Numbers 21: Judgment, healing, and the first occupied kingdoms

Numbers 21 moves quickly between reversal, judgment, provision, song, and conquest. At Hormah, a place previously associated with Israel's disastrous unauthorized advance, the people appeal to the LORD and receive victory after Arad attacks and takes prisoners. Soon afterward discouragement on the road becomes open contempt for the food God has provided, and deadly serpents enter the camp. The people confess, Moses intercedes, and life is given through looking at the bronze serpent raised on a pole. The itinerary then breaks into poetry: an obscure citation from the Book of the Wars of the LORD and a brief song at a well preserve more than geography. By the chapter's end Israel is no longer merely moving through wilderness. Sihon and Og come out to fight, are defeated, and their territories are occupied. The congregation has towns behind it before crossing Jordan. That new position explains why Moab will look across the border in the next chapter and become afraid.