THE JOURNEY TO MOAB (NUM.21)
Then Yisharal traveled next to Oboth and camped there, and as the sun was rising they heading to Iye-Abarim (in the wilderness on the eastern border of Moab).
AFTER 40 YEARS WANDERING, YISHARAL ARE BATTLE-WEARY AND TIRED, AND NO WAY RESEMBLED THE ORIGINAL HEBREW SLAVES WHO HAD FLED PHARAOH. ALL THOSE WHO WERE OVER 20 YEARS OLD HAD PASSED AWAY AND WERE NOW BURIED IN DESERT SAND. INFACT THE MAJORITY OF YISHARAL HAD NEVER LIVED IN EGYPT, OR EVEN A NORMAL TOWN OR VILLAGE BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN BORN OUT IN THE WILDERNESS AND GROWN UP ONLY KNOWING THE NOMADIC LIFESTYLE. SO THEIR LIFE PERSPECTIVE AND WAY OF THINKING WAS TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN THEIR PARENTS.
From there they traveled to the valley of the Zered Brook and set up camp. Then they moved out and camped on the far side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness adjacent to the territory of the Amorites (the Arnon is the boundary line between the Moabites and the Amorites). And for this reason the `Book of the Battles of Yahuah’ speaks of “the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the ravines of the Arnon River and the ravines that extend as far as the settlement of Arnon the border of Moab”.
From there Yisharal traveled to Beerah (meaning `well’), which is the well of water where YAHUSHA said to Moses, “Assemble the people so I can refresh and hydrate them.” And the Yisharalites sang this song: “Spring up, O well! Yes, sing its praises! Sing of this well, which princes dug, which great leaders hollowed out with their scepters and staffs by the mighty words of our Master.” Then the Yisharalites left the wilderness and proceeded on through Mattanah, Nakalial, and Bamoth, into the valley in Moab where Pisgah Peak overlooks the wasteland.
YISHARAL HAS NOW ENTERED THE AREA KNOWN AS THE `TRANS-JORDAN’.HOWEVER, NOWADAYS THIS AREA IS NOW KNOWN AS THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN. THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE YISHARAL TRIED TO ADHERE TO WHEN TRAVELING WAS TO AVOID CONTACT WITH THOSE GROUPS WHO HAD SOME ANCESTRAL CONNECTION TO ABRAHAM. FOR EXAMPLE, BOTH THE MOABITES AND THE AMMONITES WERE ORIGINALLY DESCENDED FROM ABRAHAM’S NEPHEW, LOT. SO YISHARAL DID THE BEST THEY COULD TO STAY ON THE OUTER EDGES OF MOAB’S TERRITORY. BUT AGAIN, KEEP IN MIND, WE’RE TALKING ABOUT A POPULATION OF THREE MILLION PEOPLE HERE, SO NO MATTER WHERE THEY WENT, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN A MENACING THREAT TO ALL THE SURROUNDING NATIONS IN THE AREA.
BATTLING THE AMORITES
And Yisharal sent messengers to King Sikon of the Amorites with this message: “Please let us travel through your land and we will be careful not to go through your fields and vineyards. We won’t even drink water from your wells.* We will stay on the king’s road until we have passed through your territory.” THIS IS A TOUCH MISLEADING. WHAT MOSES WAS REALLY SAYING IS THAT HIS PEOPLE WOULDN’T TAKE THE WATER BY FORCE OR DECEPTION, FOR THERE IS NO WAY YISHARAL COULD NOT HAVE DRUNK WATER FROM THE WELLS IF THEY WANTED TO SURVIVE OUT IN THIS DESERT WASTELAND. AFTER TAPPING THE WELLS OF WATER FOR THEIR DAILY SURVIVAL NEEDS, YISHARAL WOULD PAY THE KING FOR THE AMOUNT OF WATER THEY USED AND THIS WAS HOW DESERT CULTURES INTERACTED WITH EACH OTHER IN THOSE DAYS.
But King Sikon refused to let them cross his territory, mobilising his entire army and attacking Yisharal in the wilderness, engaging them in full-on battle at Jahats. But the Yisharalites slaughtered them with their swords and occupied their land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. But they only went as far as the Ammonite border because the terrain of the Ammonite frontier was very rugged and their boundary was heavily fortified. So Yisharal captured all the towns of the Amorites and settled in them, including the city of Heshbon and its surrounding villages. Heshbon was the capital of King Sikon of the Amorites because he’d defeated a former Moabite king and seized all his land as far as the Arnon River.
WE CAN SEE THE PROMISE YAHUSHA FIRST GAVE TO ABRAHAM BECOMING A REALITY. NAMELY THAT, “I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU, AND WHOEVER CURSES YOU I WILL CURSE AND ALL PEOPLES ON EARTH WILL BE BLESSED THROUGH YOU.“ THE NATION THAT REFUSES TO BLESS YISHARAL WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF WILL SUFFER THE CURSES.
SO YISHARAL WENT TO BATTLE AND CONQUERED SIKON, KING OF THE AMORITES.THESE AMORITES WHO YISHARAL CONQUERED WERE NOT INDIGENOUS TO THE TRANS-JORDAN. THEY ORIGINALLY HAILED FROM MESOPOTAMIA. IN OTHER WORDS, THE TRANS-JORDAN WAS AN AREA THE AMORITES HAD CONQUERED AND WERE OCCUPYING BEFORE THEIR FATAL ENCOUNTER WITH YISHARAL. SO WHICH PEOPLE GROUP WAS RESIDING IN THE TRANS-JORDAN BEFORE THE AMORITES CONQUERED THAT AREA? THE MOABITES! SO WHEN YISHARAL CONQUERED KING SIKON OF THE AMORITES, THEY ALSO CONQUERED ALL THE OTHER LANDS AND PEOPLE GROUPS THAT WERE CONTROLLED BY THE AMORITES. BUT THAT’S NOT ALL. BEFORE THIS ENCOUNTER WITH YISHARAL, THE AMORITES HAD ALSO TO A DEGREE, SUBJUGATED ANOTHER PEOPLE GROUP KNOWN AS THE AMMONITES.
THERE WAS A POPULATION OF AMMONITES RESIDING IN AN AREA NEAR TO THE JORDAN RIVER. THESE FOLKS HAD ALSO BEEN TAKEN OVER BY THE AMORITES. SO AGAIN, WHEN YISHARAL LAY WASTE TO THE AMORITES, THEY ALSO TOOK OVER THAT AREA OF THE YARDAN RIVER INHABITED BY THE AMMONITES. THIS WAS JUST STANDARD PROTOCOL IN THOSE DAYS. WHATEVER OR WHOEVER A NATION CONTROLLED BEFORE BEING CONQUERED WAS TRANSFERRED OVER TO THEIR CONQUERERS. CONCLUSION: THIS LITTLE BATTLE YISHARAL HAD WITH THE AMORITES WAS LIKE KILLING THREE BIRDS WITH ONE STONE. THEY DESTROYED THE AMORITES, TOOK CONTROL OF MOAB SINCE MOAB WAS UNDER THE AMORITES’ CONTROL AT THIS TIME AND ALSO TO A LESSER DEGREE TOOK CONTROL OF THE AMMONITES.
Therefore, the ancient poets wrote this about him: “Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt! Let the city of Sikon be restored. A fire flamed forth from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sikon burned the city of Ar in Moab, destroying the rulers of the Arnon heights. What sorrow awaits you people of Moab! You are finished, you worshipers of Chemosh! Chemosh has left his sons as refugees and his daughters as captives of Sikon, the Amorite king. We have utterly destroyed them from Heshbon to Dibon. We have completely wiped them out as far away as Nophah and Medeba.”
So the people of Yisharal occupied the territory of the Amorites. And after Moses sent men to explore the Jazer area, they captured all the towns in the region and drove out the Amorites who lived there. Then they turned and marched up the road to Bashan, but King Og of Bashan and all his people attacked them at Edrei. So YAHUSHA said to Moses, “Don’t be afraid of him, cause I’ve already handed him over to you, along with all his people and land. Do the same to him as you did to King Sikon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.”
And Yisharal killed King Og, his sons and all his subjects and not a single survivor remained. Then Yisharal occupied their land.
