Lesson 109 - Senior

Memory Verse

"For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance,, because thou hadst a favour un-to them" (Psalm 44:3).

Cross References

I Strangers in a Strange Land

1. The Lord tells Abram that his seed shall be a stranger in a strange land 400 years, [GEN:15:13]; [ACT:7:6]

2. God will judge that nation, and Abram's seed will come out with great substance, [GEN:15:14]; [EXO:6:6]; [EXO:12:36]; [DEU:6:22]; [PS:105:37].

3. Abram will die in peace and his seed will inherit the promise in the fourth generation, when the iniquity of the Amorites is full, [GEN:15:16]; [1KG:21:26]; [DAN:8:23]; [MAT:23:39].

II The Journeyings of Israel

1. Israel journeys from Oboth to Beer, where the Lord gave them a well and Israel sang a song, [NUM:21:10-18]; [EXO:15:1].

2. They journey on to the border of the Amorites, [NUM:21:19-21].

III The Request of Moses

1. Moses asks to go along by the king's highway, through the land of the Amorites. They promise not to drink of the water or eat of the vineyards, [NUM:21:22]; [NUM:20:17-21].

2. Sihon, king of the Amorites, refuses passage and makes war with Israel, [NUM:21:23]; [DEU:29:7].

3. Israel smites Sihon and possesses his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, [NUM:21:24-26].

4. Moses quotes a war song, [NUM:21:27], [NUM:21:30].

5. Og, king of Bashan, fights against Israel; Israel smites him and possesses his land, [NUM:21:33-35].

6. The Lord tells them they did not possess these lands by their own might, but He sent the hornet before them and drove the enemy out, [JOS:24:12]; [EXO:23:28]; [DEU:7:20].

Notes

God's Promise to Abraham

In the opening of our lesson today we read that Abraham had just passed through one of his deepest experiences with the Lord. A sacrificial covenant had been made. The sacrifices had been divided, which was a custom in those days when a covenant was made between two parties. The animals were cut into equal parts down through the marrow bone; the halves were placed opposite each other. Then the contracting parties passed be-tween the halves and there took the covenant oath.

In Jeremiah 34:18, 20, we read these words: "I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,... I will even give them into the hand of their enemies."

The Lord promised Abraham that his seed should inherit that land. Abraham wanted an assurance that he would know that his seed would possess that land. It was then that the Lord told him to take those animals and make a sacrifice. We believe this deep consecration was Abraham's preparation for sanctification. Many people believe sanctification to be a progressive work; but when we make the consecration the Lord will let us know that our hearts are cleansed by the Blood, just as He let Abraham know.

A deep sleep and a horror of a great darkness fell upon Abraham, and the Lord revealed to him that his seed would be strangers in a land that was not theirs and they would be afflicted 400 years. No doubt, that "horror of great darkness" was to let Abraham know the terrible affliction that would befall the Children of Israel while they were in Egypt. The Lord said, "That nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge." More than 400 years later, God literally fulfilled that promise to Abraham when Moses led the Children of Israel out of Egypt with a high and mighty hand and those terrible plagues were rained down upon the Egyptians. Punishment always follows sin, and the Egyptians felt the released fury of God's judgment. To comfort Abraham's heart after that horror of darkness, the Lord said to him, "Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age" (verse 15).

Iniquity of the Amorites

The Amorites were a powerful tribe of the land of Canaan. It seems that all the nations in Canaan were sometimes classed as Amorites. They were a very idolatrous people, but the Lord was not ready in Abraham's time, to expel them from the land. Evidently there is a certain pitched of iniquity to which nations may arrive before they are destroyed, and beyond which divine justice does not permit them to pass. "There's a line that is drawn by rejecting our Lord." Sinner, "How do you know but your soul may be drifting over the dead line tonight?"

The cup of iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full, but in the fourth generation the Lord said He would expel them. As God deals with nations so does He deal with individuals. "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy" (Proverbs 29:1). "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" (Ecclesiastes 8:11).

The Request of Moses

When the Children of Israel reached the border of the land of the Amorites, Moses sent messengers to the king of the Amorites and requested permission to pass along the king's highway until they had passed through his borders. Moses promised that they would not drink of the Amorites' well nor eat the fruit of their vineyards or fields. But the king refused them passage, gathered his people together, and went out to fight against Israel. The cup of iniquity of the Amorites was now full; and, according to the promise the Lord made to Abraham, He commanded Israel to destroy them.

The devil has control of many of the nations of the world today. He would like to keep the children of God from passing along the King's Highway or even living in this old world. Isaiah had a glimpse of a spiritual highway where the redeemed of the Lord walk, which is called the Way of Holiness; no unclean thing shall pass over it; no lion or ravenous beast shall go up thereon ([ISA:35:8-9]). No power of the devil can keep Christians from travelling on this highway.

According to the Bible, the cup of iniquity for this sinful world is almost full, and the prophecy in Revelation 14:18 will be fulfilled: "And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe."

"In the hand of the LORD there is a cup,... the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them" (Psalm 75:8).

A War Song

War songs seem to be as old as wars themselves. Leaders sang to encourage their soldiers to fight, and the conquerors sang their songs of triumph after the battle was over. Moses here inserts a song, the first part of which the Amorites had sung when they in the past had defeated the Moabites and had taken some of their land. Now Israel had captured it from the Amorites. With a tinge of irony, Moses adds another verse and says, "We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba." Thus, after 400 years God fulfilled His promise to Abraham and the Amorites were destroyed.

Questions

1. What experience was God about to give Abraham?

2. What was the promise God made to Abraham?

3. How long was it before it was fulfilled?

4. Who dwelt in the land of Canaan at this time?

5. Why did not the Lord drive the Amorites out of the land at once?

6. What did Moses request of the king of the Amorites?

7. What answer did he receive?

8. What two kings and their countries were captured?

9. What is a war song?