LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?
THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
According to the outline laid out on Day #52, we are in the section of Numbers that I've called "The Balaam Conspiracy" (Numbers 22-31).
The End of the Balaam Conspiracy. In Numbers 31 the conspiracy of Balaam is finally put down, as Balaam is killed with the sword (Numbers 31:8). The Moabites and Midianites "on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD" (Numbers 31:15). Balaam was the kind of figure who Israel would come to know quite well in the future: a seemingly pious and God-honoring individual who, drawn away after bribes and dishonest gain, would become perfectly willing to corrupt justice and lead the people of God astray. The dangerous plan that Balaam suggested to defeat Israel would also become a familiar theme: in the wilderness, Balaam's conspiracy showed the people of God that the most significant danger would not come from experiencing conflict with the world, but rather through experiencing their acceptance along with the pressure to integrate with worldly ways of life, their values, the things that they worship, and the moral system to which they hold. The same is still true today! So before Israel could actually settle the land that they had won back in Numbers 21, they had to walk through the events of the Balaam Conspiracy to learn this lesson. If they had fully learned it, the Promised Land would never have been lost, and the Jewish people would never have been spread among the nations.
End of the Wilderness Journey. Starting in Numbers 32, Israel finally settles in the land and they recount their wilderness journey (implying, accurately enough, that it is over). Israel has learned all the lessons of the wilderness--40 years of God's direct instruction has brought them to the point where they are ready to enter in.
The End of the Balaam Conspiracy. In Numbers 31 the conspiracy of Balaam is finally put down, as Balaam is killed with the sword (Numbers 31:8). The Moabites and Midianites "on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD" (Numbers 31:15). Balaam was the kind of figure who Israel would come to know quite well in the future: a seemingly pious and God-honoring individual who, drawn away after bribes and dishonest gain, would become perfectly willing to corrupt justice and lead the people of God astray. The dangerous plan that Balaam suggested to defeat Israel would also become a familiar theme: in the wilderness, Balaam's conspiracy showed the people of God that the most significant danger would not come from experiencing conflict with the world, but rather through experiencing their acceptance along with the pressure to integrate with worldly ways of life, their values, the things that they worship, and the moral system to which they hold. The same is still true today! So before Israel could actually settle the land that they had won back in Numbers 21, they had to walk through the events of the Balaam Conspiracy to learn this lesson. If they had fully learned it, the Promised Land would never have been lost, and the Jewish people would never have been spread among the nations.
End of the Wilderness Journey. Starting in Numbers 32, Israel finally settles in the land and they recount their wilderness journey (implying, accurately enough, that it is over). Israel has learned all the lessons of the wilderness--40 years of God's direct instruction has brought them to the point where they are ready to enter in.
RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?
How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? These are just a few scrambled thoughts--each day, I am conscious that I am only ever touching on a tiny sliver of what could be said about the assigned readings. In our worship we can see the faithfulness of God to have brought Israel through its wilderness journey to the point where they were ready to enter the Promised Land. In our attitude we should be willing to do whatever it takes to focus ourselves completely on God and resist the pull of the world. This is the last thing that Israel had to learn before they could enter into the Promised Land. In our actions we can spend time in reflection as we read our Bibles, asking if we are ready to follow God even when he asks us difficult things, and spending extra time where we might feel most uncomfortable or the most resistant--often those "pressure points" reveal a place where God wants to transform us and bring us into greater fruitfulness and joy.
PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?
Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "I ask you, God, to give me a willing heart to follow you wherever you lead. Don't allow me to get pulled into a comfortable, acceptable life in a land whose people do not know you. Give me the courage to stand out--not by being foolish or brash, but just through following a steady, principled desire to do what you call me to do through your Word. Help me to be one of the ones who finds rest in the land of your promise on the other side of the wilderness."
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