Numbers 22:21-23:26
It is clear that the Lord has given Balaam the prophetic ability to hear from Him. It is also clear that Balaam can choose what he does with this ability without it affecting the raw ability itself. There is no sign of “sin” getting in the way of Balaam hearing from the Lord - perhaps out of a desire to continue with his previous commitment, the Lord communicates to Balaam throughout his whole rebellion. What may seem like the Lord tricking Balaam (in telling him to go with Balak’s men) I think is actually the Lord acting in astonishing grace towards one of his people. That grace is intended to give Balaam a wonderful space to repent but he exploits it to cement his rebellion and press into things that are against the purposes of God (working for those who are attacking God’s people and trying to pronounce curses against Israel). In the book of Revelation this fascinating man Balaam is held up as being a damaging false teacher (Rev 2:14) who people emulate at their peril. I two big things from the life of Balaam. Firstly, guidance is not just about seeing which “doors the Lord opens”. Balaam asked God to open doors and God, in his mercy opened them but Balaam was committing a terrible sin when he went through them! Guidance is about seeking God’s will and doing it, not throwing up a prayer and pressing on with what we wanted to do anyway. Secondly, the old chestnut that character is so much more important than gifting. Balaam really heard from God. Presumably he could have run a heck of a ministry time! But his heart had turned from pure devotion to the Lord and he damaged the people of God and ruined himself. God watches everything and, while gifting may seem to trump character in the now, we know that everything, yes everything will come out in the wash.
Luke 6:37-7:10
More stuff that feels a bit beyond me - huge truths that stand like enormous oaks and that are so strong and true that whole lifetimes could be spent exploring them and nothing else. But the big thing from today that strikes me is that all of this stuff is made to be put into practice, not just to be debated or considered. One of the greatest tragedies I’ve seen is people sitting in theology class identifying and picking apart the finest nuances of Jesus’ teachings while their lives are falling down around them. A Vineyard emphasis that I love is that traditionally bible study has been seen as “training” rather than “teaching”. I think that is really smart. Training does not exclude intellectual rigour or active enquiry - just think of all the money sports people spend on psychologists, technological researchers and the like - but rather always looks to turn these skills towards practical action. So we mine the scriptures - absolutely we do - but we force ourselves to approach each passage looking for treasures to enhance our understanding of God and strengthen our ability to follow Jesus. We submit ourselves to God’s word and ask the Spirit to change us through it. That is building a strong foundation for ourselves, a foundation that is deep, and firm and of great benefit to the world around us.
Psalm 37:32-40
Some of the Psalmists promises may not seem to hold true in our world of poverty, disease, tsunami and war. But his key phrase “wait for the LORD” not only acknowledges the tension but also beckons us to hope, to hope for a better day to come when the Lord will come good on all David’s charges. Waiting is not something I find easy but there is life there, and there is hope... hope that will not disappoint.
