And the LORD heard Israel's plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah. And the LORD heard Israel’s pleaThis phrase emphasizes the responsiveness of God to the cries of His people. The Hebrew root for "heard" is "שָׁמַע" (shama), which implies not just hearing but also understanding and responding. This highlights the intimate relationship between God and Israel, where God is attentive to their needs and supplications. Historically, this reflects the covenant relationship where God promised to be their protector and guide. and delivered up the Canaanites
The term "delivered up" comes from the Hebrew "נָתַן" (nathan), meaning to give or hand over. This signifies God's active role in granting Israel victory over their enemies. The Canaanites were a significant obstacle to Israel's journey to the Promised Land, representing the pagan nations that opposed God's people. This act of deliverance is a testament to God's sovereignty and His commitment to fulfilling His promises to Israel. and they devoted them and their cities to destruction
The phrase "devoted to destruction" is derived from the Hebrew "חֵרֶם" (cherem), which means to ban or dedicate something for complete destruction. This was a common practice in ancient warfare, especially in the context of holy war, where the spoils of war were not taken for personal gain but were completely destroyed as an offering to God. This act was a demonstration of Israel's obedience to God's commands and a purification of the land from idolatry and sin. So the place was called Hormah
"Hormah" comes from the Hebrew root "חָרַם" (charam), which is related to the concept of being devoted to destruction. Naming the place Hormah served as a lasting reminder of God's deliverance and the victory He granted Israel. It also symbolized the consequences of disobedience and the importance of following God's commands. This name would remind future generations of the power and faithfulness of God in fulfilling His promises to His people. Persons / Places / Events 1. The LORD (Yahweh)The covenant-keeping God of Israel who listens to the prayers of His people and acts on their behalf. 2. IsraelThe nation chosen by God, consisting of the descendants of Jacob, who are journeying to the Promised Land. 3. The CanaanitesA group of people living in the land of Canaan, who were enemies of Israel and opposed their progress. 4. HormahThe place where the Israelites achieved victory over the Canaanites, named to commemorate the destruction of their enemies. 5. The Event of DeliveranceGod’s intervention in response to Israel’s plea, resulting in the defeat and destruction of the Canaanites. Teaching Points God Hears and RespondsGod listens to the prayers of His people. Just as He responded to Israel, He hears our cries and petitions today. Divine DeliveranceThe victory over the Canaanites was not by Israel's might but by God's power. We must rely on God for deliverance in our battles. The Importance of ObedienceIsrael's success was tied to their obedience to God's commands. Our spiritual victories are often linked to our faithfulness to God's Word. Remembering God's FaithfulnessNaming the place Hormah served as a reminder of God's faithfulness. We should remember and commemorate God's work in our lives. The Consequences of SinThe destruction of the Canaanites serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of sin and the importance of living a life set apart for God. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the event at Hormah demonstrate the importance of prayer in the life of a believer? 2. In what ways can we see God's faithfulness in our own lives, similar to how He delivered Israel from the Canaanites? 3. How does the concept of "devoting to destruction" in this passage relate to the New Testament call to put to death the deeds of the flesh? 4. What are some modern-day "Canaanites" or challenges that we face, and how can we rely on God for victory over them? 5. How can we ensure that we are obedient to God's commands in our daily lives, and what are the potential consequences of disobedience? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 17The battle against the Amalekites, where Moses' hands were held up, and God granted victory, showing a pattern of divine intervention in battles. Deuteronomy 7God's command to Israel to devote the Canaanite nations to destruction, emphasizing the need for purity and obedience in the Promised Land. Joshua 6The fall of Jericho, another instance where God delivers a city into Israel's hands, demonstrating His faithfulness to His promises. 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 Calleth, Canaanite, Canaanites, Cities, Completely, Delivered, Destroyed, Destruction, Devoteth, Giveth, Hearkened, Hearkeneth, Hormah, Israel's, Listened, Named, Plea, Thus, Towns, Utterly, VoiceDictionary of Bible Themes Numbers 21:3 5295 destruction Numbers 21:1-3 1305 God, activity of 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 21:3 NIVNumbers 21:3 NLTNumbers 21:3 ESVNumbers 21:3 NASBNumbers 21:3 KJV
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