By John Thiel, Hebrew Wilderness Wanderings Conference, Study 5, mp3

We have travelled with the children of Israel from Egypt in this series ‘Hebrew Wilderness Wanderings,. We have learnt many lessons as they came through the Red Sea to Mount Sinai and then through to the borders of the Promised Land and while God wanted them to move straight in there, their unbelief prevented them.  So they had to return to the wilderness for forty years wandering back and forth aimlessly. Now at last after the forty years and all those who came out of Egypt except for Joshua and Caleb, they were at least commanded to go forwarded.

They travelled on the east side of the Jordan and there was a beautiful green valley there but before they even got there, they had to travel through country which was inhabited. In Numbers 21:21-35 there is a record of how God had directed them to send a message to the king of the Amorites – ‘Let us come through your country but we will not touch your property, we will only stay on the king’s highway.’ The king came back with an army to destroy them.  As they came the Israelites smote them with the edge of the sword and slaughtered the whole army of the Amorites.  They killed the king and gained all of the cities of the Amorites.  Many of the Israelites conquered these places and found homes and cities of the Amorites. Then they continued and another king, the king of Bashan came against them. Again the Lord said to them don’t be afraid of him, you will conquer him.  Again victory, powerful victory. They were slaughtered and were completely annihilated and again another territory for the Israelites to dwell in. There they were flushed with victories and were confident, hooray we are coming into the Promised Land.  They were so encouraged by this victorious experience. Read the rest of this entry →