~ Devotion by Cayce Fletcher (SC)
Cayce Fletcher is a wife and homeschool mom of three. She writes and podcasts at amorebeautifullifecollective.com where she helps women cultivate a life of depth, discipline, and delight. Read the latest post on finding beauty in the everyday here.
When we read through the Bible, we are confronted with episodes that may make us feel uncomfortable. Some stories feature violence and death, and to our modern sensibilities, they may seem extreme and a little off-putting. But we must always remind ourselves that the guide for what is good is God, and we learn about him through his word.
So, today, when we read about a plague and the violent means to end the plague, we have to remember that we cannot come to the text with preconceived notions about what is good and place them on it (“Love is love,” etc.) We have to look at what the text says about goodness and truth.
The Israelites were almost at the end of the 40th year of wandering. They were living in a place just north of the Dead Sea. They began to pursue the ways of the people who lived around them (and I’m putting that euphemistically). This ultimately resulted in idol worship. Numbers 25:3 says, “So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor.”
The people had entered into a covenant relationship with God, and one of the key commandments of that relationship was to have no other gods before him. But they rejected that law and sought their own path.
Throughout the wanderings, they had committed several sins that showed their lack of trust, but as of yet, they had not sinned in this way: worshipping the gods of another nation. This phrasing – being yoked to Baal – is interesting. Throughout the rest of the Old Testament, we see Israel struggle with this habitual sin of Baal worship.
Also interestingly, it seems that Baal was introduced to the Israelites through the counsel of Balaam in Numbers. 31:16, see also Rev. 2:14. The Enduring Word commentary says, “Essentially, after his failure to curse Israel, Balaam said something like this to Balak: “I cannot curse these people. But you can get them to curse themselves by luring them to rebel against their God. Send your most provocative girls among them and tell them to tempt the men of Israel to immorality and idolatry.” And it worked.”
And thus starts the long battle against idolatry that plagues the Israelites through the judges, kings, and on into Exile. When framed in this way, it is easier to see why God was so angry at this breaking of the covenant. This was not a one-off situation. This was the beginning of the story of unfaithfulness.
In response, God’s anger “burned against Israel.” Fire is often a picture of wrath, judgment, and refinement. Ultimately, we will all be refined by fire, and we want what remains to be pure and complete not lacking anything. 1 Peter 1:7 says it like this, “So that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
We must take a hard look at the sin in our lives and repent of it. We have to reject idolatry and the lies of this age. We have to flee from evil.
We want to be refined and proven true on that glorious day of Christ.
Reflection Questions
- Some of today’s passage was hard to read. Why do you think God included difficult passages in his word? Why do we need to wrestle with these passages?
- Balaam was able to hurt the Israelites much more by enticing them to idolatry than by his curses. How does the enemy work in the same way today?
- How did Phinehas deal with idolatry and sin? How must we deal with it in our lives?
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father,
You are a great God – the only God worth worshiping. Thank you for your word that helps us to know you better. Please keep us from idolatry. Help us to be zealous for you and you alone.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Seek Grow Love 