Num 33:40 And king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. 41 And they departed from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah. 42 And they departed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon. 43 And they departed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth. 44 And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in Ijeabarim, in the border of Moab. 45 And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibongad. 46 And they removed from Dibongad, and encamped in Almondiblathaim. 47 And they removed from Almondiblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48 And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. 49 And they pitched by Jordan, from Bethjesimoth even unto Abelshittim in the plains of Moab. So we get a little interjection about how a Canaanite king named Arad = “a wild ass heard about the Israelites coming his way in the 40th verse. This is in reference to Num 21:1-5 when Arads men attacked the Israelites & took some prisoners & then there was a retaliation where the Canaanites got wiped out with no mention of if they recovered the captives. Then in the 41st verse they left Mount Hor & went to a previously unknown campsite at Zalmonah = “shady” & then the 42nd verse lets us know about another previously unknown campsite in Punon = “darkness” - well in one of these 2 spots was most likely where the incident that Jesus brought up in John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: - happened back in Num 21:4-9. In the 43rd verse they went to Oboth = “waterskins” back in Num 21:10. & in the 44th verse they left there & landed in Ije-abarim = “ruins of Abarim” back in Num 21:11 - then they left Iim = “ruins” (so probably this is in reference to the same ruins of Abarim they were just at) & went to Dibon = “wasting” which was most likely in the land of king Sihon & so they were fighting around now against king Sihon. It is probably called Dibongad because the tribe of Gad took it over around Num 32:34. So it looks like they may have skipped at least six campsites in this section after Ijeabarim because Num 21:12-13 said they stopped at the valley of Zared & then crossed the river Arnon & had an unnamed campsite, Num 21:16 said they went to Beer, Num 21:18 said they went to Mattanah & Num 21:19 listed Nahaliel & Bamoth - it looks like none of those places was Dibon. After they left Dibon they went to Almon-diblathaim = “concealing the two cakes” in the 45th verse & then in the 47th verse they went to the mountains of Abarim - 2 previously unknown campsites & also somewhere around here is where they were fighting against king Og. After all this they landed in their final campsite before crossing the river Jordan that was so big it went from Beth-jesimoth = “house of the desolation” to Abel Shittim = “meadow of acacias” in the 49th verse which corresponds to Num 22:1. Whew - ok so we see that again there were places in this section that were never seen before; but this time the recap skipped a stack of places that we have seen before - so three times in three sections of the same chapter we seen that if we dont read the whole bible we are not getting the whole story - maybe that one line that goes James 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: - not only applies to conversations with people; as when you are like me & interrupting other people when they talk all the time then you fail to get the whole story & if you read only what you want to of the bible & not the whole thing you will fail to get the whole story from it as well. Also there is the issue of taking things out of context will most likely give you an inaccurate picture or interpretation not only of the bible, but also of other peoples words. Num 33:50 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, 51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; 52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: 53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. 54 And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. 55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. 56 Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them. So YHVH told Moses to tell the people that when they go into the promised land that they are to make sure they drive out everyone living in it; destroying all their Pictures: 4906 מַשְׂכִּית [maskiyth /mas·keeth/] n f. From the same as 7906; TWOT 2257c; GK 5381; Six occurrences; AV translates as “picture” twice, “image” once, “wish” once, “conceit” once, and “imagery” once. 1 show-piece, figure, imagination, image, idol, picture. 1a show-piece, carved figure (of idols). 1b imagination, conceit. along with their molten images or false gods made of metal - so if that means that we as NT age Christians are not allowed to own pictures or artwork of any kind i am unsure; but i doubt it as i am pretty sure that it is in reference to images of things you would worship; now for people who worship their family more than God - pictures of your family are going to be an issue; but Jesus said Lk 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. - well speaking of that verse most people interpret that one to mean love less compared to actual hate & that makes sense in the light of the whole bible telling us to love everyone & but the word used is - Hate:3404 μισέω [miseo /mis·eh·o/] v. From a primary misos (hatred); TDNT 4:683; TDNTA 597; GK 3631; 42 occurrences; AV translates as “hate” 41 times, and “hateful” once. 1 to hate, pursue with hatred, detest. 2 to be hated, detested. So i guess a lotta prayer needs to be done to know exactly how to obey it; but if we are obeying it then having a picture of your family should not be an issue (or perhaps obeying it would prevent you from having any pictures of them). Well as always we need to develop our own relationship with God & do what He tells us & personally i have not been convicted for any images that i own even if it is of Jesus; because i know not to worship the image - God is a spirit & those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit & in truth (Jn 4:24) - so because i know that God is beyond reality & created reality as we know it, i also know that no picture that anyone has painted of Him could possibly do Him any justice because God is bigger than we can imagine. In any case the end of the 52 verse said that they are to make sure & destroy any worship centers for the false gods. So i would love to be able to obey this one, but in this day & age not only would i probably go to jail; but that is not my personal mission, as God never told me to fulfill that scripture (yet). My mission is to preach the word (2 Tim 4:2) & love everyone including people who dont agree with Him as a witness to get them to change their minds instead of trying to convert them by force which mostly only causes contempt - besides tearing down a false god worship center without chasing the people who worship the false gods outta town will just cause violence that God doesnt want me being a part of as like i said the main issue in the NT age is loving people - what is that saying? You draw more flies with honey than vinegar so being nice to people who worship false gods is a better strategy than burning down their churches nowadays plus too if the false god worshipers are anything like many of the people who claim to worship my God, then the worship centers are mostly a social gathering place & the false doctrine is not all that important to them anyway. So the 53rd verse says to kick out the people living in the land & live in it yourselves - then the 54th says to divide it by lot - so that as i said before is like gambling but because i believe that God is in control of chance; He probably used it as a tool to split it up in a way that they wouldnt complain. The tribes with more people will get more land than the tribes with less & then the land will be further split up by families. In the 55th verse God gives a warning that if they fail to obey that anyone they leave in the land will cause them problems later on & the end result will be that someone else will kick them out of their land & their worship center will be torn down - well we know from history that happened; so i am guessing that later on when we read about the story of the Gibeonites in Joshua 9 & perhaps some others is one of the reasons that happened to them. So i dunno if we learned anything besides some places that the Israelites went; but we did see the value of reading the whole bible compared to only our favorite parts (again); & some things that we should meditate about like whether or not God allows us to own any pictures or statues even if they are not of false gods, whether or not we should be tearing down false god worship centers, & the thought that if we dont obey God there will be consequences even if we dont get them until after we are dead & our children have to deal with them. So next time we will be looking at chapter 34 that appears to describe the borders of the promised land & until then let us pray that we have the will & or desire to read the whole bible & not make excuses not to, & while we are reading it that we remember to pray to God to give us His understanding of it & spend the appropriate amount of time in meditation so as to be able to get any revelations concerning them that God wants us to have.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 10:50:27 +0000
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