BALAAM & BALAK

I had to lead another staff devotion last week.  I talked about the account of Balaam and Balak.  Back in August, I started reading through the Bible, at yet another attempt to read through the entire Bible.  I'm only in Numbers.  I know no one else out there struggles with reading through the Bible. :)  Numbers is such a crazy book. The earth opens up and swallows a group of people for their sin, snakes take over the Israelite camp and start killing off the wicked, and many other crazy things go on.  God wants His people to be a holy people, but they fail over and over again.  Through all of this, God still loves them and claims them as His own.

So let me give you a brief summary of what's going on with Balaam and Balak.  The Israelites are trudging through the desert, defeating all of their enemies, and creating fear in all the surrounding peoples.  The rumor has been spread that the God of the Israelites is strong and like no other god, and these people cannot be destroyed.  They arrive at the plains of Moab, and the Moabites are in great fear of the Israelites because their number is many.  Balak, king of the Moabites, is determined to put a stop to these people.  He summons Balaam, a wicked prophet, to curse the Israelites. Balaam seeks out the LORD, and God says that he must not curse these people. After an encounter with an angel of the LORD, who comes in the form a donkey, Balaam is struck with fear and told to go to Balak and speak only what the LORD tells him to speak.

Balak is persistent in wanting to destroy these people so he asks Balaam to try over and over again.  The LORD continually gives reasons why these people will not be destroyed.  I love this!  The Israelites are God's people and He claims them as his own.  Looking at this story from the outside, I don't think the Israelites knew what was going on between Balak and Balaam.  They had no idea that the King of the Moabites wanted to wipe them off the face of the Earth.  However, the Lord knew this and He interceded on their behalf.  Even though the Israelites have rebelled against God, made for themselves idols to worship, and even asked God to take them back to Egypt, God still loves them and still goes with them.

Balaam tells Balak, "Behold I received a command to bless:  he has blessed and I cannot revoke it.  He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel.  The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.  God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.  For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel."

So the LORD says that He is their God and He is with them.  He has not seen any misfortune in Israel or seen any trouble?  WHAT???  God looks past their rebellion and loves them, because they are HIS.  Oh friends, we belong to the LORD.  He loves us because we are HIS, and HE is with us because we are his.  He goes before us and stands behind us. The Israelites did not know that Balak was scheming to destroy them, and they did not know that God was fighting for them and protecting them.  God used a wicked prophet to save Israel.  How many times a day does God protect us in ways we never see and how often is God fighting off the Evil one on our behalf.  I often think of the times I fail, the times I rebel against God, the times I give up, and the times I cry out, "God where are you?" Even in those times, God has not left me. He is not like me, and He is faithful even when I am not.

 God redeems what I break and what I tear down.  When I don't love well, when I run out of mercy, when I speak unkind words, when my thoughts are overcome by this world, when I don't speak truth, when I hold back the message of the Gospel form a dying world, God is still God and He is bigger than my failures.  He's got your back and He goes before you!