Numbers 23-24

Dear RTB’ers,

More Balak and Balaam – today, his actual words, his blessings. And they are numerous. First, Balaam asks three times for Balak to “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” (Num. 23:1, 14, 29). Balak does as requested and Balaam responds with three sets of substantial blessings upon Israel. Balak is furious, but Balaam responds to Balak’s anger with four more sets of blessings and prophecies, including a short prelude to Balak: “And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.” (Num. 24:14) After a few more blessings, Balaam prophecies destruction upon Moab, Edom, Seir, Amalek, the Kenite, Asshur (Assyria) and Eber. They then depart.

STS asks us to read through the blessings carefully. A few of them stood out for me:

• Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel?
  Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his! (Num. 23:10)
• The Lord their God is with them… (Num. 23:21b)
• …a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel… (Num. 24:17b)
  Possibly Messianic…??

Now you… Your favorites? Your comments on Balaam?

Blessings!

Numbers 23-24

Dear RTB’ers,

Frankly, these chapters leave me confused. Left to my own consideration, I would be lauding Balaam – first, he refused (twice) to go to Balak to do his bidding (even if he were paid an enormous sum); then he went as the Lord directed him; then the incident with his donkey; then finally he blessed Israel instead of cursing them. Although he is a pagan who worshiped strange gods and practiced divination, Balaam seems to be an upstanding guy. However, the rest of Scripture disagrees with that perspective. Look up the references that STS provided yesterday (II Peter 2:15-16; Jude 11; Num. 31:16; Rev. 2:14) – which they said should be read even before reading Numbers 22. They are all negative toward Balaam. My Study Bible added even more references to Balaam and Balak: Deuteronomy 23:3-6; Joshua 13:22, 24:9-10; Nehemiah 13:1-3; Micah 6:5. Finally, my Study Bible also had this to say about Balaam: “Balaam is universally condemned in Scripture for moral, ethical, and religious faults.” So, please forgive my initial positive perspective on Balaam. Your thoughts?

As to his actual words, his blessings… Tomorrow.

Blessings!

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See also: February 15 (2023) / Numbers 21-24.

Numbers 22

Dear RTB’ers,

We leave Moses and the Israelites for three days to read the strange story of Balak and Balaam – and today, Balaam’s donkey. There have been a few times in my Christian walk when I have heard someone mention Balaam’s donkey, mostly as something like “If God can make Balaam’s donkey speak, then surely He can … (whatever)…” And yes, God can do anything He wants!

It’s a strange story. Knowing that the Moabites would be too weak in warfare against Israel, Balak wants to hire a “prophet” from another land to come and curse Israel, presumably benefiting Balak’s Moabite people. Balaam twice refuses Balak’s request, then with the Lord’s blessing begins his journey toward Moab. Then he is confronted by an angel of the Lord impeding his journey three times and eventually speaking to Balaam through his donkey. Then the Lord allows Balaam to continue his journey. Strange!

So, what to make of this story (and its culmination the next two days)? There have been times in my life when I have faced adversity and I had to ask myself whether it was the Lord directing me or Satan impeding me. Then I would have to ask myself further whether I should redirect my efforts or fight through the adversity. Only by constant prayer and my own continuing efforts would I eventually see the Lord’s hand at work and see the direction in which He was guiding me – sometimes a redirect and sometimes continuing on the path in which I was headed. Specifically, I faced six major setbacks in my academic life. On three occasions I was redirected down another path and on the other three occasions I continued to fight through the adversity. I don’t see an easy answer for difficulties in our lives, but I do know that prayer is essential. Proverbs offers wisdom for facing adversity with two well-known verses: Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6) To those two well-known verses, I would add also the next partial verse: Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD… (Proverbs 3:7a). Amen.

Blessings!

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See also: February 15 (2023) / Numbers 21-24.

Numbers 21

Dear RTB’ers,

Today, the story of the “bronze serpent” – the Israelites grumbling, the serpents biting them, Moses lifting up a bronze serpent, and those who were bitten being saved from death by looking at the bronze serpent. This story may seem familiar to many of you, even if you have not read through Numbers before. That’s because of Jesus’ reference to this story in John’s gospel, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up… (John 3:14a) It’s wonderful when we can make connections between the Old Testament and the New Testament!

Today we begin to see Israel’s conquest, not of the Promised Land but of the land to the east, what is known as the “Transjordan”. Last year we read in Joshua that two-and-a-half tribes (Reuben, Gad, and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh) settled in the land that is conquered in today’s reading. These two defeated kings, Sihon and Og are mentioned many times down the road – four references in Deuteronomy, three in Joshua, and two in Psalms. Although they warrant only a few verses in today’s reading, it’s helpful to keep them in mind as we read further.

Blessings!

Numbers 20

Dear RTB’ers,

Although not explicitly stated in the text, it seems that some 38 or so years have passed in the time between chapters 19 and 20. Miriam dies in the first verse; Aaron dies in the last paragraph (a precursor to Moses’ own death); and Edom refuses passage to Israel as they attempt to go around the Dead Sea and cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. So almost all of the men who agreed with the ten unfaithful spies have now died. Their sons, however, still have their fathers’ grumbling ways, and we have the story of their grumbling at the waters of Meribah.

The people grumble that they have no water, God tells Moses to speak to the rock, Moses instead strikes the rock (twice), and his disobedience leads to God’s judgment upon him that neither he nor Aaron will enter the Promised Land. Does that seem like a harsh punishment to you? After all, some 38 years earlier Moses was told to strike the rock at Horeb (Massah) and when he did water flowed out.(Exodus 17:2-7)

If that punishment seems harsh to you, consider that Moses disobeyed a direct command from God, and God did not immediately strike him dead as He had done with so many others. Instead we will read later that God allowed Moses to view the Promised Land even though he was not allowed entry into it. Harsh judgment? Maybe. But God is God and I am not. Thankfully, through Jesus, He forgives our sins instead of striking us dead and has given us a promise of an eternal Promised Land. God is God and I am not. Thank you, Lord!

Blessings!

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See also: February 14 (2023) / Numbers 17-20.

Numbers 18:8-19:22

Dear RTB’ers,

Two items from today’s reading – tithing and the red heifer. The red heifer account is straightforward (just to read), but unusual. The red heifer is a female, not a male; is a cow, not an ox; is slaughtered, not sacrificed; and it happens outside the camp, not at the altar. Unusual. As to the use of the red heifer’s ashes for cleansing, we could read commentaries or use our imagination – how could these ashes be associated with cleansing? Remember the rough texture and cleansing properties of “Lava soap”? Similar…?? Go figure!

As to tithing and first fruits… The first fruits go to Aaron and his descendants, tithing to the rest of the Levites. I can remember my dad taking rabbits and chickens (slain and cleaned) and my mom baking fruit cakes for the priests and nuns. It was always the best that they had. Whether they knew it or not, here is the origin for those activities. And tithing… Today’s reading is one of the longer passages in the Bible regarding tithing. God makes it clear that the Israelites are to tithe their grain and animal production to the Levites as the Levites’ “salary”, since the Levites have no inheritance in the Promised Land. Then the Levites are also to tithe from what they receive, a “tithe of the tithe”. We have the tithe as the standard for giving in Christian circles. I recall that tithing is asked (but not demanded) of all Vestry members (I could be wrong on that) and is encouraged of all members of our church. If you are not tithing, start thinking seriously about doing so. I recall Father David commenting on the difficulty of tithing for someone who had not been doing so: “If tomorrow you had your take-home salary cut by ten percent, you would figure it out.” So again, if you are not tithing, think hard about doing so.

Blessings!

Numbers 16:36-18:7

Dear RTB’ers,

More grumbling against Moses and Aaron… Yesterday we lost Korah, Dathan, and Abiram when the earth opened up and swallowed them and their households and possessions, plus another 250 who burned with fire from the Lord. Then today we see the grumbling continuing and another 14,700 dying from a plague. So today the Lord steps in to “personally” end the grumbling, with the story of Aaron’s rod budding. We just read in Hebrews 9:3-4 that Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Most Holy Place, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, Aaron’s staff which budded, and the tablets of the covenant… So Aaron’s budded rod remained as a witness to the people that God had appointed Moses and Aaron to leadership, and to put an end to disputes, rebellions and grumblings. So, an end to the grumbling? Not likely! We read on…!

Blessings!

Numbers 16:1-35

Dear RTB’ers,

Today’s reading is widely known as “Korah’s Rebellion”, even though he is one of four men named, along with Dathan and Abiram and On. (There is no more mention of “On” except in today’s first verse.) Korah’s prominence is because he was a Levite, one of the Kohathites, in fact, who were charged with carrying the “most holy things”. Now Korah is aspiring to more than just transportation: (Moses speaking) “Is it too small an honor for you that the God of Israel has singled you out … and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? But are you seeking the priesthood as well?” Jealousy. Wanting more than what the Lord has already given to us. As a Levite Korah had already been taken from among the Israelites and set apart to special service before the Lord. But he wanted more. It was not enough for him to honor Moses and Aaron and their special calling before God. He formed his own rebellion and it cost him his life.

But it’s not just Korah’s jealousy – with his grumbling he brought others along and they went down with him. Years later the future king, David may have had this incident in mind when he was being pursued by Saul:

He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD’s anointed.” So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul.

I Samuel 24:6-7a

Grumbling… Don’t go there!

Blessings!

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See also: February 13 (2023) / Numbers 15-16.

Numbers 15

Dear RTB’ers,

I had noticed the word “sojourner” (or stranger or alien) appearing seven times in today’s reading, and the laws that applied to the Israelites applied also to the sojourners. The Lord speaking: For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you. (vv. 15-16) This legal equality is repeated three times in these two verses!

I was thinking of our own USA and the aliens living among us, the legal and the illegal. In particular I was thinking of our current and former Avanza kids and their families. No doubt some of these kids and many of their parents and grandparents are here illegally. And those whom we know (or have known) are living peacefully and working hard to support their families. Yet, deportation is on the horizon, some nearer than others, and many of these kids are nervous for their futures. We need to be praying for them and their families. They need our support.

Blessings!