Daily Devotion | Numbers 20:14–29 | 2026 May 25

Title: Daily Devotion | Numbers 20:14–29 | 2026 May 25

Scripture: Numbers 20:14–29 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 May 25

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

Peace to all of you, dear brothers and sisters. We thank God for His grace. We have come to a new day, and we come to study Daily Devotion. The passage we are studying today is Numbers chapter 20, verses 14 to 29. Let us pray. O God, we thank You and praise You for Your grace. Lord, how willing You are to show grace to us. Lord, You cause us to welcome this new day in Your grace, and to welcome Your word. We ask You to be with us, to sustain us, and to let us receive deeper opening and illumination in Your word, so that our spiritual life may be built up. Be with us. In the name of Christ. Amen.

All right, let us look at the second half of Numbers chapter 20. Two matters are recorded here. One matter is that the Israelites wanted to pass through Edom in order to go toward the Jordan River. The Edomites were on the east side of the Jordan River. The Israelites wanted to pass through by way of a road called the King’s Highway. This King’s Highway was a trade route that ran from Damascus all the way toward North Africa. If they took the King’s Highway, it would be closer, and they would not need to make a detour.

The approximate geographical situation is this: the Edomites, if you look at a map, were in the lower part on the east side of the Jordan River. That was the territory of Edom. If they could pass directly from the south, through the southern part east of the Jordan, along the King’s Highway, and then go north, and cross the Jordan River from there, it would be much closer. But if they had to go around Edom from the outside, that would be very difficult. So the first matter in chapter 20 is that Moses greeted the king of Edom and said, We want to pass through; we want to borrow the road. We want to go to the east side of the Jordan, and from there cross the Jordan River to the west side, to the land of Canaan, which is the land promised to our fathers. This is the background of the matter. All right, let us see how he speaks.

Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying, “Thus says your brother Israel.” So how should we describe this? This is a rather soft and humble way of speaking. Because Edom and Israel were originally two brothers, right? One was Esau, and the other was Jacob. They were brothers. Now Edom had already received a territory. What Israel meant, or what Moses meant, was: we still have not received our land yet, right? The land has already been promised to us by the ancestors. We are to receive this land. So we just want to pass through the land. We want to borrow your road and go through.

Then Moses began simply to recount the experience of the Israelites. He said, You know all the hardship and trouble that has come upon us. What was it? Our fathers went down to Egypt. Jacob and the seventy persons went down to Egypt. They lived in Egypt for a long time, that is, for 430 years. The Egyptians mistreated the people of Israel. When we cried to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent an angel, or a messenger, to bring us out of the land of Egypt. So here Moses speaks on the assumption that, in fact, you have all heard our story already.

Clearly, Moses is very humble here, and of course he is also describing their situation in a timely and appropriate way. What kind of situation were they in? They cried to the LORD, and the LORD heard their voice and sent a messenger to bring us out of Egypt. So here Moses very clearly places the whole course of redemption, the whole story of redemption, entirely in the hand of God.

Of course, this is the fact. But you can also see the humility of Moses. Because from one angle, at this time Moses and the Israelites had an army of several hundred thousand people with them. In fact, it was a very powerful army, right? They could have spoken with a harder tone, as we ordinary people would say. But Moses did not. He was very humble. He said, We cried to Him, and He brought us out. He said, You know about this matter. Now we are at Kadesh, a city on your border. Please let us pass through your land. Let us pass through on the main road. We will not pass through field or vineyard. We will not destroy your things. We will not drink your water. We will only go along the King’s Highway, that road which goes from Damascus to the various regions of Arabia. We will not drink your water. We will only pass through.

What was the response of the king of Edom? “You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out with the sword against you.” The Israelites, the Edomites would not permit it. At this time the Israelites, or Moses, spoke again and said, We will go on the highway. Because this was a commercial highway, right? Although it was within your territory, it was a commercial highway. I am only borrowing the road to pass through. If I drink your water — at first he said, I will not drink the water from the wells, I will not drink your well water — but if we do drink your water, I will pay you money. I ask for nothing else. Please let us pass through on foot.

Because taking the King’s Highway would allow them to arrive quickly. To make a detour through the wilderness, that road was indeed very hard to walk. The King’s Highway was originally for people to travel on. Merchants and travelers all used that road. Let us pass through once. The king of Edom said no. He led out many people and came against Israel with a strong hand.

How should we speak about this matter? From a human point of view, Edom seems to have had no problem. Why do we say this? Think about it. Such a large army — if you opened your gates and allowed them to cross your territory, allowing them to pass through, this would clearly be, from a military perspective, a very risky action, right? We Chinese people all know the saying that in war there is no aversion to deceit, right? If they wanted to seize the land of Edom, right, and if Edom had opened the gates and had no defense, then once they came up, and the army came in, if they wanted to occupy your place, that would be a matter of minutes, right? And the Israelites were also so powerful. So from this angle, it seems that the Israelites — or rather, the Edomites — had no problem, because people do not normally lend a road in this way.

In Chinese history, if you look, even in the Records of the Grand Historian there are records of such things. Borrowing a road — and then while borrowing the road, one destroys that other state. This kind of thing happened often. So on the surface, Edom’s decision seems to have had no problem. Because there is no such way of lending a road. There is no such way of lending a road. But clearly here, Scripture tells us that there is another issue. The first issue is that Moses and the Israelites, clearly, under the background of Scripture, we know that they certainly were not trying to seize Edom.

If they wanted to seize Edom, to put it plainly, they could have seized it. Later, when you see their fighting strength, you will know it. Who could stand in their way? Sihon, the king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan — they destroyed them in a matter of moments. Moses and the Israelites were completely able to destroy Edom at this time. But he went very humbly to borrow the road. This is, in fact, the humility of the Israelites. And actually, the resistance of the Edomites, from a certain angle, was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

In other words, if Israel really wanted to destroy you, they could have destroyed you directly. There would have been no need to think of borrowing the road as an excuse. There would have been no need to tell you anything about borrowing the road. This really was borrowing the road. It was not truly an attempt to destroy you. Because if they wanted to destroy you, they would not need to find such an excuse at all. So I think this is one point that the king of Edom and his people did not think of. They still came to stop Israel. This is one level.

Another thing is that, from the spiritual level, I think we need to pay attention. In fact, in this passage, it is not merely a comparison of military strength. What is it actually expressing? It is that the Edomites were hindering the Israelites from receiving their inheritance. We need to have this awareness. What meaning is this story actually expressing here? It is that the Edomites had no heart of love for their brothers at all. They did not want the Israelites to go and take possession of the land of Canaan.

You Edomites have already received the land of Edom. That is very good, right? You have already received it. But now, the land of Canaan, which God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was originally promised to them, right? The Edomites — Esau at that time had already sold the birthright. This is their land. You let them go and receive it; this also is what ought to be done. And you are not even being asked to help exert effort, right? According to what is proper, brothers should love one another. You should say, Fine, then I will put forth effort and help you go fight the Canaanites. That would be reasonable, right? Brothers should love one another. But now, not only do you not help, you will not even lend them the road. So from this angle, the Edomites were really lacking in righteousness and loyalty.

First, the Israelites did not attack you. If they had attacked you, they would simply have destroyed you. Second, you did not show brotherly love. Are they not all brothers? “Your brother Israel,” right? You should have done this. Not to mention merely lending them the road — you should have said, We should send troops to help you fight the Canaanites, so that you may return to the promised land. Clearly, the Edomites were hindering them. In fact, did they know that they were fulfilling the promise? They probably did know, right? So they were intentionally resisting, intentionally hindering the Israelites from entering the land of Canaan. Therefore they instead became helpers of the enemy and became an obstacle to the promise.

This is what we need to understand when we read this passage of Scripture. Oh, they even did this kind of thing. They wanted to hinder the fulfillment of the promise. What happened then? Edom would not allow Israel to pass through, so Israel turned away and made a detour through the wilderness. Later, on the road in the wilderness, they experienced many struggles and hardships. So from this angle, the message we read is that the Edomites had no heart of love for their brothers. They did not love their own brothers. They hated their brothers and hindered their brothers from going to realize the promise. Of course, Edom later also suffered the striking of God. This is one matter.

The second matter is the death of Aaron. Aaron’s death took place at Mount Hor. This mountain is still there now in the Middle East. It is called Aaron’s Mountain. There is still such a place, according to tradition, a mountain where Aaron died. We have said that the history in chapter 20 actually already takes place after forty years, that is, in the later period of the wilderness, when the wilderness journey was about to come to an end. Chapter 20 is indeed a very sorrowful story. First there is the death of Miriam, and now there is the death of Aaron. So this is a very dark tone. But at the same time, it also brings a new hope, that is, the leaders of the new generation are about to begin taking over, and they are about to enter the land of Canaan. So this is the kind of issue here.

As for the death of Aaron, this passage records it. We will not look at it in detail here. You can read the passage again yourselves. Why did Aaron have to die outside the promised land? Because, at Meribah, you rebelled against My command. This is also a ceremonial handover. Here we need to know the importance of the high priest to the people of Israel. This is something we need to understand when reading this passage. Otherwise, you will not understand why they had to mourn for thirty days. Because clearly, when Miriam died, there was not such a long period of mourning.

Why did they mourn for thirty days? Because the high priest was one person chosen from among the nation. Only this person, once every year, could enter the Most Holy Place to make atonement for the whole nation, so that the whole nation might be cleansed, and so that the whole nation might be accepted before God. Therefore the life of Israel was a life centered around the high priest. Among Israel there were prophets, and there were kings, as we also know. But you need to know that, in the whole institutional design of Israel, it was centered around the high priest.

Every act of atonement, every sacrifice, took place at the tabernacle, and later in the temple. The design of this kind of ceremony and ritual was centered around the high priest. That is to say, everything the high priest did on the Day of Atonement was the most important thing for the whole nation. It was a declaration that the sin of Israel had been atoned for, that this year they could have favorable weather and fruitful seasons, and that they could be accepted by God. Every sacrifice offered by the high priest represented the atonement of the Israelites before God. The death of the high priest indicated the end of an era.

So why did the Israelites mourn? It is because, during these forty years in the wilderness, it was Aaron who bore their sins, offering sacrifices each time before the tabernacle, so that they could pass through these forty years in peace and safety. Of course, a life centered around the high priest very clearly points to a life centered around God. This is what we have repeatedly mentioned earlier: this is a God-centered life. The Israelites believed that the blessing they received and the grace they received all came from the tabernacle. Therefore the high priest became important.

So this was a nation centered around God. God especially wanted to train them during these forty years in the wilderness, so that they would form a God-centered culture. Therefore, the death of the high priest was certainly disastrous to them. Because this high priest — when the next high priest rose up, would he be able to be like the former high priest, godly and reverent, able to offer sacrifices to God, and able to be accepted by God?

Because you need to know that the character of the high priest, whether the sacrifice of the high priest was accepted, and whether the whole priestly class was clean, had to do with whether the Israelites would be blessed. It is not as if, once you became the high priest, you would certainly be clean. It is not like that. If this group of high priests, this priestly class, became completely fallen and corrupt, then what it brought would be disaster upon the whole nation. So what did they hope for? They hoped for a holy high priest to succeed him. But if this high priest had problems, or if the whole priestly class had problems, then the whole nation would fall into disaster. Later, in the period of the judges, there was Eli, such a confused priest, right? Such a high priest. So what did the Israelites hope for? A holy and good high priest.

As for Aaron and his sons, we should say that during these forty years they fulfilled their duty very well. He was a good priest. Then what about Eleazar after him? Would he be a good priest? They did not know. So each high priest represented an era. That is why they had to mourn. This era had ended. A beautiful era had ended.

Then, as for Eleazar afterward, would he be a beautiful and good high priest? It was still unclear. But thanks be to the Lord, later it was proven that Eleazar was still a faithful priest. But in the history of Israel, not every high priest was so good. If you encountered a bad high priest, and your sacrifice was not accepted by God, then the result would be a national disaster. So this office of the high priest, which constantly needed to experience death and needed to be succeeded by another, also pointed to the true High Priest, that is, Jesus Christ.

He is the High Priest whom we now worship. He is the one who is truly one person with two natures, divine and human. He will never fail. So for us New Testament believers, thanks be to the Lord that we have such a High Priest, one appointed according to the order of Melchizedek. He will finally and forever never fail. We do not need to mourn because of the death of the high priest. On the contrary, because of His victory in heaven, we can continually praise Him and sing praise to Him.

In addition, regarding Moses dying on the mountain — here the speaker meant Aaron’s death on the mountain — and later Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain, you can see a contrast. You can see a contrast. One is death, the death of a priest; the other is the exaltation and appointment of a priest. When the Lord Jesus was on Mount Amorite — sorry, when the Lord Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, He declared the arrival of a new age. So before that, Jesus said to His disciples that before this, you would see the glory of the kingdom of God. Jesus, in the transfiguration on the mountain, was transfigured together with Moses and Elijah on the mountain.

Such a thing was still a type, pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. He would rise from the dead and become the true and beautiful Priest. On one mountain, there is the death of a priest; on another mountain, there is the exaltation and appointment of a priest. So here we see that what the Old Testament points to is a system that was gradually declining and fading away. It needed a newer and better Mediator to complete it. That is to say, Aaron would die, but the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead and became our High Priest.

So these two mountains — one is Mount Hor, Aaron; the other is the mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration — show this. Jesus received this new office. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus again became the true and faithful High Priest, so that we could have a beautiful relationship with God. Therefore Aaron’s death and Eleazar’s succession show that although the Old Testament system continued through this succession, there were many uncertainties in it.

Could this high priest draw near? Was this high priest truly according to God’s heart? It was full of unknowns. But for us, the Jesus Christ to whom Aaron and Eleazar pointed is the One who will never fail. He is forever without loss, forever seated upon the throne, both King and Priest, and also Prophet. So here we see that we truly are more blessed than the Old Testament believers. For them, they needed to depend upon a weak human being, such a priest, to fulfill this office of mediation. Of course, they certainly also knew that the office of Aaron could not possibly last forever. It needed to point to another Messiah. But for us, we understand this even more clearly. We are very blessed to know: thanks be to the Lord, there is that true High Priest, and He never dies.

The high priest — it is a little like how Chinese people, when they encounter a wise ruler, hope that this wise ruler can live a little longer, right? Then the nation can be prosperous and enlightened. Because if the ruler is replaced by a foolish ruler, that becomes very troublesome. So the Israelites also faced this kind of risk, right? A good high priest is very good. But if there is a bad high priest, it is a national disaster. But thanks be to the Lord, that Priest who will never fail, Jesus Christ, has already died and risen again.

The procedure was to take off the holy garments. His holy garments represented holiness, the outer robe, this robe of righteousness. Aaron’s outer robe was to be put on Eleazar, and Eleazar would pass it on to his descendants, generation after generation, until the Lord Jesus Christ, who truly put on the holy garments. Of course, the most important thing is that on the cross, the Lord Jesus shed His precious blood and redeemed us. He placed the true robe of righteousness upon every one of us believers, so that we may be justified before God.

This is the robe of righteousness of the High Priest. This is the robe of righteousness that He obtained through death and gave to us, so that we may come with confidence before the throne of grace. So now every one of us has become a priest. Every one of us can go into the Most Holy Place. What a great blessing this is. May God continue to lead us, so that in God’s grace we may live a godly life and become good priests. May God have mercy on us. All right, our sharing today will simply stop here. Thank you, everyone.