Read Numbers 21:1-22:1 at Bible Gateway.
The Teaching Tools of Scripture
Genesis 1:1-2:3, The Teaching Tools of Scripture, part one and part two
Genesis 1:1-6:8, Finding the Topic Themes of Scripture
Hebrew Paragraph Divisions
21:1-3 {p} Destruction of the Canaanites of Hormah
21:4-16 {s} Complaint at the Way of the Red Sea
21:17-20 {p} Praise at the Well of Beer
21:21-22:1 {s} Defeat of kings Sihon and Og
Strong Themes
20:22-21:3 {s+p} Death of the high priest followed by victory over enemies
21:4-20 {s+p} Change of generation from the unbelieving fathers to the believing children at the bronze serpent
Numbers 21:1-22:1 Chiastic Structure
Download the fully expanded Numbers 21:1-22:1 Triennial Melech Arad chiasm pdf (Coming …).
Theme of the parashah
The change of generation from unbelieving (fathers) to believing (children).
Finding Messiah in Triennial Melech Arad
This chapter’s strong theme:
21:4-16 {s} Complaint at the Way of the Red Sea
21:17-20 {p} Praise at the Well of Beer
That is,
21:4-20 {s+p} Strong theme: Complaint, then confession and repentance/ the bronze serpent/ praise
This is a complete picture of the Gospel of grace. The complaints reveal the heart of the old man, the old nature, here foreshadowed by the old generation of unbelief (Heb 3:17-19). But then, when eyes are opened to that unbelief, and it is confessed as sin and repented of, the old man looks to Messiah Yeshua on the cross, and his nature is radically changed. He becomes the new man with a new nature, here foreshadowed by the new generation of belief. The praise serves to reveal the heart of the new man.
The bronze serpent on the pole is a prophetic picture of Messiah Yeshua on the cross. We don’t have to speculate about this as Yeshua Himself taught this to us.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Joh 3:14-15
In fact, the serpent was on the pole, because when Yeshua was on the cross, the sins of the whole world—the fruit of the serpent—were laid upon Him. Sin was crucified with Yeshua, and when He was raised to life again, sin stayed dead in the grave. Hallelujah!
Additional readings for this parashah
No Psalm this week | Neh 9 (my notes) | Rom 6 (my notes)
Studies in Triennial Melech Arad
Numbers 21, Bible for Beginners
Numbers 20:22-21:20, And the change of generation
Off-site Studies
Links …
SCRIPTURE REVEALED SERIES by CHRISTINE MILLER:
THE LAW of LOVE | FINDING MESSIAH in TORAH | NUMBERS in CHIASTIC STRUCTURE
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