9/7/2023

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)

“How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced? From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations.” (Numbers 23.8-9)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

For the past couple of days, my reflections have centered on the question: “What does Balak know?” He knew that a great mass of people whose numbers might have well exceeded those under his rule in Moab were approaching from Egypt. He knew that they had been liberated by mighty works and wonders far greater than any human being could perform. He knew that they followed a God who poured out those works and wonders as well as defined without question who would be among that number. He knew that God was not his god. He knew someone who was familiar with that God, the ways of that God and seemed to have the ability to communicate with that God to dispense blessings and curses. [We do not know if Balak was the recipient of said blessings or curses but was aware of their existence and reality.] What Balak did not know yet was what Balaam knew and would reveal to him. So today’s question is:

“What does Balaam know?” At the very least, for reasons I shared in an earlier reflection, Balaam was familiar and seemingly practiced worship which centered on, or included, God. Balaam is open to hearing God‘s word. Balaam is also of the mind to obey this word of God. More so, Balaam tends to obey the word of God over and against the word of others, including Balak who is the Moabite King. He has the reputation of authenticity and authority for the dispensing of “blessings and curses.” It would seem that this ability comes not from his own works but rather the word and work of God. It may well be that Balaam tends to other deities of which God is one. The faith of the Babylonians was polytheistic but worshipped only one god at a time. Regardless, Balaam knew of God and believed in the word of God. So, in this communication between Balak and Balaam, we know what Balaam knew. We experience it in Numbers 23, verses 8 and 9, as posted above. It says, “I cannot curse what is blessed and God has blessed this people. I cannot denounce what is not denounced by God when it comes to this people. They set themselves apart from all other nations and do not conduct themselves as those nations do.” If I were to put a word on that proclamation which God gave to Balaam to give to Balak, it would be sanctification. Sanctification means “to set aside and apart for the purposes of serving God.” This would be a defining theme in the life of Israel. God has called them out of Egypt just as God had called them out of the Ur of the Chaldees through Abraham. Yes, their numbers were far greater coming from Egypt, but the promise which God had made with Abraham was now being revealed in their number. They were like a great flock being led by Moses who himself had become a shepherd following the ways of God. They were to be a people “set aside and called out” to bear witness to God and God‘s blessing before the rest of the world. They would do so not only in “signs and wonders” but in the faithfulness to be an obedient people. They had experienced a forty year sojourn between Egypt and the Promised Land because of a generation who was not so committed to be such a people. God most certainly blesses and curses those who seek to bless and curse God. In that alone, we as mighty ones of God ought to take due notice. The “conflict” of cultures in the days of Balaam and Balak, God’s called out people and those who refused the call, is not different than the “conflict” of cultures we see today. Nor was it different internally from what we know of those cultural clashes in the days of Jesus between Israel and Rome, the Temple Leadership and the general population, and Jesus with all who sought anything other than the Kingdom of God as authoritative and authentic. From a wrong perspective, those who side with God are called “counter-cultural.” I would disagree with this because it puts the sin-fected culture as the defining culture. In truth, it is the Kingdom of God which is the defining culture and all else would be “counter-cultural.” So, Balak sees the Hebrew community as counter the culture of Moab, Midian and all those not aligned with God. Through Balaam, we would hear the antithesis of that thinking. Balak and the rest are counter to the culture of faith and righteousness which the Hebrews are becoming. These are God‘s people, the sheep of His pasture…and so, too, are we intended to be.

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.