Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers 22:15-22.

“15 Then Balak again sent leaders, more numerous and more distinguished than the former.  16 They came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘Let nothing, I beg you, hinder you from coming to me;  17 for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you say to me.  Please come then, curse this people for me.’”  18 Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD my God.  19 Now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the LORD will speak to me.”  20 God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them;  but only the word which I speak to you shall you do.”

21 So Balaam arose in the morning, and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab.

22 But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as an adversary against him.  Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.” Numbers 22:15-22.

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Today’s Scripture seems puzzling to me (hopefully not to you, the reader).  Normally, I remove the numbers dividing the verses in the Scripture to emphasize the central point of the Scripture.  But, today, I include the dividing numbers, because they help me jump back and forth within today’s Scripture.  

In the immediately preceding Scripture, “God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them;  you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”  Numbers 22:12.

Moreover, in today’s Scripture, “Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD my God.”  Verse 18.  

Then why did Balaam add:  “Now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the LORD will speak to me.”?  Verse 19.  Balaam had already received the command of God to not go with them. 

At best, Balaam could have relied on the prior command of God, and immediately after his confession in verse 18, Balaam could have stated that he would not go.  

Verse 20 is also puzzling.  “God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them;  but only the word which I speak to you shall you do.”  Verse 20.  

Why did God apparently change his command to Balaam from Numbers 22:12 (“Do not go with them”) to Verse 20 (“rise up and go with them”)?  

And, Balaam could have least pressed God for clarification of the apparent change of commands after verse 20.  

But, apparently Balaam received the command that he wanted, and we read:  “So Balaam arose in the morning, and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab.”  Verse 21.

“But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as an adversary against him.  …”  Verse 22.

And then, why was God angry at Balaam considering that Balaam was obeying His second command in verse 20?

This is a long story that requires more Scripture and more meditation.     

We do know that we read much later in Scripture about a rebuke of Balaam and others who:  “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 mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.”  2 Peter 2:15-16.

That may be the main point of today’s Scripture, namely that Balaam did not tell the servants of Balak that he would not go, but rather, he asked them to stay, hoping that God would tell him something that he could use to go with them and perhaps get some of the riches offered by Balak, thus showing that he “loved the wages of unrighteousness” more than obeying God.

This provides a lesson and warning for us. “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:8-10.

And, there is more Scripture in this long story in the rest of Numbers chapters 22, and in the following chapters of Numbers chapter 23 and Numbers chapter 24.

“Great are the works of the LORD;
They are studied by all who delight in them.” Psalm 111:2.

“But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:2.

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers 21:10-20.

“Now the sons of Israel moved out and camped in Oboth.  They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, to the east.  From there they set out and camped in Wadi Zered.  From there they journeyed and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.  Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD,

“Waheb in Suphah,
And the wadis of the Arnon,
And the slope of the wadis
That extends to the site of Ar,
And leans to the border of Moab.”

From there they continued to Beer, that is the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may give them water.”

Then Israel sang this song:

“Spring up, O well! Sing to it!
“The well, which the leaders sank,
Which the nobles of the people dug,
With the scepter and with their staffs.”

And from the wilderness they continued to Mattanah, and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah which overlooks the wasteland.”  Numbers 21:10-20.

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At times, our lives may feel like the reading of today’s Scripture.  We may feel that we travel through a wilderness from insignificant place to insignificant place.  

But, we can meditate on God’s faithfulness in leading us.  God does give us mountain top views.  At the end of today’s Scripture, we read about:  “Pisgah which overlooks the wasteland.”

But, Pisgah also overlooks the promised land.  “Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, and the Negev and the plain in the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.  Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’;  …”  Deuteronomy 34:1-4.

But, more importantly, God daily gives us mountain top views through His Word which show us His salvation.    

“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.” Psalm chapter 121.

“With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.” Psalm 91:16.

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers 21:4-9.

“Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom;  and the people became impatient because of the journey.  The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?  For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.”

The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.  So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you;  intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.”  And Moses interceded for the people.  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard;  and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.”  And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard;  and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.”  Numbers 21:4-9.

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“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;  so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.”  John 3:14-15.

“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.  But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.  …

…  These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.  But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him.”  John 12:32-33 and 36-37.  

God could have saved every one of the people who were bit by the fiery serpents, but God did not.  “… many people of Israel died.”  Verse 6.  Likewise, God could have saved every one of the people in all of history who sinned, but God did not.

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;  and I will raise him up on the last day.”  John 6:44.

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”  John 6:37-39.

Consider further this will of God the Father from the Canons of Dordt in the section titled SECOND HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of the Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men Thereby.  God’s will was not to save everyone but to save only His elect.

Article 8.  For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of his Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation:  that is, it was the will of God, that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby he confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation, and given to him by the Father;  that he should confer upon them faith, which together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, he purchased for them by his death;  should purge them from all sin, both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing;  and having faithfully preserved them even to the end, should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in his own presence forever.

“It is the Spirit who gives life;  the flesh profits nothing;  the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe.”  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.  And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”  John 6:63-65.

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers 21:1-3.

“When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, then he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.  So Israel made a vow to the LORD and said, “If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.”  The LORD heard the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites;  then they utterly destroyed them and their cities.  Thus the name of the place was called Hormah.”  Numbers 21:1-3.

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Two days ago, we covered Numbers 20:14-22.  We remember:  “…  And Edom came out against him (Israel) with a heavy force and with a strong hand.  Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory;  so Israel turned away from him.

Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.” Numbers 20:20-22.

The LORD delivered Israel then, and now in today’s Scripture, the LORD delivered Israel again.  

In today’s Scripture, we read “The LORD heard the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites;  …”  Verse 3.

We covered the following Scripture in the devotion two days ago, and it is good to be reminded of it as we cover this new Scripture.

“4 I sought the LORD, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.” Psalm 34:4-7.

“17 The righteous cry, and the LORD hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the LORD delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 34:17-19.

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers 20:23-29.

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, “Aaron will be gathered to his people;  for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.  Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor;  and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar.  So Aaron will be gathered to his people, and will die there.”  So Moses did just as the LORD had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.  After Moses had stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on the mountain top.  Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.  When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.”  Numbers 20:23-29.

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Last night, when I first read this Scripture, I focused primarily on two things.  First, I focused on the LORD not allowing Aaron to enter the the promised land.  Second, I focused on the death of Aaron.  

I was sad.  And I was not only the one.  “When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.”  Verse 29. 

What do I write?!

This morning, when I read this Scripture again, I noticed that the LORD first declared Aaron’s glorious hope (and our glorious hope) that Aaron will be gathered to his people, before the LORD stated that Aaron shall not enter the land which He gave to the sons of Israel.  Then, I noticed that the LORD first declared Aaron’s glorious hope (and our glorious hope) that Aaron will be gathered to his people, before the LORD stated that Aaron will die.  

Aaron would not enter the earthly promised land which He gave to the sons of Israel, BUT most importantly, Aaron would be allowed to enter The Promised Land.  

“Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people.”  Genesis 25:8.

“Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, an old man of ripe age; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.”  Genesis 35:29.

“When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.”  Genesis 45:33.

“We count those blessed who endured.  You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.”  James 5:11.

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers 20:14-22.

“From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom:  “Thus your brother Israel has said, ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us;  that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly.  But when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt;  now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.  Please let us pass through your land.  We will not pass through field or through vineyard;  we will not even drink water from a well.  We will go along the king’s highway, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’”

Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through us, or I will come out with the sword against you.”  Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if I and my livestock do drink any of your water, then I will pay its price.  Let me only pass through on my feet, nothing else.”  But he said, “You shall not pass through.”  And Edom came out against him with a heavy force and with a strong hand.  Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory;  so Israel turned away from him.

Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.” Numbers 20:14-22.

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We may think we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Israel was stuck between the rock of Edom, so to speak, and the hard place of Meribah where there was no water.

But, God …!

But, God did provide water at Meribah:  “and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.”  Numbers 20:11.

But, God delivers us out of every trouble.  

Moses and Israel could remember God’s deliverance of them from Egypt what probably seemed a long time ago..

Moses and Israel could also remember Moses’ own confession of faith a few seconds ago.  “But when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt;  now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.”  Verse 16.

“Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.”  Verse 22.

“4 I sought the LORD, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.” Psalm 34:4-7.

“17 The righteous cry, and the LORD hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the LORD delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 34:17-19.

“Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous!  Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9.