Numbers 20
ButlerNo. 20 1 And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was 2 buried there. And there was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves
3 together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people strove with Moses, and spake, 4 saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! And why have ye brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die there, we 5 and our cattle? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is 6 there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD 7 appeared unto them. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and assemble 8 the congregation, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou 9 shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink. And Moses took the rod from before the 10 LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of 11 this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice: and water 12 came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle. And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed not in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the chil- dren of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given 13 them. These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
I. The whole congregation . . . in Kadesh. At the close of the long period of wandering to which the people were condemned, this chapter introduces us at once to the transac- tions belonging to the second encampment at Kadesh in the fortieth year after the Exodus, “in the first month.” Espin.—The events of history beginning with Nu. 20 fall within the last of the forty years of wandering. This date is obtained indirectly from the death of Aaron, which is recorded at the close of this chapter (verses 22-29), and was connected with its events. H. C.—The twentieth of Numbers is one of the saddest chapters in the book. It be- gins with the death of her who had been the leader in the song of victory on the shores of the Red Sea. It ends with the death of him who had so long been the honored representative of Israel in the holy and the most holy place. And, between the two, we have the old story of murmuring on the part of the people, and mercy on the part of God, but with this sad ad- dition, that Moses himself has a fall—a fall so serious that it leads to his own, as well as Aaron’s exclusion from the land of promise. J. M. G.
A new time begins for Israel. At first the old rebellious and capricious spirit meets us; nay, even Moses and Aaron waver. Repeated dis- obedience brings fresh punishment after it. Nevertheless, these outbreaks are not of so bad a character as the former ones. A fresh, enter- prising spirit inspires the new generation, full as it is of hope, and destined to take possession of the promised land. The people march with eagerness to battle and to victory. Songs cele- brating their triumphant march are sung. These are collected in a book of the wars of the Lord, and the fulfilment of the great promise draws nigh. Gerl.
Miriam died. The doom under which most of the old generation had by this time perished, now reached the house of Amram. MIRIAM, the elder sister of Moses and Aaron, died and was buried here. We have seen her as a young girl, watching the cradle of Moses, and aiding in his deliverance. She is spoken of as sharing in the sacred mission of her broth- ers. When she leads off the song of triumph on the shore of the Red Sea, she is expressly called “Miriam, the prophetess;” and the ground on which she and Aaron rebelled against Moses implies their possession of the prophetic gift: “Hath Jehovah spoken by Moses? Hath he not also spoken by us?” The delay of the march till she was free from the defilement of her leprosy proves her high consideration. Lastly, she bore the name of the mother of our Lord. Tradition makes her the wife of Hur and grandmother of the artist Bezaleel; and it is said that the mourning for her, as for her brothers, lasted thirty days. P. S.
Rebellious Murmuring of the New Generation (verses 3-5).
Israel was in Kadesh, or the Desert of Zin, the name applying probably to the whole district. So large a number of people gathered in one place would naturally soon suffer from want of water. That generation knew of the wonders of the Lord chiefly by the hearing of the ear, but of his judgments by what they had seen of death sweeping away all who had come out of Egypt. It now seemed as if the prospect be- fore them were hopeless, and they destined to suffer the same fate as their fathers. Something of this unbelieving despair appears in their cry: “Would God that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah”—that is, by Divine judgment during these years of wandering. The remembrance of the past with its disappointments seems to find expression in their complaints. It is as if they contrasted the stay of their nation in Egypt and the hopes awakened on leaving it, with the disappointment of seeing the good land almost within their grasp and then being turned back to die in the wilderness! And so the people broke forth in rebellion against Moses and against Aaron. A. E.
They had grown so weary of the bread of heaven which God so mercifully provided; and they wanted something in addition—something, too, which was not absolutely necessary to their existence. When they murmured for water at Massah, they murmured for something welful. Their sin then was in murmur ing, instead of praying. But here they lusted for something unnecessary, and this was an aggravation of their sin. And thus the psalmist (78:17), evidently comparing this sin with the murmuring at Massah, says, “They sinned yet more against him.” George Wagner.—This was a new generation; murmuring ran in the blood, yet the entail of the Divine favor was not cut off; but in this instance of it, the Divine patience shines as bright as the Divine favor. By repeated rebellions, they draw upon themselves new punishments. They were, however, a fresh generation, more pliant than the old, and not as yet so hardened; and, inasmuch as they had not exhausted the Divine patience like their fathers, they were more meet to enter upon the possession of the promised inheritance. C. G. B.
The Direction of Jehovah and the Disobedience of Moses. Punishment Announced (verses 7-13).
When the eventful moment came, Moses, instead of saying—Ye have sinned against the Lord your God, yet in his mercy he will give you rivers of water from this rock upon the word of command from his servant—said as in the record—“Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?” In circumstances where man should be nothing and God all in all, it was one of the sad infirmities of the best of men to put himself so prominently forward and thrust the great God so ungratefully into the background. Then, moved by the same excited passion, instead of speaking to the rock he smote it with his rod, not once only but twice. Yet the Lord did not rebuke him with failure, but despite of his bad spirit gave forth water abundantly. The rebuke upon both
Moses and Aaron came shortly after in the form of an absolute prohibition upon their entering the land of promise. They had so dishonored the Lord in this case at Kadesh that he must needs express his disapprobation by denying to both of them the long-desired consummation of entering the goodly land. If the Lord’s rebuke of Moses seem severe, let it be considered that his sin was very great because he had been admitted into so near communion with God—such communion as had never been granted to any other man. If the guilt of sin be as the light sinned against, we are not likely to overestimate the guilt of his. The Lord speaks of it as rebellion (Nu. 27:14). And manifestly his sin was so public as well as so flagrant that it became vital to the honor of God’s name and government to rebuke it unmistakably. H. C.
The fact that he smote the rock impetuously, and smote it twice, is a part of the sin, inasmuch as this was the unmistakable effect of excitement caused by impatience and anger. It is evident from Ps. 106:32, 33, “they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips”—that the sin was not confined to the two passionate strokes, but embraced also his passionate words. And in the Divine sentence the fact is distinctly expressed that his actions and words evinced a temporary wavering of his faith: “Because, said Jehovah, ye believed me not (or did not place confidence in me), to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel.” K.
Remember what a critical time this was, when Israel was taking a new departure; and what special care he ought to have exercised at this juncture to have his testimony unclouded by any weakness or faithlessness. The responsibility of Moses’s position was great at all times; but it was perhaps greatest of all at this particular time. This important element in the case must not be disregarded. But besides this, we cannot but notice that the impatience which he manifested at Kibroth-hattaavah was in the presence of the Lord himself, and not before the people—a very different thing. There, he was wrestling with God in private. Here, he is standing in the eye of all. Is there not some reference to this in the very words of the sentence: “Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them?” J. M. G.
The Lord desires him to address the rock, but Moses speaks to Israel. God wishes him to speak a word to the inanimate stone, and Moses strikes it twice. The Lord himself elsewhere employs in reference to this sin the strong word rebellion; and that hard word is surely not too hard. Van O.
His sin is characterized in ch. 20 : 12 by his “not believing God,” and in verse 24, and ch. 27 : 14, as a “rebelling against the Word of God.” Again, in De. 1 : 37 ; 3 : 26 ; 4 : 21, the punishment is said to have been laid on Moses “for their sakes,” or, as it should rather be, “because of their words.” The proper account of the matter seems to be this : Moses through their chiding lost command of himself, and did the work appointed, not as God’s messenger, in a spirit of faith and holiness, but in a state of carnal and passionate excitement, under the influence of that wrath which worketh not the righteousness of God. The punishment he received, it may seem, was peculiarly severe for such an offence : but it was designed to produce a salutary impression upon the people in regard to the evil of sin. And then, as Moses and Aaron were in the position of greatest nearness to God, and had it as their especial charge to represent God’s holiness to the people, even a comparatively small backsliding in them was of a serious nature, and required to be marked with some impressive token of the Lord’s displeasure. P. F.
In a dispensation itself mainly gracious, and foreshadowing one which would be grace altogether, it was of prime importance that the mediating men should be men merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and slow to anger. And such they were in marvellous measure. The man Moses was exceeding meek, and if for patience and a sweet submissiveness the palm had been assigned to any one besides, it would have been to Aaron, his brother. But after all they were human. Their endurance was wonderful, but it was not inexhaustible ; and on this occasion, instead of hastening in betwixt an infatuated people and the God against whom they murmured, and crying, “Pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of thy mercy,” when it turned out that God had this time pardoned already and was about to give them good for evil, instead of faithfully exhibiting the Divine munificence and calmly asking the rock for its water, they (so to speak) defeated the Divine generosity, and failing to sympathize with God’s forgiveness, he was not “sanctified in the eyes of the children of Israel.” To this effort of long-suffering and loving-kindness the chafed spirit of Moses and Aaron was unequal. By the way they managed it, they spoiled the moral glory of the miracle, and what on God’s side was a gift of pure grace, under their hard blows and hot words assumed the aspect of an angry gospel. They believed him not, to sanctify him in the eyes of the children of Israel. Hamilton.
How long a road has he traversed ere he has reached this fatal Kadesh, and how exemplary has he been throughout ! How much he has endured from the fathers of these sulking sons, without becoming wearied or embittered by it all ! Israel was often like a rock, but he has never struck that rock. Through all those years his life was but a daily sacrifice of faith and true obedience, a daily prayer for his people’s good. He has not sinned designedly, but in his haste. He is old, already six score years save one ; he has grown gray in serving Israel’s King ; may not the old man be forgiven what, in the younger, well deserved the most severe reproof ? But Moses cannot say he did not understand the will of God ; the oracle spoke plainly enough. As little is it true that so much passion was required to bring about what was desired. And least of all was he urged to such a course by love, either to God or to his people. He, the Lawgiver, has broken the commandments of both tables in their spirit ; but what caused this sin ? “Because you believed me not !” God perceived in Moses what none of us would charge against the man of God : that the bitter root from which the fruit of disobedience sprung was unbelief. And if the Lord but bring our faith and obedience to a special test, how often may we see that we too merit the reproof which brings us shame : “Ye believed me not, neither sanctified my name !” Even though the fruits and branches of the poison-plant of unbelief are all removed, how deeply are its roots sunk within the consecrated heart ; and how often to the best of us may the words uttered to Belshazzar be justly spoken : “The God, in whose hand thy breath is and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified !” Van O.
The best have their failings, even in those graces that they are most eminent for. The man Moses was very meek, and yet here he sinned in passion ; wherefore let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. When our heart is hot within us, we are concerned to take heed that we offend not with our tongue. It is an evidence of the sincerity of Moses, and his impartiality in writing, that he himself left this upon record concerning himself, and drew not a veil over his own infirmity ; by which it appeared that in what he wrote, as well as what he did, he sought God’s glory more than his own. H.—The most eminent saints have not only failed, but failed in those very graces for which they were most eminent, and that too by means of temptations far inferior to others which they were enabled to resist. The faith of Abraham, the patience of Job, the meekness of Moses, and the courage of Peter were all found unequal to the conflict when left alone in the hour of trial. These examples are recorded for our admonition. Blessed be God for the assurance we have that help is laid for us upon one that is mighty; upon him let us lean in our journey through the wilderness; to his hand let us look for the help we need, and he will make his grace sufficient for us. R. Walker.
In Moses himself, who had been thought worthy of so high grace, the very least imperfection must be chastised in the most severe manner. And in this very punishment he appears as the greatest servant of God in the Old Testament Gerl—That Moses and Aaron were so eminent as saints and representatives of Jehovah, only made it the more necessary that this signal failure in obedience should be marked as a lesson for all whom God should charge with his missions and messages in after ages. Nay, it is a law of his administration that the sins of those who are highest in knowledge or official station or prerogative shall be punished with special severity. Saith Jehovah by the mouth of Amos, “Ye only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” Whoever else may escape, the Lord will not fail to punpunish the disobedience of his own favored and honored servants. S. R.
It had been the aspiration of his life to see the goodly land of Canaan and to plant his children—the great Hebrew nation—there with his own hand and see them with his own eyes in their glorious home! The exclusion from Canaan fell sorely upon the heart of Moses. He prayed earnestly that God would reverse this decree, but in vain. The Lord shut off all hope, saying, “Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter” (De. 3:23-27). Sorrowful are the words of Moses: “I must die in this land; I must not go over Jordan” (De. 4:21). H. C.
Moses did not darken that last year of his labor with any forebodings of his coming death. He simply went on doing his daily duties, if anything a little more diligently, just as the traveller quickens his step when he sees the sun hastening to his setting. He kept the even tenor of his way precisely as he had done before and just as he would have done if no warning had been received by him; and he left all the rest to God. That is the way to live, and that is the way to die. Filling every day with God’s service in the service of our generation, at the last we shall get something better than Pisgah; we shall get heaven, and be at home with Christ. W. M. T.
MESSENGERS TO EDOM. KADESH TO MOUNT HOR. DEATH AND BURIAL OF AARON. RETURN THROUGH KADESH REGION. ARAD’S ATTACK AND ISRAEL’S VOW. SOUTHWARD AND EASTWARD JOURNEY THROUGH THE WAY OF THE RED SEA. THE FIERY SERPENTS AND METHOD OF HEALING.
Na. 20 14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith 15 thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us: how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians evil entreated us, 16 and our fathers: and when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of 17 thy border: let us pass, I pray thee, through thy land: we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go along the king’s high way, we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy 18 border. And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass through me, lest I come out with the 19 sword against thee. And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go up by the high way: and if we drink of thy water, I and my cattle, then will I give the price thereof: let me only, without doing any thing else, pass through on my feet. And he said, Thou shalt not pass through.
Na. 32 37 And they journeyed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the 38 land of Edom. And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the
39 land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month. And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor.
De. 10 6 And the children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah : there Aaron died, and there he was buried ; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his stead.
Nu. 20 22 And they journeyed from Kadesh : and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came unto mount Hor. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount
24. Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people : for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye
25 rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and
26 bring them up unto mount Hor : and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar
27 his son : and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. And Moses did as the LORD commanded : and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
28. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son ; and Aaron
29 died there in the top of the mount : and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
20. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. Thus Edom
21 refused to give Israel passage through his border : wherefore Israel turned away from him.
Nu. 33 40 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, which dwelt in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. And they journeyed from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah.
Nu. 21 1 And the king of Arad, which dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim [or, of the spies] ; and he fought against Israel, and took some of them
2 captive. And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this
3 people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites ; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities : and the name of the place was called Hormah.
4. And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of
5. Edom : and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness ? for there is no bread, and there is no water ; and our soul loatheth this
6 light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people ;
7 and much people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee ; pray unto the LORD, that he take
8 away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard : and it shall come to pass, that
9 every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the standard : and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when
10 he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived. And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched in Oboth.
Nu. 33 42 And they journeyed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon. And they journeyed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth.
The region assured to Esau and his descendants by the Divine promise was Mount Seir, the mountain range on the east of the Arabah, a region wholly outside of the limits of Canaan—the birthright inheritance bartered to Jacob. The names “Seir” and “field of Edom,” applied to the old ranging-field of Esau in southern Canaan, are not to be confounded with Esau’s Mount Seir. But Edom proper seems always to have included, in its westward stretch, the Arabah and more or less of the mountain region west of the Arabah and southward of the natural boundary line between these mountains and Canaan ; southward of Wady Fekreh, with its Azazimeh, or Mukrah, mountain-wall standing over against the wall of Mount Halak. This is fairly to be inferred from the Egyptian references to ancient Edom ; it is consistent with our earliest knowledge of the bounds of Edom ; it is an inevitable deduction from the early Bible mentions of Edom’s westward reach. H. C. T.—Both Edom and Seir and Mount Seir cover a wide extent. For the Amorites destroyed the Israelites “in Seir unto Hormah” (De. 1 : 44). Now whatever site is fixed upon for Hormah carries it into a region far west of the Arabah. So, too, among the twenty-nine cities of Judah, toward the coast of Edom, southward, was Beersheba (Josh. 15:28). These facts indicate a wide range of Edom and Seir, westward of the Arabah. S. C. B.
NOTE.—For a clear understanding of the distinction between the region of Esau’s earlier occupancy in and adjoining southern Canaan (“Land of Seir” or “Field of Edom”), and the larger definite mountain range east of the Arabah, called “Mount Seir,” which was Esau’s birthright inheritance by Divine promise, and for a careful study of the manifold Biblical connections of each of these distinct regions, as well as of the common term “Edom” applied to both, see Dr. Trumbull’s “Kadesh Barnea,” pp. 74-102. B.
Outline of Movements Included in this Section.
(To be studied with map.)
The line of contemplated advance into Canaan at this time was a new one. Not, as seemed to be the plan thirty-eight years before, directly northward by way of Beersheba and Hebron, but easterly, around the lower end of the Dead Sea, through the principal highway of Edom [Wady Ghuweir], was the now purposed course. The first move was up along the natural boundary-line of Canaan, from Kadesh-barnea, through the Wilderness of Zin, to the boundary-hinge at Jebel Madurah, at the junction of wadies Murreh and Madurah; and this move was made while messengers were on their way to the King of Edom asking permission for the purposed traversing of his territory. There at Jebel Madurah, or Mount Hor, on that isolated and remarkable mountain, at the very border line of the Land of Promise yet outside of it, Aaron died and was buried; and before that mountain, on the borders of Edom yet not within Edom’s line, the people mourned for thirty days over the loss of their faithful high-priest. Meantime, this forward movement of regathered Israel alarmed both the Edomites on the one hand, and the neighboring Canaanites on the other. Edom’s king refused his consent to Israel’s passing through his territory, and he came down against Israel in force; “wherefore Israel turned away from him;” turned about from Jebel Madurah and moved back westerly along the course which had been taken thitherward. And as the Israelites turned back, at this time, the Canaanitish King of Arad came down against them.
By whatever course the Israelites had originally entered Kadesh, or Rithmah, they evidently went out from that region by the westerly route; for it is said, that “they journeyed from Mount Hor,” at this time, “by the Way of the Red
Sea.” In other words, they passed down along by Jebel Araif en-Nakah, and struck the Red Sea Road, or the Hajj route. This took them across the Desert et Teeh, almost its entire stretch from west to east; “and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the [Hajj] Road,” in its desclateness. [Thus for this section.] Reaching the eastern edge of the desert, they descended to the Arabah, and thence in due time they passed around the southern extremity of the mountains of Seir, by the Way of the Arabah, and turned northward along the eastern borders of Seir and Moab, until they were finally opposite the Jordan at the Plains of Moab. H. C. T.
Nu. 20:14-19. “The Mountain Seir” rises precipitately on the east from the valleys Ghor and Arabah, and is intersected by a couple of narrow wadies from the west to the east: of these the Wady Ghuweir alone offers a not very difficult route for a hostile force. This was probably the road by which Moses, who perceived how difficult it would be to force his way, and who hoped to attain his object by negotiations, desired a passage from the Edomites, on the condition of buying provisions from the inhabitants. Burckhardt.
This Arabah is one of the most remarkable depressions in the world, being a deep trench from two to fourteen miles wide, extending, in fact, from the eastern arm of the Red Sea more than three hundred miles, if we include the Dead Sea, the Jordan, and the Sea of Galilee, which occupy the northern portion of it, but over one hundred and fifty miles through the Arabian Desert from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. The mountains on each side of this trench, which lies thirteen hundred feet below the level of the Mediterranean, form a sort of a natural wall. On the west side are the long limestone ranges of the Tih, which range from fifteen hundred to eighteen hundred feet in height, while the eastern wall of granite and basalt, with overlying porphyry, tipped with sandstone, in broken cliffs and ridges of limestone, is in many places covered with the richest vegetation and abounds in sections of great fertility. This eastern range was Esau’s portion. Now if Edom would permit them to pass up one of the ravines of this range a few days’ march to the northeast would bring them to the plains of Moab on the Jordan. S. R.
Nu. 33:37. De. 10:6. While the messengers of Moses had gone on their embassy, the camp of Israel had moved forward to the border of Edom. A day’s journey eastward from Kadesh through the Wady Murreh, suddenly rises a remarkable mountain, quite isolated and prominent. Its present name Moderah preserves the Biblical Moserah, which we know from above passages to have been another designation for Mount Hor. This was the natural route for Israel to take if they hoped to pass through Edom by the king’s highway, the present Wady Ghuweir, which would have led them round by way of Moab easily and straight to the other side of Jordan. It was natural for them here to await the reply of the King of Edom. A. E.