The Lord continues to lead the Israelites in their journey in the desert. They defeat the Canaanites and the Amorites along the way. He continues to ensure they have water and food to survive. And despite all this, they periodically break out in grumbling and complaining. They turn to worshipping false gods and consorting with women of tribes they meet along the way. I find it difficult to read these passages, as I see myself in the Israelites. How much does God give me in my life, and yet how often do I complain that it isn't enough, or that I want something different? I have a family that is so much more wonderful than I deserve, and yet I cannot control my temper or my moodiness when I am around them. My hope is that, as with the Israelites, God is merciful and forgives and keeps His promises, no matter how unworthy I am to receive them.
This passage continues with the story of Balak, king of Moab, and his efforts to convince Balaam, king of the Amawites, to join him in battling the Israelites. But Balaam is a man of God, and he listens to the Lord. Although he travels to meet Balak, Balaam stays true to God's instruction that he (Balaam) say only what God directs him to say. Rather than curse the Israelites, Balaam blesses them:
How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
Four times Balaam acts as an oracle, identifying the Israelites as a special people, "a people that lives apart." He predicts:
A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel.
A star in the East? The staff of the Good Shepherd? Throughout the Old Testament I continue to see the promise of Christ.
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