But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territoryBut SihonThe name "Sihon" refers to the Amorite king who ruled over Heshbon. Historically, the Amorites were a powerful group known for their fortified cities and military prowess. The mention of Sihon here sets the stage for a significant confrontation. In Hebrew, "Sihon" (סִיחוֹן) can be associated with the idea of sweeping away or a warrior, which is fitting given his role as a formidable opponent to Israel. would not allow
This phrase indicates a deliberate refusal and opposition. The Hebrew root here suggests a strong, intentional decision. Sihon's refusal is not just a passive denial but an active stance against Israel. This reflects the broader theme of resistance that God's people often face in their journey, symbolizing the spiritual battles believers encounter. Israel
The term "Israel" refers to the descendants of Jacob, also known as the Israelites. This nation was chosen by God to be His people, set apart for His purposes. In this context, Israel represents God's covenant community, journeying towards the Promised Land. The historical and spiritual identity of Israel is central to understanding their mission and the opposition they face. to pass through
The phrase "to pass through" implies a journey or pilgrimage. In the Hebrew context, it suggests movement with purpose and direction. Israel's request to pass through Sihon's land was part of their divinely ordained journey to Canaan. This highlights the theme of pilgrimage in the Christian life, where believers are on a journey towards their heavenly home. his territory
The term "territory" refers to the land under Sihon's control. In ancient times, land was a critical aspect of identity and power. Sihon's territory was strategically significant, and his refusal to allow passage was a declaration of hostility. This reflects the broader biblical theme of land as both a physical and spiritual inheritance, with the Promised Land symbolizing God's promises and blessings for His people. Persons / Places / Events 1. SihonThe king of the Amorites, who refused Israel passage through his land and chose to confront them in battle. 2. IsraelThe nation of God's chosen people, led by Moses, journeying to the Promised Land. 3. JahazThe location where Sihon confronted Israel, leading to a significant battle. 4. The WildernessThe area surrounding the land of the Amorites, where Israel was traveling. 5. The AmoritesA group of people inhabiting the land that Israel sought to pass through on their way to Canaan. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty in Human AffairsThis passage illustrates God's control over nations and leaders, using their decisions to fulfill His divine purposes. Faith in God's PromisesIsrael's journey through hostile territories reminds believers to trust in God's promises, even when facing opposition. Spiritual WarfareJust as Israel faced physical battles, Christians face spiritual battles and must rely on God's strength and guidance. Obedience and CourageIsrael's willingness to confront Sihon demonstrates the importance of obedience to God's direction and courage in the face of adversity. God's FaithfulnessThe victory over Sihon is a testament to God's faithfulness in delivering His people, encouraging believers to trust in His deliverance. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the refusal of Sihon to allow Israel passage reflect on the challenges we face when following God's path? 2. In what ways can we see God's sovereignty at work in the events of Numbers 21:23, and how does this encourage us in our daily lives? 3. How can the battle at Jahaz be seen as a metaphor for spiritual battles we face today, and what strategies can we employ to overcome them? 4. What lessons can we learn from Israel's response to Sihon's aggression that can be applied to handling conflicts in our own lives? 5. How does the account of Sihon's defeat reinforce the theme of God's faithfulness, and how can this assurance impact our trust in God's promises? Connections to Other Scriptures Deuteronomy 2:30-31Provides additional context on why Sihon refused passage, indicating that God hardened his spirit to deliver him into Israel's hands. Judges 11:19-20Recounts the same event, emphasizing the historical conflict between Israel and the Amorites. Psalm 136:17-22Celebrates God's enduring love and recounts His victories over kings like Sihon, highlighting His faithfulness to Israel. Romans 9:17-18Discusses God's sovereignty in hardening hearts, similar to how He hardened Sihon's heart for His purposes. People Ammonites, Amon, Amorites, Arad, Canaanites, Chemosh, Israelites, Moses, Og, SihonPlaces Ar, Arad, Arnon, Bamoth, Bashan, Beer, Dedan, Dibon, Edom, Edrei, Egypt, Heshbon, Hormah, Iye-abarim, Jabbok River, Jahaz, Jazer, King's Highway, Mattanah, Medeba, Moab, Mount Hor, Nahaliel, Negeb, Nophah, Oboth, Pisgah, Red Sea, Suphah, Valley of Zered, WahebTopics Allow, Army, Border, Collected, Desert, Entire, Fighteth, Fought, Gathered, Gathereth, Got, Jahaz, Marched, Meet, Mustered, Pass, Permit, Reached, Sihon, Suffer, Suffered, Territory, War, Waste, WildernessDictionary of Bible Themes Numbers 21:23 8032 trust, lack of
8728 enemies, of Israel and Judah
8739 evil, examples of Numbers 21:21-23 8447 hospitality, examples Numbers 21:23-24 4260 rivers and streams Library The Poison and the Antidote
'And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compare the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5. 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, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7. Therefore …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureMan's Ruin and God's Remedy
Man has very many wants, and he should be grateful whenever the least of them is supplied. But he has one want which overtops every other: it is the want of bread. Give him raiment, house him well, decorate and adorn him, yet if you give him not bread, his body faints, he dies of hunger. Hence it is that while the earth when it is tilled is made to bring forth many things that minister unto the comfort and luxury of men, yet man is wise enough to understand that since bread is his chief want, he …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859 The Disciple, -- Master, in These Days Some Learned Men and their Followers Regard Thy...
The Disciple,--Master, in these days some learned men and their followers regard Thy atonement and the redemption by blood as meaningless and futile, and say that Christ was only a great teacher and example for our spiritual life, and that salvation and eternal happiness depend on our own efforts and good deeds. The Master,--1. Never forget that spiritual and religious ideas are connected less with the head than with the heart, which is the temple of God, and when the heart is filled with the presence …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet Messiah Suffering and Wounded for Us
Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: ..... He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. W hen our Lord was transfigured, Moses and Elijah appeared in glory and conversed with Him. Had we been informed of the interview only, we should probably have desired to know the subject of their conversation, as we might reasonably suppose it turned upon very interesting and important …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 The Nations of the South-East
Israel was cut in two by the Jordan. The districts east of the Jordan were those that had first been conquered; it was from thence that the followers of Joshua had gone forth to possess themselves of Canaan. But this division of the territory was a source of weakness. The interests of the tribes on the two sides of the river were never quite the same; at times indeed they were violently antagonistic. When the disruption of the monarchy came after the death of Solomon, Judah was the stronger for the …
Archibald Sayce—Early Israel and the Surrounding Nations The Lamb of God, the Great Atonement
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world! G reat and marvellous are the works of the LORD God almighty! We live in the midst of them, and the little impression they make upon us, sufficiently proves our depravity. He is great in the very smallest; and there is not a plant, flower, or insect, but bears the signature of infinite wisdom and power. How sensibly then should we be affected by the consideration of the Whole , if sin had not blinded our understandings, and hardened …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 Ninth Sunday after Trinity Carnal Security and Its vices.
Text: 1 Corinthians 10, 6-13. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III Covenanting Performed in Former Ages with Approbation from Above.
That the Lord gave special token of his approbation of the exercise of Covenanting, it belongs to this place to show. His approval of the duty was seen when he unfolded the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to his people, while they endeavoured to perform it; and his approval thereof is continually seen in his fulfilment to them of these promises. The special manifestations of his regard, made to them while attending to the service before him, belonged to one or other, or both, of those exhibitions …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Nature of Covenanting.
A covenant is a mutual voluntary compact between two parties on given terms or conditions. It may be made between superiors and inferiors, or between equals. The sentiment that a covenant can be made only between parties respectively independent of one another is inconsistent with the testimony of Scripture. Parties to covenants in a great variety of relative circumstances, are there introduced. There, covenant relations among men are represented as obtaining not merely between nation and nation, …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am o jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of then that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.' Exod 20: 4-6. I. Thou shalt not …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
THE ISRAELITES IN THE LAND OF CANAAN: THE JUDGES--THE PHILISTINES AND THE HEBREW KINGDOM--SAUL, DAVID, SOLOMON, THE DEFECTION OF THE TEN TRIBES--THE XXIst EGYPTIAN DYNASTY--SHESHONQ OR SHISHAK DAMASCUS. The Hebrews in the desert: their families, clans, and tribes--The Amorites and the Hebrews on the left bank of the Jordan--The conquest of Canaan and the native reaction against the Hebrews--The judges, Ehud, Deborah, Jerubbaal or Gideon and the Manassite supremacy; Abimelech, Jephihdh. The Philistines, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 6 The Two Classes.
"Two men went up into the temple to pray."--Luke xvii. 10. I now want to speak of two classes: First, those who do not feel their need of a Saviour who have not been convinced of sin by the Spirit; and Second, those who are convinced of sin and cry, "What must I do to be saved?" All inquirers can be ranged under two heads: they have either the spirit of the Pharisee, or the spirit of the publican. If a man having the spirit of the Pharisee comes into an after-meeting, I know of no better portion …
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It Numbers
Like the last part of Exodus, and the whole of Leviticus, the first part of Numbers, i.-x. 28--so called,[1] rather inappropriately, from the census in i., iii., (iv.), xxvi.--is unmistakably priestly in its interests and language. Beginning with a census of the men of war (i.) and the order of the camp (ii.), it devotes specific attention to the Levites, their numbers and duties (iii., iv.). Then follow laws for the exclusion of the unclean, v. 1-4, for determining the manner and amount of restitution …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Numbers 21:23 NIVNumbers 21:23 NLTNumbers 21:23 ESVNumbers 21:23 NASBNumbers 21:23 KJV
Numbers 21:23 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
