March 15th One Year Bible Readings

Numbers 22:21-23:30 ~ Luke 1:57-80 ~ Psalm 58:1-11 ~ Proverbs 11:12-13
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Old Testament - Today in Numbers chapter 22 we read about Balaam’s talking donkey! Yes, this is a very unique portion of scripture, and, yes, one we can learn from. In verses 27 & 28 we read: “When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"  There is a lot going on in the verses leading up to this point, and in the verses thereafter – which you can study more at this link . I think one thing for us to pay attention to here is how we are sometimes saved from a bad situation by what at first glance appears to be an “inconvenience.” A donkey laying down and starting to talk is inconvenient to Balaam. But, this talking donkey saved Balaam from an angel with a sword in hand that Balaam could not see. Are there perhaps “inconveniences” in your life today that are maybe saving you from a bad situation? Or, do you recognize inconveniences in the past that saved you from a bad situation? I know I have. If my car breaks down or I get sick or I miss a flight – all inconveniences – I try to remind myself that it might just be possible that this inconvenience was meant to be. It may have saved me from something much worse happening. The inconvenience – the “talking donkey” – may have actually saved me from something I could not see. Keep your eyes open for inconvenient “talking donkeys” in your life :) – and praise God for them when they appear! Here's Rembrandt's take on Balaam's talking donkey from the year 1626:

Bible.org commentary on Balaam in chapters 22 & 23 is at this link.

New Testament - I love Zechariah's prophecy in today's readings in Luke chapter 1!  In particular verses 76-79 when speaking about his son John the Baptist: "And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. Because of God's tender mercy, the light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.""  Amen!  Below is Leonardo Da Vinci's portrait of John the Baptist from the year 1516:

Bible.org's commentary on our readings in Luke today titled "Why John Was Not Named 'Little Zach'" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 58 verse 11 stood out to me today - ""There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.""  I think this is wise for us to remember that God indeed judges.  We don't.  We shouldn't.  But God indeed judges justly.  This verse also brings up the question - are we living for God?  If so, what will our reward be?  Are you looking forward to the reward?

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 11 verses 12 & 13 today talk about how foolish it is to belittle a neighbor or gossip about others.  I have to admit - these verses are convicting to me today - as I've been doing this recently.  It makes me sad to realize that I have, but I have.  I pray that instead of me thinking I am so righteous that I can talk behind someone's back that I will instead remain silent.  I pray for silence upon my tongue when it comes to gossip or belittling others...

YouTube - Today's Psalm reminds me of the Matthew West song "Only Grace:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_4pMBU58e8

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" Numbers 23:19 NIV

Prayer Point: Pray that you will trust God completely. Pray that you will see God's promises made and promised kept in the Bible this year, and in your life.

Comments from You & Questions of the Day:  Based on my reflections in Numbers today, have you ever had any "talking donkey" experiences in your life?  An experience that at first glance was a huge inconvenience to you, but in retrospect was an incredible blessing from God?  Basically, have you ever had a blessing in disguise?  Do you think God still can use "talking donkey" experiences in our lives today to get our attention?  Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

God bless,
Mike

Comments

[Ramona]

Numbers 22:21-23:30

A talking donkey, a mad false prophet who keeps sacrificing a lot of sheep and bulls ‘cause he’s trying to “get paid,” and revelations from God about His blessings and favor on Israel. This is a very fast moving read today.

The verse that speaks to me iis the 19th verse in chapter 23,
19 God is not a man, that he should lie.
He is not a human, that he should change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

God is telling us that He can be trusted, that His Word is His bond. He doesn’t have to be manipulated, He doesn’t care how many bull and sheep you burn up His Word doesn’t change.

Luke 1:57-80

How do you explain to people God has named your baby? You are foregoing tradition in naming your male child a name that no other mail in your family has had. The child’s father cannot speak and his mother is an old woman. But when the father in writing confirms the child’s name, the man who was mute for nine months now can suddenly speak. Ya know that God is up to something.

This speaks to me about getting out of “the box.” This speaks to me about looking past traditions, the traditions of men, the traditions of cultural and ethnic groups and finding the will of God outside of the box.

Psalm 58:1-11
Imprecatory prayers written by David can be prayed when we think we are facing enemies. God can take any situation that seems to the observer, impossible and change it around making a way where there seem to be no way. David knew about this first hand because He escaped from his adversary, King Saul, many times.

Proverbs 11:12-13

These two verses immediately brought to my mind another passage in Proverbs 26 (Amp) I’m not sure why.

22 The words of a whisperer or slanderer are like dainty morsels or words of sport [to some, but to others are like deadly wounds]; and they go down into the innermost parts of the body [or of the victim's nature].

23 Burning lips [uttering insincere words of love] and a wicked heart are like an earthen vessel covered with the scum thrown off from molten silver [making it appear to be solid silver].

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[Keith]

I love your site. It always encouraging to run across other in depth studies of the word of God!

[Wendy March 15, 2010 at 09:55AM]

I have a questions with regard to Numbers 22:20 & 22. It seems that I read in verse 20: “Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But be sure to do only what I tells you to do.” Then in Numbers 22 Verse 22, “But God was furious that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the Lord to stand in the road to block his way. Why did it appear that God was ok with him going in Verse 20 but he was angered in verse 22.

Thank you for your assistance.

[Raeann]

I love Balaams blessing that was supposed to be a curse.

[Chris D]

Wendy, I've struggled before with the apparent conflict here before (get permission from God in v20, then God gets mad in v22). The commentaries and comments I have read thus far have all provided some explanation, but none that brought me to terms with these verses, ... but they all pretty much agree that Balaam was not one of the good guys. So, I accept that I don't fully understand these, and I turn to other places in the Bible to see what they say about Balaam:

2 Peter 2:15-16 ...forsaking the right way they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but he received a rebuke for his own transgression; for a dumb donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.

Jude 1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Revelation 2:14 'But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit acts of immorality.

Besides these NT references, there are several others in the OT (Jos, Neh, Mic) ... none of which paint Balaam in a good light. So for now I accept that I just don't fully understand the words in v20&22 yet ... and I'll move on for now and dig a little more next time I read Numbers.

[Chris D]

Oops. Forgot to post this, Wendy. Here's the Net Bible note relating to this--

sn God’s anger now seems to contradict the permission he gave Balaam just before this. Some commentators argue that God’s anger is a response to Balaam’s character in setting out – which the Bible does not explain. God saw in him greed and pleasure for the riches, which is why he was so willing to go.

Chris

[Dee]

Hi guys,
getting a late blog, lots happening today, I took a while this morning studying Bob Deffinbaughs illustration and indepth study of Numbers. Very interesting. Wendy, If you are listening and reading go to his link that Mike has above and you will understand everything you need to know about Balak and Balaam. I too, was wandering why the Lord commanded Balaam not to go to Balak, then allowed to go, then got furious and was about to slay him on the road to Balak and his people. Bob describes it like a parent who has a child who keeps persisting and asking and you give in and let them do it the whole while you are not happy about it but they have to learn for themselves. He did alot of things wrong and one was he thought he could manipulate God like he did the other "gods" in his life. It said that the gods of Baal, were able to easy be manipulated into the sinful acts of man, so he only told the "guests" of his home a half truth about the conversation with Yahweh, which he forgot to tell them why God said no, and then Balaam didn't tell them that God said he would never curse those who he blessed, he has shown favor with Israel, and for that He is going to keep His promises to His people, and why Balaam would understand that no is no and kept wanting to negotiate with God is beyond me, but he was working for the other "little g" of this world, because God forbade him 'not' to curse them, so God didn't deny that Balaam had some power which meant he was working for the underworld.. However what I thought was interesting was that Balak was a Midianite and was a descendent of Abraham from his second wife Keturah, who had Midian, and Moses when leaving Egypt fled to the town of Midian and marrying a midianite priest daughter, and had two sons. Also, they were related through Lot, (again, read Bobs link above) it really brought revelation to my eyes and for that I am greatful and intriqued.

Pertaining to the proverbs readings today, It struck a chord with me too because I too have been guilty of belittling a neighbor recently and am repenting now and am so sorry for that. Sometimes we don't realize what we do before its too late and the tongue is something we just have to tame like James points out, thank you Lord for your discernment and the Holy Spirit to nudge our guilty conscience and that You Lord for the Blood that was shed for me!!

Love You Guys,

~~Be Blessed

[Wendy]

Thank you all for enlightening me with my Balaam question. I so appreciate it.

Yours in Christ,