Prayer: Father, I praise You this morning. The weather has turned after a very wet and cold winter. I thank You too, that the seasons of our life can turn also, for better or worse. You remain constant and You are present regardless of the season. Thank You for your constancy. Amen.
Reading: Numbers 31 key: vs. 8
8 Among the slain they also killed the Midianite kings: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
Attention: How many times has Adonai communicated with you, shown Himself to you in a vision or a dream? Or perhaps He has spoken to you through a timely word through someone else? Scripture is His love letter to all of us. Scripture is the owner’s manual for our lives. There is nothing which He withholds in His Word. There are accounts of dysfunctional parents, prodigal children, prostitution and prostitutes. Good kings and bad kings, anointed priests and cultic priests. He instructs us about sacrifice which is acceptable to Him and the abominable cultic sacrifices to Satan.
In Numbers chapters 22-24 we are told of a prophet named Balaam who was commanded by Balak the king of Moab to proclaim a curse on Moses and Bnei-Yisrael. Balaam had several encounters with Adonai which rendered him incapable of proclaiming a curse against God’s people. He told Balak, that even if he offered him his house filled with gold and silver, he could not curse Israel.
Yet, nowhere in scripture do we see evidence that the encounters with God translated into an allegiance to Adonai. In fact, we see that while Moses and Bnei-Yisrael lived in Moab, they “began to have immoral sexual relations with women from Moab. Then they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, so the people were eating, and bowing down before their gods. When Israel became bound to Baal of Peor, the anger of Adonai grew hot against Israel.”
One of the characteristics of Adonai is longsuffering. However, He could no longer tolerate the infidelity and adultery of Israel against Him. One of the false characteristics of God which is being declared by our pastors and our culture of today, is that God is love and compassionate. It is a true statement that God is loving and compassionate without compromising His discipline regarding sin.
Our sin is casting an incomplete character of God. In the book of Hebrews we read, “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of Adonai or lose heart when you are corrected by Him, because Adonai disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He accepts (12:5-6).” The concept is spoken of further in the verses following saying “if you are without discipline—something all have come to share—then you are illegitimate and not sons.” Discipline qualifies you to be a legitimate son of God’s. He knows who are His own.
I say all of this to say, notice that when God ordered vengeance on the nation of Moab, Balaam was also slain. This is indicative of an unregenerated soul. Balaam encountered the living God and chose to continue his ways as a cultic prophet.
Action: I choose today to receive God’s discipline as evidence of ownership.
Yield: I give over my will to determine my own course in life.
Engage: I choose to engage with the kingdom of God and expose evil.
Relationship: I choose to live a life filled with the Spirit of God.
Prayer: Father, I choose to keep myself from any form of evil worship and glorify the name of Yeshua, the Name above all names. Every knee will one day bow before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Amen.
Memory Verse: Hebrews 12: 5-6
5 Have you forgotten the warning addressed to you as sons?
“My son, do not take lightly the discipline of Adonai
or lose heart when you are corrected by Him,
6 because Adonai disciplines the one He loves
and punishes every son He accepts.”
Music Video: The Bananaman—When I Look Into Your Holiness https://youtu.be/jfIT3rooJWQ
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”