You may subscribe yourself at the Ascension site here and receive notifications in your email, or just follow along on my blog. Bible in One Year Readings Index
Numbers 22:1-6 King Balak of Moab Sends an Appeal to the prophet Balaam
The Israelites have arrived in the final encampment after defeating the Amorites and taking their territory along the Jordan River Valley from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north (Num 21:21-24). The phrase in Hebrew, "beyond the Jordan of Jericho" in verse 1, means the Israelite camp was situated at a point on the east side of the Jordan River directly across from the city of Jericho on the west bank. They were encamped in the territory they had conquered from the Amorites, the same territory of King Sihon of the Amorites had claimed after defeating the army of Moab (Num 21:25-26)-territory that Moab apparently now wished to reclaim.
Balak knew some of the history of the foreign people encamped upon the Plains of Moab across from Jericho. He knew that they had come out of Egypt forty years earlier.
Question: Why was Balak afraid of the Israelites and why didn't he attempt to drive them out by force?
Answer: He was afraid because there were so many Israelites, and he feared they would consume all the region's resources.
Question: What ancestor of the Israelites was an Aramean from Haran/Nahor? What other Arameans were ancestors of the Israelites? See Gen 11:31; 24:2-4, 10, 67; 29:1-6, 15-30; Dt 26:5.
Answer: Abraham was an Aramean as were his kinsmen who continued to live in Haran. His son and his grandson both married Aramean women from Haran.
In Numbers 23:7 Balaam mentions the region of Kedem/Qadem as his homeland.
Question: In Numbers 23:7, what does Balaam say was the region of his homeland and how does that relate to Abraham's family? See Gen 29:1-4.
Answer: Balaam claimed the region of Kedem/Qadem as his homeland. Haran was a city located on a tributary of the Euphrates in Mesopotamia. The city was the home of Abraham's family before he left for Canaan.
Numbers 22:7-14 Balaam Gives His Answer
Balaam had the genuine gift of prophecy. He was in communication with Yahweh and even called Yahweh "my God" (Num 22:8, 18-19).
Question: What do the prophetic gifts of this non-Israelite Gentile and his special communication with Yahweh reveal?
Answer: Balaam's prophetic gifts show that God did not limit His interaction with the family of Adam to the descendants of Jacob/Israel. God called all peoples of the earth to know and serve Him, just as He also called and blessed the Kenizzite Gentile, Caleb.
Question: What instructions did Yahweh give Balaam? See Num 22:12.
Answer: He was not to accept the Moabite King's invitation. He could not curse the Israelites because they were blessed by God.
Numbers 22:15-21 King Balak's Second Appeal to Balaam
After Balaam's refusal Balak upped the ante in a second attempt to convince the prophet to be his agent against Israel.
Question: What did Balak offer in the first appeal as opposed to what he offered in the second?
Answer: The first time Balak offered wealth, but in the second appeal he offered power.
Question: How did Balaam refer to Yahweh?
Answer: He referred to Yahweh as "my God."
God came to Balaam in a dream that night.
Question: What was the divine revelation?
Answer: This time God told Balaam to accompany Balak's emissaries back to Moab.
Balaam and the angel (Gustav Jaeger)
Numbers 22:22-34 Balaam's Donkey and the Angel of God
Balaam began his journey with the envoys from Moab (verses 21 and 35), but verse 22 only mentions his two servants traveling with him, making a party of three men.
Question: What is the significance of the mention of Balaam in the company of only two servants making the journey?
Answer: This is another signpost where the number three points to something significant that is about to happen in God's plan for man's salvation.
We have seen this significant marker using the number three before: for example when Abraham was visited by three "men" in Genesis 18:2 and when Abraham took three persons (his son Isaac and two servants) on the journey to Mt. Moriah (Gen 22:3. We will see this "sign" again many other times, including the New Testament, for example in the Gospels when Jesus took three Apostles with Him to ascend the Mt. of Transfiguration (Mt 17:1; Mk 9:2; Lk 9:28).
Question: What are those events within the episode and list the verses?
Answer: Balaam struck his donkey three times (verses 28 and 32) and the angel blocked Balaam path three times (verses 23, 24, 26, and 33).
Question: Why do you think God reversed His earlier instructions by telling Balaam in a dream to go to Moab?
Answer: The text does not provide any information as to why God reversed his instructions in the dream, allowing Balaam to go to Moab, or why God became angry with Balaam for going. One reason is obvious-without going and giving God's blessings and prophetic vision for Israel we would not have the oracles that point to the significant events that will take place in the future of God's people.
St. Peter also wrote of Balaam's deficiencies, comparing him to men who are more concerned with material rewards than with offending God: They have left the right path and wandered off to follow the path of Balaam son of Bosor (a variation of Beor in Greek),who set his heart on a dishonest reward, but soon had his fault pointed out to him: a dumb beast of burden, speaking with a human voice, put a stop to the madness of the prophet (2 Pt 2:15).
The exchange between Balaam and the donkey gives us some insight into Balaam's character. It is difficult to know what is most surprising-the donkey given the power of human speech or Balaam's seemingly calm reaction to the talking donkey.
Question: The donkey had faithfully served Balaam "all his life" (verse 30), and yet what did Balaam say he would have done to her had he the means to fulfill his intent? What does this tell us about Balaam?
Answer: He said if he had a sword he would have killed her. Balaam is ungrateful for his beast's long years of service.
It is also interesting that the angel chastised Balaam for the way he treated the donkey. According the blessings God first gave mankind in Genesis 1:28, we have dominion over creation but only as caretakers. We do not have the right to abuse what God has created. Chastising Balaam for his treatment of the donkey, the angel told Balaam that he was under a death sentence from which his donkey saved him. The angel also added that had he killed Balaam that the donkey would have been spared!
Question: Why was Balaam under a death judgment and why did Balaam confess that he had sinned in verse 34? What was his sin? What were God's instructions to Balaam when He gave him permission to make the journey? Also see 2 Pt 2:15 and Jude 11.
Answer: According to Balaam's instructions when he was given permission to make the journey, God told the prophet in verse 21 that he was only to do what God told him to do. Since God can read the human heart, it must be that Balaam was already contriving in his proud heart how he could get the riches and honors that Balak was offering him by weakening Balak's enemy even if he could not voice a public curse against the Israelites.
St. Jude compared Balaam with Cain (Gen 4) and Korah (Num 16-17): Alas for them, because they have followed Cain; they have thrown themselves into the same delusion as Balaam for a reward; they have been ruined by the same rebellion as Korah-and share the same fate (Jude 11). It was the sin of pride and their opposition to the will of God that was the downfall of both Cain and Korah. Only God can read a human heart and Balaam's heart had been read and was judged not entire pure. However, with the divine messenger's warning and his confession of sin, Balaam had the opportunity to repent and to resubmit himself to God's plan.
Numbers 22:36-42 Balak Meets With Balaam
King Balak expressed his irritation that Balaam didn't come when he was first summoned. It probably didn't sooth Balak's irritation, but Balaam reminded the king that he had certain limitations.
Question: What were those limitations?
Answer: He can only say the words that Yahweh gives him.
Balaam will repeat three times to Balak that his prophetic gifts come from Yahweh and he can only say the words that Yahweh gives him (Numbers 22:28, 23:12 and in 24:12-13).
Deuteronomy 23:2-9
Restrictions on Access to Israel's National Assembly
The "Assembly/Congregation of Yahweh" (kahal, meaning the "called out ones" in Hebrew) served as the national governing body, similar to a national legislature, and was responsible for a broad range of judicial, political, and national policy matters (for example see Judg 20:2; 2 Sam 5:1-3; 1 Kng 12:1, 20). The national governing Assembly was composed of all the adult males of Israel meeting in plenary session and sometimes refers to their tribal representatives acting as an executive committee. The Assembly of Israel convened to declare war on an enemy state, to elect a king, to adjudicate legal cases, to distribute land and in covenant renewal ceremonies where allegiance was sworn in obedience to the Law of Yahweh as Israel's King. This is not the same as the special assemblies of worship during the pilgrim feasts (first and last day of Unleavened Bread and the eighth day of Tabernacles; Lev 23:7-8, 36; Num 28:18, 25; 29:36) to which non-covenant members were not admitted.
There were three types of emasculation in the ancient world: the cutting off the testes, the cutting off of the penis, or a castration that removed both the testes and the male member. Such procedures were usually forced on slaves who served in the royal harem. Sometimes eunuchs rose to positions of power within ancient societies, like the Ethiopian eunuch healed by the deacon Philip who was the chief treasurer in the court of the Ethiopian queen (Acts 8:26-39).
Question: What other reasons is given for the exclusion of the Ammonites and Moabites?
Answer: The other reason given for the exclusion of Ammonites and Moabites is their failure to be hospitable to the Israelites and the Moabites attempt to curse the Israelites during their journey through the Transjordan.
Question: This legislation presents what four conditions in which a person is barred from participation in Israel's national assemblies (verses 2, 3, and 4-7)?
Answer:
- Men with crushed testicles or whose male member has been cut off to make them eunuchs.
- No offspring of incest (like the Ammonites or Moabites) or adulterous intercourse, or the son of a prostitute.
- No resident aliens who are descendants of Ammonites or Moabites.*
- No resident aliens who are the Egyptians or Edomites until the third generation.
The problem with men who have been emasculated by having their sexual member cut off is that they would forever be ritually unclean because of leaking urine. If these restrictions are limited to resident aliens, emasculation would probably be the result of a punishment under the laws of neighboring countries or self-mutilation associated with pagan rites. Ritually impure Israelites and non-covenant members were restricted from attending worship services.
The legislation concerning descendants of Aaron who are eunuchs or who have other physical deformities being barred from serving at the altar is given in Leviticus 21:17-23.
The prophet Isaiah, however, spoke of a time in the Messianic Age when even eunuchs and Gentiles would be welcomed at Yahweh's altar (Is 56:3-5).
Question: When was this prophecy fulfilled in the New Covenant? See Acts 8:27, 36-39.
Answer: Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled when the Ethiopian eunuch, who served as an official in the court of the queen of Ethiopia, was baptized by St. Philip. Probably St. Philip the deacon of Acts 6:5 and not Philip the Apostle (see Acts 8:1-5).
Deuteronomy 23:10-15/23:9-14 Hygiene within the Military Camp of God
One of the premises of the legislation in the books of Leviticus and Numbers is that impurity is incompatible with the presence of God. Since God is present to fight for Israel within the camp of His holy warriors, an even stricter code of cleanliness must be in place than the laws of cleanliness which are observed in the residential camp of the covenant people where God resides in the Tabernacle: Hence you will warn the Israelites against contracting a state of uncleanness, rather than incurring death by defiling my Dwelling which is among them (Lev 15:31). It was for this reason that anyone who had a contagious infection or genital discharge, or who was defiled by contact with a corpse had to leave the residential camp until a state of ritual purity was reestablished (Lev 15:16-16; Num 5:1-4). The same rules of ritual purity were in force in the military camp. Most cases of ritual impurity required a ritual bath with ritual purity being restored at the beginning of the next day at sunset (Dt 23:12 and Numbers chapter 15).
Question: What were the practical reasons for requiring the soldiers to keep the camp permanently in a state of ritual holiness?
Answer: The emphasis on holiness would make the soldiers constantly aware of God's presence, their duty to be His holy warriors, and their dependence of His favor for their victory. Another practical application was that attention to hygiene would avoid the spread of sickness within the camp where men were living in close proximity to each other.
Deuteronomy 23:16-26/23:15-25 Five Laws
Law 1: While slavery is not forbidden in Scripture, God placed regulations upon how slave owners were to treat their slaves humanely.
Law 2: No Israelite was to engage in prostitution or ever serve a pagan god as a ritual prostitute, a Canaanite practice for both men and women.
Law 3: In ancient Israel, loans were usually charitable loans to covenant members who had fallen on difficult times (Ex 22:24; Lev 25:36-37). It was a moral obligation to help an impoverished covenant member without increasing his poverty by requiring interest. Lending without interest is listed as a virtue and praised as an act of generosity (Ps 15:5; 37:26; 112:5; Prov 28:8; Ez 18:8, 13, 27; 22:12).
Law 4: Vows were usually made when a person sought divine assistance when making a petition like the birth of a child, deliverance from illness, or victory in battle (see Num 21:2; 1 Sam 1:11; Judg 11:30-31; Jon 1:16; 2:10). Numbers chapter 6 gives instructions concerning vows of abstention in association with a Nazirite vow and the necessary sacrifices at the completion of a vow. Vows were to be fulfilled as soon as possible after the petition was granted, usually at the next pilgrim feast (1 Sam 1:21). To act without appreciation for God's deliverance and to neglect one's vow was a grave sin (Num 30:3; Ecc 5:3-5).(12)
Law 5: Travelers often had to pass through grain fields and vineyards. This was not considered trespassing, and hungry travelers were permitted to eat some of the farmer's grain or to eat some grapes or figs, as Jesus' hungry disciples helped themselves to some grain from a farmer's field (Mt 12:1-2) and as Jesus looked for figs to eat when He was hungry while traveling from the Mt. of Olives to Jerusalem one morning (Mt 21:18-19).
Question: What restrictions were placed on travelers who took advantage of this generosity?
Answer: Travelers must only hand-pick and eat what they needed. They could not carry away grain or fruit in a bag or basket nor could they cut the grain with a sickle.
+++
CHALLENGE: “Abortion is a religious issue, and those who disapprove of abortion must not impose their religious beliefs on others.”
DEFENSE: Abortion is not a “religious issue.” It is a human-rights issue.
Even if abortion were a religious issue, there is no reason why religious people should set aside their moral values on this topic or any other. Religious values have played an indispensable role in issues from caring for the poor and the sick to ending slavery and tyranny.
To suggest that religious people should not bring their values to bear on public issues also misunderstands the nature of democracy, which exists precisely to allow people to express their views on how society should be run.
But the truth is that abortion is not a religious issue. When people say it is, they imply that it is a matter of faith rather than reason. This is false. A powerful case against abortion can be made without bringing religion into the discussion. Unborn children simply are innocent human beings, and their innate right to life must be respected like that of any other innocent human being (see Days 88, 185, 191, 202).
It is a scientific fact that the unborn are living human organisms. This is not a religious claim. It does not depend on the teaching of any church or spiritual leader. It is a matter of basic biology, and only deliberate self-deception could allow one to avoid this fact.
Once you recognize that, the question is what you will do in response: Will you acknowledge the right to life possessed by all innocent human beings? Or will you begin the rationalizations people engage in when they wish to deprive an entire class of human beings of their right to life whether that class be unborn children, the mentally retarded, Jews, or anyone else.
In other words, the question is whether you will side with those who justify and commit genocide or with those who seek to protect innocent human beings. From a moral perspective, the correct choice is obvious, but too many today use the claim that abortion is a “religious issue” simply to shut down rational discussion of the subject and evade the clear implications of the facts.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
No comments:
Post a Comment