THE BOUNDARIES of the land of Israel are a lot bigger than what’s on our maps today.

This week, we discuss God’s command to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan, but the boundaries of the land promised by God to Moses extended well into what is now Syria.

We also talk about the cities of refuge and rules for female heirs, which were more progressive than many today might expect.

THE THREE most important things when considering real estate are location, location, and location.

This week, we discuss the request of the tribes of Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh to remain east of the Jordan in Gilead and Bashan. Then we recount the stations of the Exodus and explain why certain locations, especially Oboth and Iye-Abarim, were so important.

Finally, we run down a rabbit trail connecting the supernatural nature of those locations to research for Derek’s forthcoming book, The Second Coming of Saturn, recent work by Dr. Judd Burton tracing the origins of Eurasian words for “king” or “ruler” to the Ararat Plain, and the widespread practice of summoning spirits from the netherworld in and around ancient Canaan.

GOD ORDERED the Israelites to take revenge on the people of Midian. This is hard to understand, since Moses was married to a Midianite woman—until you consider the context of the spiritual war being waged around the Israelites.

We take a brief look at the Midianites and their identification by scholars with the Shasu, a nomadic people known from Egyptian texts. The Shasu were formerly known, in the time of Abraham, as Shutu, These are the “sons of Sheth” mentioned in the messianic prophecy of Balaam son of Beor (Numbers 24:17), who was one of the victims of Israel’s attack on the Midianites.

The Shutu were called Suteans in Mesopotamia, but prior to Abraham, they were called the Tidanu—an Amorite tribe that contributed to the downfall of the last Sumerian kingdom and from whom the Greeks took the name of their “old gods,” the Titans.

So, there was a lot more going on with the Midianites than competition for land and resources in the Transjordan. This is linked to the heresy of Baal-Peor (see our study on Numbers 24), the god called El by the Canaanites, Dagon by the Amorites and Philistines, and later, Kronos by the Greeks, and Saturn by the Romans. Derek argues in his forthcoming book The Second Coming of Saturn that these names are just alternate identities worn by the chief of the rebellious Watchers, the sons of God from Genesis 6, Shemihazah.

We also discuss briefly the significance of an inscription from the time of Pharaoh Amenhotep III (reigned c. 1408–1372 BC) that mentions “Yahweh of the land of the Shasu.” Considering that his grandfather, Amenhotep II (1455–1418 BC) was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, it’s logical to find Amenhotep III associating Yahweh with the Shasu (i.e., Midian), the land to which Moses fled.

Finally, we talk about the command God gave Moses for the men of Israel regarding vows or oaths sworn to God, and why this is consistent with His design for the family and the role of men as spiritual covering for their wives and daughters.

THE NUMBER of bulls sacrificed during the annual Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is unparalleled in any other feast given to Moses by God.

This week, we discuss the religious calendar the Israelites were to follow when they entered the promised land, and why the sacrifice of 70 bulls over the seven days of Sukkot was so significant. It wasn’t about slaughtering a lot of beef; it was a message directed specifically at the gods of the pagan nations—the fallen angels who had rebelled against God’s authority.

BALAAM WAS unable to curse Israel, but the people were lured into worshiping a god called Baal-Peor—with disastrous consequences.

In His anger, God sent a plague that killed 24,000 Israelites. It was only stopped when Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas, speared a young Israelite man and Midianite woman engaged in what was probably a fertility rite.

We explain why this conflict was more than meets the eye, especially from our modern perspective. The Baal of Peor, a name that means something like “lord of the gates of hell,” was connected to veneration of the Rephaim, demonic spirits of the Nephilim called “Travelers” by the pagans in the Levant. This is reflected in the names of a station of the Exodus, Iye-Abarim (“ruins of the Travelers”), which was in the vicinity of Mount Nebo—which itself was called “this mountain of Abarim [Travelers]” (Num. 27:12).

We also explain why we believe Baal-Peor was a title given to the creator-god of the Canaanites, El, who we believe is to be identified as Shemihazah, chief of the Watchers who came to earth and commingled with human woman—the story briefly described in Genesis 6:1–4 (see also 2 Peter 2:4–10 and Jude 6–7).

In short, the episode recorded in Numbers 25 (with further explanation in Psalm 106:28–29) is spiritual warfare against the spirits of the Nephilim and the chief of the rebellious “sons of God” who created them.

A PAGAN seer 3,400 years ago prophesied not just the coming Messiah, but His ultimate victory over the Watchers and their demonic offspring, the Nephilim.

This week, we discuss Balaam’s third and fourth oracles over Israel, which includes the messianic prophecy of Numbers 24:17–19. We explain why his oracle refers to the coming of Jesus and his return at the end of the age.

A DONKEY displayed more discernment and wisdom than a man whose fame as a seer and prophet was renowned in the Jordan River valley for centuries.

This week, we begin the story of Balaam son of Beor, hired by the Balak, the king of Moab, to curse Israel. We discuss God’s warning to Balaam, the identity of the Angel of YHWH, Balak’s changes of venue as he tried to find a more effective place for Balaam to cast his curse, and the Deir Alla inscription, which is solid evidence from outside the Bible that Balaam was a real person.

ANOTHER SQUABBLE over water points to the location of Mount Sinai being farther north than many think.

This week, we fast forward about 39 years to the fortieth year of the Israelites’ wanderings and discuss the second time Moses brought forth water from the rock called Meribah, which means “quarreling.” This site is also mentioned in Exodus 17:1–7.

“Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” - Exodus 17:6 (ESV)

The difference between that event and the one we discuss this week is that Moses was told to strike the rock in Exodus, whereas in Numbers 20 he’s instructed to “tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water.” Instead, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff, an act of disobedience that compels God to bar him from entering the Promised Land “because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin” (Dt 32:51), which is more evidence supporting the connection between Meribah, Kadesh, and Horeb/Sinai.

Horeb is an alternate name for Sinai, which means Meribah must have been at Mount Sinai. The important point is that Numbers 20:1 places Meribah at or near Kadesh (i.e., Kadesh-Barnea), which means Sinai and Kadesh were in the same vicinity. Also, the reference to the Wilderness of Sin in Exodus 17 identifies it as the same place called the Wilderness of Zin in Numbers 20. (It’s also called the Wilderness of Sinai in Numbers 33:17.)

We believe Kadesh and Sinai are to be found at or near Petra in Jordan rather than the sites agreed upon by most researchers, who place Kadesh-Barnea in the Negev and Sinai either in the Sinai Peninsula or at Jebel al-Lawz in Saudi Arabia, both of which are too far south. Not only did the territory of Edom not extend beyond the northern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, Jebel al-Lawz is too distant to allow for the Israelites to travel from Horeb to Kadesh-Barnea in eleven days (Deut. 1:1) at an estimated rate of five miles per day--allowing for children, the elderly, not to mention flocks and herds of livestock that needed to be fed and watered along the way.

We also discuss the strange incident with the “fiery serpents” (Hebrew seraphim nachashim) and explain why these were probably not venomous snakes, but supernatural entities of serpentine appearance.

Then we talk about the deaths of Moses’ siblings Miriam and Aaron, and we see God’s hand at work in directing the Israelites northward, around the territory of Edom, to do battle with the Amorite kings Sihon of Heshbon and Og of Bashan. We will deal with those battles in more depth in upcoming studies in the Book of Deuteronomy.

WE HUMANS are blinded by sight. That is, our natural senses often prevent us from seeing what’s really going on around us in the spirit realm.

This week, we discuss the rebellion of Korah and Dathan, who accused Moses of taking Israel from a land flowing with milk and honey (Egypt) to die in the wilderness. The actions of the rebels, who’d seen God part the Red Sea, provide manna and water, and other assorted miracles over the previous thirteen months, make no sense without the whisperings and proddings of spirits.

Then we discuss one of the stranger sections of scripture, a description of a purification ritual in Numbers 19, the rite of the red heifer, and its connection to the movement in Israel to build the Third Temple–another example of trying to achieve victory over the spirit realm through our actions in the natural world. We explain why, if it ever takes place, this ritual will probably be performed on the Mount of Olives.

ACTIONS HAVE consequences. In the case of Israel, the decision to rebel against Moses after the “bad [or ‘evil’] report” of the spies sent into Canaan led to forty years of wandering in the wilderness.

We discuss the intercession of Moses for the people when God declared that He would “strike them with the pestilence,” and the possibility that “Pestilence,” the Canaanite pestilence-god Deber, was an angel sent to carry out His judgment.

The reaction of the Israelites to God’s alternate punishment, which was to keep Israel from entering Canaan until everyone over the age of 20 (except Joshua and Caleb), was about what you’d expect: They decided to go ahead and attack the Amalekites and Canaanites anyway, and were badly defeated in battle.

We also look at God’s reiteration of certain sacrificial laws, including sacrifices for unintentional sin, and a death penalty for a man caught gathering wood on the Sabbath.

Then we skip to Psalm 90, a psalm of Moses that appears to have been written about this time, with special attention to his prayer for wisdom and cry for the Lord’s return.

Some striking differences were noted in this week’s reading between the Masoretic Hebrew text, the basis for our modern English Old Testament translations, and the Septuagint, which was translated around 300 BC by Jewish scholars working with older Hebrew texts. Specifically, we noticed references to other aspects of the personhood of Yahweh (such as His Name, Right Hand, Spirit, and Glory) that are missing from our English Bibles, apparently because the Masoretes, Jewish scholars who completed their Hebrew Old Testament text by the 10th century AD, de-emphasized the “Second Power in Heaven” in scripture after Christians identified that figure as Jesus Christ.