Day 063 (Numbers 21-22) - Year 7
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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 in 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 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 complain 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. 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 perplexing, especially because it seems like God is ordering Moses to break the second commandment. How is crafting a serpent any different than crafting a calf? The distinction is that they weren't worshiping 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 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 refuse just like with Moab. However, unlike Moab, these two kings attacked. So the Israelites 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 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.

Balak sends some of his people to hire a guy named Balaam, the guy he wanted to curse the Israelites. It's unclear who Balaam 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 Balaam directly and basically says, nope, you're not cursing the Israelites because I've blessed them. So Balaam turns him down. The men who tried to hire him come back again, and God gives Balaam permission to go this time with reminders to obey him. But then today's second perplexing thing happens. God gets angry when Balaam goes. Why? He just said he could go.

In researching this, there was a common theme that showed up. It looks like Balaam'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. Balaam sets out on his journey. Then the angel of the Lord shows up, which is likely a Christophany. But he's only visible to Balaam's donkey, not to Balaam 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. Not only that, but your donkey talks. Then God opens Balaam's eyes so he can see the angel too. Balaam 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 Balaam's heart, not his actions, because God actually seems to endorse the trip twice, before Balaam leaves, and then again here after he repents. If Balaam continued on this trip with money as his motive, it's possible that the offer of more money could have swayed him and led 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. Balaam 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 Eden's serpent and Christ's cross affected us.

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,

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. 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.

You know how I'm always telling you to look for Jesus? Today we saw that so clearly in the story about the serpent on the pole. That's just one example of what Jesus said in John 5 when he told the Pharisees that the Old Testament is testifying about him. So keep looking for him in these Old Testament pages. He's here and he's where the joy is. So let's keep up this treasure hunt for joy again tomorrow.