the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 1 of 5
Numbers 22:1-21
We now leave Israel for a few days to find out what is happening to their enemies. Filled with fear, Moab, with their king Balak, saw Israel coming up from the wilderness, covering the country and taking up a position right in front of them. They tremble for their harvest in danger of being plundered "as the ox licketh up the grass . . . ". Let Moab be reassured! When the manna, the Bread of life, is appreciated by God’s people, they wish for nothing that the world possesses. In order to conquer Israel, Balak thinks to make use of supernatural methods. He calls to his help the diviner Balaam whose reputation he knows. This man personifies throughout scripture an accommodating clergy, hiring themselves out for reward (Deuteronomy 23:4; Judges 1:11). Balaam is torn between his desire to earn the riches and honours promised by Balak’s emissaries and the consciousness that he is unable to go beyond the sovereign will of God. Visited by Him, Balaam hears this categorical and incontrovertible declaration: "Thou shalt not go . . . thou shalt not curse the people for they are blessed"! In the hope of persuading the LORD to revoke His declaration, the faithless prophet forgets that God does not change (cf. Numbers 23:19). So that, when the second deputation arrives, he is allowed to go where his greedy heart sends him.
