Because I have fallen a bit behind in my readings lately, I will do a two-for-one deal on today's blog. I would normally do a blog for each reading, but today, because I am tired and had a bit of two-day-long Monday in the middle of my week, this blog will be an abbreviated version.
Chapter 21 contains an intriguing passage of Scripture where God sends venomous snakes to the Israelites to discipline them because they started to speak out against Him and Moses, growing ever impatient with God's ways and timing. The snakes were awful and the people soon learned their lesson, and they cried out to God for help. So, God told Moses to fashion a bronze snake and to put it up on a pole. "Then when anyone who was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived" (Num. 21:9). God disciplined His people, but once they turned back to Him, He provided for them relief and salvation from their affliction. I wonder why, when God said in Exodus to not fashion idols, He would use such an idol-like method of healing from the snakes.
Chapter 22 contains the story of how God used a pagan prophet, Balaam to save His people. Apparently, there was this foul tempered king named Balak, and he had it out for the Israelites, as did most kings in this time, I am learning. So, he summoned Balaam to curse Israel, but then God intervenes. God tells Balaam not to curse Israel, but to bless them. For some reason, this pagan Balaam says, "I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God." God moved in Balaam, and Balaam allowed himself to be moved.
As he was riding his donkey to go, God sent an angel with a drawn sword to prevent him from leaving. God was not impressed that Balaam would just get up and go. The angel stood in front of the donkey, and the donkey veered off course because it saw the angel, but Balaam did not see it. So, after beating the donkey without mercy three times, the donkey turns to Balaam and says, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times" (Num. 22:28). Without hesitation, Balaam talks back to his donkey... what a sight to see. The angel finally appears to Balaam, and Balaam falls face down on the ground. I would be terrified. After meeting God on the road, Balaam seems to change to become God's messenger himself to Balak.
Balak wants Balaam to curse Israel, but instead ends up blessing Israel four to seven times. I love one of the lines of his blessing. "Let me die the death of the righteous" (Num. 23:10). To rest in the place where God craves for me to be; that is what that phrase says to me. Another beautiful sort of blessing is in Numbers 24:9, "May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed!" I like that for some reason. Then in Numbers 24:17, I think he pulls out a two-for-one special on prophecy. He seems to be foretelling the coming of David and Christ when he says, "A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel." Cool.
After all that, Israel still turns away from God, which makes the LORD very angry. He is so angry that those who turn away from Him are killed by an unspecified plague. It says, "The LORD's anger burned against them" (Num. 25:3), and then, "... the LORD's fierce anger..." (Num. 25:4). God certainly does not seem to tolerate insolence and profanity (the opposite of the sacred). It angers Him... big time. I am learning that holiness, "set-apart-ness", and righteousness are things that God thirsts and burns for.
After the events in the desert and all their wandering around, the Israelites do a nationwide head count. That amounts to lots of passages like this, "The descendants of Asher by their clans were: through Imnah, the Imnite clan; through Ishvi, the Ishvite clan; through Beriah, the Beriite clan; and through the descendants of Beriah: through Heber, the Heberite clan; through Malkiel, the Malkielte clan. (Asher had a daughter named Serah.) These were the clans of Asher; those numbered were 53, 400." At least they were thorough!
The last cool part of this passage was the commission of Joshua. This was a monumental point in Israel's history. The leader of Israel in one of their most historically rich and meaningful times of history, and a sort of Bible favourite, the man who (as tradition holds) wrote the Pentateuch, he was finally relinquishing his place as leader of the Jews and passing it on to the next generation. Joshua was to be the next leader of Israel.
And so the story continues! I look forward to tomorrow's reading when I am finally back on track and up to date with the readings and blogs. God bless!
Only 1716 pages more to go!
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