Thursday 21st September
Read Numbers 21:10-15
“The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth. 11 Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that faces Moab towards the sunrise. 12 From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley. 13 They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the wilderness extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 That is why the Book of the Wars of the Lord says:
‘. . . Zahab in Suphah and the ravines,
the Arnon 15 and the slopes of the ravines
that lead to the settlement of Ar
and lie along the border of Moab.’” (NIVUK)
Forward motion, progress. No more roadblocks on the way to the promised land. That is the sense the writer wants to convey. It is no coincidence that it matches both the final deaths of the faithless generation and the commitment and confession of the next generation. Though there is a determination by the people to enter, a hope that things are about to get better, the author reminds us that Yahweh remains in control.
It is an odd way to do so, quoting from a Book that was not preserved. Yet, in reminding the people that their location on the border is in response to Yahweh’s will and ‘wars’ – it is Yahweh who leads them into the promised land and will bring them victory. Our translation considers these fragments as place-names (‘Zahab in Suphah’), but the context suggests that the ‘Book of the Wars of the Lord’ is speaking of His power and might. A better translation may be ‘wadis and whirlwinds’. Creation itself is commanded by their warrior King, ready to enter bring His people in!
