What is the primary task of ministry? According to Brad East, an associate professor of theology at Abilene Christian University, in an article: AI Has No Place in the Pulpit, the primary task of ministry, taken for granted by the author, and, I’m afraid, most pastors is this:

What are the primary tasks of ministry? The classic answer, laid out most simply by John Calvin but common across Christian tradition, is the service of Word and sacrament. A pastor is called by Christ

• to preach and teach the gospel,
• to baptize and administer the Lord’s Supper,
• to lead Christ’s body to worship him by his Spirit, and
• to shepherd Christ’s flock through times of plenty and times of lack. – Brad East, emphasis his, list bulleted for clarity

Who is our authority? John Calvin? Where does this list come from? Where in the Bible is the phrase “the service of the Word and sacrament”?

What did the Apostle Paul say the primary task of ministry was?

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4.11 – 13, NIV, emphasis mine)

Where in Calvin’s definition or Brad East’s list is equipping?

Timothy was a pastor of the church at Ephesus. Everyone would agree on that. And what did Paul tell him to do?

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2.1, 2, NIV)

“…entrust [teaching] to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

The scriptures are clear, but there is no hint in this entire long article that training and equipping others is one of the duties of a pastor. This article is about the model of pastors “soaking in the word” for many, many hours so they can preach an effective sermon. I don’t deny that an AI-produced sermon should not be an option for the pastor’s preparation. That’s the point of the article. But I do deny that this model of “ministry” is biblically complete. It may even be wrong. The only reference I can think of that talks about pastors “giving themselves to the ministry of the Word” is this one:

But we [the apostles] will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. (Acts 6.4, ESV)

But did Peter and the others mean they would be studying 20 – 30 hours a week so they could preach a 30-minute sermon on Sunday? Hardly. Just five verses earlier we read:

And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. (Acts 5.42, ESV)

I apologize for criticizing my brother Brad East, whom I don’t know. I’m sure he’s faithful and sincere. But the problem is that people I’ve talked with around the world lament a serious dearth of disciples. It’s been incorrectly attributed to Einstein that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Whoever said it, it’s true, but churches continue to run the same incomplete model of “the service of the word and sacrament,” neglecting the training and equipping piece, and wondering where the disciples and mature believers are.

He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. (Ephesians 4.11 – 15, MSG, emphasis mine)

If you’ve been reading this blog for more than a year, you know that I always write about Sputnik Day, in memory of the first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. This blog, from 2019, highlights the importance of technology to solve problems.

Sputnik was the first satellite. Today, on many nights, one can look up and see multiple satellites. For example, Space-X just launched 21 new Starlink satellites on September 25. You can go here to find out when you can see a Starlink train go by.

I had never seen a rocket launch…until September 14 when we were in San Diego. A small Texas-based company launched a satellite from Vandenberg Launch facility on short notice in a test for the US Space Force. June and I saw the contrail; June saw the late stage; our son Mark, in a separate car, took these pictures.

It’s all very exciting. I remember, when I was a boy, a few preachers decried “sending up satellites to intrude on God’s front porch.” As if by sending rockets away from earth we were invading “God’s space” without his permission.

Don’t believe it. ALL technology is under God’s control. Here are some snippets from the book God, Technology, and the Christian Life by Tony Reinke. (I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the book – he makes good points, but the book is too long, and he makes those good points multiple times!)

For now, I ask: What is God’s relationship to human innovation and technology? In Noah, he commanded it. In the ark, God took human engineering and technology and wrote it into the grand story of redemption. But in Babel, God squashed it. In the face of human self-glory, he introduced the tensions that utterly thwarted human collaboration. (page 44)

And if we’re being honest, many Christians operate with this assumption. In the face of human possibility, God seems aloof, surprised, alarmed, even threatened. But such a conclusion is very wrong, as the prophet Isaiah shows us. (page 44)

Where do innovators come from? God answers this question directly in Isaiah 54: 16–17, as he speaks comfort to his people. “Behold, I have created [bara] the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created [bara] the ravager to destroy; [and yet] no weapon that is fashioned against you [God’s people] shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.” (p45)

(1) He creates the creators of weapons. (2) He creates the wielders of those weapons. (3) He governs the outcomes of those weaponized warriors—the ravagers. (page 45)

I’m enjoying the technology that I use to create these blogs and the magic of email and the Internet, which allows you to read them. Unfortunately, the same technology can be used to spread vitriol, pornography, and easy access to betting on sports.

You hold WAY more computing power in your hand than what was used to put men on the moon. And we don’t need to give each other directions anymore. GPS, satellite technology, gets us there.

I’m having trouble landing this rocket ship! So I’ll just stop. God gave us the technology; let’s use it for his glory.

And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

• Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.
• His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.
• Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. (Genesis 4.19 – 22, ESV, bulleted for clarity. Application to technology suggested by Tony Reinke)

Last week I observed that the “famous” verse, “God is not a man that he should lie…” is in the middle of the strange story of Balaam. Here’s another verse that’s frequently quoted out of context:

Be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32.23)

We were told as children, “Now don’t go sneaking around doing bad things. “Be sure your sin will find you out.” But the verse has nothing to do with that sort of thing.

I remember a sermon I heard in my early 20s motivating us to a missions mindset from this very chapter: Numbers 32. It starts this way:

Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation,… “The land that the LORD struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.” (Numbers 32.1 – 5, ESV)

This is toward the end of Numbers. Deuteronomy is largely the final sermons of Moses to the Israelites. At this point of the narrative, the people are getting ready to cross the Jordan and take the land (recorded in Joshua). But here are some tribes saying, “Wait a minute. The land right here, east of the Jordan (not the Promised Land) is good for cattle, and, guess what? we have cattle! So let us just stay here.”

Moses will have none of it:

But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? (Numbers 32.6, ESV)

This starts a tirade from Moses reminding them of the faithlessness of Numbers 13 and 14. To which they respond:

Then they came near to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. (Numbers 32.16 – 18, ESV)

It’s in this context that “be sure your sin will find you out” appears:

So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the LORD for the war, and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him and the land is subdued before the LORD; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32.20 – 23, ESV)

It’s not the sin of sneaking around doing bad things. It’s the sin of not engaging in God’s mission. The hymn captures it well:

Shall I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease

While others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas? – Am I A Soldier of the Cross?, Isaac Watts

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4.7, ESV)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6.10 – 13, ESV)

Yesterday we looked at the story of blind Bartimaeus, which ends this way:

And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. (Mark 10.51 – 52, ESV)

“Your faith has made you well.” It’s the same thing Jesus said to the woman who touched his garment:

And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (Mark 5.34, ESV)

I think Jesus is being gracious. After all, it’s his power that made them well, isn’t it? Or is it both?

I walk into a dark room and flip the switch. All of a sudden, there’s light! Why? and How? Was it my switch-flipping that made the light come on? Yes, but only if there’s a giant electricity generator nearby, transmission lines bringing the electricity to my neighborhood, lines from the main line to my house, internal house wiring to a working light bulb, and a switch.

THEN, when I, in faith that all that power is there, flip the switch, we have light.

• Power but nobody flipping the switch = no light.
• Switch flipping when there’s no power = no light.
• Power + switch flipping = light.

The power is there. Are we flipping the switch? Or, to change the metaphor, if we believed that the prayer gun was loaded, what would we aim it at?

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you… (1 Samuel 12.23, ESV)

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Matthew 7.7, ESV)

I love the story of blind Bartimaeus – so many lessons!

And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. (Mark 10.46 – 52, ESV)

“Many rebuked him…shut up!” “Many” probably included Jesus’ own disciples, but “he cried out all the more…”

Jesus stopped. No mean feat, to stop when “a great crowd” is moving together on the road.

“What do you want me to do for you?” “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”

A clear and specific request followed by “Go your way; your faith has made you well.”

But he doesn’t “go his way.” A story that started with him “sitting by the roadside” ends with him following Jesus “on the way.”

Obvious prayer lessons for all of us are:

• Ask
• Ask someone who can help you
• Ask persistently
• Ask specifically

There’s one more lesson I’ll address tomorrow.

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15.7, ESV)

Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16.24, ESV)

I have written before about Dr. Frank Dennis. He’s still going strong, still preaching twice a month in a Chinese church in Colorado Springs, and continues to visit Taiwan where he founded a hospital and served for 33 years. He just turned 94 and recently returned from Orlando where he attended a conference for 100 medical doctors contemplating medical mission work and preaching in a Chinese church there.

On September 24, he wrote the following “reverie” on Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators, the organization I serve with. I present Frank’s letter in its entirety:

It is Sunday afternoon, September 24, and as many of you who know me well are aware, my “Retirement Plan” is lunch followed by a  nap, coffee, and chocolate, in moderation of course.  My naps are not always sleeping, but often a reverie.  Today, with many thoughts going around about an upcoming speaking opportunity in a  Chinese church in Las Vegas, a wonderful memory of Dawson Trotman floated into my mind, refreshed me, and moved me to tears, but inspired and invigorated.  He was the founder of Navigators and very well known.

I met Daws twice in 2  small group meetings at the U of Minnesota about 1949. He quickly learned the names of all 20? of us and challenged us to walk closely with the Lord Jesus.  But the memory that came instead of sleep was of an athletic young man swimming across a lake late in the day.  The wind came up, waves slowed him, it was getting dark and he realized he was not going to make it to the other side!  Despite his amazing memory of many Bible passages, he has done that for prizes and to amaze everyone.  They had not affected his life.  But in this crisis, he prayed to Jesus, “Jesus, if you save me,  I’ll serve you all my life!”  A boat crossing the lake saw and rescued him and he was faithful to that promise, mightily used by God.

Other memories from a reel-to-reel tape by Lila,  his recent widow.  Daws tried to speak to someone about Jesus every day.  One night, after he got in bed I think, he remembered he hadn’t spoken to anyone all day.  He got up, went for a drive, picked up a man standing by the road, and led him to Jesus! He had no doubt God would have someone for him!

Lila told about a night at the Word of Life Camp when Daws walked with her by the lake and told her he wanted to share his vision (or plans, I forget) for Navigators for the next 10 years.  She said just tell me tomorrow.  “No, I  want to tell you now” and he spent a long time sharing ideas and plans in detail with her.  The next day, Daws was out on the lake in a small speedboat with some young campers who were waterskiing when a girl fell overboard.  Daws jumped in and held her up until the boat came around and picked her up.  Then he sank into the lake!  Autopsy revealed a heart attack.

The circle of his life, saved from drowning in a lake by God and then taken from a lake to heaven as he saved a girl just brought tears to my eyes,  No doubt a great shock to many and a loss to Lila, but what a way to go!  What an interlude of souls saved, disciples taught, an organization that continues to bless and advance the kingdom!  From lake to lake and what a life in between! And really,  what a way to go!  I recall my dear Sally fading away in hospice, seemingly unaware of the love around her, over 2 slow weeks and finally gone.

This reminiscence of Dawson blessed and encouraged me at a time when a lot is going on, many loose ends, nail puzzles to be prepared, the house a mess, hearing aids dead and getting replaced with difficulty, and a computer that sometimes seems to hate me, can’t find files, and shows me a bouncing ball instead of following commands., The day’s mail!  And the day’s emails!

Thanks for the memories, Lord, of one of your delightful servants who exuberantly walked the path and inspired so many.

Help me keep my perspective and balance Lord,  as I try to finish well in your time and your way.

Still in His glad service,

Dr Frank Dennis  譚維義醫師。（譚爸爸to my friends)

A testimony of a great man, written by a great man.

Frank’s prayer would echo the Apostle Paul:

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ… (Colossians 4.2, 3, ESV)

P.S. After Frank sent this letter out, someone sent him a link to a video that summarizes the life of Dawson Trotman and the history of The Navigators. It’s worth the 5 minutes!

After the story of Balaam in Numbers 22 – 24 and the ensuing immorality in Numbers 25, there are a few more chapters of detail on another census (still counting only the warriors!) and offerings. Numbers 29 continues the list of offerings, and the 7th month is busy:

• 1st day, holy convocation, a bunch of sacrifices (Feast of Trumpets, Leviticus 23.23 – 25)
• 10th day, holy convocation. (Day of Atonement, Leviticus 23.26 – 32)
• 15th – 21st day, Feast of Booths (Leviticus 23.33 – 36). There is a list of burnt offerings for each day with differing numbers of animals.
  • One male goat for a sin offering is constant.
  • Two rams is constant.
  • 14 male lambs is constant.
  • Bulls: the numbers of bulls offered goes 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7
• 22nd day (the 8th day of the feast)
  • One male goat for a sin offering
  • One ram
  • Seven male lambs
  • One bull

It’s head-spinning detail. Is there a “so what”? Yes! The good news is that Jesus is the fulfillment of all these sacrifices. In fact, if you’re reading about sacrifices in the Old Testament, and you’re looking for the so what, just turn to Hebrews chapters 8 – 10. Here are some samples:

For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest [Jesus] also have something to offer. (Hebrews, 8.2, LSB)

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy places once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9.11 – 14, LSB)

“The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer…” That explains the “red heifer” from Numbers 19.1 – 10.

For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews 10.1 – 4, LSB)

“In those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.”

And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time UNTIL HIS ENEMIES ARE PUT AS A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10.11 – 14, LSB (the ALL CAPS indicate quotations from the Old Testament)

I am being perfected for all time by the sacrifice of Jesus! That’s pretty exciting.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. (1 Peter 3.18, ESV)

Yesterday, we left the strange prophet Balaam returning to his home after blessing the Israelites instead of cursing them as Balak, king of Moab, had asked:

Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way. (Numbers 24.25, ESV)

So we’re done with Balaam… Not so fast. The next chapter introduces a new way for Moab to get the best of Israel:

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them. (Numbers 25.1 – 3, NIV)

It’s an ugly chapter. A lot of Israelites die for their disobedience, and it ends with God judging the Midianites, who were cooperating with the Moabites to seduce the Israelites:

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor…” (Numbers 25.16 – 18, ESV)

The striking of the Midianites occurs in Numbers 31, and guess who one of the victims is?

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”…And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every male…And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. (Numbers 31.1 – 8, ESV)

And why did they kill Balaam? Because it was his advice that brought about the disaster of Numbers 25.

Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD. (Numbers 31.15 – 16, ESV)

So when we think of a nation being cursed, it doesn’t have to be some dramatic supernatural event. The curse can come just as easily by bad decisions and actions. For example, some of us may be inclined to think that if America doesn’t stop its headlong rush into sexual deviance, we’ll be cursed (See Romans 1.18 – 32). On the contrary, I believe that America’s behaviors are the curse.

Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. (2 Peter 2.15, 16, ESV)

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness…? (2 Peter 3.10, 11, ESV)

Reading along in Numbers, I noticed that the weird story of Balaam the prophet was going to start in Numbers 22. At the same time, I was reviewing scripture verses in The Navigators’ Topical Memory System and came upon the well-known “God is not a man that he should lie…”

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? (Numbers 23.19, KJV)

I was shocked. That’s in the story of Balaam? I had thought it was something God said to Moses or Isaiah. For example:

Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. (Isaiah 59.1, KJV)

But no, it’s in one of Balaam’s “oracles.” As I say, a weird story. Who is this guy?

Balak, king of Moab, had just seen Israel defeat several neighboring kingdoms, and so he goes to Balaam:

…So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” (Numbers 22.4 – 6, ESV, emphasis mine)

We’re not told how Balaam, not an Israelite, had this power – this relationship with the true God.

On the first visit, God clearly tells Balaam not to go, and he doesn’t go. Then:

Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these. And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me, for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.’” But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more. (Numbers 22.15 – 18, ESV)

This time he goes, but God is not happy, and we have the well-known story of the angel of the Lord and the talking donkey which ends this way:

Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.” Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” (Numbers 22.28 – 33, ESV)

This moves us into chapter 23 where Balaam blesses Israel instead of cursing them. (You can read the whole story in Numbers 22 – 24.) What I found interesting is that twice Balaam goes through an elaborate ritual of offering sacrifices: seven altars, seven bulls, seven rams, and God gives him words of blessing for Israel. Of course, Balak, king of Moab, is very upset about this, so in chapter 24, Balaam decides to skip all that, perhaps thinking that if he doesn’t go through the ritual, God won’t speak, and Balaam can say what Balak wants to hear. However…

When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him… (Numbers 24.1, 2, ESV)

“The Spirit of God came upon him.” Really? Balaam is clearly not much of a guy. But God puts his Spirit on him to not only bless Israel again (Numbers 24.3 – 9) but also to give an important Messianic prophecy:

And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.” And he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. (Numbers 24.14 – 17, ESV, emphasis mine)

The story ends simply:

Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way. (Numbers 24.25, ESV)

Actually, the story of Balaam does NOT end here. Stay tuned.

But today’s lesson? God can and will use anyone or anything – a money-motivated prophet or a talking donkey – if that’s what’s required to get his word out.

When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19.37 – 40, NIV)

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. (Philippians 1.15 – 18, ESV)

But it would be better if we did it in cooperation with God, yes?

But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (Numbers 11.29, ESV)

Sometimes things come out of my mouth in conversation or letter-writing that might be Spirit-led (I shy away from saying, “God told me.”) I’ve written about two of them:

• Walk with God, invest in people, and help them to do the same. (August 19, 2023)
• Churches usually want to do it bigger and faster instead of smaller and slower. (September 21, 2023. It came out in a conversation in response to “What do you do for The Navigators?”)

A few days ago, I was having my monthly conversation with Josh, a young man on staff of an international youth ministry. He has professional ministry obligations and also tries to make a contribution in his local church. In addition, he is married with four young children. I remember those days. I told Josh that our kids couldn’t participate in all the activities some of their friends did. I coached little league, for example, and some of the boys were involved in both baseball AND lacrosse. There’s no way that our kids could be in multiple activities each. It was not logistically possible. Yet I know some parents who try, and the whole family runs in different directions at breakneck speed. In the middle of that conversation, I told Josh:

You have an obligation to create a family rhythm that is supportable.

Then I said, “Write that down and send it to me! I’ve never said it that way before.” So he did and added, “It’s a great quote!” It’s fun talking with someone who is teachable.

And the point is a good one. Too often we try to cram in one more thing. In fact, I had an opportunity to apply it to myself before the day was out. My son Mark wanted to take me to a movie, but it would have involved leaving before 4:30p when June had been out on errands all day and was very tired. I told Mark I wasn’t comfortable leaving that early. So we’ll do the movie another time.

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. (Matthew 11.28 – 30, MSG)