The Israelites, Balaam, and me- Pt2

(This is a continuation of the blog entry "The Israelites, Balaam, and me- Pt1. You should read that one first if you hope to understand this one.)

For the past 2-3 years, I've been doing devotionals by just read through the bible fro start to finish. It's a great way to do devotionals for me because I don't lose my place as easily as I would in a devotional guide, and I don't have to worry about misplacing my guide or getting off schedule. While I was reading, I came across a certain passage from the book of Numbers. It is the kind of story that brings up a lot of questions and accusations in my mind about God's character(see Pt1 ). It reminds me of another passage that has puzzled me, the story of the prophet Balaam. For him, God provided direction instead of food. He, like the Israelites, was dissatisfied with what God provided initially.

See, prominent delegates from a nearby kingdom came to him with gifts and a message from the king:

"A people that has come out of Egypt covers the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps then, I will be able to fight them and drive them away. But God said to Balaam, 'Do not go with them..."(Numbers 22:11-12)


After Balaam refused them they went away for a while, but the king sent a larger contingent of higher level dignitaries back with a better offer. This was obviously very important to his majesty. The king thought enough of Balaam's abilities that he promised that Balaam would be rewarded with honor, wealth, and whatever else he asked for. In essence, he told him he would do whatever it took to get Balaam to render his services. In light of the new offer, Balaam went back to God to see if God would allow him to go:

"That night God came to Balaam and said, 'Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you' "(v. 20)

We see that God told him to go. Yet, two verses later, it seems that God just goes off on the guy:

"Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him." (v. 21-22)

The word "oppose" in this context apparently means to kill, end the life of, execute, or relieve from breathing. I know this because the angel says so:

"And the angel of the Lord said to him, ...Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was contrary to me...I would surely ave killed you just now..."(v32-33)

Again, this passage has often caused me to wonder, "What the @&#?!" Balaam prayed, heard from God, and obeyed. Then, God gets enraged and orders a hit on him. How am I going to trust a God who abuses people when they obey him?

Investigator

Thanks Penny! This resembles me reasonbly well.

THE INVESTIGATOR:
Intense, Cerebral: Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated
In Search of: Mastery, to be capable, competent,

GIFTS: Exquisite sensitivity, and compassionate visionary.
One step beyond the cutting edge.

Sees Purpose in Life as: to know and understand the universe.

Gifts in Practice:
Deep burning laser-like concentration.
Pioneering visionary.
Perspective observer & curious.
Focused innovator - attracted to the exception to the rule.
Generous and discriminating to those who are interested.
Perceptive

Often Seen as:
Intense, cerebral type: focused, original, withdrawn, seen as shy,
eccentric, 'nerds,' 'weirdoes,' intensely pre-occupied.
Experts in specific ('unique' and specialized) areas into which they go deep.
Quirky off-beat sense of humour; very sensitive.
Unperturbed by 'fashion,' collecting.
Studious -in search of mastery.
Intense conceptualizer. Plays the 'what if' game.
Often walk - without the whole foot touching.

Wake-Up Call: moving inside mental world, away from reality

Wrong Turn: to be observant & bring capacity & agency using the mind.

Compulsive Style: Pre-occupied: pre-occupied often with the dark aspects; scornful, cynical, impatient with others. Isolated, secretive.

Emotional Habit Pattern that maintains the Compulsive Style:
Avarice, stinginess; holding out and holding onto.

Fear: being useless, helpless, incapable;
can't make it in the world, being overwhelmed.

Avoids: emptiness

Defense Mechanism:
Compartmentalization: separates thoughts from emotions.
Isolation: separates one moment /event /... from another.

CHALLENGE: to show up in an embodied way: can't know the world from mind alone / through thinking (leads to spaciousness & trust).

E.g.s.: Albert Einstein, F. Nietzche, Stephen Hawking, John Lennon, Vincent Van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, Jodie Foster, Wilhelm Reich, Stephen King, Bill Gates, Emily Dickenson, Georgia O'Keefe, Jean-Paul Sarte, James Joyce, lsaac Newton, Doris Lessing, Bobby Fischer, Glenn Gould, Isaac Asimov, Clive Barker, P.E. Trudeau, Lois Riel, "Ricky" in American Beauty, John Nash (in A Beautiful Mind), August Strindberg.

Thembalitsha Missions Trip

Yesterday, I drove to Atlanta to drop off a missions team from our church at the airport. About 14 of our church members are going to visit with Pastor Frank and Kate Christie and volunteer to serve the Thembalitsha Foundation, a community development organization they founded to serve disadvantaged areas of South Africa. You can track their progress at this photo blog.

The Israelites, Balaam, and me- Pt1

The Israelites were getting discontent. Their Father God was fulfilling a promise to their ancestor Abraham by freeing them from slavery and making them a nation of their own in a territory he had chosen for them centuries before (Gen 15:2-16). He had freed them in His signature inimitable fashion causing the world superpower, Egypt their former oppressors, to finance the establishment of their nation. After making them wealthy, He was caring for their needs in this interim period before they received their own territory. However, God's provision became to them unsatisfactory. It was too plain and had become too common. They longed for the variety of tasty food they had in Egypt:

"...If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at not cost- also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite: we never see anything but this manna!"(Numbers 11:4-6)

Father God allowed them the thing that they desired, He gave them meat:

"Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It brought them down all around the camp to about three feet above the ground, as far as a day's walk in any direction." (v. 31)

However, this meat was like poison for them:

"But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consume, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague." (v. 33)

This has been a passage that has always puzzled me. Why would God give them something that He knew would hurt them? Even more than that, He gave them something that he would strike them for receiving. That hardly seems fair, just, or even comprehensible. Why would God be so impulsive and irrational? Frankly, I'm afraid of a God who poisons people.