Yesterday in Numbers we experienced Balaam's Donkey and the Angel of the Lord. The donkey has always been a source of encouragement to me because if God can speak through a donkey HE can speak through me! It may sound like a joke, but I am serious. God is able to proclaim HIS message through any vessel that is surrendered to HIM and willing to be used.
After Balaam's last oracle we see Israel fall into idolatry again. Paul and John warned the early church against the teaching of Balaam, it is a warning we should listen to and heed. In 1 Cor. 10:8, Paul says, Let us not commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in a single day 23,000 people fell dead. In Rev. 2:14, John warns the church at Pergamum, But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the sons of Israel: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.
Now this next thought is both incredibly exciting and horribly frightening at the same time! What do you mean Mark? Check this out! We hear again what happened from the Psalmist in Psalm 106:28, we see that, "They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods. They provoked the Lord with their deeds, and a plague broke out against them."
The same incident is referred to in Hosea 9:10, "I discovered Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, consecrated themselves to Shame, and became detestable, like the thing they loved." We have the same truth taught in Psalm 135:17-18, They have ears, but cannot hear; indeed, there is no breath in their mouths. Those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them.
Compare this with 2 Cor. 3:15-18, here we learn what happens to those who gaze upon Jesus, the glory of the Lord. "However, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
The bottom line is this, we become like what we worship, what we pursue, what we think about most often. Where do you spend your time, energy passion, money, resources? BEHOLDING IS BECOMING...THE QUESTION IS WHAT ARE YOU AND I BEHOLDING? Through HIS Word and godly counsel make sure that you are pursuing the God who is and NOT a god as you want him to be!
The incredible news is that the Kingdom of God has come near through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. No longer do we rely on the temple and on the blood of bulls and goats, but we have full access to the throne of grace through the shed blood and broken and torn body of Jesus Christ. Immanuel...our God is with us!
Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers Proverbs 11:14.
Luke’s clear, straightforward telling of the story of Jesus’ birth anchors the events in history and links them to prophecy. God uses an emperor’s decree to guide a Galilean couple to Bethlehem (2:1–5), so the Messiah might be born in David’s hometown, the locale of His predicted birth (vv. 6–7; cf. Micah 5:2). Ecstatic choirs of angels share the news of His birth with local shepherds (vv. 8–15), who find and worship the Christ Child (vv. 16–20). Jesus is circumcised (v. 21), and when He is brought to the temple some 40 days later His identity is revealed to a man named Simon (vv. 22–35) and a prophetess named Anna (vv. 36–40). Luke skips over Jesus’ early childhood, but does tell of a visit to the temple when Jesus was twelve, at which He stunned teachers of the Law with His insights (vv. 41–50). Still, Jesus lived a normal childhood in a typical Jewish home, respecting His parents and winning the respect of all (vv. 51–52).
Richards, L. O. (1991; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996). The Bible readers companion (electronic ed.) (653). Wheaton: Victor Books.
Michael Card and Steve Green singing Immanuel. Enter HIS presence with Thanksgiving!
Love,
m