February 1, 2021
Psalm 35:1–10; Numbers 22:1–21; Acts 21:17–26
Stories like that of Balaam in Numbers reminds me that God has in fact always been a God of all people. Israel at that point is rebellious and in the wilderness and yet there is this foreign prophet who is trusted by the enemy who apparently prophesies by the LORD, the God of Israel.
The lectionary is set up so that not only the readings within a day match up thematically, but also within a week. So the three days leading up to Sunday anticipate Sunday’s readings, and the three days after reflect back on those same readings.
Today I’m reminded that yesterday’s reading about prophets tells how to know a true prophet from a false one. The criteria are that they must speak in the LORD’s name, and their prophecy must come to pass. As for Balaam, this is certainly the case despite being an outsider to Israel.
God does not work within the boundaries that we prescribe for God, and often not within the boundaries we believe that God has prescribed.
I grew up believing that God cared only for the Israelites until Jesus came, but the more I’ve read the Old Testament, the more I see that God has always cared for all of creation. The plan, however, is to care for all of creation through the blessings and promises to Israel, which have met their fulfillment in Jesus.
So the problem facing the early church community, is how do they faithfully follow God, especially has many were still Jews, in light of this new fulfillment of the law? And Paul’s response laid out over many letters, is that the laws which we designed to separate Jew and Gentile have no place in Christ, whereas so-called “moral laws” are fulfilled by the commandments to love God and love neighbor.
