Day 35: Numbers 21-24

Summaries:
The Israelites are complaining (again), so God punishes them with serpents, and Moses prays, and makes a serpent-pole that will heal anyone who is bitten. The Israelites' locations are described, and the King of the Amorites doesn't let them pass though his land, and they battle, and the Israelites win and seize that land, and they also defeat Og, the king of Bashan, when he advances (21). Balak, king of Moab, feared the Israelites and asked Balaam, a soothsayer, to come and curse them, but God told Balaam not to go, so he refused the first time, but accepted the second time, saying that he cannot do anything contrary to the commands of the Lord. God was angry with Balaam for going, and an angel came, which scared Balaam's donkey, so he beat it, but then the donkey pleaded with him to stop (yes it talked), and the angel was revealed to Balaam and he admits his sin, and when he arrives, he assures Balak that he can only say what God tells him (22). Three times Balak builds altars and makes sacrifice so that Balaam will curse the Israelites, but instead he says a blessing for them, so Balak is furious, and Balaam speaks a fourth oracle that the Israelites will defeat the many tribes, and then Balaam leaves (23-24).

Reflections:
It was really funny how Balak kept trying to get Balaam to curse the Israelites, but instead he would say what God told him and would bless the Israelites. I can just picture Balak, like "Wait wait no no stop! What are you doing? Oh no!"

The quote I posted below had a really nice footnote, which is a quote / crossreference from John: "and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting" John 3:14-15.
What it made me think about is how as Catholics, we have crucifixes hanging everywhere, since it is a sign of God's total and complete love, but also because, like the serpent lifted up in the desert that healed, we lift up the cross with Jesus and look upon him, and while we are not healed by simply looking at it, we are reminded of God's love for us, and our hearts are called to worship.

Quotes:
Numbers 21:8-9 - "and the LORD said to Moses, "Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover." Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered."

Numbers 24:12-13 - Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not warn the very messengers whom you sent to me, 'Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not of my own accord to anything, good or evil, contrary to the command of the LORD'?"