Thurs.’s Devo - The Saviour is Born!

Read: Numbers 24:1-25:18; Luke 2:1-35; Psalm 59:1-17; Proverbs 11:14 Balaam realized that mixing his divination with sacrificing to the Lord did not give him power over God. He could say only what God wanted him to say. So this last time, Balaam didn’t resort to his usual divination rituals, he just looked into the spirit and said what he saw. He blessed Israel with growth and prosperity. Their kings would be greater than the kings of the Amelekites which were the most powerful of all the desert tribes. He ended his speech with “Blessed is everyone who blesses you, O Israel, and cursed is everyone who curses you.” By this he was cursing Balak. *** Needless to say, Barak was super angry. He told Balaam he would not give him a reward because he had totally failed. Balaam defended himself by saying he had told him from the start the he would only be able to say what God told him to say. Then he continued and prophesied of David and the Messiah that would crush Moab, Edom, the Amelekites, the Kenites and the Assyrians. *** But, we learn from Revelation that Balaam had an ace up his sleeve. He realized the only way to bring Israel down was to infiltrate their ranks and teach them to worship idols. This would weaken them and lead to their destruction. *** This is what Revelation said about Balaam “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.” Revelation 2:14,15. *** Chapter 25 gives us the account. The Moabite women were sent, probably by Balaam, into their camp to entice them to worship their god, Chemosh. The worship of Chemosh required all sorts of sexual perversion and idolatry. *** When Moses found out about it, he met with the elders and told them to execute all in their authority who had done this. One man was so blatant in his sin that he brought a Midianite woman into his tent right before the eyes of Moses and all the people that were weeping at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Eleazar, the high priest ran into the tent and speared both of them. A plague had broken out and killed 24,000 before he could stop it. With Eleazar’s act, he stopped the plague and all the guilty were executed. *** Then the Lord ordered them to attack the Midianties and destroy them because of what they had done. *** John the Baptist was the son of one of he priests, but Jesus was the son of a descendant of King David. Because of this, Joseph had to take his family to Bethlehem which was David’s ancient town. He traveled there to pay his taxes but God used that to get him there so Jesus could fulfill the prophecies. Joseph took his very pregnant wife, Mary and she went into labor in Bethlehem. *** God revealed his great message to the shepherds nearby. The sky was filled with all the army of heaven. In Hebrews 1:6 it says that when God brought his firstborn into the world he said, “Let ALL the angels of God worship him.” They sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” The angel told them where they could find the baby so when they left, the shepherds decided to go find the baby and see what all heaven was announcing. Imagine their conversations of why the king of heaven would be born in a manger to an unknown man and his wife. *** They did find Joseph and Mary and told them all they had seen. Eight days later, they brought Jesus to the Temple to dedicate him to the Lord. There was an elderly man who had been praying to see the Messiah before he died. When they brought Jesus in, he took him in his hands and praised God. He knew that he could now die because he had seen the Messiah. He warned Mary that many would oppose him but through him the hearts of people would be exposed. Her heart would be pierced. How true these words were. *** Lord, expose our hearts and may we purge out everything that does not bring you glory. Thank you for sending your son in such a humble way and yet such a glorious way. Truly your ways are not our ways. Teach us your ways.