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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. Hey, this is Shelby and Scott. Today we're talking through numbers 22 through 24. Scott, at the very beginning of Numbers, you said that Numbers is a wild book and you specifically mentioned Balaam. So here I'm expecting a wild episode, just to be honest. We're, we're here at Balaam.
- [00:21]
B
Yeah, I mean, you've got these three chapters that just feel like, why are we talking about this guy? Like, okay, so just real quick, you know, 22, one talks about Israel encamping at Moab, and they're going to stay there for the rest of Numbers and for the rest of Deuteronomy. But then the focus shifts away from them to focus on this pagan prophet, Balaam. And it's cool, though, you start to get a glimpse into the fear that the surrounding nations have of the Israelites. So Balak has heard about Israel's victories, which we saw about yesterday, and so he hires this prophet Balaam to curse Israel so that they then he can defeat them in battle. And, you know, it's funny, on a cursory read for me at least, Balaam doesn't sound like that bad of a guy. Like, he seems generally obedient to the Lord. He says true things about God and true things about Israel, but we are meant to see him in a pretty negative light here. Like, for example, the text seems to paint him as a greedy man if you paid careful attention to some of the details. But then later biblical passages like two Peter, Jude and Revelation all portray him just in a very, very neg. Negative lights. And plus, we'll get to this. But he played a role in causing the Israelites to turn against God in a scene that we're going to look at tomorrow. Nevertheless, though, God uses them here in this moment. And again, we have to read Balaam's message going back to the Abrahamic promises. So back in Genesis 12, God promised to make Abraham into a great nation, give them the land of Canaan, and to bless all the nations of the earth through them. And also in there it says that God will bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who curse Abraham. And so all those promises play a major role in the messages that God gives to Balaam in today's chapters, like Balaam's responses to Balak just kind of reinforce God's favor on the Israelites. Seen in part by their large numbers, they now they have become a great nation. You know, God reiterates his commitment through Balaam to bless the Israelites. And Balaam himself declares that those who bless Israel will Be blessed. Those who curse Israel will be cursed. And so even though he's hired to curse Israel, Balaam ends up declaring God's blessing on them and affirms that God will in fact, keep his promises to Israel.
- [02:37]
A
Thank you for breaking that down, because you're right. This just. Just kind of appear out of nowhere, I guess. I'm curious, though, how do we apply this passage? What do we learn from this passage? Is it just like a story to be aware of, or is there something we can do with it?
- [02:53]
B
Yeah, I think the big takeaway here is that, like, God is determined to bless his people, that we see that here for the nation of Israel. That is true of us as well, Shelby. As Christians, we are a blessed people. That is a word scripture would use to describe us, whether or not we think it's an appropriate word for ourselves. That's how God describes us, as a blessed people. God's favor rests upon us. And so even like first Peter, even when we suffer for our faith, Peter says we're blessed. And as those united to Jesus, God's son. I think the Balaam cycle reminds us that God takes pleasure in us. He really does. And, you know, I think we could sit here and point to a lot of things in our lives that are hard, but at the end of the day, blessed is a word that scripture uses to describe us as Christians, which I think is incredible. And I'm also reminded, secondly, of Romans 8:31, when I read the Balaam cycle, which says, or Paul writes, if God is for us, who's against us? And that's Balaam's message in a nutshell in these chapters, like, we all carry many burdens in life, and God's displeasure is not one of those burdens. And the pleasure he takes in us, I think when we remember that, that can just help make all the burdens we do carry lighter.
- [04:13]
A
Yeah, that is so encouraging. And I love the encouragement to count that word blessed as a word that applies to you, because maybe we don't always feel that, but we see that God does bless his people. I think my takeaway from this passage is probably just the sovereignty of God. You know, you have the Israelites who are so fearful of the battles that they're facing and the people around them, and will God provide for them. And here we see God sovereignly presiding over a circumstance that was wholly outside of their control. And it just reminds me of God's sovereignty also over my own life. And so that's what I'm taking away from this passage today. Thank you for breaking down numbers 22 through 24. We'll be back starting in chapter 25 tomorrow.