9/6/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 2. 5-6)

“So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River, in Balak’s native land. Balak said: “A people has come out of Egypt;  they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people as they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.’” (Numbers 22.4b-6)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

What does Balak know? Yesterday, I reflected on the truth that Balak knew: those whom you [Balaam] bless will be blessed and those whom you [Balaam] curse will be cursed. What Balak longed for was the blessing of the Hebrews being cursed. He professed that without Balaam’s “power,” he did not have the power enough to defeat such an invading people as were coming out of Egypt. Let’s think about this for a moment. This “people coming out of Egypt” had a reputation which preceded them. Not only were they fortunate in battle against common enemies of the Moabites and the Midianites to be blessed with victory but there was more. Their time in Egypt was brought to an end by the curse of ten plagues. Each plague was devastating to the kingdom of Egypt from the simplest and most common to the very court of Pharaoh himself. Accompanied by the signs of uncommon natural phenomena such as the Pillar of Fire and Smoke, the parting and the closing of the Red Sea (or Reed Sea as some suggest), the water from the rock at Meribah, the manna from heaven and the covering of quail, those historical events were intimidating. These “people coming out of Egypt” were a force to be reckoned with unlike any other Balak had known. Oh wait, that worked so long as they kept their eye on God, protected the Ark of the Covenant and maintained their faithful practice of God’s righteousness. But, this wasn’t their “grandfather’s” people coming out of Egypt. These were a people coming out of the Wilderness of Sin who had been winnowed and sifted like wheat or grains of sand through an hour glass. This was a different generation who came before the land of Promise. They were a perfect people. They were a people who were perfecting their skill of being God’s people. With that in mind, Balak considered fighting “fire with fire.” It would take a “man of God” to combat the “men of God.” Okay, in the effort to be “politically correct,” it would take a “person of God” to stand against the “people of God.” The problem?

Balak ignored the straight and narrow truth. If Balaam was indeed a man who at the very least was familiar with God and the ways of God, then the truth was he had no power unless God had given it to him. Jesus was not unfamiliar to this thinking as He stood before Pilate. Pilate asked Jesus during his inquisition, “Don’t you realize I have the power to kill you or to save you?” (John 19.10b) Jesus responded, “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” At no time, is God not in control of the consequences of our actions. He clearly lays out the truth before us like a straight and narrow road. His desire is for us to abide with Him at all times in this world knowing that we would do the same with Him in the world yet to come. The greater sin Jesus mentioned to Pilate? Well, Jesus was speaking directly to the Temple leadership who had brought this hearing between Jesus and Pilate about. They believed they had the power to convict and convert Pilate to believing in God [at least their version of God.] Jesus was bringing to mind that His opposers believed they were speaking for God to “bless those who bless them and curse those who curse them.” They were accusing Jesus of bringing a curse upon them and all of Israel. In light of God’s Word of prophecy which they knew very well but chose to ignore it, they were acting on their own. Yet, “What men intended for evil, God would purpose for good!” This is why Jesus could pray from the cross, “Abba, forgive them, they do not know what it is they are doing.” In their ignorance they declared themselves innocent. But, in their claim they were making themselves guilty of the very thing they accused Jesus: blasphemy. And they should have known better than any other what God had and was purposing to do. What made them different from Judas of Kerioth?

What did Balak know? He knew that without the power of God he would not be able to defeat the Hebrews who were drawing closer with each day’s journey to Canaan. No matter how he tried to convince himself and Balaam of the guilt of the Hebrews and the innocence of the Moabites and Midianites, what he desired would not come to pass. Regardless of Balaam’s seeking to avoid the inevitable [God says no to Balak], the truth could not be ignored. Balak was falling prey to his own logic and would be defeated by it. He never would have the “blessing of God” to “curse the Hebrews.” Balaam did not have the power to curse or to bless unless it was given to him. And if Balaam was a full believer in this “God who had no name,” then he was aware of the reality of “there is something greater than me at work here.” Isn’t that what we are intended to know, mighty ones of God? Are we not given privilege to be a part of God’s wondrous plan of salvation? Are we not given in the name of the Holy Spirit, the power to bring God’s righteousness before all the world? Should it not become normal and natural to us to speak, think, act and bear witness to the power of God to “seek out the lost and save them”? Are we not supposed to confront the enemy with the truth that only God can truly bless and curse? All else is is “smoke and mirrors,” illusions meant to confuse and defeat those whom we oppose. What will it take for us to believe in the Word and Will of God and allow it to free us from the captivity of sin?

TODAY’S PRAYER IN LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD:

Father, You have revealed to us best in Jesus the Christ. By Him and Him alone shall we gain the eternal life and our place in eternal rest, living for You always. Show us more and by Your Holy Spirit instruct us in the way we should go, the truth we should reveal and the life we shall live with you forever. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.