Get this. You are blessed. Check out Ephesians 1:3, from where we can give "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ." That's a fact. Sometimes, though, we either forget, or we do things to brings bad news upon ourselves. That is what is going on here with Israel. Check it out.
That's what is happening in Numbers, chapters 22 to 25. At that time, the king of the Moabites was Balak. He had learned that all of the tribes of Israel were just opposite his land, and that the Moabites were all afraid of the Israelite threat. So Balak calls the prophet Balaam to curse Israel. King Balak sends elders of Moab and of Midian to Balaam's house with money in hopes that he will travel back with them. Instead, Balaam asks them to stay the night and, after hearing from God, tells the elders he cannot go with them. Balak doesn't give up, though. He sends a large group of princes the second time to invite Balaam. They stay with Balaam overnight, and this time God seems to allow him to go with the Moabite and Midianite royalty, provided that Balaam speaks exactly the words God wants him to speak. So Balaam goes with the princes.
Short story shorter, God tells Balaam to bless Israel, which infuriates and confuses Balak. Three different times Balak offers sacrifices and asks for a curse to fall on Israel, and three different times the opposite happens. So Israel remains blessed because of God's intervention, and all looks well.
That's chapters 22 through 24. In chapter 25 though, the tides change. Someone brings a curse on Israel. The culprit? Israel! Some knuckleheads start worshipping Moab's god, Baal, and practicing immorality with Midianite women. Obviously, the true God is not pleased. He decides to send a plague through the land, killing about 24, 000 people before someone actually kills an Israelite man and a Midianite woman who were together while Israel was weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The death of those two stops the plague from spreading, but damage had already been done.
Here's the point: God had just protected the entire nation from being cursed, and they go and bring a curse upon themselves. Like the people of Israel, we can mess up our own lives even while God is protecting us from curses. The God of the universe is looking out for His people, whether we realize it or not. Let's live understanding that we are under the blessing of our Father, so that we don't force ourselves to struggle under the self-induced curse of our own sinfulness.
That's what is happening in Numbers, chapters 22 to 25. At that time, the king of the Moabites was Balak. He had learned that all of the tribes of Israel were just opposite his land, and that the Moabites were all afraid of the Israelite threat. So Balak calls the prophet Balaam to curse Israel. King Balak sends elders of Moab and of Midian to Balaam's house with money in hopes that he will travel back with them. Instead, Balaam asks them to stay the night and, after hearing from God, tells the elders he cannot go with them. Balak doesn't give up, though. He sends a large group of princes the second time to invite Balaam. They stay with Balaam overnight, and this time God seems to allow him to go with the Moabite and Midianite royalty, provided that Balaam speaks exactly the words God wants him to speak. So Balaam goes with the princes.
Short story shorter, God tells Balaam to bless Israel, which infuriates and confuses Balak. Three different times Balak offers sacrifices and asks for a curse to fall on Israel, and three different times the opposite happens. So Israel remains blessed because of God's intervention, and all looks well.
That's chapters 22 through 24. In chapter 25 though, the tides change. Someone brings a curse on Israel. The culprit? Israel! Some knuckleheads start worshipping Moab's god, Baal, and practicing immorality with Midianite women. Obviously, the true God is not pleased. He decides to send a plague through the land, killing about 24, 000 people before someone actually kills an Israelite man and a Midianite woman who were together while Israel was weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The death of those two stops the plague from spreading, but damage had already been done.
Here's the point: God had just protected the entire nation from being cursed, and they go and bring a curse upon themselves. Like the people of Israel, we can mess up our own lives even while God is protecting us from curses. The God of the universe is looking out for His people, whether we realize it or not. Let's live understanding that we are under the blessing of our Father, so that we don't force ourselves to struggle under the self-induced curse of our own sinfulness.
posted from Bloggeroid
