Numbers 21:4: The long way round: south to the gulf, because Edom would not let them through
Read it →Commentary on Numbers 21:4
Israel is close to the promised land, but the shortest road is shut. The long way round wears the people down, and the verse raises a question: why did God allow the detour at all?
The Road That Got Longer
Edom's refusal in the previous chapter turned a short crossing into an enormous loop. One writer counts what the detour cost them. He also reads Edom, the nation descended from Esau, as a picture of the flesh — the old nature in us that will not work with God:
On the road they take now, Edom is clearly the great barrier. It is less than twenty miles across, but going round it is more than six times as far. That road also had a king's highway and wells of water. What a pleasant alternative to the trackless desert route! But Edom is there in force, and he will not permit it. And you cannot turn this hostility into friendship. It is exactly the same with the flesh: "the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot" (Romans 8:7).
A Closed Door That God Himself Closed
Edom's stubbornness was not the whole story. God was setting Israel's route, and He closed a road they were never meant to take:
They had just come up to Kadesh, right on the borders of the land. Between them and it lay a small strip belonging to Edom, and "the king's highway" ran through it. Edom refused to let them pass that way, and God ordered that it should be so. It was not the way for the redeemed to enter Canaan. They were then turned back for two years to have their testing, and to bring out what had been hidden in them until now. They had to go south around Mount Seir, Edom's territory, then turn north up the eastern side of the Jordan, and pass into the land through its dried-up waters, behind the ark of God. Death and resurrection is the only pathway there.
A Hard Road, Not a Hopeless One
The desert road was hard. Older translations say the people were "much discouraged," where the ESV says they became "impatient." One writer will not let the hard road explain their collapse. He points back to the victory God had just given them over Arad, a Canaanite king:
A wilderness path is always beset with difficulties, but not necessarily with discouragements. Was the victory over Arad not enough proof, along with their own history, that God would not let them die in the wilderness? The flesh never trusts God. It is always ready to take His benefits, but it gives the Giver nothing back except ingratitude.
The Hour After the Win
The timing is striking. Their spirits sank right after that success, and one writer treats it as a standing warning:
This is a common case. We have to watch a time of victory, in case danger comes right behind it. A time of defeat, on the other hand, again and again prepares a person for a fresh and greater blessing from God. His grace is that rich. He knows how to lift up the fallen. But when people take their victory too lightly, He makes them feel their total weakness and their constant need of Himself.
Turning Back Without a Murmur
There is another way to take a road you did not choose. Moses and the leaders with him were ready to enter the land, and instead had to turn back:
There is always deep blessing in bowing to the will of God, even when we cannot see the why and the reason for things. We do not read a single complaining word from these honoured servants of God. They were quite ready to go up into the land, yet they had to turn back into the wilderness for forty years. No, they simply turned back. And well they might, when the Lord turned back also. How could they complain, when they saw the travelling chariot of the God of Israel turn back toward the wilderness?
Where a Sinking Heart Ends Up
The mood did not stay a mood. It turned into grumbling, and God did not answer as He had before:
This time there was no shred of excuse for their grumbling, except that they felt discouraged. So God did not answer as He did in chapter 20:8, but instead sent a plague of fiery serpents among the people, so that many died when bitten. The serpent is a picture of Satan. Israel had already fallen into his trap through their unbelieving discouragement, so God was now impressing on them what it means to let Satan take control of them.
Summary
- The way — God Himself closed the short road through Edom. The long way round was the road for the redeemed, not a wrong turn.
- The heart — a hard road need not discourage anyone. What sank Israel was a nature that takes God's benefits and gives back only ingratitude.
- The timing — their spirits sank right after a victory. Success needs watching more than defeat does.
- The choice — Moses turned back without a complaint, because he saw God turning back with them. Bowing to God's will brings deep blessing, even when the reason is hidden.
- The end — discouragement grew into grumbling against God. The serpents showed what it costs to let Satan take charge.
