Week 19: Numbers 11-14; 20-24; 27

The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in HESED. 

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So excited to cover today. The book of numbers and a talking donkey. What? And Aaron's death, and so many interesting, interesting things we have coming up this week. Let's chat. Let's get into it. So the book of numbers. So we just ended with the book of Leviticus. And the Book of Leviticus, like we said, it's more priestly than anything else, right? Like it tells the stories of the priests. Or how to administer priestly duties. And Numbers tells um a similar tale. In some ways. It has some similar narratives. And it's happening, it's happening a little bit. And we'll see this through through Deuteronomy and Numbers in Leviticus. There are some things that are um well, how do you say that? That are um chronological. But there are a lot of things that these are kind of all happening at the same time. We won't get too into the promised land until um Deuteronomy. Um and so this is what or even in yes, and in the stories of judges is when we will fully be into the promised land. And so um a lot of these stories um are going to be happening around the same time within the same um narrative and all of those things. And so that is what's happening with the book of numbers. The book of numbers is um it's the reason it's called the book of numbers, you would think you're like, okay, book of numbers, I'm getting it for the first couple of chapters, but none of the chapters that are assigned in Come Follow Me actually have that much to do with numbers. And that just comes from the word that's first used at the beginning of the book, in which they give the genealogy and the numbers of every person who is in the group of Israelites. At the time, they number them, they give a um basically a census record of everybody who was there, um, how many numbers there were of the tribes of Israel, etc., etc. So we get that list. Great. Um, but that's why it's called numbers. But really, there's not a lot about numbers as we continue on, especially in the stories that we're going to be talking about today. Now we're getting, again, some stories happening in the wilderness. We get Moses's um wrestle with um authority and what it means, how he's an authority. Then we get the story of him and Aaron acting, you know, with God's law, but not exactly according to God's commandments, and them getting locked out of the um of the promised land so that they cannot enter in. And then we get the story of them fighting um people in Moab and other tribes um in Edom, etc. And so that's kind of the general story. But right now that at the beginning, we're going to get the narratives of them entering into the wilderness, and so uh, and what's happening there. So we get the same story that we had in um in Exodus about the quail, but we get a little bit more um details about what's happening. Now, is this another version of the quails? I don't think so. I think this is the same story that was told in Exodus, and this is the story of how, yeah, it's the same stories told in Exodus um about why these quails come. And we get we we heard about it in Exodus, like I said, um, but now we get more context. So, and chapter 11 is where we're gonna start, and they're complaining in the desert, right? It's the same thing, and again, I would like to emphasize that we need to look at these people with just an insane amount of empathy and understanding because if we were in the same position, we would probably be doing the same thing. Like, you don't have anything to eat, right? Um maybe they don't have their animals with them, or if they do, they don't want to kill them all, right? They want to eat something besides manna. Um uh, you know, um, and we get more description about what manna was. So it was like the coriander seeds, so white. Um, they gathered it and they would make the bread themselves, which I think is interesting too, because when we get into this concept of manna and daily bread, I think a lot of times we're like they went, at least this is how we imagined it when I was little. Like they went and they picked it up and the bread was already ready and they ate it, right? But it wasn't like they had to take it and they had to make something out of it. And I think that is true for the daily bread or the daily nourishment that we get from the Lord. It's not just we're there and we receive it and it's ready for us as soon as we're ready to go pick it up, right? As soon as we're ready to read the scriptures, like we get everything that we need out of it throughout the day or whatever, um, just from the prayer, just from reading the scriptures. But I think it's the act of ruminating on about thinking about it, or even better, putting it into action. Um, and I think that is true. Uh that we can see that here, and that that's told a little bit more, um, clarified through this mention in Numbers. And so then the Lord, right, the his the the breath enters his nostrils, right? He gets angry. Again, I don't remember if I described this, but that's what anger is in um in Hebrew. It refers to the to the nostrils, and so I think that's interesting. You know, a lot of times it's the breath enters the nostrils or just something about the nostrils, the nose. And I think that's interesting because when I get frustrated with somebody, can you hear that, right? Like it's just like it's an intake of breath, and it's not necessarily like anger in the way that we would think it, like violent or anything like that, but just like okay, there's a lot of emotions right now, like I need to take it in. He's feeling that, and maybe that's a little bit more-I don't know, sees God as a little bit more like us and a little bit less scary, right? And so, um, and Moses is is angry at the people, and he's angry, you know. He says, Okay, they're complaining, and then but Moses is like, Okay, these people are complaining to me, you know. Why why why have you treated me so badly? Like, haven't I found haven't I done what you wanted me to do? Like, and why do I feel like I'm getting the retribution of all the people? Like, did I bear these aren't my children? Like, I don't I love this. Did uh in verse 12 of chapter 11, did I conceive all these people? Did I give birth to them that you should say to me, carry them on your burden? Like he Moses is just feeling the weight. Again, we got this in Exodus. He's feeling the weight of what it means to lead this people, especially the people who you know keep keep uh keep complaining or you know aren't easy to deal with. He's just like, oh, really? Do I have to take this on all by myself? And the Lord says, No, you're right. Call 70 men. So again, another story as to why the 70 elders were there to help him, right? And so then they did. They're there, um, and they have, you know, we have meat to eat, right? And so, but the people like consecrate yourself tomorrow. Like, make I'm gonna have a miracle come upon you, right? And so he tells the 70 elders that they tell everybody else, they get themselves prepared for a miracle, and quails come. But it seems to be that there was only uh this this incident seems to suggest that maybe there were only a couple of people who were actually complaining about it. It could be that, um, based on the language, that these actually weren't Israelites, but they were um group people who had come from the Israelites. This is done by the phrase, I'm trying to find the exact phrase that it is. The camp followers with them had a strong craving. And so some scholars are like, that's in, sorry, that's in verse four. Or it's like, maybe it's the camp followers that are saying this, who have followed with the Israelites, who have decided to become Israelites, right? But they're not fully there, they're just with them. And so some people have been like, okay, maybe it's them that are complaining. They're not, maybe they don't have as much of a connection to, you know, this idea of being covenantally connected to God yet, and maybe that's why they're complaining. They also maybe don't know God as much, um, because they don't have the same ancestral history as the Israelites have. I think that's super interesting, right? That maybe these are people who are still getting to know God versus the Israelites. I mean, the Israelites are also getting to know God, but maybe again, it's people that are newer that are doing this. And maybe, again, that can add us some compassion. So, right. Um, right? And then, and then it turns out that that the way that these 70s elders are called, sorry, I keep bouncing everywhere for this, but as these 70 elders are called, they are prophesying themselves. And then it turns out that two more are prophesying outside of the camp. And people run and they're like, Moses, two people who weren't there are prophesying. Shouldn't we kill them? Like, that's not good, right? That they would be kind of claiming this divine thing, like they want to usurp power, that's not good. We should get rid of them essentially. And Moses is like, why are you mad that more people have access to God than I do? I want everybody, right? He says, um, would that everybody would be, would that all of God's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit on them. Again, we talked about this when when we uh last time we talked about this story, but Joseph Smith himself said that he once he was able to, once the three witnesses were able to receive their own revelation about um the gold plates and the eight witnesses, that Joseph Smith just felt such an immense weight off of his soul's shoulders. Um he's just said to mom, his mom, um Lucy Mac Smith, like, I'm just so glad. I can't remember the exact phrase, but basically, like, I'm so glad that this this burden is off of me now. And that's what Moses is experiencing here. Then the quails come. Um and also, but then this, right, in Exodus is shown as a miracle, and then in this one it says, but actually, there was also a plague that came in and got rid of all the people who were complaining. Um, and so it's hard to know, you know. We have kind of two different stories that tell two different tales. It could be the exact same thing, it's just the same story told with different details in a different context, right? Because this one is kind of um, whereas Exodus is showing the miraculous mercy of God. This one is showing a little bit more the consequences of acting up against God. Um, and so that's what's happening here. Because they had a craving, and um, then they they they had a plague. And so, um, and again, was this actually the anger of the Lord? Was it just the fact that, you know, quails that die might have a disease in them, and if a lot of them fail in a certain place, they might have a lot of disease on them. Um, but the Lord was also feeding them. It's so hard to know, but that could be just some of my thoughts there. Um, but again, important to realize too that the Lord wants us all to have the spirit to be with us, to lead us and guide us. Um, and but it needs to happen through the proper authority, and that's what we get in in verse, and sorry, in chapter 12, is that Aaron and Miriam are like, okay, is Moses called of God because of his like birthright, basically? Like, okay, we're his brother and sister, like we should also be leaders of this people. We want to be, you know, like has he not also spoken through us, right? Aaron is the call as the high priest, Miriam. It's clear she has some power when she led the Israelite woman in dance. They're like, okay, aren't we also the leaders? Why is Moses the only one? And the answer here, you know, they want power. And that makes sense, right? Like, also, Moses doesn't want to be alone in this. So they're like, well, why don't we take power? And then Miriam appears to be the only one getting struck with this leprosy. Um she is she's white, right, with this with this leper this leprosy, which is interesting because this is contrasted with the fact that they actually bring up Moses' wife, a Kushite woman, who maybe had, you know, different I it's not clear whether skin is brought up here, but modern scholars would see that where, you know, a Kushite woman maybe had a different color of skin, and then Miriam actually becomes white, right? That's her punishment. Aaron complains about it. He says, We are being punished. Now, is Aaron's punishment taken out of the scriptures through time? Or is does he see Miriam's um response? Sorry, her um cursing as his own cursing because they're siblings. I don't know. But what we see here is a sure connection between what revelation is, and revelation is for all people. We can all have the spirit to be with us. This is what the Compholemy is also pointing to. We can all have the Spirit, we can all see for level revelation for our own lives. But when it comes to the church, the prophet is the mouthpiece of the Lord. He represents Jesus Christ on the earth. Jesus Christ is one man. So one man speaks for him, leading his church. And then we can all receive revelation for how we are supposed to take on our callings, our things given to us by God through the prophet and his priesthood, and through the people that he has designated. Right? So there needs to be order, otherwise, there's chaos. And this will come in later in Judges, right, and in other places, that having multiple leaders can create chaos. There needs to be order. And the idea that we can all receive revelation is true. We can for our own lives. And I'm just reminded of the talk given by uh Elder Renland, which is it needs to be in our own lane. And sometimes our lanes are expanded, sometimes they're shortened. But that is what is happening there, and that's what's being told in numbers of 12. Now we move on to um oh and then in the next part of Comphalemy just talks about Moses being meek. In some translations, it's humble. And I thought this was interesting when we go back and read Elder Bednar's talk that is quoted in the Compholemy, which is meekness is a defining attribute of the Redeemer and is distinguished by righteous responsiveness, willingness submissiveness, and strong self-restraint. He says, Whereas humility denotes the dependence upon God and the constant need for his guidance and support, a distinguished characteristic of meekness is a particular spiritual receptivity to learning both from the Holy Ghost and from people who may seem less capable, experienced, or educated, who may not hold important positions, or who may, or who otherwise may not appear to have much to contribute. Why is this important distinction? Why is this distinction important? Elder Bednar is teaching us a truth that I've never considered before studying this, which is humility is the way that we interact with God and how we see our interactions with God and we realize our relationship with him. Meekness is more of our relationship with other people, meaning we can receive promptings from the Holy Ghost, and we can receive promptings and help, and we can also help other people, but how we interact with them. We do not see ourselves as better than them, but rather that revelation can come from anywhere, that we can, you know, that that we can be taught by anybody that we respond and how we can help them or how they ask us to help them, that we can submit to do all that the Lord would have us to do or that other people ask us to do, and that we can have some strong strong self-restraint in our interactions with other people. And um I'm I'm I love that idea, and I think Moses is shown time and time and again to have this, especially as he wants other people to receive revelation. He doesn't see himself, which by the way, he had a high standing politically before this, too. He's held strong political power his whole life, seemingly, and yet he wants everybody else to have the blessings that he does, and that's where he shows his meekness and humility. So that we can all better redo that. I mean, I saw that and I'm like, oh, I need to be better at being meek. So then we get into numbers 13 and 14. And what's happening here is now they're finally getting to go into the promised land. Right? They're they're seeing the promised land. Uh a group of men get to go in. And um among these is uh is Joshua, whose name was Hoshea, which is salvation, and gets changed to Joshua, which is Jehovah is salvation. And so then he gets he gets Jehovah put into his name, which I think is beautiful, and I think reminds and and it also sets up Joshua as the successor of Moses as he will be, and the reminder that it is God, that Jehovah, that is doing this, not Joshua, not Hosea, right? Not Moses, but it is always God who is doing this. So they go, the spies, quote unquote, are sent and they go, and what they encounter is grapes, a lot of grapes, and pomegranates and figs, and these are fruits, but they're also representative of fertility, the greatness of the land. Like this is truly a land flowing with milk and honey, but they also see giants, they also see not giants in the way that we would say, but large men, large people, that they're like, we would have to fight them to get this land. Like that is the reality back in those days, too. It's like you don't just go and place yourself in the land, and you're like, Yes, we will be taking it because the Lord said we could, and now we live here and we're kicking you out. No, no, no, no, no. And they're like, we can't do that. So so all of the other all of the other spies report and they say you know what? It's really we shouldn't go. I'm scared. We shouldn't go. But it is Caleb and Jos Joshua who say, you know what? We can do it. We can do it in the strength of the Lord. You know, it's a good place. Like, look at all that's good there. There's so many grapes. Eskol, right? Eskol means literally a cluster of grapes. There's so much S-kol. There's uh there's uh pomegranates and figs. Like, what we can do it. Like, there's just so many great things. Look what the Lord has prepared for us. That's great. And they do not go because of the the Nephilim, and because the congregation listens to the spies that say it's scary and they say, let's not do it. And Josh, it caused Joshua and Caleb to uh tore their clothes tear their clothes, which is a sign of distress, right? They're they're showing their distress by tearing their clothes. I think just the physical action kind of gives you a release, but I it also is a covenantal thing, right? Like my soul is torn in half, or you know, if this doesn't change, may my may I be torn in half, right? Kind of what we were talking about with with those sort of um covenantal cursings and stuff like that before. And right, they're like, the land that we went through spies is an exceedingly good land. Do not rebel against the Lord, do not fear the people of the land, for they are no more than bread for us. Their protection is removed from them. The Lord is with us, do not fear them. The testimony of just Joshua and Caleb, and the people don't listen, unfortunately. But Moses intercedes for them, right? Moses again is the Jesus Jesus figure here. He goes, he stands between them and the Lord, and he says, Lord, I don't understand. Like, please, the sorry, they don't understand, please. Like, you, oh Lord, are seen face to face. You are in the midst of them. If you kill them, by the way, like, um all the people are gonna look at and be like, oh, the Lord isn't that powerful because those people just died in the wilderness. Like, think about the people in Egypt. If they say that we died in the wilderness, they won't glorify you. I love that point. And it's like, did the Lord change his mind? I don't think so, but I think we just see right Moses acting as the as the intermediary between the Lord and these people. He He then writes a prayer that he wants the people to say, right? Which is the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, uh, meaning literally full of chesed. This is the covenantal love. Moses is reminding the Lord of the covenantal love that he has for this people that causes him to forgive, causes him to be merciful to them, forgiving iniquity and transgression. But he doesn't clear the guilty, and he, of course, he answers upon the heads, right? Like, but I think we see that and we're like, oh my gosh, the Lord, you know, if we are, if we are guilty, he will do that for generations and generations. I don't see it as that. What I see is the Lord forgives instantly. But if we stay away from him, the consequences are that we don't have that Hesed with us, and that stays for a long time. The consequences last for a long time in both directions, right? There's opposition in everything. Either you can have your Hesed and your love and your forgiveness for generation and generation, or you have the exact opposite. Forgive the iniquity of this people. Moses is acting as Jesus Christ does for each of us. Forgive their iniquity, Lord, because you were merciful, because of your Hesed, because of my Hesed that I have for them, forgive them. It has nothing to do with us, it has everything to do with them, right? But they want us to become like them. And so it's good, right there. The Lord forgives them, but now they won't are, they're not able to enter the land for 40 years. The only people who will enter the land is are Joshua and Caleb, because they're the ones who believed the most. And then the people hear this and they're like, oh wait, no, well, you know what, you're right. Like, we shouldn't have done that. And I've done this before, right? I totally get the people in this. I totally get the people in this, or you're like, you know what, you're right. I shouldn't have said that. Like, I shouldn't have complained. We should go. We should trust in the Lord, right? Like, you're right, I shouldn't complain. And then they go, but the Lord's like, you know what? No, you didn't listen to me the first time. I'm not with you. It's it wasn't the act of destroying them that I wanted to do. I wanted you to have faith in me. And that's it every time. The Lord cares less about our actions and more about having faith in him, which leads us to action. And, you know, that we can do it the first time is what the lesson is from this. Let's let's do it the first time. Let's have faith in the future, right? Let's let's see the good in the future that the Lord has presented with us and not just focus on the problems that it might be interesting. The Lord will be with us in the problems. That doesn't mean we don't have to acknowledge them, right? But that we can choose to see the good and choose to have faith and believe that the Lord can help us overcome our problems. So that's what's happening here. And now we'll get into, right? So that now they're gonna be in 40 years in the wilderness, and the men were there for 40 days, checking out, right? The spies were checking out the land for 40 days. So what does that mean? 40 in the ancient text might mean 40. But it, you know, in some cases it might literally mean 40 years, but most of the time it just indicates a long period of time, particularly a time fullness complete, or some sort of change, or um transformation is happening during this time represented by 40. Um, it's a long time, it's a transformational time, and that's what's happening with the people in the wilderness, right? It's a sufficient time, transformational time. The people go for 40 days, a long time. They go, they are transformed by seeing the new land, and then they come back and they're trying to, you know, get ready for people. So 40, all the it might be literal, but most people, and I tend to agree with this too, I don't see it as literal all the time, but I think it does point to this idea of transformation, completeness, etc. Jesus going um to fast for 40 days and 40 nights. There might be some truth to that because we've seen, you know, we see there is this ancient concept of going and fasting for long periods of time. Um, was it exactly 40 days? Could be. It could just be that it was a train, it was a transformational time, a time, a point that Jesus went for a long time to be with the Lord. So that's just an example. Then we get the waters of Miraba. Again, we're told the story in Exodus, but this story now has a different twist. Or maybe again, maybe more additional details or different details are told here to fit in with a different narrative in a different context. Now we're telling why they were in the wilderness for 40 years. We're not telling necessarily, we are showing the miraculous power of God, but we're also showing kind of some of the negative consequences that were happening to them in the wilderness. And this is right of Meribah of uh of bitter. And what happened is that the people are thirsty, and the Lord's like, I will show my power into them. The Lord is my rock, right? That I'm the Lord, I'm the Lord of the rock. And he said, Okay, go, that's fine. We're gonna we're gonna show forth our power again. Love it. This is a perfect opportunity to show them that I love them. He says, Moses and Aaron, go and take the staff, meaning the staff that Aaron has, um, the one that that I gave you to to perform all the miracles that represents, right? The the arm, the hand of God, right? Bring the water out of the rock for them. Command the rock, right? So use your voice. Use your voice. You take the stick, you have it in your hand, but use your voice, right? You're the mouthpiece of God. But Moses and Aaron go and they hit it with the stick. What does that do? It lessens the power of God. It gives the impression that it was Aaron and Moses that were doing this miracle, not God. In fact, Moses says in verse 10, listen, you rebels, or Moses and Aaron, I guess, say, listen, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock? And then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice. But the Lord says, Because you did not trust in me, that I would bring it out not with the staff. That's been used before, right? But now I just want you to use your words. Takes a little bit more faith. To show my holiness before the lies of Israel, then you shall not bring the assembly into the land which I have given them. So now Moses and Aaron are blocked from entering into the land of Israel because they did not follow, they did not allow the word, they did not have sufficient faith in the Lord to do the thing which he was going to do. Um, and so that is the reason that is given for I. Moses and Aaron could not enter the promised land. And listen, I've been there. It shows that even the prophet, right? We don't believe in infallible prophets. We believe that they can make mistakes and that they're not perfect all of the time. We it also shows, I think, that we all need to have greater faith in the Lord and that follow his the things that he commands us as exactly as we can and not try to place our own things on it and be like, well, he said speak to it, but I'm just gonna, you know, he's done the sticks, the staff before, so I'm just gonna do that. I'm gonna say we. It's like, no, it's him, he tells us how to do it, and we need to listen to him, we need to listen to the Lord. And then they refuse to go through Edom because the king says, Know your enemies, which makes sense. I mean, they just have gotten past Egypt, so they're scared of them, so they can't go. And then they go up into a mountain and Aaron dies, and Aaron is not allowed to enter in. And again, this is probably happening after the 40 years have are gone through, right? Again, is it a literal 40 years? Is it just a long period of time? Don't know if it was exactly 100% 40 years, if it was 41 years, if it was 42, if it was 38, I don't know, right? But the idea is that it was a long period of time, so that the generation would be away, and a new generation who had not committed these sins before the Lord would be able to enter in. And so then we get the bronze serpent. Now it's so interesting, that's such a small story, right? It's literally chapter 21, verses 1 through 8. And you're like, oh, this is a big story in the Book of Mormon. And so it makes you wonder why. And I do not have the reason why it's a big story in the Book of Mormon and not in the Bible. I mean, it is referred to a little bit, but but not as you know, not as much as it is referred to in the Book of Mormon. I think partially that's just because the Book of Mormon prophets saw themselves so deeply in the story of Moses. I also think that maybe it could have been a bigger thing before Hezekiah, and we'll learn about this later, destroys the bronze serpent. And I think we just see such an interesting connection there that points to uh maybe, you know, a difference of Jewish thought after the king's, and we will get into that a little bit later, but basically, Hezekiah was a king um a little bit before um the time of Lehi. I'll get exact dates right now. He was king of Judah from yeah, like I said, around the time of Lehi. So he ruled from it's said to be, you know, 715 to 686 or around that time period. So a few, just not that long before Lehi, right 600 BC, and Nephi were alive, and he's the one who destroyed it because people were worshiping it in a way that he deemed not worthy, maybe idolatristic, etc. What's interesting about that to me is that it shows that in 80 years, maybe that process of seeing it, not in an idolatrous way, but seeing it instead as a way that pointed to Christ, would have still been there. They would have still thought of it as a as a good thing rather than an idolatrous thing. Whereas later, people who would follow Hezekiah and other kings that would try to enforce and uh rules that would go away from idolatry, that it changed the way that um religion was practiced, and we can see that there. And that may be some of the stories that were told before of like this is points to God, were like, um, people are using this to worship um a different deity, and so we need to get rid of them. But then the Nephites wouldn't have experienced that. Anyway, that was a long rant for something that isn't really important until later. Anyway, I just thought it was interesting. That was me having my nerd moment for the week, so thank you for that. But now we will get on it. So they're in the wilderness, and these fiery serpents start biting them. Ow! And they're dying. And the Lord says, take one of the serpents, or maybe actually, you know, take a take a golden serpent, make it into gold, make it into copper, sorry, not gold, copper, put it on the stick, and if people look at it, then they will live. It will become a banner. It's literally a banner, a standard, title of liberty in a way. It's an army standard that you're going to lift up, and people will look at it and believe. And if they believe that they will be healed, that I can heal them and they will be. And the Book of Mormon prophets point this as just what we can do to have eternal life and be healed by the Lord is just to look at him. And what does it mean to look at the Lord? Sometimes I really think it's in a moment of agony or stress turning to him through prayer or accepting him as our Lord and Savior. But it's continually accepting him, continually looking to him, keeping our eyes pointed to him in all that we do and doing what he calls us to do, which is to keep our covenants and make those special connections with him. So, what could the brass serpent represent? I mean Jesus Christ, right? It represents him, the you know, who took upon us the sins and the pains and all those things who make us not whole, like we talked about last week, right? Not healed. But he took it upon himself, he was killed up upon the cross, and he was healed, right? The come follow me says, What are the stake snake bites represent? And as I was thinking about this week, I'm like, that's everything that makes us not whole, that puts poison into us, whether that's the natural consequences of life, being in this fallen world, or the own sins that we create. But Christ took that all in upon himself, was killed, and if we look to him, then we can live. How can we look upon the Son of God with faith and be healed more fully? Be healed more fully. Because I think we are healed every time we turn to him, but how can we be completely whole and have faith that no matter what we've done, whatever snake bites we have, that he can heal us and get rid of them. This is a great story that deserves so much contemplation. And I'm grateful that it's in there and that the Book of Mormon prophets point to it as something that points to Jesus Christ and reminds us of that. It also could be that Christ and Jehovah at this time was represented by a lot of um, you know, could have been thought of as a lot of animals. It's hard to know exactly when it was like, do not, right? Make me any sort of animal. I mean, make me know a graven image. So it's hard to know. But it could be, right, that that he was associated with a snake. Some people think that as uh even that that Lucifer, when he becomes a serpent, was trying to imitate God or a concept of God, right? Um, it could be that, I don't know. But anyway, it's there. And maybe it points back to this incident, right? Maybe it points back to this incident where it's like, oh, put the brazen snake out. And it doesn't really matter that it was a snake, but it's more just like if you look to Christ, who is just as fallen or seemingly just as fallen and just as ordinary as we all are, but he's actually special. He's the the the bronze one that if we look up and look at him, that we will actually be saved. And he looks ordinary, but he's not, he's extraordinary, he's the son of God. And there's also a play on words here which I love, which is copper and serpent, both come from the same root, so that's fun too. So little pun in Hebrew. Um, anyway, so that's what we have. Then we go on to one of my favorite stories, and this is gonna be a longer episode this week, folks. I'm sorry, but we have a lot to cover, so I've just been doing it. You can split it up into two listening sessions if you want, but here we are, and we're talking about Balaam. Now, Balaam was a prophet in Moab, and the area of Moab was Moab a single kingdom at this time. It's hard to say. And also, any of these times that it's saying king, I want to emphasize the fact that maybe this isn't the medieval king that we think of. Maybe it's what they thought of was a king, which could just be a tribal leader, that there could have a lot of chief chiefs at the time, maybe they could be better describes of chiefs in our day. But we use the term king because that's what the term Melech is described as and is translated as, but it could be different than our own conception of king, and that's important to remember as well. Anyway, moving on from that, we have Balaam, and he's I would say similar, we could think of him similar as the magicians in Egypt, right? He's a he's a divinator, he has his job, he's a priest, right? He comes, he does prophecies, he's a spiritual leader, kings or tribal leaders go to him to see what the gods want. He sacrifices to them, he gets words from them, he speaks from them. And one of the gods that he's doing this is Jehovah. This shows that belief in God was still there. Belief in Jehovah as a god was still there. They just maybe believed in other ones, right? As well, that thing that made Israel unique was not that they had Jehovah as a god, but that he was their only god. They believed that he was their only God. They did not worship any other ones. Now Balaam is there, and he's asked to by by Balak, who's um a tribal leader of Moab or near Moab, to go up there and to get divinations for how they can defeat the Israelites. And Balaam goes, he gives the staff, and the Lord says, um, no, these are actually my blessed people that I've chosen them. You cannot curse them. And um, please don't do that. Because they're my chosen people, and you actually will not be able to curse them at all. I will only you'll only be able to bless them. So sorry about that. So that's what he does. And then Balach gets mad at him, and he's like, Balaam, no, I want you to meet this place and I want you to curse them. And so Balaam goes. He's on his way because he refuses to say the things exactly as the Lord said because he's afraid for his life, because the tribal leader has more power over them and could potentially kill him, right? And so they they summon him to do more. They give him they're gonna give him silver and gold, but the Lord says, Do not do that. But Balaam goes anyway. And as he's walking on the donkey, his the donkey stops and talks to him and says, No, the Lord says no. At least that's the way the story goes. And the donkey sees this this angel and he says, See, even your donkey knows and is refusing to walk because he knows what the Lord has asked, but you won't. Then Balaam repents and again goes and and gives all three of his, he gives his oracles, which are pretty famous, in which he just blesses Israel, right? And that they will that they will stretch far and and take over the land and be blessed because of their faith in the Lord. Now, this is a story that I always bring up as one that I'm like, people don't really talk about the donkey donkey, right? In the Bible. But today we're gonna talk about it. I remember when I was at the visitor center in Rome on my mission, um, there's a donkey there in the um stained glass that represents the donkey that Christ ruled on during his triumphal entry. But uh it was the Old Testament year, and the little girl looked at it and was like, is that or I don't know if it was a little girl, it could have just been a regular, like a teenage girl. I don't remember, but looked at it and was like, the talking donkey from the Old Testament. And I was like, love that you brought that up, but no, but let's talk about that, right? I didn't know at the time, but now I do. Why is the donkey talking? Most of this is going to be the fact that people see this as actually a dig on Balaam. Now, Balaam is not a full prophet of the Lord as Moses was, right? But he's still speaking on behalf of the Lord. But he's not doing what the Lord commands, but the donkey is, right? And donkeys were not necessarily looked upon as like the greatest of all greats. But even the donkey, at least listening to him and speaking the words of the Lord, right? One scholar actually wrote a um thing called two donkeys, Balaam and then the donkey, right? Like both of them are acting in a donkey way, right? Balaam's acting in a donkey way, he's not doing the will of the Lord, and that's what the story is kind of trying to do. That maybe the writers of the story were trying to show, like, hey, this guy is being dumb, he's not following the Lord. But even the donkeys, even the animals are following Jehovah. You know, the dumb animals, but Balaam won't. And so that's kind of what's happening here, is kind of it's pointing to that. And it's a different, you know, it's it's rare in ancient Near Eastern oracles that the animals would full-on speak. They could, you know, give some indication, but that they would full-on speak is rare. And again, it kind of just points back to the points to the fact that this is a rare circumstance because it's the Lord, he has power over everyone, and Balaam still is not listening to him, but the donkeys are, right? And so that's what's happening here. And Balaam eventually does. He he has to listen to the Lord and he blesses Israel. And the Lord always will bless Israel no matter what. And um, right, I can follow God's will even if others persuade me not to. That's what the come follow me is. So kind of against Balaam, right? Saying, Balaam listened to other people's voices rather than listening to the Lord, even though the Lord was telling him. And um, that's what uh is happening here. Balaam's name is is uh let me look up his exact name really fast in the scriptures for what it is in Hebrew. So his name is actually Bilaam, and it means literally the swallower of the people. Love it. Anyway, could you know devourer, swallower, just kind of a cool name. Anyway, so that's the story of Balaam of Balaam is to not be persuaded by what the world says. Also, the really cool thing about Balaam is that there has been an inscription found in. Near Moab in Near All of Jordan, in which Balaam as a prophet is mentioned and told the story of. And so it corroborates the fact that there would have been a person at this time named Balaam making it. Um and it's it's non-Israelite inscription, meaning that other people, he was probably, you know, a prophet or a divinator for the people of Moab. Um and so it just fits right there, right? He hasn't seen a divine council, he's speaking with the gods, and so whether like it just shows that this was yeah, it shows that it's a true story, or it could be a true story because Balaam was a real person, and so that's pretty cool too. Um or at least a person that was used in other ways to invoke a story of him talking to God, and so yeah, that's just a fun tidbit because again, we don't necessarily always see things that prove that these people were real and that other people believed um in them or used them, but here we we get that about Balaam. So he's pretty fun for that. Overall, I think that these stories are about the prophets and revelation in the book of Numbers. It's about following what the Lord says, what the prophet says, having faith in the Lord and in Jesus Christ. And when we are not perfect, remembering that the Lord will heal us if we look to him. We need to look toward the right sources, we need not trust in the fury at this the fury, wow, the scary things that are around us that may seem daunting, the words of other people that are telling us to do other things, but we need to listen to the Lord, his prophet, and remember that Jesus Christ heals us and will save us if we look to him. And I think that's the message of this week. So I hope you enjoyed, and I say this in Jesus' name, and then please uh please continue listening.