Today’s Scripture Reading (October 5,
2015): Numbers 24
In North
America, we are preparing for two elections. The United States will cast their
votes for the President who will follow Barak Obama in thirteen months. In
Canada, the push to re-elect or replace Stephen Harper has now reached its
final stretch – Canada votes in two weeks. For both nations, the objective is
clear. We want the golden person who can return our nations to security and
wealth. We want jobs for every person who wants a job. We want our enemies to believe
that there is no use attacking us because we are too strong. We want a bright
future, not just for us, but for our children and grandchildren. It is a good
dream.
But there
are some other elements of the dream. We want to stop climate change without
changing our behavior. We want financial wealth, but also the ability to go
into deep debt (because we all know that however much we might have, we always
need more.) We want oil to flow like water. Oh yeah, and we want enough fresh
water to be able to waste it on our lawns and swimming pools. We want the West
Coast drought to end. It is not just a good dream, it is a great one.
Unfortunately,
the person who could accomplish all of this has decided not to run, so we will
have to accept a person of lesser talents. And I am not much of a prophet (I am
definitely not a Balaam) but I can make this prophecy. Whoever Canada elects in
two weeks will disappoint the nation. And whoever the United States elects in
thirteen months, will disappoint the nation – and the world. Welcome to
reality.
Balaam up to
this point has been a great disappointment to Balak. The job for which Balaam
was hired, he has steadfastly refused to do. Every time he opens his mouth with
the order to curse Israel, he blesses them instead. But now he goes even a step
further. He speaks of the one for whom we are all waiting. The ultimate leader
who will not only change one nation, but the entire world. Balaam introduces
Balak to the idea of the Messiah. There is still hope for Balak’s Moab in the
short term, but not in the long run. Because the one is coming. He will
accomplish everything that we could want in a leader, but he will rise out of
Israel – and he will crush the future Moab. And there is absolutely nothing
that Balaam or Balak can do to change that one fact.
In the short
term, this prophecy tells of the rise of King David. David would crush Moab and
bring the entire region around Israel under his control. But this is also one
of the most beautiful Messianic passages in the Bible. I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near. This prophecy speaks of the one who can accomplish
all of our dreams and more, because this is the one who brings true freedom for
God’s creation.
For the
Christian, we know the realization of the prophecy. God is here and God is
near. While Balaam envisioned a military leader (a David) who would crush the
neighbors of Israel, what we received was a Messiah who leveled the playing field
and gave us hope for the future – the kind of hope that is not available from a
human politician (Jesus.) Balaam was right. The Messiah would rule over all the
people of the earth. But he would rule in love, seeking to restore and redeem
all the people of the earth and invite them into his Kingdom.
And yet we
also live in the tension of the prophecy. God is here, but he is also not. God
is near, and yet he is also far. He is now, but he is also not yet. And so we as
Christians look to the final revelation of Jesus, when all that is bad will
fall away, and we will see him as we have never seen him before. And then we
will repeat the sound of “God is here and God is near.” And Balaam’s prophecy
will finally be complete.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers
25
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