Numbers 21:10-35. God Is Victorious And Calls Us To Share In His Victory-my devotional 9-10-16

Numbers 21:10-35

Key verse 21:34a                  9-10-16

“The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land….” NIV

     God is with his people and ushers them in victory.   Look at verses 10-35,  “ 10 The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth. 11 Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that faces Moab toward the sunrise. 12 From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley. 13 They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the wilderness extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 That is why the Book of the Wars of the Lord says: “. . . Zahab in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon 15 and the slopes of the ravines that lead to the settlement of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.” 16 From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together and I will give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well! Sing about it,18 about the well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people sank— the nobles with scepters and staffs.” Then they went from the wilderness to Mattanah, 19 from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.

Defeat of Sihon and Og

21 Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon king of the Amorites: 22 “Let us pass through your country. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.” 23 But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. He mustered his entire army and marched out into the wilderness against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he fought with Israel. 24 Israel, however, put him to the sword and took over his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only as far as the Ammonites, because their border was fortified. 25 Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its surrounding settlements. 26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon. 27 That is why the poets say: “Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt;   let Sihon’s city be restored. 28 “Fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the citizens of Arnon’s heights. 29 Woe to you, Moab! You are destroyed, people of Chemosh! He has given up his sons as fugitives and his daughters as captives to Sihon king of the Amorites. 30 “But we have overthrown them; Heshbon’s dominion has been destroyed all the way to Dibon. We have demolished them as far as Nophah, which extends to Medeba.” 31 So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. 32 After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its surrounding settlements and drove out the Amorites who were there. 33 Then they turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army marched out to meet them in battle at Edrei. 34 The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.” 35 So they struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army, leaving them no survivors. And they took possession of his land.”

Israel was not so passive when passing through the land of the Amorites. Look at verses 21-26. Like their request to the Edomites, they asked to pass through the land. They promised to not take advantage of the nation’s resources. They were very truthful and just in their dealings with the people.

But Sihon, king of the Amorites would not let them pass. He came to them with his armies to drive the Israelites out. Israel fought them and captured all the cities of the Amorites. In the past they did not engage in battle with the Edomites, but this time they did…why?

It was time to enter the Promised Land according to God’s will. It was God’s will to move forward. There were reasons why the Amorites faced such defeat. Only God knows all the reasons. But God was working through his people to unfold his plan of world redemption.

The people of God were experiencing total victory. Look at some of the verses that appear in these verses.

1. 13, They wrote of the victory in books
2. 16 God was providing for them as they went.
3. 17 The sang as a nation
4. 24a They put their enemies to the sword.
5. 25a Israel captured and occupied cities
6. 27. Poems were written
7. 30 They overthrew their enemies and demolished them.
8. 31. They settled in the land that their hearts longed for.
9. 33. They defeated whole armies.
10. 34 God was with them and he spoke to them through Moses.

v.35 They left no survivors.

1. 35 They took possession of the land.

Wow! For so many years, nothing was happening. There were lots of complaints, defeated words, God’s judgement and wanderings in the desert. But now it seems they are experiencing total victory. Can you imagine being among the people through whom God was working through? God is a very victorious God and he wants to share in the victory with all of his people.

The reason for their victory was that God was with them. Look at verse 34, “The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.” They were not always emoting well, and being enthusiastic and positive. No. It’s is not that they changed. It was that God was with them and it was his time to bring his people into land.

God was with his people. God is the Almighty and All-powerful Creator God. This God is our heavenly Father. He loves us and dwells among us. He is victorious in his plan of world redemption. Nothing can stop our God. And he calls his people to follow him and share in his victory. If God is for us who can be against us?

There is another aspect of sharing in God’s victory. It is found in verse 34a, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land….”  God says, “I have delivered him into your hands.” God is speaking in past tense. God wants his people to know that they need to move ahead knowing that God has already achieved the victory. His people are simply involved in a “mopping up” operation. That is how assured the victory is.

Everyone wants to live with a sense of victory and overcoming in life. Nobody wants to live in defeat. One of the greatest compliments that you can give a person is, “You are an overcomer!”. Everyone likes to hear, “You truly are a survivor!”. People like this. They want to live with a sense of overcoming something and surviving against all odds and coming out on top. Some get this through school or the military or sports etc. But that sense of victory is short lived in light of a lifetime and especially eternity.

True and deep and lasting sense of victory comes through following Christ, through faith, into his victory. He invites all to do this. In Christ there is victory. One of my favorite hymns is “Victory in Jesus” When I was a new believer, I used to sing this hymn as I walked to work along the streets of Winnipeg. My heart was filled with a deep sense of victory every day. And that victory came from Jesus Christ and the work that he accomplished in my life. It came through the Gospel. Where else can you experience such victory on life, except in Christ? It just does not exist in the world.

Here are the lyrics.

O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow’r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and bro’t
To me the victory.

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.

Prayer: “Lord, thank you the real victory that you bring into our lives through faith in Jesus and the Gospel. Jesus is the Gospel. Thanks for bring me along in your victory.”
One word: Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever.