So in my devotional this morning, I was reading in Numbers chapters 22-24 about Balak, the king of Moab, and his deal with Balaam, the famous diviner in the land. If you haven't read this story yet, you should, because it's awesome. Anyways, Balak feels very threatened by the Israelites because of their vast numbers and the fact that God used them to conquer large cities, so he goes to Balaam and says, "Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed and he whom you curse is cursed." (Numbers 22:6) So Balaam goes and speaks to God (which I found interesting, because he was this pagan sorcerer who apparently had enough success with "the gods" to be famous). God tells him not to curse Israel because they're actually blessed (obviously, from the way they're mowing down cities). So Balaam tells Balak that no, he can't curse Israel because God had blessed them. Balak whines about it, offers Balaam more money, and Balaam asks God again if he can curse Israel. Surprisingly enough, God tells him that he can go with Balak, on the condition that he can only say what God wants him to say. So Balaam goes, after being talked at by his donkey, and ends up actually blessing the socks off of Israel four different times.
This huge long intro is basically here to set up the verses that shocked me: "Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. the Lord His God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them." (Numbers 23:20-21). This probably doesn't seem like such a huge deal, because Israel was God's special nation, and He promised them this amazing land, flowing with milk and honey. But I've been reading chapter after chapter where the people complain to Moses about God, always mentioning how great Egypt was and how they were hungry and were sick of the manna, and on and on and on. There had to have been at least three different times where God was just about to wipe out the entire nation because of their iniquity and rebellion, only refraining when Moses stepped in and interceded for the people. I have been wading through the moanings and sins of the Israelites for days, and then I come across this amazing jewel of a section - God saw no iniquity in them! I was pretty surprised to see those verses, because there clearly was sin happening in the people, and clearly God was dealing with it in harsh ways (sending sickness after sickness and enemies into the camp to kill the rebellious people), but after all of that - in spite of all of that - He declares them blameless in His eyes, perfect in His sight, fit to be blessed no less than four times by Balaam.
I have always thought that there was a huge difference between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, but here the two are one. Now, I know rationally that God hasn't changed (He is the same today, yesterday, and forever), but as I've gone through His word and seen the difference (sacrifices were needed, He seemed a lot more irritable with mistakes, and He went on killing sprees in the OT, whereas in the NT He accepted His Son's death, grace is valued above the law, and He showed much more restraint with His undoubtedly just judgement), it's been easy to separate the two versions of God. Jesus changed everything absolutely and for good, which is awesome. However, through these apparent differences in the personality of God, this section depicts Him showing the exact grace that He shows us in the NT, once Jesus died for every sin in the world. He accepts their sacrifices as readily as He accepts Jesus' blood and forgets entirely that Israel is a very fickle nation, just as He does with us! How awesome is that? It doesn't really affect us today, but it really excites me to see the proof that God is constant throughout history, full of grace and mercy as well as judgement and righteousness.
I hope this all made sense, even if it was all over the place. God bless!
