Feb.16 - Numbers 24 - 26

Some 40 years have passed since the first chapter of Numbers! It's hard to believe, but not a whole lot happened during those 40 years of wandering in the desert! The Israelites experienced an up-and-down relationship with God, and eventually ALL of the people 20 years old and older died - all except Moses, Joshua and Caleb! Remember, God was angry with them for not putting their faith in His ability to conquer the cities of the Promised Land when they were given the chance to inherit it the first time. They were afraid to go to war! How quickly they forgot God's powerfully destructive hand against the Egyptians only 12 months earlier! Now, 40 years later, the younger generation has taken leadership and their parents are dead and gone. Only Moses, Joshua, and Caleb are left of the original adult members who crossed the Red Sea on dry land and witnessed first-hand the destruction of Egypt.

Here are a few Power Points from today's readings:

1) Not everyone who communcates with God is God's friend! While it would seem that Balaam was a prophet of the Lord, he's NOT! In fact, he's a perverted prophet! Of the thousands of characters in the Old Testament, Balaam seems to be the most mysterious, and in some ways, the most tragic. His method of communicating with God was by divination (24:1) which entailed some sort of ritualistic method consisting of animal sacrificing and some alone time with God - which wasn't much different that what the Israelites did, except that he wasn't obedient to God. In fact, Numbers 31:16 explains that it was Balaam who craftily arranged for the Moabite women to sexually seduce the Israelite men - the very event which happened in Number 25! Since God firmly prohibited Balaam from pronouncing a "curse" upon Israel, he was, however, able to craft a way for Israel to bring God's curse upon themselves! He knew that if nothing could harm them from the outside, then perhaps he could create harm from within! His evil plan worked well! Eventually, this led to the deaths of many Israelites, as well as his own death and the destruction of the nation of Moab.

While Balaam had the wonderful privilege of communicating with God, he didn't obey Him! He was certainly no friend of the Almighty.

2) Everyone's name means something to someone! What does your name mean to the people who know you? When people hear your name, do they conjur up a good mental picture of someone they like or one that is lowly of you? Is it one of happiness or sadness? Is it one of respect or hate? Is it one that is honoring to God or do they consider you worldly? The one act of Balaam in tricking Israel into sin in Numbers 25 has been a warning to Israel throughout the ages! Balaam's name rings on! But, it's not one that's associated with goodness or godliness.

It's interesting to note that he is mentioned by at least 3 New Testament writers - Peter, Jude, and John. Peter speaks of Balaam in 2 Peter 2:15 and says, "the way of Balaam...who loved the wages of unrighteousness..." John writes in the book of Revelation "the doctrine of Balaam who...cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication" (Rev.2:14).

Each and every day we are living a testimony in the eyes of other people. What do they see? If God could line them all up and ask them to provide one sentence that depicts their image of you, what do you suppose they would say? What would your co-workers say? What would your neighbors say? What would your children say? Think about it!

May we all be the Godly people the Lord is calling us to be! Only with His help can we make it!

Have a wonderful, Spirit-filled day!