Study back to Numbers 22 - 24; Passage for Reflection: Numbers 23: 12 … NIV He [Balaam, the Sorcerer-Prophet to King Balak of Moab] answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth.”
My Journal for Today: You Bible students have probably read and studied this curious passage which has a fearful Moabite King (Balak) seeking out a sorcerer (Balaam) to curse his enemies (Israel). And in this account we have the famous (or rather, “infamous”) account of “Balaam’s ass,” his donkey who does God’s bidding by actually speaking to Balaam about the power of God.
And don’t we see a lot of ourselves in these characters. We can see our fearfulness, as we come up against our own enemies in this world, … enemies like other religions, worldly power, tempting wealth, etc. And like Balak, we’d like to have our own “big stick” and be placed in a position to defeat our enemies. So, we call upon our diviners, … forces like education, science, or military power to put us in the position to be secure in the face of our enemies. But then, over and over again, we get the message from a God, Who cannot lie to us about Himself (see Numbers 23: 19); and He tells us over and over again in His word of truth, exactly what we need to hear about the blessings He has upon those who obey Him and His cursings on those who disobey Him.
Balak kept sending Balaam, over and over again, to try to hear what he wanted to hear, … trying to get Balaam to curse Israel, who were his enemies. But over and over again, God just put the mirror of truth in Balaam’s prophesies in front of Balak, even using a pagan magician, like Balaam, as His Prophet (don’t you love God’s sense of humor!). But in the end God can only reflect Himself through His mirror of truth; and how many times does our world need to hear God’s Prophets, reflecting truth … that abortion is evil or that homosexuality is an abomination or that Israel is God’s chosen people … before we – the world – will see that God cannot and will not reflect anything but truth from the mirror we know of as God’s word – The Bible.
We can – as some try to do – fashion interpretations of God’s truth to fit our world. There are people who call themselves “christian,” who try to get God’s word to say what they want to read … creating their own fashion of “truth,” We’ve read the lies; … like the Bible doesn’t mean what it says – literally; and we can accept homosexuality in our culture, which has evolved to a place where God can accept that lifestyle as “normal.” Or we read of “christians” who say that abortion can be accepted as a “choice” women should have to give them control of their bodies. Or we read that we need to allow Islam to be tolerated as a religion which serves the same “god” who was the God of Abraham.
Oh, how we can look into the mirror of truth; and by our own design see ourselves the way we want to see us, rather than using God’s mirror of truth (the Bible) and letting it show us the true image of the God Who is the only true God. How many times does God have to speak His truth in our midst; and we ignore it or disobey Him? How many times will God’s mercy and His grace give our world the chance to hear how He desires for all to be saved; BUT … and it’s a big “BUT,” for sure, … there will come a day, when, as it was for Balak, God’s truth will prevail; and His prophesies will unfold … AND the rain of righteousness will fall on the remnant of believers as well as on those who will not see truth in God’s mirror.
Balaam’s donkey cries out for us to see God’s truth for what it is … THE TRUTH; … and it has, is, and will unfold in the Person of Truth, Who is Jesus Christ! [e.g., meditate on John 14: 6]
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for giving me Your mirror of Truth, which is Your word and Who is my Lord and Savior, Jesus. May I see clearly Your way and follow it. Amen
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