Transcendence 3

Six: Family Feud

The time came once again for the Israelites to move. They were living in Kadesh and wanted to pass through Edom. (Edom was a country of Edomites who were distant relatives of the Israelites. They were descendants of Jacob's brother Esau. ) Moses knew he would need permission to pass through the country so he sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom saying," Your brother Israel sends word because as you know we have endured many hardships. Our forefathers went down into Egypt where we were mistreated. When we cried out to our Lord He sent an angel and brought us out of there. Now we are here at Kadesh, at the edge of your territory. Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king's roadways and not turn to the right or left until we have passed through." (Moses awaited a response, expecting it to be favorable since they were distant relatives.)

Edom's king sent his answer, "You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword!" ( The Bible isn't clear as to why the king's answer was no. Maybe his answer was due to the sheer size of the Israelite group.)

The Israelites were desperate and their reply was a plea, "We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of our water we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on food- nothing else."

Again the king answered, "You may not pass through."

Edom had a large and powerful army, and though the Israelites were very discouraged, they weren't willing to try to press forward. They turned away. (Edom's refusal meant a long, hard detour. The people were heartbroken and weary. The years had added up and they were ready to cross over into the land God had given them. Being allowed to cross would have meant reaching the land very quickly and easily, but his refusal meant more travel in the unknown and dangerous desert. Moses warned the Israelites not to hate their kin folk - but years later there would be wars between the two nations.)

The Israelites turned back and arrived at Mount Hor. There the Lord told Moses he should bring Aaron up the mountain where Aaron then would remove his sacred garments and give them to his son Eleazar for Aaron would die there. God said again that  Aaron would not be allowed to see the promised land because both him and Moses had rebelled against God's command at the waters of Meribah. (This very sad news came at a time when the people were already discouraged, their journey had taken way too long, and they were losing hope in their leaders. Aaron already knew he wouldn't see the promised land, God had already told him, but the news that it was time for him to die was definitely hard for all of them to accept.)

Moses did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of the whole community he and Aaron went up Mount Hor along with Aaron's son Eleazar. Once Aaron gave his son the holy garments - turning the priesthood over to him - he died there on the top of the mountain. Moses and Eleazar came down the mountain and the whole community mourned Aaron for thirty days. (Aaron had stood as the priest, a well known, much loved man of the community. He had led them and spoke to them throughout all the time they were together on their journey out of Egypt. It was a very sad time for every tribe.)

After some time, and at God's command the Israelites moved on. Along the way it seemed that no other country wanted the Israelites to move through their territory. In fact when the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he unexpectedly attacked the Israelites and captured some of them. They plead to God and he heard their cries. In the battle that ensued God handed the Canaanites over to the Israelites. Israel completely destroyed them and their towns because of God. They called the place Hormah.

They continued on their journey from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, a route they were forced to take in order to go around Edom. On the way the people grew impatient. They were tired of traveling around, they hated the terrible food, they had no bread and was once again out of water. (Imagine the amount of water required to feed millions of people, and animals. The fear of running out was constant. ) Moral was gone. They just didn't see an end in sight. They began to grumble and complain. Then they began to speak out against Moses and against God. (They were tired and discouraged, yes, but what they kept forgetting so easily was that God had provided over and over, most recently handing over the Canaanites when they attacked. This provoked God to anger for their grumbling and complaining - something God had warned them against time and time again!) God sent venomous snakes among them, they bit the people and many Israelites died. When they realized the snakes were sent as punishment they went to Moses and admitted their sin. They asked him to pray for their sake and for the snakes to be taken away.

Moses prayed and the Lord said, "Make a snake out of bronze and put it upon a pole, anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." Moses did as He said and the people who were bit were able to look at the bronze snake and live. (Here God provided a way of escape that required faith. All they had to do was look at the bronze snake and live. The power was from God not the bronze snake.)

The Israelites moved on. They camped at Oboth, then set out from Oboth and camped in Lye Abarim, which was in the desert that faces Moab toward the sunrise. From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley. Then moved to Arnon, which is the border between Moab and the Amorites. From there they continued on to Beer, the place where the well was where the Lord said to Moses, "Gather the people together and I will give them water."

They traveled on to Mattanah, to Nahaliel, to Bamoth, and then to the valley in Moab were the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.

(Travel was hard, feeding and watering huge crowds of people and livestock, organizing the moves, keeping the peace, dealing with hunger, thirst, sickness, disease, long hours on foot through unknown territory, it was all very tough! There seemed to be so many obstacles in the way. Yet with faith God solved every problem for them. He led them, guided them , fed them and gave them water. With faith, rather than grumbling and complaining , they could have avoided all the trouble and shaved many years off their trip. Their journey could have ended much, much sooner. God wanted to give them the land flowing with milk and honey, just like he wanted to give Adam and Eve the Garden of Eden. But God knew they weren't ready for life in Canaan when they couldn't hold on to faith in the desert. He wouldn't lead them to the promised land when they were unbelieving, and unfaithful.)

(Life Question:  God knows when our hearts are full of his promises, and he knows when we doubt. He wants us to live joyfully, a life of abundance, overflowing. But first, we have to believe. We have to have faith and let go of the grumbling, the worry and the complaining! Do you worry? Do you complain? )