I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 19-21.

    Every time I read the description of how the Israelites were to make and use the water of purification I wonder whether the rules were symbolic in order to remind the people of the importance of maintaining purity before God, or if they were practical as a means of preventing the spread of disease, or perhaps some of both. Reading the description of the process of creating the water of purification it strikes me that it might be mildly soapy water or lye water (depending on how much wood ash was part of the ashes from burning the heifer), or it might be just slightly ashy water.

    I am always struck by the difference between Edom and the nations which Israel conquered in this passage. When the Israelites requested permission to cross through territory controlled by Edom, the king of Edom told them “No” and mobilized his army, but that was all. On the other hand, the Canaanite king sent troops, attacked them, and took some of them prisoner when they passed near to territory he controlled. King Sihon of the Amorites refused the Israelite request, but, unlike the king of Edom, he accompanied his refusal with an attack. In the former case, the Israelites turned aside and went a different direction. In the latter cases the Israelites completely destroyed the nations which attacked them.