Numbers 20-21; Psalm 37:1-11

Numbers 20
1-13 - Waters of Meribah (Wilderness of Zin - Kadesh)

• Miriam dies and is buried here
• People complain about lack of water
• Moses and Aaron go to the tabernacle and (again!) fall on their faces
• God instructs Moses to take the staff and command "the rock" to yield water. Apparently this is a particular rock specified by God. The other rock that yielded water was on Mt. Horeb, called Massah (Test) and Meribah (Quarrel). As pointed out by a commentator I read, the first incident was the 1st month of the 1st year out of Egypt; this is the 1st month of the 40th year.
• Moses strikes the rock twice: "Listen, you rebels, shall we bring water out of this rock?"
• God punishes Moses and Aaron:
• Because you did not trust in me to show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites
• Therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.
• After all Moses has done, to us this punishment seems awfully harsh. All he did, after all, was strike the rock instead of speaking to it. The following explanation, from the "New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible," helps my understanding: "...it is certain from the text that unbelief was their sin; they were diffident [hesitant] about the will of God to bring water out of the rock for such a rebellious people, and they did not put them in mind of the miracles God had wrought in former time, to encourage their faith; and so the Lord was not sanctified by them before the people, as he ought to have been..."

14-21 - Edom Refuses Passage

• Moses sends request to King of Edom, promising to pass straight through and paying for any water used
• Edom refuses and sends out its army to prevent the Israelites from passing through

22-29 - Death of Aaron (Mount Horeb)

• God tells Moses to take Aaron and Eleazar his son to the top of the mountain, to "strip" Aaron of his priestly vestments and place them on Eleazar
• Aaron dies on top of the mountain
• Israel mourns him for 30 days

Numbers 21
1-9 - Bronze Serpent (Negeb, Hormah)

• Challenged by King of Arad, Israelites destroy them and their towns
• Circumventing Edom, people complain again: "We detest this miserable food."
• God sends poisonous serpents among the people, and many die
• They repent
• On God's instructions, Moses makes a bronze serpent, sparing those who look at it

10-20 - Details of Journey to Moab

21-32 - King Sihon Defeated (Moab)

• Amorites had captured and settled in Moab
• Sihon refuses Israelites passage and challenges them
• Israel defeats Amorites and settle in their land

33-35 - Defeat of King Og (Bashan)

• Og comes out to fight
• God: Do not be afraid; I have given him into your hand."
• Israelites kill Og, his sons, and all his people - no survivors - and possess his land

Psalm 37:1-11 - "Do not fret" and Other Instructions
1 - Do not fret
3 - Trust in the LORD
4 - Take delight in the LORD
5 - Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him
7 - Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret.
8 - Refrain from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret.