God Can Use Even Our Mistakes and Sins

Israel had spent almost forty years in the wilderness.  It was nearing time for them to go into Canaan, and Moses contacted the Edomites, asking permission to cross their land to get to Canaan.  The Edomites were descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau and he expected them to consider that relationship and grant permission, as we see in Numbers 20:14-17.  “And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us: How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers: And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border: Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.”

 

Six hundred years before, Jacob had taken advantage of Esau, and while Jacob and Esau later worked things out, Esau’s descendants had never forgotten or forgiven Jacob.  They had not perceived Israel as a thereat when they sent the spies into Canaan, willing to allow them to follow the caravan route, but when Israel revolted after God said they would have to spend their lives in the wilderness, they had invaded Edom, making it clear they were a threat and stirring up the old animosity.  The king refused to even consider their request, in Numbers 20:18.  “And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.”

 

Israel tried to negotiate with him, but the king was adamant, as Numbers 20:19-21 tells us.  “And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet.  And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

 

Unable to go directly to Canaan, the Israelites swung east to Mount Sinai or Mount Hor where they had camped while they built the Tabernacle.  While they were there, Aaron died, as described in Numbers 20:22-29.  “And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor.  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.  Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.

 

And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.  And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.  And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.”

The people spent a month lamenting Aaron’s death at Mount Sinai.  While they were there, a branch of the Canaanites living outside of Canaan under Arad attacked, takins some of them prisoners, as recounted in Numbers 21:1-3.  “And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.  And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.  And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.”

 

God had originally led Israel the way he did because they had no military experience.  During their years in the wilderness, their only other battles had been with the Amalekites when they first left Egypt, in Exodus 17, and their fight with the Amalekites and Canaanites in Numbers 14, when they had been driven all the way to the area known as Hormah.   This time they wiped out the Canaanite cities in Hormah.  They were probably shocked at being attacked, and especially at a time of grief, having just lost both Miriam and Aaron, but they had to go on with life.  Though they didn’t realize it at the time, this conflict helped prepare them for what they would face in coming months and years.

 

Though it was their refusal to obey God that had led to them wasting forty years in the wilderness and being attacked, God used those things to prepare them for the future.   We often forget that he can even use our failures and sin to accomplish his purposes.  He is an all knowing and all powerful God, and is able to incorporate our sin and weakness in his planning.    Israel’s rebellion resulted in their being unable to go directly to Canaan, but as a result they would conquer lands they might not have taken otherwise.