March 4 – Numbers 21-22

Today’s reading comes from Numbers 21-22. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

There is so much stuff that happens in today’s reading. We see the Israelites find victory in battle over the Canaanites, we see their patience’s tested and poisonous snakes sent, we see them wandering and traveling though the wilderness, we see them find victory over Sihon and Og, and then we see this really crazy story with a man and his donkey who talks. These were a fun two chapters to read.

While the Israelites are just beginning their forty years in the wilderness, I want to point out and remind us who these nations are that the Israelites are encountering. Last year in my Bible reading I decided to do something nerdy, so I began to chart the names listed in the Bible and who their children were. It has come in handy because now I can quickly look through and find out who belongs to whom. I will try and point these things out along the way as we read. In today and yesterday’s reading we came across these people groups …

1. Edom – Edom are the decedents of Esau, Jacobs older brother whom he took the birth right from.
2. Moab – Moab is the son that Lot’s (Abraham’s Nephew) older daughter had with him after escaping from Sodom and Gomorrah.
3. Amorites – Decedents of Ham – Noah’s second son.
4. Midian – This one is not in here today but just for fun … If you remember when Moses ran from Egypt he winds up in Midian where he finds a Priest of God name Jethro. It is very likely that Jethro’s God is the same God of the Bible. The Midianites are decedents of Abraham through his additional wife Kethurah after Sarah’s death.

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