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

Today’s passage starts with the instructions for making and using the water of cleansing.  The description here sounds like the water of cleansing was used ceremonially.  However, depending on how you interpret the amount of ashes used and the amount of water sprinkled, it may have had some antiseptic properties.  From there the passage goes on to describe a series of encounters which the Israelites had with the nations through whose territories they were passing.  First, they sought permission to pass through Edom, but were denied.  The Edomites brought forth their army, and the Israelites turned aside.  Next, a king of Arad attacked the Israelites and took some of them captive.  The Israelites responded by calling on God before going to war against that king and completely wiping out his people. However, they did not settle in any of the lands of that Canaanite king (at least, not at this time).  From there they went on to the border of Moab and the Amorites.  They requested permission to pass through the land of the Amorites, but they denied them, just as the Edomites had.  However, the Amorites were not content with mustering their army as a deterrent to the Israelites.  They attacked them and the Israelites went to war and wiped them out.  Og, the king of Bashan, followed the example of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, and suffered the same fate.

This passage contains three different ways in which nations dealt with the perceived threat of the Israelites marching near them.  The Edomites mustered their army, but as long as the Israelites stayed out of their territory they left them alone.  The king of Arad thought he could profit by raiding the Israelites, but when he did so, they turned on him and destroyed his nation.  Sihon and Og each preemptively attacked the Israelites, seeking to destroy them before they could enter their lands.  Instead the Israelites conquered and settled their lands.  In none of these instances did the Israelites initiate the conflict, and the one case where the hostile nation did not do so either a peaceful resolution was acheived.

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