Sometimes God supernaturally gives manna; sometimes He lets us gather in the ripened fields.
Congratulations to those who have trekked through the wilderness with us as we have been learning from the children of Israel. At least it hasn’t taken us 40 years to do it. Did I hear someone say, “It seemed like it!” Well, there have been many lessons, for sure. But that was exactly the reason the Lord gave us these chapters. As Paul wrote, “Whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom 15:4). And now we’re almost there! After stopping overnight at Oboth and Ije Abarim, they “camped in the Valley of Zered” (Num 21:12), a small river that flows into the southeast corner of the Dead Sea. The landscape they are traversing, up the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, is a high plateau cut by some rivers that provide natural barriers to travel. Thus their next move north is to “the other side of the Arnon,…for the Arnon is the border…between Moab and the Amorites” (v 13). The Arnon River flows from east to west and empties into the Dead Sea just about halfway down its eastern shore. Their next stop was Beer, which simply means “the well.” This is “the well where the Lord said to Moses, ‘Gather the people together, and I will give them water’” (v 16). It’s not supernatural water from the Rock (Ex 17 & Num 20) but a natural provision, yet a gift from God just the same. He said, “I will give them water.” Sometimes in our desire for a miracle, we miss the empirical, blessings we could enjoy just by natural observation. Our daily food and strength, warming sunshine and gentle breezes, the enjoyment of friends and family—these all come from the Father of lights, too, who lavishes on us “every good…and…perfect gift” (Jas 1:17).