Author: © Christian National Church of Christ

The men of the tribes living across the Jordan River had stayed with the Israeli army ever since crossing the river and had fought against the heathen nations in Canaan. They received a full share of the cattle, gold, silver, and anything else taken from the enemy.

Joshua called these men to him and thanked them for their help. “You have obeyed me, whatever I told you to do,” he said. “You have not let your brothers fight alone, but have stayed with them and helped them. Now go back to your homes on the other side of the Jordan. But be very careful, after you get there, to obey all the commandments Moses gave us, and to love and to serve the Lord your God with all your hearts.”

So they started back home. When they came to the Jordan River, they stopped and built a great altar, shaped like God’s altar at Shiloh, where the Tabernacle was. But God had told the Israelis not to sacrifice on any other altar but the one at the Tabernacle. When the men of the other tribes heard that they had built another altar, they were angry, and sent their armies to fight them.

Phinehas, the high priest, and ten Israeli leaders arrived ahead of the army to ask why they had built this altar.

“We want to know,” they said, “why you have built another altar to offer sacrifices on, when the Lord said we should have only one altar, the one at Shiloh. Don’t you remember how God sent a great plague on us for worshipping the idols of the Midianites and the Moabites? Don’t you remember how He punished us when Achan took the silver and gold for himself, in direct disobedience to God?”

The Tribes from across the river were very surprised. They said they had never dreamed of using the altar for sacrifices. It was just a monument, in the form of the altar at Shiloh. In years to come, they said, the people on Joshua’s side of the Jordan River might say that the tribes on their side of the Jordan River weren’t really Israelis, because they didn’t live in the Promised Land of Canaan. They could then point to the Monument as proof that they were truly people of Israel, just like the others. They fully understood, they said, that there must be no sacrificing except at Shiloh.

So then everyone was happy again.

Joshua had become an old man One day he summoned the leaders of Israel and and reminded them of all the Lord had done for them and urged them always to honor God in everything they did. Then the Lord would greatly bless and prosper them, he said.

The Lord has driven out your enemies and given you cities, fields, vineyards, and a land of your own to live in, “Joshua reminded them, “Fear the Lord and worship Him. If you don’t want to worship Him, then choose the idols you would rather worship. But as for me and my family, we will worship the Lord.”

The people answered, “God forbid that we should leave the Lord to worship idols. For it was He who brought us out of Egypt and gave us this land. We will worship the Lord, for He is our God.”

Then Joshua took a great stone and set it up beneath an oak beside the Tabernacle in Shiloh. That stone, he said, would be a witness to remind them of the promises they had made to worship only the Lord.

So, Joshua died. This godly man had lived for 110 years; and they buried him on the side of a hill.

During the forty years since they had left Egypt, the Israelis had been carrying Joseph’s bones with them. Now at last they buried them at Shechem. (It had been more than four hundred years since Joseph, wearing his coat of many colors, had gone to Shechem to find his brothers.)

Questions:

Why was everyone so angry about the new altar?

Where was the only place that sacrifices could be made?

Whose bones had been brought all the way from Egypt to be buried?

How long before this had the boy Joseph looked for his brothers at Shechem?

Joshua Chapters 16 & 17 & 18

Joshua and his troops won many, many more battles against many kings, but there was still much land remaining to be conquered.

All the people of Israel went to the city of Shiloh to set up the Tabernacle there. They had carried the Tabernacle all the way from Mount Sinai, talking it down when they travelled and setting it up again when they stopped. But they had come to Canaan to stay their long journey was ended. The Tabernacle wouldn’t have to be moved again.

The priests and Levites brought the Tabernacle to Shiloh, a city near the center of their new country, and set it up permanently as the Lord had told them to.

But although Israel had conquered only part of Canaan, they had grown tired of war and wanted rest and quiet. It seemed as though they did not want all the good land God was willing to give them.

The Lord spoke to Joshua and reminded him that a large part of the land had not yet been taken away from the Canaanites. So Joshua asked all the people how long it would be before they would be ready to continue the war against the heathen nations still living in Canaan. He asked them to choose twenty-one scouts, and Joshua sent them out to inspect the land that was still unconquered. He told them to give him a written report.

The chosen men walked through the land, made maps of it, and brought their report to Joshua in Shiloh. Then Joshua drew straws for the different tribes of Israel so that the Lord could tell them which part of the land each tribe should have. God told them to finish driving out the heathen nations so that they could have the land for their own use. Joshua promised that the Lord would help His people do this.

God said that the priests and Levites were not to own farms like the men of the other tribes, because He wanted them to stay at the Tabernacle and work for God there. But God said they could have cities of their own to live in. The priests and Levites came to Joshua and the leaders of Israel to find out what cities they could have, and they were given forty-eight cities where they could bring their wives and children and have their homes.

Questions:

What was done with the Tabernacle?

Where?

Why?

Why did the scouts make maps?

Why couldn’t the priests and Levites own farms like everyone else?

Joshua Chapters 12 & 13 & 14

When the other kings in Canaan heard how Israel had destroyed Ai, they brought all their armies together to fight against Joshua and his people.

But one of the cities, named Gibeon, refused to join the others. The people of Gibeon didn’t want to fight, for they knew that the Lord was helping the Israelis and would destroy anyone fighting them. Instead, they sent men to Joshua wearing very old clothes and worn-out shoes and carrying dry and moldy bread, pretending that they had come from another country far away.

They came to Joshua and told him. “We have come from a distant land, for we have heard of your God and of all the great things He has done for you. Our people have sent us to ask you to make a treaty with us and be friends.”

Joshua and the men of Israel didn’t ask the Lord what to do, as they should have done; they agreed at once to be friends with the people of Gibeon.

Three days later they learned the truth. These men had not come from a distant country at all, but lived close by, in Canaan, and were among the wicked nations the armies of Israel had been told to destroy.

Then Joshua called for the men of Gibeon and demanded to know why they had lied to him. They said it was because they feared for their lives, for they had lied to him. They said it was because they feared for their lives, for they had heard that God was going to destroy the people living in Canaan and was going to give their land to the Israelis. Joshua couldn’t kill them because only three days before he had promised not to. But he said they must be slaves, and work for the priests and the Levites, cutting wood and carrying the water needed at the Tabernacle;.

When the king of Jerusalem heard that the people of Gibeon had surrendered to the Israelis, he was very angry. He and four other kings put their armies together and went to Gibeon to fight against it in revenge.

Then the men of Gibeon sent a messenger to Joshua, “Quick! Come and help us,” they said, “for the kings from the mountains have come to punish us.”

Joshua and his army fought against the five kings attacking Gibeon, and the Lord made them become afraid of the Israelis and run away. But as they ran, the Lord caused a great hailstones to fall upon them out of Heaven, so that more of them were killed by hailstones than by the Israelis.

As the Israelis army was chasing them, the sun began to set; for it was evening. Joshua was afraid that God’s enemies would escape in the darkness, so he commanded the sun not to stay where it was and not to move farther across the sky.

And the sun stood still and did not go down for many hours after its usual time! That day was longer than any other day has ever been. There was no day like it either before or afterward, for the Lord, at Joshua’s request, made the sun and moon stand still in the sky so that the Israelis could keep on chasing and destroying their enemies.

Questions:

How did the men of Gibeon fool Joshua?

Why did the Israeli army protect Gibeon when the other kings attacked it?

What did Joshua tell the sun and moon to do?

Did they obey him?

Joshua Chapter 8 &9 & 10

Then Joshua sent scouts to Ai, another city of Canaan. When they came back they told him that it was a small city and not many people lived there, so only part of the Israeli army was needed to capture it. Two or three thousand men would be enough they said.

So Joshua sent about three thousand men. But when the men of Ai came out against them, the Israelis suddenly became afraid and ran, and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them.

Joshua didn’t know what to do . Israel had been defeated! He tore his clothes, and he and the elders of Israel lay on the ground praying until the evening. Joshua cried out to the Lord, saying, “All the people of Canaan will hear how the Israeli army has run away from its enemies; and they will gather around us on every side and kill us, until not one of us is left.”

But the Lord said, “Get Up! Why are you lying there? There is sin among the people of Israel; that is why your enemies have defeated you.”

Then the Lord told Joshua that one of the men of Israel had kept some silver and gold taken from the city of Jericho. He had taken it for himself instead of putting it into the treasury of the Lord. The Lord said He would not help the people of Israel anymore unless they punished the man who had done this.

God told Joshua to bring all the people before Him, and He would tell Joshua who the thief was. The man who had done this thing must be burned alive in punishment for stealing from the Lord and for not obeying Him. So Joshua got up early in the morning and brought all the people before the Lord, and the Lord showed him the man who was guilty. His name was Achan.

“Tell me what you have done Achan,” Joshua demanded.

Achan then admitted that he had seen a beautiful garment and some silver and a piece of gold, and that he had taken them and hidden them in the ground beneath his tent.

Joshua sent messengers who ran to Achan’s tent and found the things buried there. They brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel and laid them before the Lord.

Then Joshua and all the people took Achan and the beautiful garment, and the silver and gold, and his sons and daughters, his tent, his cattle, and everything he owned, to a nearby valley. There they were stoned to death and burned. A great heap of stones was piled over Achans dead body to show where it lay. After that the valley was called the valley of Achor, which means “The Valley of Trouble.”

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Now you can conquer the city of Ai. the Lord commanded Joshua to put all the people of Ai to death for their sins. This time, He said, the Israelis could keep the gold and silver they found, instead of putting it into the treasury of the Lord.

So Joshua and all his army attacked Ai. He sent thirty thousand men around behind the city during the night to hide where the people of Ai couldn’t see them. The rest of the army attacked from the front.

When the men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke rising, they didn’t know which way to go. Joshua and his men were in front of them, and those who had set the city on fire were behind them, so they couldn’t escape.

Then Joshua killed them all, as the Lord had commanded. But the Israelis kept the gold, silver, and cattle for themselves, for God had said that this time it was all right for them to do this.

Joshua then built an altar of great stones on Mount Ebal and wrote God’s law on it, just as Moses’ had told them to.

Questions:

Why did God let the men of Ai kill some of the Israelites?

What sin had Achan committed?

What was Achan’s punishment?

What happened when the Israelis went again to fight Ai?

Joshua Chapter’s 7 & 8

Joshua left the camp and went on foot to inspect the city of Jericho with its high walls. Glancing up, he saw a man with a sword in his hand. Joshua strode up to him. “Are you friend or foe?” he demanded.

“I am the general-in-chief of the Lords army,” the man replied. He was telling Joshua that he had come to be their leader and to show them how to win the battles against their enemies. Joshua realized that this Man was the Lord, so he fell to the ground and worshiped Him. It was the same Man who had come to Abraham’s tent long before to say that God was going to destroy Sodom. And He was the Man who had wrestled with Jacob when he was returning to Canaan from Laban’s house.

The people of Jericho had shut the city gates to stop the Israelis from coming in. But the Lord said He would give Joshua the victory anyway. He even told him how to plan his attack.

All the Israeli soldiers. He said, must march around the city once every day for six days and the priests must go with them carrying the Ark. Seven priests were to walk ahead of the Ark, blowing trumpets made of ram horns.

On the seventh day the Israelis were to march around Jericho, not once, but seven times while the priests blew the trumpets. As they finished the seventh time around, the priests must blow a loud, long blast, and all the army must give a mighty shout. Then the walls of the city would fall down flat, and the Israelites could walk right in!

Joshua told his army that only Rahab and those with her in her house would be saved alive. The Lord had commanded that all the rest of the people of Jericho must die for their sins. All the silver, gold, brass, and iron in the city belonged to the Lord and must be put into the treasury where gifts into the Lord were kept. Joshua told the people not to take any of it for themselves, for the Lord would send a great punishment upon them if they did.

The people did as the Lord commanded. The first day they all marched around the city once, the priests following behind blowing the trumpets. Then came other priests who carried the Ark.

On the second day they marched around the city again, and so it went for six days.

But on the seventh day they got up early, before it was light, and marched around the city seven times. The last time around, the priests blew a great blast on the trumpets, and Joshua called out to his army, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!”

They gave a mighty shout, and at that moment the walls of the city tumbled down before them, and they rushed into Jericho and captured it. Joshua told the spies who had been a Rahab’s house to protect Rahab and everyone with her, just as they had promised her. So they saved Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers, and all who were with her in the house. Afterwards the army of Israel burned the city; but the silver, gold, iron, and bronze were put into the treasury of the Lord.

Hebrews 11:30

Questions:

Who was the Man who came to Joshua to lead the Israel army?

How many times were the Israeli’s supposed to march around Jericho on each of the first six days?

How many times on the seventh day?

Then what happened?

Why was Rahab saved?

Joshua 6:1-27

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Moses My assistant is dead, and you must lead the Israelis across the Jordan River into the land I promised them. Be strong and brave, and be careful to obey all of My Laws. Then everything you do will be successful. Don’t be afraid, for I will be with you and help you wherever you go.

Then Joshua spoke to the Israeli Officers. “Go through the camp,” he said, “and announce to all the people that three days from now we will cross the Jordan River into Canaan, the Promised Land!”

Meanwhile, Joshua had already sent two spies across. They came to the city of Jericho and went into the house of a woman named Rahab. Someone told the king of Jericho that the two spies had come to the city and were at Rahab’s home and told her to bring out the men who were hiding there.

Instead, Rahab took the two men up to the flat roof of her house and hid them under some stalks of flax spread there to dry. The king’s messengers looked all over, but since they couldn’t find them, they finally went away.

After they were gone, Rahab talked with the men and said she knew that the Lord had given her country to the Israelis. The people of Canaan had already heard how the God of Israel had dried up a path for them through the Red Sea and how He had helped them in fighting against their enemies. Rahab said that when her people heard these things they were very much afraid of the people of Israel. Then she asked the two men to promise that they would remember her kindness in protecting them, and not let any of her family be killed when Israel captured the city of Jericho.

The men said that if she would keep it a secret about their being there, they would protect her. They told her to hang a red rope from the window of her house to help them recognize it again. When the Israeli army came to destroy the city, no one inside her house would be harmed.

The city of Jericho had a high wall around it, and Rahab’s house was built on the wall. The king had ordered the gates of the city closed to keep the two spies from getting away, so Rahab let the two men down by a rope on the outside of the wall. She warned them to hide in a nearby mountain for three days until the soldiers quit looking for them.

They did this, then crossed the river to tell Joshua all that had happened.

Joshua and all the people got up early the next morning and travelled to the banks of the Jordan River, where they stayed for three days. Then Joshua told them, “Get ready! Tomorrow we will cross the river, and the Lord will do wonders among you. The priests will go first, carrying the Ark. As soon as their feet touch the water, the river will stop flowing, and the priests will walk through on dry ground!”

Everything happened just as Joshua had said. The next morning the priests carried the Ark toward the river, and all the people followed them. When the priests stepped into the water at the river’s edge, the water opened up in front of them, and they walked on dry ground into the middle of the river! The priests waited there with the Ark while all the people walked past them to the other side, into the Promised Land of Canaan!

After all the people were across, the priests carrying the Ark followed. As soon as they stepped out of the river onto the shore, the river began flowing again!

The Israelis made their camp at a place called Gilgal. There they found some corn in the fields, which they roasted and ate. It was the first time they had eaten anything but manna for forty years! The next day, the manna stopped coming. For the forty years while they were in the wilderness where no grain grew, the Lord had sent manna to them every morning without fail. But in Canaan there was plenty of food, so the Lord stopped sending the manna.

Questions:

How did Rahab help the Israelis spies?

How did the Israelis get across the Jordan River?

Did the people find manna to eat in Canaan?

Why not?

God also told His people that some of their cities must be set aside as safety zones, where a man could run and be safe from punishment if he had accidentally killed someone. For instance , if he was cutting down a tree and the head of the ax flew off the handle, killing someone standing to a city of safety. Otherwise the dead man’s brother or son or some other relative might try to kill him in revenge. But if he escaped and ran to the city of safety, no one could hurt him there. If anyone did, that person would himself be killed.

When a person who had accidentally killed someone arrived at the city of safety, he would tell the judges what he had done. They would take him into the city and give him a place to live. Then if the brother or the son of the man he had killed came and asked for him, they would protect him because he hadn’t meant to hurt or kill anyone.

But if some wicked murderer came to the city and asked for safety, the judges wouldn’t let him in, and he would be put to death for his sin.

The Lord said that when the people arrived in Canaan, they must bring the first of their grain and fruit to Him at harvest time each year. They would put it in a basket and bring it to the Tabernacle as a gift to the Lord, to thank Him for a good crop. The priest would place the basket in front of the altar, and the person bringing the gift would say, “I have brought the first of my harvest to You, O Lord, to thank You for giving me a good harvest.”

Then he would leave the basket of fruit or grain for the priests to eat. God had given this law because the priests had no farms or orchards of their own.

Moses told the people that on the very day they crossed the river and entered the Promise Land, they should build a monument of stones with the laws of God written on them for everyone to read.

Moses said that if the people of Israel obeyed the Lord, the Lord would make them the greatest nation on earth. He would bless them and their children, their land, and their cattle. Their enemies would be afraid of them and would stay far away.

But if the people of Israel didn’t obey God, then they would have constant trouble. The seed they [planted in their fields wouldn’t grow, locusts would come and destroy their growing grain, and worms would eat their grapevines. The people would be weak and sickly, and the Lord would send fierce warriors against them who would not pity the old or the young, but would take them all away as slaves to other countries.

Moses told the people that they must choose between the good and evil ways. He begged them to choose the good way so that they and their children would live long and well.

Then he presented Joshua to them as their new leader.

The Lord now summoned Moses and Joshua to the Tabernacle. He appeared to them there in the pillar of cloud, and consecrated Joshua as the new leader of Israel.

Moses wrote down God’s laws and ordered that every seven years the priests, elders, and all the people, including the children, must be called together to listen as these laws were read aloud to them. For they needed to hear them again and again and to remember to obey them. Moses gave the book of laws to the Levites, and told them to keep it inside the Ark.

After this the Lord told Moses to climb to the top of Mount Nebo to look across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Then he would die on the mountain, just as Aaron had died on Mount Hor.

Moses was and old man now, but still as strong as many young men. He said a last good bye to his people and climbed to the top of the mountain. There he looked across the Jordan at the Promised Land of Canaan, the land God had promised long before to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and to their descendants.

Then Moses died there on the top of the mountain, and the Lord buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, but no one knows where. He was 120 years old when he died, but he was well and strong until the day of his death.

After that, Joshua ruled the Israelis and they obeyed him as they had Moses. The Lord gave Joshua wisdom and made him able to teach and guide them. But never again until Jesus Christ came was there a man like Moses with whom the Lord talked face to face and for whom He did such miracles. But Jesus Christ did many more when He came.

Questions;

If a person Accidentally killed someone, what should he do to be safe?

Would murderers be safe in the cities of refuge too?

What did the farmers do at harvest time?

What can you do?

What happened to Moses?

Did God allow him to see the Promised Land?

Could he enter it?

Do you remember why?

Numbers Chapter 26 &27

While the people of Israel were camped beside the Jordan River, waiting to go across. Moses spoke to them for the last time. He knew he couldn’t go into Canaan with them, because he had angrily struck the rock with his rod instead of just speaking to it as God had told him to.

He was afraid the people would forget God’s laws when he was gone. In this last talk to them, Moses told them again how kind the Lord had been. He reminded them of the time forty years before when they were so close to Canaan, but they had refused to go in because the spies told them the people in Canaan were too strong to fight against. He reminded them of how angry the Lord had been with them and how God had sent them back into the wilderness for forty years.

Moses told the people that he had begged the Lord to let him cross the river with them, to enter the good land there in Canaan. But the Lord had said no, he must speak of it no more.

But the Lord told him he could see the Promised Land even though he couldn’t go into it. So he climbed a high mountain and saw it far away in the distance.

Moses asked the Lord to give the people of Israel another leader to take his place. Otherwise, he said, the people would have no one to guide them and care for them. They would be scattered and lost, like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord announced that He had chosen Joshua as the new leader, so all the people must obey him just as they had Moses.

Moses told the people to teach God’s commandments to their children. They must talk about these laws in their homes, and when they were out for walks, and before going to sleep at night, and when waking again in the morning. Everyone must talk about God’s laws many times each day and remind each other about how great and good God is.

They must be careful not to forget about the Lord after He had brought them safely into Canaan. He would give them great and beautiful cities that others had built, and would give them houses full of good things, and wells already dug, and vineyards and olive trees which they had not planted. When they had all these things, they must be careful not to forget that it was the Lord who gave everything to them.

They must never forget how God had led them through the wilderness for forty years and fed them with manna. In all that time their clothes had not worn out, and their feet had never become sore from travelling. God had led them through that lonely wilderness to a better land where streams ran through the fields and where springs of water poured down from the hills. In that good land across the river the grain grew plentifully and there were huge crops of juicy grapes; there were fig trees and pomegranates and olive trees, food enough to spare. And there was iron and copper in the hills, which they could dig out and use to make many wonderful things. They must never become proud and say that they had gotten these things by themselves, for it was the Lord alone who gave everything to them. The Lord said that if they forgot about Him and worshipped other gods, they would be killed.

When the Lord gave them the victory over the people living in Canaan, the people of Israel must never say God had done this for them because they were so good! No, they weren’t good at all. Rather it was because the people living in Canaan were so wicked. And it was because God had {Promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give the land of Canaan to the Israelites.

No, the people of Israel certainly weren’t good; they had often disobeyed the Lord from the time when they left Egypt until the time when they arrived there beside the river.

Moses told them that the Promised Land was not like the land of Egypt from which they had come. In Egypt it scarcely ever rained. A river called the Nile ran through the land. Once every year this river rose higher and higher until it flooded the fields and gardens near it. But everywhere except near the river the people had to carry water out to their fields or nothing would grow. This was hard, hard work.

But in Canaan, rain watered all the land. If the people of Israel would love God and obey Him. He would send them as much rain as they needed to make corn, the grapevines, and the olive trees grow, and to make the grass green in the fields for the cattle to eat.

The People co Canaan worshipped idols on the mountains and hills and under the trees. They built altars to sacrifice to these idols; they even killed their baby sons and daughters by burning them on altars as sacrifices to their false gods. Moses again told the people of Israel that they must destroy every place where idols were worshipped, and knock down all the altars.

If anyone ever tried to get them to sacrifice to other gods, they must take him out and throw great stones at him until he died.

The Lord told His people that everyone must be kind to the poor and lend them whatever they needed, even if the poor person might never be able to pay them back again. Everyone should lend willingly, not feeling sorry about doing it or wishing that they didn’t have to. Because of their kindness to the poor, the Lord would bless His people in everything they did.

Questions:

Who was Israelis’ new leader?

Why did God choose him?

Tell some of the things Moses said to his people?

What did the people then living in the Promised Land sometimes do to their boys and girls?

Did God help the Israelis because they were so good?

How were the Israelite’s supposed to treat poor people?

Are there still poor people today?

Try to think of something you can do to help one of them?

The people of Israel wandered around in the wilderness for forty long years. God wouldn’t let them go into the Promise Land of Canaan during all that time. Do you remember why? It was because they had refused to go in when God had told them to: they had listened instead to the ten spies who were afraid. So God said they must all die in the wilderness, and only their children could enter Canaan, the land God had promised them.

Those forty years finally ended, and God brought them back again to the edge of the Promised Land. He told Moses and Eleazar to count to count the men old enough to be soldiers. They discovered that every one of the men who had refused to enter Canaan the first time had died in the wilderness, as the Lord had said they would. Only Caleb and Joshua, the good spies, were still alive, for God had promised that they could go into the Promised Land. Everyone else who had been twenty years old or older at that time had died during those forty years.

But first, before entering the Promised Land, the Lord told Moses and the Israelis to fight the people of Midian because they had encouraged the people of Israel to worship idols. So Moses sent a thousand men from each tribe to attack and kill the people of Midian and their kings. and Balaam too was killed, for he was living with them. The army of Israel took everything that belonged to them, including 72,000 oxen, 61,000 donkeys, and 675,000 sheep. Then they burned their cities and castles.

After the battle was over, the officers of the army of Israel came to Moses and told him. “We haven’t lost even one man of all our soldiers; not one has been killed. We want to give a “Thank You Offering” to God for for taking care of us. Here, give Him these jewels we took from the Midianites.” So Moses and Eleazar the Hogh Priest gave the jewels to God by putting them in the Tabernacle.

Now the Lord led the Israelis to the Jordan River where they waited for Him to tell them when to cross. On the other side was the Promise Land of Canaan. But two of the tribes of Israel came to Moses and requested permission to live on this side where they were, instead of on the other side. They asked this because there was good pastureland for their cattle on this side.

At first Moses was angry with them: he thought they wanted to stay behind because they were afraid of the wicked nations in Canaan on the other side of the river.

“You want to stay here while your brothers go over to fight?” he demanded.

“No, no,” they replied, “we don’t mean that. We’ll cross over with the others to fight, but we want to leave our families and cattle here. Then afterwards, when the war is over, we will come back here and live on this side of the river.”

So Moses agreed. He spoke to the rest of the people and told them to let the two tribes have the land they asked for. So it was agreed that they should do this,

These two tribes were the tribes of Rueben and Gad. Half of the tribe of Manasseh also asked and received the same permission.

The Lord told Moses that the Israelis must drive out all the heathen nations living across the river. They must destroy all their idols and break down all the heathen altars they would find there.

Every Israeli family was to be given enough land for a home and farm.

The reason why the Israelis must drive out and destroy the heathen nations was so that the Israelis wouldn’t be tempted to worship their idols. For if they worshipped them, the Lord would need to destroy His people because of this sin.

Questions:

How long did the Israelis wander on the wilderness?

Why so long?

Why did God tell the Israelis to fight the Midianites?

What did two of the tribes want to do?

What must the Israelis do after crossing the Jordan River?

Why?

Numbers Chapters 22 &23 Read:

As the Israelis went on, they came to the plains of Moab, where Balak was the king.

When Balak saw them coming, he was frightened. He thought they wanted to fight with him., and he knew there were too many of them for his soldiers to win against. So he sent a man named Balaam to curse the people of Israel. To curse someone means to ask God to send someone great evil upon him. King Balakthought God would hurt the people of Israel if Balaam asked him to, because Balaam was said to have great power with God.

The King told Balaam he would make him rich and great if he would curse the people of Israel.

Balaam loved money, so although the people of Israel had done him no harm, he was willing to curse them to get the money the king promised to give him. He got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and started off with the men whom the king had sent to bring with him.

But God was angry with Balaam for agreeing to curse His people. So God sent and angel with a sword to stand in front of Balaam in the road. Balaam couldn’t see the angel, but his donkey did and ran into the field by the side of the road to get away. Balaam beat the donkey and told her to behave.

The angel went on further and stood in the road at a place where there was a wall on each side. When the donkey came to the place, she pressed up very close to the wall to get by the angel; but in doing this she crushed Balaams foot against the wall, and he hit her again.

Then the angel went on still further and stood in a narrow place where there was no room at all to get by. The donkey saw the angel standing there with the sword and was so afraid that she fell down under Balaam. This made Balaam very angry, and he beat her as hard as he could.

Then the Lord made the donkey speak like a person! She said, “What have I done to deserve your hitting me these three times.

Balaam said it was because she had disobeyed him and had turned off the road when he wanted her to go straight ahead. “If I had a sword with me I’d of killed you.” Balaam said.

Then the donkey spoke to him again and said, “Haven’t you ridden on me ever since I was yours until today? And have I ever done anything like this before?”

“No,” Balaam said, “you haven’t.”

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel standing there in front of him with a sword, ready to kill him. Balaam was very frightened and threw himself flat on the ground before the angel. Then the angel said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? I came here to stop you from doing wrong. The donkey saw me and got out of the way. If she hadn’t . I would have killed you and saved her alive.”

Then the angel commanded Balaam to go on to the king, but to say to the king Balak only what God would tell him to say.

So Balaam went with the kings men, and the king came out to meet him and welcome him. He was very glad that Balaam had come to curse the people of Israel!

The next day the king took Balaam up on a hill where he could look down and see the entire camp of Israel. Balaam told the king to build seven altars and to prepare seven young bulls and seven rams to sacrifice as burnt offerings to God. So the king built the seven altars, and Balaam and the king sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each. Balaam told the king to stay there while he went away by himself. He needed to find out what the Lord wanted him to say and whether the Lord wanted him to say and whether the Lord would let him curse the people of Israel.

So Balaam went off by himself, and the Lord met him. Balaam told the Lord about the altars he had built and the animals he had sacrificed. But the Lord wouldn’t let him curse the Israelis; He sent him back to the king and made him bless them instead! He said only good things about them and promised that God would care for them and help them.

King Balak was very disappointed and angry when Balaam blessed the Israelis instead of cursing them. He decided to try again. The king took him to a different place from which he could look down upon the people of Israel. He built seven more altars there, and again they sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar. Balaam thought that by building so many altars and offering so many sacrifices he could persuade the Lord to let him curse the people. But he should of known that the Lord wouldn’t let anyone harm His people no matter how many sacrifices or gifts were given to Him.

Balaam told the king to stay there while he went again to ask the Lord for permission to curse the people. The Lord met Balaam but, of course, wouldn’t let him curse them. The king was very, very disappointed. But he said to Balaam, “Come with me to a different place; perhaps the Lord will let you curse them from there.” He took him to Mount Peor and built seven altars, and a ram on each altar, just as before.

Still the Lord wouldn’t let Balaam curse the people, but made him bless them instead!

By now King Balak was very angry with Balaam. “I sent for you to curse my enemies, and instead you have blessed them three times, “he growled. Then he told Balaam to go home. So Balaam didn’t get any of the silver and gold he wanted so much.

When king Balak realized that he couldn’t bring evil on the people of Israel by getting Balaam to curse them, he tried another way. He knew he could get the people of Israel to to make God angry at them by sinning against Him. For Balaam had told King Balak to invite the Israeli’s young people to parties honoring idols. this idea worked. The people of Israel came to the parties and bowed to the idols.

The Lord was very angry with the people of Israel for doing this and sent a disease which killed them by the thousands.

Questions:

Why did King Balak send for Balaam?

Tell about Balaam’s donkey and why it kept stopping?

What did Balaam do when he got there?

Why did king Balak invite the Israeli’s young people to parties?

What happened?

Balaam was a wicked prophet in the Bible and is noteworthy because, although he was a wicked prophet, he was not a false prophet. That is, Balaam did hear from God, and God did give him some true prophecies to speak. However, Balaam’s heart was not right with God, and eventually he showed his true colors by betraying Israel and leading them astray.