In Numbers 21 we can observe some ways in which the younger generation of Israelites differs from the older generation who were adults when they departed from Egypt 39 years before. While the first generation feared the giants in the region (Num 13:31-33), their children were able to trust God and take them on in battle (see Dt 3:11). The camp began to operate in a way resembling the ideal picture described in Numbers 10, traveling in the region east of the Jordan and winning battle after battle.
While the older generation had complained about its dietary options in year 2 of the journey (Num 11), their children were willing to sacrifice in order to reach the Promised Land. When the king of Arad took some Israelites captive (21:1), the Israelites "vowed a vow to the LORD and said, "If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction' "(21:2).
The Israelites were willing to forgo the spoils of war in order to rescue the captives, reminding us of Abraham in Genesis 14. Commentator Michael Morales observes that here the Israelites "are beginning to devote themselves to God, following the exemplary Nazirite path." We contrast the new generation's victory at Hormah (21:3) with the older generations defeat in that region (14:39-45).
Impatient to proceed to the Promised Land, the new generation still did some grumbling, but not as much as their parents. The last wilderness "grumbling incident" recorded in Numbers is in 21:4-9.
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