Numbers 21

Ah, now this chapter is more to my liking! The middle half talks about the route the Israelites used in their journeys, and yet another minor rebellion on the way, but the beginning and end both cover battles in which they defeated other peoples and occupied their lands. What I found most interesting here was that they not only conquered people on their travels but they also occupied their enemies lands. I was under the impression that the time between the Israelites refusing to enter the Promised Land the first time and their eventual entrance was spent in constant wandering, but it seems I was wrong. I wonder how long they spent in each of the countries they took?

There were also two other interesting references in this section:

- Verses 24 and 25 contain an excerpt from "the Book of the Wars of the Lord"; I wonder if that is something that modern Jewish scholars have found, or if it has been lost to history. Sounds like it would have been an interesting read.

- The last verse, 35, notes that with at least one of the nations the Israelites conquered they left "no survivors" (NET). That level of total war is often looked down upon today, and considered barbaric, but I would argue that based on this and several other passages in the Bible it is sometimes appropriate. The trick is that in these wars the Israelites had God directing their actions, and telling them when and when not to spare their enemies - today we do not have the same level of divine guidance.