The Bible Recap - Day 063 (Numbers 21-22) - Year 3

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible recap. There are two things in today's reading that have perplexed me over the years, and I'm excited to talk about them with you. We're closing it on the Promised Land, but there are still a few people from the old generation that disbelieved God, so we know they can't enter yet. Today the people continue toward Canaan, carefully routing around Edom, since the King of Edom has denied them passage. Unfortunately, they run into another king who pounces on them and takes some of their people

Starting point is 00:00:36 captive. Going on the defense, Israel asks God for help, and promises to destroy the pagan cities of these Canaanites, if God will help them win, and God did. As they continue on, they hit another food and water shortage. So instead of asking God for help, like they know they can, they can plan about both Moses and God. They don't complain to Moses just about him. They take their problems to everyone except the people who can solve them.

Starting point is 00:01:04 But even though they're not talking to God, God hears. And he sends some snakes to kill them, which seems to fit with his plan to wipe out the older generation. When the people confess and repent, realizing their sin for what it is, Moses prays for them and God shows mercy. God tells Moses to make a fiery serpent on a pole, and if anyone is bitten, they can look at the fiery serpent and they'll live. This is the first thing I find replexing, especially because it seems like God is ordering

Starting point is 00:01:33 Moses to break the second commandment. How is crafting a serpent any different than crafting a calf? The distinction is that they weren't worshipping the serpent. It was a sign of God's provision and rescue pointing back to him. Eventually, we see that it does become an actual idol for the people, and they begin to worship it and make offerings to it, and it has to be destroyed in 2 Kings 18. As far as the second commandment goes, the creating an image part

Starting point is 00:02:02 doesn't seem to be so much the issue as the bowing down to it part. That commandment was always about the heart toward the item. Did they worship it? Did it take their eyes off God? In this instance, originally, no, but eventually, yes. Continuing on, Israel needs to pass through the lands of the Amorites and Bashan, but their kings refused just like with Moab. However, unlike Moab, these two kings attacked. So these relights fought back, and God gave them victory, and they got land, a lot of land, in what is now the country of Jordan. Word about their victory over the Amorites spread and the Moabites were afraid. The Amorites had recently beaten the Moabites in a war, so if someone could

Starting point is 00:02:45 beat the Amorites, that's a little bit terrifying for them. So Balak, King of Moab, gets an idea. He'll hire a guy to cast a spell on them, basically. Balak reminds me a lot of Pharaoh here. He saw that there were many Israelites, and he feared their power because of it. His fear prompts control. Then when his efforts are thwarted, he begins even further striving and manipulation. Bologch sends some of his people to hire a guy named Baylam, the guy he wanted to curse the Israelites.

Starting point is 00:03:15 It's unclear who Baylam is, a prophet, a diviner, a pagan, someone who worships Yahweh. He's not an Israelite, but he could be a believing foreigner like some of the Sojourners who lived among the Israelites. In 2218, he refers to Yahweh as Yahweh my God. Regardless what his relationship to God is, God speaks to Ba'lim directly and basically says, nope, you're not cursing the Israelites because I've blessed them. So Ba'lim turns him down. The men who tried to hire him come back again,

Starting point is 00:03:46 and God gives Balum her mission to go this time, with reminders to obey him. But then today's second perplexing thing happens. God gets angry when Balum goes. Why? He just said he could go. In researching this, there was a common theme that showed up. It looks like Balum's heart might have been set on money more than obedience, and of course, only God would know that for sure. So it seems God is angry not because of his actions, so much as the heart behind his actions. Balam sets out on his journey,

Starting point is 00:04:18 then the angel of the Lord shows up, which is likely a Christophany, but he's only visible to Balam's's donkey, not to Bailem himself. First of all, think about what this tells us about God's power over what we see. There is a spirit realm that God can hide and reveal at will. And this is not the only time in scripture that we'll see this kind of thing. Second, imagine being a magician who can cast spells, but you're upstaged by your donkey, who can see things you can't see.

Starting point is 00:04:47 Not only that, but your donkey talks. Then God opens Balam's eyes so he can see the angel too. Balam falls down and repents and offers to turn back from this mission if it's evil in God's eyes. This gives us more reason to think that God's anger was about Balam's heart, not his actions,

Starting point is 00:05:05 because God actually seems to endorse the trip twice, before Baalim leaves, and then again here, after he repents. If Baalim continued on this trip with money as his motive, it's possible that the offer of more money could have swayed him and let him to curse Israel instead of bless them as God commanded. This experience was all part of God's plan to bless Israel. He didn't change the course of the journey. Baim just needed rebuking along the way. He needed his heart to be aligned with God's mission. What was your God shot today? Mine was the serpent on the pole. This bizarre image actually points to something greater. It was symbolic of the way both Edens, Serpent, and Christ's cross affected us.

Starting point is 00:05:49 This is the summary of the fall and the redemption in one symbol, foreshadowing the future redemption through Christ. Jesus even references this Himself in John 3, 14-15. He says, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. That fiery serpent on a pole could only save people from the physical death, offering a temporary rescue, but Christ saves us from the spiritual death and gives us an eternal rescue. And he's where the joy is. Okay, Bible readers, it's time for our weekly check-in.

Starting point is 00:06:30 How's it going? No matter when you're listening to this, even if you're quote unquote behind in the plan, I believe you're right on time. And, no matter where you are in the plan, even here in the Old Testament, I want to remind you of something super important. Always be looking for Jesus. In John 5, Jesus says the Old Testament is all about Him. He doesn't just show up in a manger in Matthew, he's been here all along, even since Genesis 1. So keep looking for

Starting point is 00:06:54 him, for prophecies of him, for pictures of him, and even for some surprise visits he makes to earth in advance of his birth. The Bible recap is brought to you by Deen, the discipleship and Bible study groups that meet in homes and churches around the world each week.

The Bible Recap - Day 063 (Numbers 21-22) - Year 3

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