, "the daughters thereof. By a similar figure we speak of a "mother city." Heshbon occupied a central position in the kingdom of Sihon, half way between Arnon and Jabbok, and about eighteen miles eastward of the point where Jordan falls into the Salt Lake; it stood on a table-land nearly 3000 feet above the sea, and had been made his city (i.e. his capital) by Sihon at the time of his victories over Moab.
All his land. This is qualified by what follows: "even unto Arnon" (cf. Judges 11:13-7).
They that speak in proverbs. הַמָּשְׁלִים. Septuagint, οἰ αἰνιγματισταί. A class of persons well marked among the Hebrews, as perhaps in all ancient countries. It was their gift, and almost their profession, to express in the sententious, antistrophic poetry of the age such thoughts or such facts as took hold of men's minds. At a time when there was little difference between poetry and rhetoric, and when the distinction was hardly drawn between the inventive faculty of man and the Divine afflatus, it is not surprising to find the word mashal applied to the rhapsody of Balsam (Numbers 23:7), to the "taunting song" of Isaiah (Isaiah 14:4), to the "riddle" of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 17:2), as well as to the collection of earthly and heavenly wisdom in the Book of Proverbs. That which follows is a taunting song, most like to the one cited from Isaiah, the archaic character of which is marked by its strongly antithetic form and abrupt transitions, as well as by the peculiarity of some of the words. Come to Heshbon. This may be ironically addressed to the Amorites, lately so victorious, now so overthrown; or, possibly, it may be intended to express the jubilation of the Amorites themselves in the day of their pride.
There is a fire gone out of Heshbon. This must refer to the war-fire which the Amorites kindled from Heshbon when they made it the capital of the new kingdom. Ar Moab and the (northern) heights of Arnon were the furthest points to which their victory extended.
O people of Chemosh. עַם־כָּמוּשׁ. Chemosh was the national god of the Moabites (1 Kings 11:7; Jeremiah 48:7), and also to some extent of the Ammonites (Judges 11:24). It is generally agreed that the name is derived from the root כבש, to subdue, and thus will have substantially the same meaning as Milcom, Molech, and Baal; indeed it appears probable that there was a strong family likeness among the idolatries of Palestine, and that the various names represented different attributes of one supreme being rather than different divinities. Thus Baal and Ashtaroth (Judges 2:13) represented for the Zidonians the masculine and feminine elements respectively in the Divine energy. Baal himself was plural (Baalim, 1 Kings 18:18) in form, and either male or female (ἡ βάαλ in Hosea 2:8; Romans 11:4). In the inscription on the Moabite stone a god "Ashtar-Chemosh" is mentioned, and thus Chemosh is identified with the male deity of Phoenicia (Ashtar being the masculine form of Ashtoreth), while, on the other hand, it was almost certainly the same divinity who was worshipped under another name, and with other rites, as Baal-Peor (see on Numbers 25:3). On the coins of Areopolis Chemosh appears as a god of war armed, with fire-torches by his side. Human sacrifices were offered to him (2 Kings 3:26, 2 Kings 3:27), as to Baal and to Moloch. He hath given his sons, i.e; Chemosh, who could not save his own votaries, nor the children of his people.
We have shot at them. וַגִּירָם. A poetical word of somewhat doubtful meaning. It is generally supposed to be a verbal form (first person plural imperf. Kal), from יָרָה, with an unusual suffix (cf. יִלְבָּשָׁם for יִלְבָּשֵׁם in Exodus 29:30). יָרָה has the primary meaning "to shoot at," the secondary, "to overthrow," as in Exodus 15:4. Others, however, derive the word from ארה, a root supposed to mean "burn." Even unto Dibon. See on Numbers 32:34. The site of Nophah, perhaps the Nobah of Judges 8:11, is unknown. Which reacheth unto Medeba. The reading is uncertain here as well as the meaning. The received text has hsilgnE:egaugnaLאַשֶׁר עַד־מַידבָא}, which gives no meaning, but the circle over the resh marks it as suspicious. The Septuagint (πῦρ ἐπ Μωάβ) and the Samaritan evidently read אֵשׁ, and this has been generally followed: "we have wasted even unto Nophah,—with fire unto Medeba." Medeba, of which the ruins are still known by the same name, lay five or six miles south-south-east of Heshbon. It was a fortress in the time of David (1 Chronicles 19:7) and of Omri, as appears from the Moabite stone.
Jaazer. Perhaps the present es-Szir, some way to the north of Heshbon (see on Jeremiah 48:32). This victory completed the conquest of Sihon's kingdom.
They turned and went up by the way of Bashan. The brevity of the narrative does not allow us to know who went upon this expedition, or why they went. It may have been only the detachment which had reconnoitered and taken Jaazer, and they may have found themselves threatened by the forces of Og, and so led on to further conquests beyond the Jabbok. Og the king of Bashan. Og was himself of the aboriginal giant race which had left so many remnants, or at least so many memories, in these regions (see on Deuteronomy 2:10-5, Deuteronomy 2:20-5; Joshua 12:4; Joshua 13:12); but he is classed with Sihon as a king of the Amorites (Joshua 2:10) because his people were chiefly at least of that race. Bashan itself comprised the plain now known as Jaulan and Haulan beyond the Jarmuk (now Mandhur), the largest affluent of the Jordan, which joins it a few miles below the lake of Tiberias. The kingdom of Og, however, extended over the northern and larger part of Gilead, a much more fertile territory than Bashan proper (see on Deuteronomy 3:1). At Edrei. Probably the modern Edhra'ah, or Der'a, situate on a branch of the Jarmuk, some twenty-four miles from Bozrah. The ancient city lies buried beneath the modern village, and was built, like the other cities of Bashan, in the most massive style of architecture. The cities of Og were so strong that the Israelites could not have dispossessed him by any might of their own if he had abode behind his walls. Either confidence in his warlike prowess or some more mysterious cause (see on Joshua 24:12) impelled him to leave his fortifications, and give battle to the Israelites to his own utter defeat.
Fear him not. He might well have been formidable, not only on account of his size (cf. Deuteronomy 1:28; Deuteronomy 3:11; 1 Samuel 17:11), but from the formidable nature of those walled cities which are still a wonder to all that see them.
So they smote him. Acting under the direct commands of God, they exterminated the Amorites of the northern as they had of the southern kingdom.
And the children of Israel set forward. Not necessarily after the defeats of Sihon and Og; it is quite as likely that this last journey was made while the armies were away on their northern conquests. And pitched in the plains of Moab. The Arboth Moab, or steppes of Moab, were those portions of the Jordan valley which had belonged to Moab perhaps as far north as the Jabbok. In this sultry depression, below the level of the sea, there are tracts of fertile and well-watered land amidst prevailing barrenness (see on Numbers 33:49). On this side Jordan by Jericho. Rather, "beyond the Jordan of Jericho," מֵעֵבֶר לְיַרְדֵּן יְרֵחוֹ. On the phrase, "beyond the Jordan" ("Peraea"), which is used indifferently of both sides, the one by a conventional, the other by a natural, use, see on Deuteronomy 1:1. The Jordan of Jericho is the river in that part of its course where it flows past the district of Jericho.
HOMILETICS
Verse 21:10-22:1
PROGRESS AND TRIUMPH
In this passage, which has a very distinctive character, we have, spiritually, the rapid progress of the soul towards rest, and the flint great triumphs given to it over its spiritual foes, after that, by the power of the cross through faith in him that was lifted up, the soul has been delivered from the deadly venom of the sins which did beset it. There is a time when the soul hangs between death and life; there is a time when, this crisis past, it speeds onward with unexpected ease and victory towards its goal in the full assurance (πληροφορία, as under full sail) of faith. Consider, therefore, with respect to these last journeys—
I. THAT AFTER THE LIFTING UP OF THE BRAZEN SERPENT THE PROGRESS OF ISRAEL WAS SURPRISINGLY RAPID AND UNINTERRUPTED; most markedly so if compared with the tedious turnings and returnings of the time before. This journey from Mount Hor to Pisgah occupied at most five mouths, as compared with the thirty-nine and a half years wasted theretofore. Even so it is with the progress of the soul towards the heavenly rest. Until Christ has been lifted up, and the poison of sin overcome through the steadfast gaze of faith in him, there can be no real progress, only a drifting to and fro in the wilderness. But after that, no matter how difficult the road, or how many the foes, the soul goes forward swift and unhindered to the haven where it would be.
II. THAT AFTER THE BRAZEN SERPENT WE HEAR OF NO MORE COMPLAININGS OR REBELLIONS, BUT, ON THE CONTRARY, WE CATCH THE ECHOES OF A GLAD ALACRITY AND OF A CHEERFUL COURAGE. Even so the soul that has not mastered the lesson nor known the healing of the cross is always unhappy, sure to complain, and ready to despair; but when this is past it is of another spirit, joyful through hope, patient through faith, obedient through love.
III. THAT AS THE JOURNEY DREW TO AN END ISRAEL WAS ENCOURAGED TO USE HIS OWN EFFORTS TO SUPPLY HIS NEEDS. He bought bread and water of the Edomites, and dug for water at Beer, and probably helped himself to some extent to the provisions of the conquered Amorites. Even so the soul which is trained by grace for glory is encouraged more and more to cooperate with grace and to "work out its own salvation" not because it can do without supernatural grace, but because God is pleased to give his grace according to its efforts.
IV. THAT THE FIRST SONG OF ISRAEL AFTER THE TRIUMPH OF THE EXODUS, FORTY YEARS BEFORE, WAS OVER THE DIGGING OF A WELL, by which God was to give them water. Even so our work of faith, and that labour which looks for blessing from God, is the only condition of gladness and of spiritual songs. And note that this labour was shared by all, the very nobles beginning the work with their staves of office. Thus it is labour in a good cause which unites us all, and it is the union of all that promotes a glad alacrity.
Consider again, with respect to these first victories—
I. THAT THE CONQUESTS BEYOND JORDAN WERE NOT PART, SO TO SPEAK, OF GOD'S ORIGINAL PLAN FOR ISRAEL. If Moab had been still in possession to the south of Jabbok, and Ammon to the north, then Israel would have passed straight through and over Jordan; it was the fact of Sihon having extruded the Moabites which led to these conquests of Israel Even so it is often the case that the triumphs of Christian principle and Christian faith are forced upon us, as it were, by the action, and the evil action, of others, under the providence of God. The soul that would pass quietly on its way to heaven is driven to victories of faith great and lasting by the unexpected obstacles in its way.
II. THAT EVEN SIHON WAS APPROACHED WITH WORDS OF PEACE, IF HE WOULD HAVE HAD PEACE. Even so it becomes us to live peaceably with all men, even with the profane and accursed, if it be possible. He that forces on a conflict with evil men or evil passion, even if that conflict be indeed inevitable, may thereby forfeit the grace of God. Courtesy and forbearance before the encounter are the best pledges for courage and success in the encounter.
III. THAT SIHON, ALTHOUGH CONQUEROR OF MOAB, AND MUCH MORE FORMIDABLE THAN THE CANAANITES WHOM ISRAEL HAD FEARED AT KADESH, FELL EASILY BECAUSE ISRAEL FOUGHT IN FAITH. There is no adversary that can really offer any effectual opposition to our onward march if assailed in the strength of Christ with a cheerful courage.
IV. THAT OG THE KING OF BASHAN WAS MUCH MORE FORMIDABLE EVEN THAN SIHON, YET HE SEEMS TO HAVE FALLEN YET MORE EASILY, judging from the brief notice of the conquest. Even so when once we have overcome a difficulty or conquered an evil habit in the strength of faith, other conquests open out before us readily and naturally which we should not have dared to contemplate before. It is most true in religion that "nothing succeeds like success."
V. THAT THE EASY OVERTHROW OF SIHON AND OG WAS PROVIDENTIALLY ORDERED BY GOD FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENCOURAGING AND ANIMATING ISRAEL FOR THE GREAT WORK OF CONQUEST IN CANAAN PROPER (see Psalms 136:17). Even so to the faithful soul that fears the great strife against sin, God is often pleased to give some anticipatory victories of singular moment in order to inspire it with a dauntless confidence in him.
VI. THAT WHEN ISRAEL REACHED CANAAN PROPER HE WAS ALREADY POSSESSED OF A LARGE AND VALUABLE TERRITORY, which God had enabled him to win by his own sword. Even so when the soul shall reach its heavenly rest it will not only enter into its reward, but it will, as it were, take a part of its reward with it, gained already on this side the river. Thus it is said of the dead that "their works do follow them;" and thus the apostles were hidden to bring of the fish which they had caught to acid to that heavenly meal (John 21:9, John 21:10). What we have achieved by the grace of God here will be part of our reward there.
Consider once more, with respect to the well of Beer—
I. THAT A WELL WAS A PERPETUAL SOURCE OF COMFORT AND CENTRE OF BLESSING; hence so many of the events of Scripture are connected with wells. Even so in the gospel there are wells of salvation (Isa 12:1-6 :8), from which a man may draw with joy; nor only so, but he shall have a well of life in himself which shall never fail (John 4:14; John 7:38).
II. THAT TO THIS WELL MOSES WAS TO GATHER THE PEOPLE; GOD WAS TO GIVE THEM WATER. Even so in the Church of God it is the part of human leaders to gather the people together, to direct their search, to combine their efforts; but it is the part of God, and of God only, to give the spiritual blessing and refreshment. So too, in another sense, Moses in the Pentateuch gathers the people to a well, a well full of Divine consolation and knowledge, and God will give them water if they seek in faith.
III. THAT ISRAEL SANG OVER THE WELL, OR RATHER OVER THE PLACE WHERE GOD PROMISED THEM WATER. Even so it is ours to sing and make melody in our hearts, and to encourage ourselves and others with spiritual songs, while we seek and labour for the sure mercies of God.
IV. THAT THE PRINCES AND NOBLES DIGGED THE WELL. Even so that God only gives spiritual blessings does not dispense with, but, on the contrary, requires and encourages, earnest effort on our part. In a settled and ordinary religious state the fountains of salvation must not be expected to gush in a moment from the rock, but must be dug for in wells. So too they that are most eminent in the Church of God must be foremost in labour for this purpose.
V. THAT THEY DUG BY THE DIRECTION OF THE LAWGIVER. If they had dug where fancy or even their own experience guided them, they had not found water. Even so when we seek the supply of grace and of the Spirit of God we must seek it by the direction of the one Lawgiver (Matthew 7:29; James 4:12), in implicit obedience to him.
VI. THAT THE NOBLES AND PRINCES DUG THE WELL WITH THEIR STAVES, the insignia of their office. Even so in the Church of God, if men will labour for the common good, it must be according to the station which God hath given them. If they have received authority, they must use authority; if they bear a commission, they must not be ashamed of it. It may be easier to act merely as one of the throng; it does not follow it is right.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
A PERIOD OF UNBROKEN PROGRESS
The lifted serpent and the spirit of faith excited among the people produce not only the immediate and direct effect of healing; certain other encouraging effects are not obscurely indicated in the remainder of the chapter. The events recorded must have extended over some considerable time, and they took the Israelites into very trying circumstances, but there is not a word of failure, murmuring, or Divine displeasure. The narrative is all the other way, and in this surely there must be some typical significance. Looking to the lifted serpent made a great difference. All things had become new; there was alacrity, success, gladness, hitherto lacking—a spirit and conduct altogether different. So Paul, speaking of those who are justified by faith, and have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, goes on to indicate for them a course of satisfaction and triumph, which is in things spiritual what the course of Israel, as recorded in the remainder of this chapter, was in things typical and temporal (Romans 5:1).
I. THEY ADVANCE UP TO A CERTAIN POINT WITHOUT HINDRANCE OF ANY SORT. We hear nothing more of this difficult and depressing way which had troubled them so much. Nothing is spoken of as arresting their progress till they come to the top of Pisgah. God takes them right onward to the place where afterward he showed Moses the promised land, and the hindrance which comes there is from outside themselves. It is not the lusting and murmuring of the people that come in the way, nor is it a craven fear of the enemy, nor the ambition and envy of a Korah. It is the enemy himself who comes in the way, and of course he must be expected, and may be amply prepared for.
II. DURING THE ADVANCE THERE WAS MUCH SATISFACTION AND JOY. It was a negative blessing, and much to be thankful for, to have no murmurings and discords. It was a positive blessing, and even more to be thankful for, to take part in such a scene as that at Beer. How different from Marah, Rephidim, and Meribah, where God's mercy came amid complainings from Meribah especially, where the mercy was accompanied with judgments on the leaders of the people. Here, unsolicited, God gives water; he makes the princes and nobles of the people his fellow-workers; and, above all, the voices so long used in murmuring now sounded forth the sweet song of praise. The Lord indeed put a new song in their mouth. There had been a sad want of music before. There had been loud rejoicings indeed at the Red Sea, but that was a long while ago. It was something new for the people to sing as they did here. Where there is saving faith in the heart, joy surely follows, and praise springs to the lip.
III. ISRAEL MAKES A COMPLETE CONQUEST OF THE FIRST ENEMY HE MEETS. Israel did not want Sihon to be an enemy. He offered to go through his land, as through Edom, a harmless and speedy traveler. If the world will block the way of the Church, it must suffer the inevitable consequence. Sihon, emboldened doubtless by the knowledge of Israel's turning away from Edom, presumed that he would prove an easy prey. But Sihon neither knew why Israel turned away nor how strong Israel now was. The people were no longer discouraged because of the way, though they were contending not against the adversities of nature, but against the united forces of Sihon struggling for the very existence of their land.
IV. THERE IS AN OCCUPATION OF THE ENEMY'S TERRITORY (Numbers 21:25, Numbers 21:31). "Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites." There was thus an earnest of the rest and possession of Canaan, a foretaste of city and settled life that must have been very inspiring to people so long wandering, and having no dwelling more substantial than the tent.
V. THERE IS CONTINUED VICTORY. The second hindrance disappears after the first. Og, king of Bashan, last of the giants (Deuteronomy 3:11), fared no better for all his strength than Sihon. It was not some peculiar weakness of Sihon that overthrew him. All enemies of God, however different in resource they may appear when they measure themselves among themselves, are alike to those who march in the strength of God. The power by which the Christian conquers one foe will enable him to conquer all. And yet because Og did look more formidable than Sihon, God gave his people special encouragement in meeting him (Numbers 21:34). God remembers that even the most faithful and ardent of his people cannot get entirely above the deceitfulness of outward appearances.
VI. THERE IS GREAT ENERGY IN DESTROYING WHAT IS EVIL. Israel asks and is refused a way through the land of brother Edom, and then quietly turns aside to seek another way. By and by he asks Sihon for a peaceful way through his land, and is again refused, whereupon he conquers and occupies the land. But Og did not wait to be asked, perhaps would not have been asked if he had waited. It was a case of presumptuous opposition m spite of the warning fall of Sihon. And what made Og's opposition especially evil, looked at typically, was that he interposed the last barrier before reaching Jordan. Having conquered him, Israel was free to go fight on and pitch "in the plains of Moab, on this side Jordan, by Jericho." Og, therefore, is the type of evil fighting desperately in its last stronghold. And similarly the destroying energy of Israel seems to show how utterly evil will be smitten by the believer, when he meets it even at the verge of Jordan. Thus we have a cheering record of unbroken progress from the time the people looked to the lifted serpent to the time when they entered on the plains of Moab.—Y.
Preliminary Note to Numbers 22:2
That this section of the Book of Numbers has a character to a great extent peculiar and isolated is evident upon the face of it. The arguments indeed derived from its language and style to prove that it is by a different hand from the rest of the Book are obviously too slight and doubtful to be of any weight; there does not seem to be any more diversity in this respect than the difference of subject matter would lead us to expect. The peculiarity, however, of this section is evident from the fact that these three chapters, confessedly so important and interesting in themselves, might be taken away without leaving any perceptible void. From Numbers 22:1 the narrative is continued in Numbers 25:1, apparently without a break, and in that chapter there is no mention of Balaam. It is only in Numbers 31:1. (Numbers 31:8, Numbers 31:16) that two passing allusions are made to him: in the one his death is noted without comment; in the other we are made acquainted for the first time with a fact which throws a most important light upon his character and career, of which no hint is given in the section before us. Thus it is evident that the story of Balaam's coming and prophecies, although imbedded in the narrative (and that in the fight place as to order of time), is not structurally connected with it, but forms an episode by itself. If we now take this section, which is thus isolated and self-contained, we shall not fail to see at once that its literary character is strikingly peculiar. It is to all intents and purposes a sacred drama wherein characters and events of the highest interest are handled with consummate art. No one can be insensible to this, whatever construction he may or may not put upon it. Probably the story of Balaam was never made the subject of a miracle play, because the character of the chief actor is too subtle for the crude intelligence of the age of miracle plays. But if the sacred drama were ever reintroduced, it is certain that no more effective play could be found than that of Balaam and Balak. The extraordinary skill with which the strangely complex character of the wizard prophet is drawn out; the felicity with which it is contrasted with the rude simplicity of Balak; the picturesque grandeur of the scenery and incident; and the art with which the story leads up by successive stages to the final and complete triumph of God and of Israel, are worthy, from a merely artistic point of view, of the greatest of dramatic poets.
There is no such minute drawing out of an isolated character by means of speech and incident to be found in the Old Testament, unless it be in the Book of Job, the dramatic form of which serves to give point to the comparison; but few would fail to see that the much more subtle character of Balaam is far more distinctly indicated than that of Job. Balaam is emphatically a "study," and must have been intended to he so. Yet it must be remembered that it is only to modern eyes that this part of the varied truth and wisdom of Holy Scripture has become manifest. To the Jew Balaam was interesting only as a great foe, greatly baffled; as a sorcerer whose ghostly power and craft was broken and turned backward by the God of Israel (Deuteronomy 23:5; Joshua 13:22; Joshua 24:10; Micah 6:5). To the Christian of the first age he was only interesting as the Scriptural type of the subtlest and most dangerous kind of enemy whom the Church of God had to dread—the enemy who united spiritual pretensions with persuasions to vice (Revelation 2:14). To the more critical intellects of later ages, such even as Augustine and Jerome, he was altogether a puzzle; the one regarding him as prophetam diaboli, whose religion was a mere cloak for covetousness; the other as prophetam Dei, whose fall was like unto the fall of the old prophet of Bethel. The two parallel allusions to his character in 2 Peter 2:15, 2 Peter 2:16; Jud 2 Peter 1:11 do not take us any further, merely turning upon the covetousness which was his most obvious fault. Unquestionably, however, Balaam is most interesting to us, not from any of these points of view, but as a study drawn by an inspired hand of a strangely but most naturally mixed character, the broad features of which are constantly being reproduced, in the same unhallowed union, in men of all ]ands and ages. This is undeniably one of the instances (not perhaps very numerous) in which the more trained and educated intelligence of modern days has a distinct advantage over the simpler faith and intenser piety of the first ages. The conflict, or rather the compromise, in Balaam between true religion and superstitious imposture, between an actual Divine inspiration and the practice of heathen sorceries, between devotion to God and devotion to money, was an unintelligible puzzle to men of old. To those who have grasped the character of a Louis XI, of a Luther, or of an Oliver Cromwell, or have gauged the mixture of highest and lowest in the religious movements of modern history, the wonder is, not that such an one should have been, but that such an one should have been so simply and yet so skillfully depicted.
Two questions arise pre-eminently out of the story of Balaam which our want of knowledge forbids us to answer otherwise than doubtfully.
I. Whence did Balaam derive his knowledge of the true God, and how far did it extend? Was he, as some have argued, a heathen sorcerer who took to invoking Jehovah because circumstances led him to believe that the cause of Jehovah was likely to be the winning cause? and did the God whom he invoked in this mercenary spirit (after the fashion of the sons of Sceva) take advantage of the fact to obtain an ascendancy over his mind, and to compel his unwilling obedience? Such an assumption seems at once unnatural and unnecessary. It is hardly conceivable that God should have bestowed a true prophetic gift upon one who stood in such a relation to him. Moreover, the kind of ascendancy which the word of God had over the mind of Balaam is not one which springs from calculation, or from a mere intellectual persuasion. The man who lives before us in these chapters has not only a considerable knowledge of, but a very large amount of faith in, the one true God; he walks with God; he sees him that is invisible; the presence of Gods and God's direct concern about his doings are as familiar and unquestioned elements of his everyday life as they were of Abraham's. In a word, he has religious faith in God, a faith which is naturally strong, and has been further intensified by special revelations of the unseen; and this faith is the basis and condition of his prophetic gift. Balaam's religion, therefore, on this side was neither an hypocrisy nor an assumption; it was a real conviction which had grown up with him and formed part of his inner self. It is true that in Joshua 13:22 he is called a soothsayer (kosem), a name of reproach and infamy among the Jews (cf. 1 Samuel 15:23, "witchcraft;" Jeremiah 14:14, "divination"); but no one doubts that he played for gain the part of a soothsayer, employing with more or less of inward unbelief and contempt the arts of heathen sorcery; and it was quite natural that Joshua should recognize only the lower and more obvious side of his enemy's character.
It remains then to consider how Balaam, living in Mesopotamia, could have had so considerable a knowledge of the true God; and the only satisfactory answer is this, that such knowledge had never disappeared from that region. Every glimpse which is afforded us of the descendants of Nahor in their Mesopotamian home confirms the belief that they were substantially at one with the chosen family in religious feeling and religious speech. Bethuel and Laban acknowledged the same God, and called him by the same name as Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 24:50; Genesis 31:49). No doubt idolatrous practices prevailed in their household (Genesis 31:19; Genesis 35:2; Joshua 24:2), but that, however dangerous, was not fatal to the existence of the true faith amongst them, any more than is the existence of a similar cultus amongst Christians. Centuries had indeed passed away since the days of Laban, and during those centuries we may well conclude that the common people had developed the idolatrous practices of their fathers, until they wholly obscured the worship of the one true God. But the lapse of years and the change of popular belief make little difference to the secret and higher teaching of countries like the Mesopotamia of that age, which is intensely conservative both for good and evil. Men like Balaam, who probably had an hereditary claim to his position as a seer, remained purely monotheistic in creed, and in their hearts called only upon the God of all the earth, the God of Abraham and of Nahor, of Melchizedec and of Job, of Laban and of Jacob. If we knew enough of the religious history of that land, it is possible that we might be able to point to a tolerably complete succession of gifted (in many cases Divinely-gifted) men, servants and worshippers of the one true God, down to the Magi who first hailed the rising of the bright and morning Star.
There is connected with this question another of much narrower interest which causes great perplexity. Balaam (and indeed Balak too) freely uses the sacred name by which God had revealed himself as the God of Israel (see on Exodus 6:2, Exodus 6:3). There are two views of this matter, one or other of which is tolerably certain, and for both of which much may be said: either the sacred name was widely known and used beyond the limits of Israel, or else the sacred historian must have freely put it into the mouths of people who actually used some other name. There are also two views both of which may be summarily rejected, because their own advocates have reduced them to absolute absurdity: the one is, that the use of the two names Elohim and Jehovah shows a difference of authorship; the other, that they are employed by the same author with variety of sense—Elohim (God) being the God of nature, Jehovah (the Lord) the God of grace. It is no doubt true that there are passages where the sole use, or the pointed use, of one or other of these names does really point to a diversity either of authorship or of meaning; but it is abundantly clear that in the general narrative of Scripture, including these chapters, not the least distinction whatever can be drawn between the use of Elohim and Jehovah which will stand the simplest test of common sense; the same ingenuity which explains the occurrence of Elohim instead of Jehovah in any particular sentence would find an explanation quite as satisfactory if it were Jehovah instead of Elohim.
II. Whence did Moses obtain his knowledge of the incidents here recorded, many of which must have been known to Balaam alone? Was it directly, by revelation; or from some memorials left by Balaam himself?
The former supposition, once generally held, is as generally abandoned now, because it is perceived that inspiration over-ruled and utilized for Divine purposes, but did not supersede, natural sources of information. The latter supposition is rendered more probable by these considerations:—
1. That a man of Balaam's character and training would be very likely to put on record the remarkable things which had happened to himself. Such men who habitually lead a double life are often keenly. alive to their own errors, and are singularly frank in writing themselves down for the benefit of posterity.
2. That Balaam was slain among the Midianites, and that his effects must have fallen into the hands of the victors. On the other hand, it is inconceivable that Balaam, being what he was, should have written these chapters at all as they stand; the moral and religious intent of the story is too evident in itself, and is too evidently governed by Jewish faith and feeling. It may be allowable to put it before the reader as an opinion which may or may not be true, but which is quite compatible with profound belief in the inspired truth of this part of God's word, that Moses, having obtained the facts in the way above indicated, was moved to work them up into the dramatic form in which they now appear—a form which undoubtedly brings out the character of the actors, the struggle between light and darkness, and the final triumph of light, with much more force (and therefore much more truth) than anything else could. If it be objected that this gives a fictitious character to the narrative, it may be replied that when the imagination is called into exercise to present actual facts, existing characters, and prophecies really uttered in a striking light,—and that under the over-ruling guidance of the Divine Spirit,—the result cannot be called fictitious in any bad or unworthy sense. If it be added that such a theory attributes to this section a character different from the rest of the Book, it may be allowed at once. The episode of Balaam and Balak is obviously, as to literary form, distinct from and strongly contrasted with the narrative which precedes and follows.
It has been made a question as to the language in which Balaam and his companions spoke and wrote. The discovery of the Moabite stone has made it certain that the language of the Moabites, and in all probability of the other races descended from Abraham and Lot, was practically the same as the language of the Jews. Balaam's own tongue may have been Aramaic, but amongst his western friends and patrons he would no doubt he perfectly ready to speak as they spoke.