May 15

NUMBERS 24
“You are one of those people who makes it really hard for optometrists like me.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“I’ll bet that ten years ago, you had better than average eyesight.”
“Yes, that is true.”
“Well, you are used to having great eyesight, but now it is only average so you think something is wrong. And you want me to fix it.”
“That is why I came in here.”
“I can never make your eyes as good as they used to be. I can give you some trifocals that can help you at differing distances, reading, medium range and long range. Your long distance vision isn’t all that bad. Basically your eyes are just aging.”
That conversation with my optometrist was about ten years ago. I bought the glasses. My vision has regressed now such that I cannot read without glasses. Putting on glasses is like having my eyes opened. I cannot read anything without them.
Balaam thought his eyes were opened. He was a seer. A seer would see visions which would then need to be interpreted to know the communication of God. Balaam was a dirty seer in the sense that his heart was not fully yielded to the Lord. He wanted the money Balak offered, yet because of the incident of the donkey, he was too frightened to pronounce the curse against Israel. Hoping to talk the Lord into changing his mind, he keeps coming back asking God what to say. Twice he sees that it pleases the Lord to bless Israel. Now he is ready to seek God again. He set his face to the wilderness, the place from which he thought Yahweh was coming. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Often I have heard it said, and even said it myself, “God can’t use a dirty vessel.” In this case the saying is not entirely accurate.
He embarks upon a third series of oracles. He has a clear vision of the glory of Yahweh, and he has a clear vision of the coming glory of Israel. What he says is truth, yet his motive is all messed up! God is using him! He gives another famous prophecy that was still useful to the Magi fourteen hundred years later:

Numbers 24:17
“I see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not near;
A Star shall come out of Jacob;
A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,
And batter the brow of Moab,
And destroy all the sons of tumult.

Fourteen hundred years later the Magi knew to follow a star that had appeared. How did they know? I think there were at least 4 reasons.

First, Balaam was from northwest Mesopotamia, a region not too far from where the Magi came. It is possible that Balaam recorded this incident, and sent a copy of it home as a letter or report. Perhaps the Magi came across a copy of a scroll or clay tablet which recorded this.
Second, Daniel was part of the caste of people from which the Magi came. I am sure that Daniel took the scriptures with him and left them for the Magi who followed him. The Magi would have had access to Numbers 24:17. Additionally, they would have had access to Daniel’s prophecy, and would know that it would be about time for the birth of the Messiah.
Third, the Holy Spirit would probably have guided their desires and interest in studies in order to lead them to the right conclusions.
Fourth, the Magi were astronomers and knew that this special appearance of a different star had meaning. The unrighteous Balaam was the first to predict the star as part of the blessing that Israel would be for the whole world.

How could God use such a dirty man? Well, if we don’t praise Him, He can make rocks do it. He prefers clean hearts and clean hands, but if they are not clean, He still accomplishes His purpose. His glory cannot be sullied by our sin! That brings me hope and a warning at the same time. God can use me even when I am dirty, but He would prefer to use me clean. Revelation 2:14 indicates that Balaam was responsible for the events of Numbers 25:
But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
Balaam was so close to God, yet so far! I like what Matthew Henry says of him:

That he saw the vision of the Almighty, but not so as to be changed into the same image. He calls God the Most High, and the Almighty; no man could speak more honorably of him, nor seem to put a greater value upon his acquaintance with him, and yet he had no true fear of him, love to him, or faith in him, so far may a man go towards heaven, and yet come short.*

May I never be like him, gazing upon His glory but never fully embracing it, used powerfully by Him but never finding true power, aware of the purity of God yet filled with impurity. In the end, Balaam saw the glory of God but never truly experienced it. Yes God can use a dirty vessel but how sad for that vessel! O Lord, let me not only see your glory, but let your glory cleanse me inside and out that I may personally experience Your transforming power! May the opening of my spiritual eyes lead me to a deeper walk with You! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
*Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: Complete and unabridged in one volume (Nu 24:15–25). Peabody: Hendrickson.

PSALM 134
We would walk through the hallways in the dark feeling our way to the sanctuary. All the fears of the dark would come to my mind. During my high school years, we fairly regularly made the trip to pray together. My college-aged brother was somehow able to gain a key to the church building, but it was to the educational building, not the sanctuary. Hence, the long trip through the darkened hallways. The mental practice of walking through the dark hallways was somehow a good preparation of time of prayer in the sanctuary. The sanctuary had an all wood roof and ceiling construction, so the cooling off of the wood at night time brought on a lot of creaking and cracking noises that increased the hallowed atmosphere of the building. We left the lights off for several reasons:

1) We did not want our presence to be an added expense to the church.
2) We really did not want to be interrupted by members of the church who were driving by wondering why the lights were still on.
3) We just liked the atmosphere of praying in the dark. On occasion the presence of the Lord was such that it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

Currently, we don’t have a night guard at our church building. Of course, we lock our building up at night. There isn’t any interest in people coming to the building after midnight. The Law made provision for the Levites to stand guard at the tabernacle/temple 24 hours per day. One might suppose that the reason would be to provide protection against vandalism or theft. However, with the presence of the glory of God dwelling in the holy of holies, I am not sure that would have been necessary. It was definitely to ensure that no outsider entered the courts of the Lord. It might have been to provide protection for people who might ignorantly wander into the sanctuary and be struck dead by a holy God who does not allow the unholy in His presence. The law also gives an answer. The Levites were to ensure that the fire of worship never went out. The Levites cared for the ‘things’ of worship. Our Lord is worthy of 24/7 worship. See 1 Chronicles 23:25–32 for David’s job description for the Levites.
Interesting, other places in scripture indicate that the Lord is worshipped non-stop in heaven. Consider:

Revelation 4:8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
Revelation 7:15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.
Revelation 21:24–26 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

What would these who stand all night in the house of the Lord do? For starters, they made sure everything was ready for the early morning sacrifice. Second, they sang praise to our God. Third, they made known that the Lord was the maker of heaven and earth. Fourth, they lifted up holy hands in prayer. Wouldn’t it be awesome if every congregation had 24/7 praise ascending to our Lord? I know that with a congregation the size of mine, it would be a physical impossibility. There are not enough people to sustain it. However, in a small city of 50,000, (about the population of Jerusalem when this Psalm was written) we have enough professing Christians to sustain it. No one congregation could do it, but together we could. What a demonstration of unity behind our Great and Glorious King that would be. Hmmmm. . . There is at least one thing we could all agree on—the greatness of His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ISAIAH 45
About a month ago I was perusing some movies on Netflix. I decided to watch The Book of Daniel by Pureflix. Now most Christian movies are of rather poor quality in terms of writing and acting, so I was a little bit hesitant. But I enjoyed the movie. It presents Daniel as coming before Cyrus and telling the story of four kings. Of course it is basically Daniel telling his life story. Daniel is an old man, and Cyrus is the fourth king. Daniel was born a hundred years after Isaiah, when Jeremiah was unpopular in Jerusalem and before the destruction by Babylon. Daniel was very well versed in the prophesies of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. I enjoyed the movie. The opening scenes impress upon the watcher the courage Daniel would have had because of his trust in the Lord. Where did that courage come from?
Think about it. A hundred years before Daniel was born, Isaiah mentions by name the King whom God would raise up to rescue His people and send them home when Daniel was an old man. God sends Cyrus a letter written by Isaiah a hundred and seventy years before Daniel meets Cyrus. (Sounds like Back to the Future III) What does God tell Cyrus in the letter? He tells Cyrus that He has a special relationship with Israel. Israel is His servant. Of course the implication is that Cyrus had better treat Israel properly. The majority of the letter to Cyrus is making sure that Cyrus understands who God is. We would do well to listen to what God says of Himself and to make sure that we embrace God as He describes Himself.
What is God like? First, there is NO other God beside Him. There is nothing and no one with which or whom we may compare Him. People often approach God as if they would be buying a car. They test drive it, look at its features and compare it with other cars and dealers. God won’t be approached in such a manner. He is not to be compared with any other because He cannot be compared to any other because there is no other. Cyrus and we had better understand that. Second, He informs Cyrus that He is the Creator of all that is—light/darkness, peace/calamity, rain/drought and even the way He has made each one of us. We are what we are because He made us this way. We had best not quarrel with Him over how he has made us. He made us as we are in order for us to fulfill His purpose. Third, He reveals His purpose for Cyrus. God raised Cyrus up in righteousness in order to direct Cyrus’ path to rebuild Jerusalem and set the exiles free. He instructs Cyrus to do this for free (verse 13). How did Cyrus respond? He was obedient! (Ezra 1:2-4) Wow, that is indeed awesome!
So does this God have a purpose for each one of His creation? I believe that He does. Finding and fulfilling my created purpose is what the stuff of life is all about. What an adventure! So what is my purpose? Obviously not everybody’s purpose can be as dramatic as Cyrus’ purpose, but generally speaking, it is to bring glory to Him. It’s the stuff movies are made of. Wow, the Creator wants to supernaturally work in my life to work His plans to fulfill His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JOHN 4:31-54
I remember hearing Josh McDowell tell the story of his early days in CCC, before he became famous. Part of his summer duties at headquarters one summer was cleaning restrooms. Coming out of the restroom with toilet brush in hand, he bumped into Dr. Bright and Billy Graham. Dr. Bright introduced the two. It was a rather inglorious beginning for Josh, a lesson in humility. But Josh continued in a task that was inglorious because he was under authority. He learned to clean toilets for God. In that sense He was becoming Christ-like.
Jesus was talking with a Samaritan woman. That was social suicide for a Jewish Rabbi of His day. Yet He was doing it because it was what the Father desired. Jesus got such a rush from doing the Father’s will that He compared it to being as satisfying as eating. It was His nourishment, His food.
There have been a few time in my life where I didn’t like what I was doing (cleaning toilets, a commercial kitchen grease trap, etc.) At those times I have had to come to the Lord and say, “Lord, I detest this activity, but You ask it of me. So I am doing it for You because You desire it of me.” When I have made that choice, he makes the work satisfying! He makes it pleasant.
That’s His glory! He makes doing menial or unpleasant tasks enjoyable! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John