We could title Numbers 21 “God’s Victory Over Israel’s Enemies!” As we read the chapter we find three external adversaries came against Israel: the Canaanites, the Amorites, and the Bashanites. In each case, God gave the Israelites victory. We also see Israel once again became their own enemy, by complaining against God and Moses. As usual, the complaints focused around the food God provided, and how much they hated it. Their lack of gratitude for God’s provision resulted in God sending poisonous snakes into the region. Many Israelites died from snake bites, and as usual they cried out for Moses to do something. As he interceded, God told him to build a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. When an Israelite was bitten by a snake, if he or she looked up at the bronze serpent he or she would be healed. While my thought was, “Wouldn’t that lead the Israelites to idol worship, because the bronze serpent was a tangible symbol?” Jesus would later refer to the serpent as a type of His own cross. He said just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so will the Son of man be lifted up (see John 3:14).
Numbers 22-24 records the interaction between King Balak of the Moabites and Balaam, son of Beer, a prophet. Balak’s goal was to get Balaam to pronounce a curse on Israel. At first, Balaam wouldn’t go to Balak. Then when Balaam did go, he had a miraculous encounter with the angel of the LORD, which included Balaam’s donkey speaking to him. When Balaam finally arrived, he told Balak he could only pronounce a blessing or a curse based on what the LORD told him. Each time he inquired of the LORD, the result was Balaam pronounced a blessing on Israel. Each time Balak became more incensed with the result. In reading the account, I couldn’t help but see the bigger picture: God only listens to prayers or petitions that are in keeping with His will. When we turn to God with our requests, we do well to turn first to God’s character and nature and ask, “Is my request aligned with God’s will and purpose?”
John 10 shows us clearly Jesus is the Messiah. He refers to Himself as the “door” of the sheepfold as the “Good Shepherd” who lays down his life for the sheep, and He tells us He and the Father are one. As we would expect, these claims incensed the Jewish leaders. In fact, they wanted to stone Him for these proclamations. Jesus challenged them by asking for which of his works it was that they wanted to stone Him to death? They answered it wasn’t for any of his works (so at least they were acknowledging His good works in a back-handed kind of way), but for claiming to be God. Jesus answered that statement by quoting Scripture, which gives us incentive to read and learn the Scriptures ourselves. That way, when folks question us about our faith in Jesus, we will have reasonable responses.
In John 10, Jesus makes a powerful statement about the difference between Himself and the devil. He said, “The thief (that is the devil) comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.” When we experience threats to our well-being, we can be sure they don’t come from Jesus. It isn’t His will for us to suffer, although at times God does permit us to suffer. Jesus came to bring us life, abundant life, here and now, and forever. We do well to remember that statement when we experience challenges, difficulty, and outright evil in our lives. In those times remember Jesus is for us, and is on our side.