Vision of Eyechart with Glasses by Flickr User Ken Teegardin, CC License = Attribution, Share Alike Click image to open a new tab/window to view the original image and to access the user’s full photo stream at Flickr. The photographer also asks that attribution be given to http://www.seniorliving.org
When we go to the eye doctor, we all look at the same chart (more or less), but we don’t always see the same thing. Some of us see more clearly than others, and some of us can see just as clearly with assistance. Some cannot see well even with glasses, bright lighting, or other means of help. And yet, if we are not blind, we are all able to see.
In today’s reading from Numbers 24:14 through Numbers 25:9, we conclude another week’s portion, and we finish the banter between Balak and Balaam. No matter how plain Balaam has made things in the past week, Balak has just not been able to see that Israel is a blessed people, and that Balaam will not be able to curse them just because Balak has power and desire for that to happen. Today, however, Balaam will see things as if God gave him the best prescription available. He will take a look into the future.
Balak is done with Balaam, so Balaam tells him he has one more important pronouncement to make about what Israel will do to Moab in the latter days. I suggest reading today’s section in the Amplified Bible as it clarifies a few things, especially concerning actual cities referenced in the prophesy. So, Balaam says he once was blind but now has opened eyes. He says he now hears God’s words, knows God’s wisdom, and sees what The Lord sees. He begins telling of a future that seems quite distant. The commentary mentions that it may refer to King David or to the Messiah, but it also looks as if it could be in our latter days as well.
Balaam says he sees a man that he cannot see: A star that will step forth from Jacob, and a scepter that will arise out of Israel. He will be a ruler that will destroy the enemies of Israel, and even those who were first and strongest before will be no match for Him. It is a prophesy of great victory for Israel and great defeat for her enemies, and as soon as Balaam is done speaking it, he just goes home. Balak leaves and goes his way too.
But the reading continues with Israel deciding to start whoring around with the girls and gods of Moab. It’s not enough that they prostitute themselves among those who do not serve Yahveh Almighty, but they actually accept the invitation to bow down to their gods. Their behavior causes God’s anger to blaze against them to the point of a deadly plague that kills some 24,000 people before it is over. In addition, God tells the priests to kill the leaders of these people and hang them directly in the sun to absorb some of God’s anger.
As many of the people were weeping at the door to the Tent of Meeting, one Israelite comes walking into the community (maybe even into his own home and family from the way it reads) with a prostitute from Midian. Phineas, the son of Eleazar who is the son of Aaron, gets up from the crowd, follows the man into his tent, and runs his sword through both of them at once. Their deaths are what finally bring an end to the plague.
These words of prophesy are best read directly from the Scriptures to absorb their beauty. It’s much like when God gives you words and visions of His beauty, and you just can’t seem to share them in a way that speaks the beauty to others the same way God spoke it to your heart. My sister speaks of a sunset she once watched as she felt the presence of God speaking to her heart about His love for her, but all she could tell me is what she actually saw. His love note to her was left for her spirit to interpret and to bring her a blessing.
There will be things each of us sees as God leads us through this life. Some of what He gives us, He will give with interpretation to make it clear to others in the same way Yeshua later clarified some of His parables to make certain His disciples and followers could understand them. That’s like getting a pair of glasses to read the eye chart. Other things, He may speak to our hearts, and they will only be for us.
Balaam saw what Balak could not see, but that did not make it untrue, and it has come to pass to prove itself. If you see something I don’t see, or if I see something you don’t see, we should test the spirits to see if they are from God, and we should always check His written word. That applies no matter if the person is a writer, a big-time preacher, or a neighbor teaching a Bible study. When Paul taught the Bereans, they searched the Scriptures to make sure he was telling them the truth. We should do the same.
The word of God is alive–it can breathe new things into our spirits and our understanding each time we read the writing, but that takes reading the writing. We receive faith and vision by hearing God’s word and seeing it with the understanding He gives us through His Holy Spirit. And, one day, we will all see the same thing when we see The Lord as He is, and what a wonderful day that will be.
And here’s a nice little video about that day–A Gaither gathering singing What A Day That Will Be…
Crystal is, like her name, multi-faceted. She can even write about herself in third person and only feel a little awkward about it. 🙂 She loves to write; she loves kaleidoscopes, fractals, and all things colorful; she loves her husband, her family, and her feline furkids; and mostly she loves Yahveh Almighty, her Creator. She believes her creative mind is in her DNA from Him, and she believes He sees His creations as she sees the images inside a kaleidoscope–all different yet all beautiful and most beautiful when light (His light) shines through them.
Crystal Writes A Blog 
I See Something You Don’t See
Vision of Eyechart with Glasses by Flickr User Ken Teegardin, CC License = Attribution, Share Alike
Click image to open a new tab/window to view the original image and to access the user’s full photo stream at Flickr.
The photographer also asks that attribution be given to http://www.seniorliving.org
When we go to the eye doctor, we all look at the same chart (more or less), but we don’t always see the same thing. Some of us see more clearly than others, and some of us can see just as clearly with assistance. Some cannot see well even with glasses, bright lighting, or other means of help. And yet, if we are not blind, we are all able to see.
In today’s reading from Numbers 24:14 through Numbers 25:9, we conclude another week’s portion, and we finish the banter between Balak and Balaam. No matter how plain Balaam has made things in the past week, Balak has just not been able to see that Israel is a blessed people, and that Balaam will not be able to curse them just because Balak has power and desire for that to happen. Today, however, Balaam will see things as if God gave him the best prescription available. He will take a look into the future.
Balak is done with Balaam, so Balaam tells him he has one more important pronouncement to make about what Israel will do to Moab in the latter days. I suggest reading today’s section in the Amplified Bible as it clarifies a few things, especially concerning actual cities referenced in the prophesy. So, Balaam says he once was blind but now has opened eyes. He says he now hears God’s words, knows God’s wisdom, and sees what The Lord sees. He begins telling of a future that seems quite distant. The commentary mentions that it may refer to King David or to the Messiah, but it also looks as if it could be in our latter days as well.
Balaam says he sees a man that he cannot see: A star that will step forth from Jacob, and a scepter that will arise out of Israel. He will be a ruler that will destroy the enemies of Israel, and even those who were first and strongest before will be no match for Him. It is a prophesy of great victory for Israel and great defeat for her enemies, and as soon as Balaam is done speaking it, he just goes home. Balak leaves and goes his way too.
But the reading continues with Israel deciding to start whoring around with the girls and gods of Moab. It’s not enough that they prostitute themselves among those who do not serve Yahveh Almighty, but they actually accept the invitation to bow down to their gods. Their behavior causes God’s anger to blaze against them to the point of a deadly plague that kills some 24,000 people before it is over. In addition, God tells the priests to kill the leaders of these people and hang them directly in the sun to absorb some of God’s anger.
As many of the people were weeping at the door to the Tent of Meeting, one Israelite comes walking into the community (maybe even into his own home and family from the way it reads) with a prostitute from Midian. Phineas, the son of Eleazar who is the son of Aaron, gets up from the crowd, follows the man into his tent, and runs his sword through both of them at once. Their deaths are what finally bring an end to the plague.
These words of prophesy are best read directly from the Scriptures to absorb their beauty. It’s much like when God gives you words and visions of His beauty, and you just can’t seem to share them in a way that speaks the beauty to others the same way God spoke it to your heart. My sister speaks of a sunset she once watched as she felt the presence of God speaking to her heart about His love for her, but all she could tell me is what she actually saw. His love note to her was left for her spirit to interpret and to bring her a blessing.
There will be things each of us sees as God leads us through this life. Some of what He gives us, He will give with interpretation to make it clear to others in the same way Yeshua later clarified some of His parables to make certain His disciples and followers could understand them. That’s like getting a pair of glasses to read the eye chart. Other things, He may speak to our hearts, and they will only be for us.
Balaam saw what Balak could not see, but that did not make it untrue, and it has come to pass to prove itself. If you see something I don’t see, or if I see something you don’t see, we should test the spirits to see if they are from God, and we should always check His written word. That applies no matter if the person is a writer, a big-time preacher, or a neighbor teaching a Bible study. When Paul taught the Bereans, they searched the Scriptures to make sure he was telling them the truth. We should do the same.
The word of God is alive–it can breathe new things into our spirits and our understanding each time we read the writing, but that takes reading the writing. We receive faith and vision by hearing God’s word and seeing it with the understanding He gives us through His Holy Spirit. And, one day, we will all see the same thing when we see The Lord as He is, and what a wonderful day that will be.
And here’s a nice little video about that day–A Gaither gathering singing What A Day That Will Be…
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June 27, 2014 - Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Balaam, Bible Commentary, Bible study, Complete Jewish Bible, latter days, Numbers, prophesy, Scripture, seeing, Torah Portions, vision