02/02/2021 – Day 261- Post 2 of ? – Number 21:14 :”The book of the wars of the Lord” /Omaha beach commander’s call for his warriors to do what seemed impossible. But wait, If God is for us, … Do I hear an amen?
I have a “to-do” list of other posts from our daily scripture readings. But I can’t seem to be able to keep up. I will with joy, be chasing it the rest of my life I expect. The primary focus is witnessing the good news of the Gospel, amidst a fallen world much like Sodom and Gomorroh at the end. But, I will consider this my “leisure time” so to speak.
I find myself every now and then focused on the detail of His word. And after exploration, the big picture comes back to me, clearer than ever. My source tonight on the quotes is from :
https://biblehub.com/numbers/21-14.htm. I have two commentaries amongst many that grabbed my attention. The first does not give a name , it appears as “Pulpit commentary” from 21:14, the verse referencing : “The book of the wars of the Lord.”. The 2nd , you probably could have guessed it is from Matthew Henry’s commentary, from a little broader scope: 21: 1-20. Here goes:
Pulpit commentary:
“Verse 14 – Wherefore, i.e., because the Amorites had wrested the Moab all to the north of Amon. In the book of the wars of the Lord , Nothing is know of this book but what appears here. If it should seem strange that a book of this description should be already in existence, we must remember amongst the multitude of the Lord, there must in the nature of things have been some ‘poets’ in the then acceptation of the word. Some songs there must have been, and those songs would be mainly inspired by the excitement and the triumph of the final marches. The first flush of a new national life achieving its first victories over the national foe always finds expression in songs and odes. It is abundantly evident from the foregoikng narrative that writing of some sort was common use at least among the leaders of Israel (see on Numbers 11:26), and they would not have thought it beneath them to collect these spontaneous effusions of a nation just awaking to the poetry of its own existence. The archaic character of the fragments preserved in this chapter, which makes them sound so foreign to our ears, is a storng testimony to their genuineness. It is hardly credible that a later generation should have cared either to compose or to quote snatches of the song which, like dried flowers, have lost everything but scientific value in being detached from the soil that gave them birth. What he did in the Red Sea and in the brooks of Arnon. Rather, ‘Vaheb in whirlwind, and the brooks of Arnon.’ The strophe as cited here has neither nominative nor verb, and the sense can only be conjecturally restored is almost certainly a proper name although of an unknown place. (Hebrew text letters here) is also considred by amny as the name of a locality in ‘Suphah’. It occurs however in Nahum 1:3 in the sense given above, and indeed it is not at all a rare word in Job, Proverbs, and the Prophets; it seems best, therefore, to give it the same meaning here.”
And now Matthew Henry on Numbers 21: 10-20 :
“We have here from the removes of the children of Israel, till they come to the plains of Moab, from whence they passe over Jordan into Canaan. The end of their pilgrammage was near. They set forward. It went well if we did thus; and the nearer we come to heaven, were so much and more active and abundant in the work of the Lord. The wonderful success that God granted His people , is here spoken of , and , among the rest, their actions on the river Arnon, at Vaheb in Suphah, and other places on that river. In every shape of their lives, nay, in every steop, we should notice what God has wrought for us; what he did at such a time, and what in such a place, ought to be distinctly remembered . God blessed His peopel with a supply of water. When we come to heaven, we shall remove the well of life, the fountain of the living waters. They received it with joy and thankfulness, which made the mercy doubly sweet. With joy must we draw water out of the wells of salvation., Isaiah 12:3. As the brazen serpent was a symbol of Christ, who is lifted up for our cure, so is this well a figure of the Spirit, who is poured forth for our comfort , and from whom flow to us rivers of living waters. (John 7: 38:39. Does this well spring up in our souls? If so, we should take comfort to ourselves, and give the glory to God. God promised to give water, but they must open the ground. God’s favour must be expected in the use of such means as are within our power, but still the power is only from God.
Wow, how could we have ever suggested that the Old Testament was dry and boring? I had to bold it as Matthew sprinted to the finish line on this one. The unfathomable foreshadowing Truth of Christ is everywhere. But we have to pray through it, read and reflect , and pray again throughout. As noted here, God is calling us to work, to “open the ground”, so that our joy may be enhanced all the more!
As Voddie noted in the sermon I recently posted: “If you have a problem of a God of “combat , you have a problem with God.” And analogous to that , I recall a warrior’s adomonition to his men, in this case , a commander of the Omaha beach assault on D-Day as they hunkered down just a few steps from where they disembarked in a nightmare from hell : “Gentlemen, there are only two classifications for men here: ‘Those who have died and those that are soon going to die!” I (we) were born for this time!
Soli Deo Gloria!