February 28 Daily Devotional

Numbers 23–24

The next morning Balak took Balaam to a high place, so he might see to the utmost part of the people. Balaam asked Balak to build seven altars. On every altar a bullock and a ram were offered. After that, in the presence of Balak and all the princes of Moab, Balaam took up his parable and said, “Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied? … Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!”

“And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.” Balaam replied, “Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?” And Balak brought Balaam to another mountain top from whence he could see just the utmost part of the people. After seven bullocks and seven rams had been offered, Balaam spoke, “Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: 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? Behold, I have received commandment to bless; and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it … the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!” And Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.” He re­plied, “Told not I thee … All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do?”

After Balaam had been brought to another place, he replied, “Spake I not … saying, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord? … And now, behold, … I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days … There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab … Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion. How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted … He couched, he lay down as a lion, as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.” And Balak’s anger was kindled, and he said, “I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them.”

February 29

HEAR O ISRAEL, THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD

Numbers 27; Deuteronomy 1–30

The forty years of wandering in the wilderness hac1 come to an end. The people were ready to enter the promised land. Moses knew his death was near. So one day he turned to the Lord with the request, “O Lord God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand … let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan.” Moses had a sincere desire to set his foot upon the Holy Land, the land that had been promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But the Lord hearkened not to him, and said, “Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter. Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes and behold the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron … for ye rebelled against my commandment.”

Who should take the place of Moses? Who should lead the people into the promised land? Moses looked up to the Lord and said, “Let the Lord set a man over the congregation … that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep without a shepherd.” The reply came. The Lord said, “Take thee Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; and set him before … all the congregation … that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.”

Before Moses retired, he spoke to the people—the people that had been committed to his care—most impressive farewell words came from the lips of the departing leader. His great object was to place God, the one, living, jealous, yet gracious God very vividly before them. With glowing eloquence he described the blessings of loyalty. He painted in vivid colors the frightful doom that disobedience would reap. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children … If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God … all these blessings shall come on thee … blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out … The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure … and bless all the works of thy hand. If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, curses will overtake thee. Cursed shall thou be when thou comest in, cursed when thou goest out; and the Lord shall scatter thee among all peoples, from one end of the earth even unto the other. See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; to him ye shall hearken.” And Moses blessed the twelve tribes of Israel.