Today's Reading:

Numbers 21
Numbers 22
Numbers 23
Numbers 24

One of the most profound grace moments in all of Scripture comes from Numbers 23:19: “God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?” 

The unchanging nature of God is the foundation of His justice and His mercy. God is holy and just, wise and good. He responds consistently when humans change their minds. He must punish and bring judgment. He cannot pretend that it does not matter as that would make Him less than God. Yet, because He is perfect in mercy and unchanging in His character, when humans repent, His character does not change. His response can change and He can relent and show compassion. He cannot go back on His promise to forgive those who seek Him. This guarantees both: sin will not go unpunished, and genuine repentance will not be rejected. We see this in Balaam’s blessings: God’s blessing over Israel could not be interfered with, no matter how hard Balak tried. There is grace in this: the same unchangeable God who judges sin with righteousness is also the God who pours out mercy and is forever faithful to who He is. 
 

 

King Arad in Negev attacked the Israelites and took some as prisoners. Israel vowed to destroy the cities of the kingdom if God would help. This was Canaanite land that controlled the King’s Highway trade route from Edom to the Dead Sea on the west side of the sea of southern Israel. The Israelites had just been defeated prior when they disobeyed God and went up instead of south and were beaten by the Amalekites back to Hormah (14:44). The Lord listened to their pleas, and the Israelites destroyed Arad’s cities. The Israelites moved along the King’s Highway as it stretched from Egypt and ran north-south east of the Dead Sea up towards Mesopotamia. The Israelites went from the trade route at the bottom of the sea up the east (right) side to skirt around Edom as the king of Edom would not let them pass through (yesterday’s reading).  

Complaints started again as the Israelites were impatient and wanted food. God was upset at the grumbling and brought about venomous snakes. The people repented, and Moses prayed to God. Moses was instructed by God to make a bronze snake on a pole- anyone bitten who looked up to the snake in faith would then be healed. God was teaching them not to worship an idol (snake on a pole), but to look up, and seek Him in reliance. Later, in 2 Kings 18, the bronze snake became an object of idolatry for the Israelites under the reign of Hezekiah, King of Judah.  The pole and snake were a foreshadow of looking up at Jesus on the cross in faith to be “healed”.  

The Book of Wars (21:14) was a book that listed the Israelites victories in poem or psalm format that is no longer in existence. The Israelites continued to move north towards the Promised Land where they were given water at Beer, and on to Mt. Pisgah. They fought the King of Sihon of the Amorites and took over the Jabbok River boundaries and the city of Heshbon. Moses sent spies to Jazer to look over the land up to the King of Og, also an Amorite, east of the Jordan River and Sea of Galilee. God was with the Israelites again and they defeated Og with no survivors. The Israelites marched forward, up across the river from Jericho, still on the east side of the sea, Balak had seen what the Israelites had done in the plains of Moab.  

Balak, the king of Moab, panicked when he saw the Israelites had defeated the Amorites and remembered that they came out of Egypt as a vast multitude that “covered the face of the land.” To stop them, Balak hired the famous pagan prophet Balaam to curse Israel—for a large fee. Balaam initially refused because God had said Israel was blessed. Undeterred, Balak sent more officials to tempt Balaam, offering greater rewards. Each time, God appeared and warned Balaam not to go or curse the people. 

Eventually, God allowed Balaam to go, but only if he followed God’s instructions precisely. Yet God knew Balaam’s heart—his desire for personal gain made Him angry. On the journey, the Angel of the Lord (often understood as a preincarnate appearance of Jesus, a Christophany) stood in Balaam’s path with a drawn sword. Three times the donkey saw the angel and tried to avoid him: once turning into a field, once pressing against a wall and crushing Balaam’s foot, and the third time lying down in the road. Each time, Balaam beat the donkey to get it back on the road. 

On the third strike, God opened the donkey’s mouth to speak: “Why are you beating me?” Unfazed, Balaam argued back. In a humorous and humbling moment, the wisest seer of the day was outwitted—and even scolded—by his own talking donkey. God then opened Balaam’s eyes to see the angel, who explained that the donkey had been trying to keep him on the righteous path and had saved his life three times. Balaam repented, and God allowed him to continue to Balak, giving instructions for altars and sacrifices. Balaam built three altars and offered a total of 42 animals, yet he still could not curse Israel. 

Ultimately, Balaam could not override God’s plans. Human schemes, greed, or pagan sorcery could not stop God’s purpose, and through Balaam, God blessed Israel instead of cursing them with these blessings:  

1. God does not change His mind; Israel has no misfortune, roars like a lion. 
2. Israel is beautiful, strong like cedar trees, blessed beyond measure. 
3. Spontaneous- Prophesies the future Messiah, “a star will come out of Jacob” 

Balak was furious and sent Balaam away without any fee. Balaam shrugged and left knowing that the Israelites were under God’s charge, with a warning to Balak. In this, we are to remember from Genesis 12:3 that “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse,” and His word stands forever unchangeable.  

 

Today's Discussion question: 

You know you are having a bad day when your donkey has to have an intervention because you are too busy fighting to notice an actual angel with a sword standing in your path. How often are we blind to the roadblocks that God sets up before us, only to get upset when our plans are delayed? Have you ever had a “donkey moment”- when God used something frustrating to save you from a dangerous path?

 
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