Readings: Numbers 22:1, 4b-6, 12-38; 24:10-13, 25; Jude 1:3-5, 10-11, 19-21; Luke 6:20, 26

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Towards the end of the 40 years in the wilderness Israel meets Balaam. He is a prophet of the Lord from Mesopotamia. (Deut. 23:4) They meet him when their distant relatives—the Moabites, descended of Lot (Gen. 19:36-37), Abraham’s nephew—do not meet them with bread and water (Neh. 13:2), but instead hire a prophet (or diviner, Josh. 13:22) to curse them. (Num. 22:5-6; Deut. 23:3-4) Balaam seems to be an actual prophet of Lord. He has a reputation for being able to actually accomplish things: to bless and curse in the name of the Lord. (Num. 22:6, 8, 18) It is not surprising that there would be prophets of the Lord outside of Israel as some in Moab and elsewhere may have continued to believe in the Lord over the years. Moabites were descended of righteous Lot—righteous (2 Pet. 2:7) not by works but because he believed God and the Lord credited to him as righteousness. (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:24) He believed the Lord would bless all the families on earth through Abraham’s family by taking on flesh through Abraham’s line (Gen. 12:3), so that He might be crushed for sin (Gen. 3:15), taking the power of sin away, utterly crushing Satan. For the Serpent cannot kill the Son of God. Death has no dominion over Him. (Rom. 6:9) Balaam seems to know this. He is a prophet of the Lord. He even seeks out the Lord, though his ways are bit beyond the pale. (Num. 24:1; 23:1, 14-15, 29-30) But as with so many who start out preaching God’s righteousness in Christ (Acts 20:29-30)—so that some might believe and by the gift of faith have life in His name, through Lord’s graciously crediting you with His righteousness—he had corrupted his ways. (2 Pet. 2:15) He was a prophet for hire. He took money to bless and curse. The Lord promised to bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who cursed him. (Gen. 12:3) The Lord blesses for the sake of Abraham’s family by which all families will be blessed when He became part of the human family, taking on our flesh in the womb of Mary, the virgin daughter of this family.

Readings: Isaiah 6:1-7; Romans 11:33-36; John 3:1-17

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Flesh gives birth to flesh. Spirit gives birth to spirit (John 3:6). The two have nothing to do with each other. For one can’t come from the other. Flesh doesn’t give birth to spirit and spirit doesn’t create flesh. The only point of contact for the two opposites is you. For you, dear Christian, are two. A “flesh you”. And a “spirit you”. One is born from below, from the flesh of your mother and father. And one is born from above, from the new birth of water and the Spirit (John 3:3-5). But this creates a dilemma. Which one is really you? Satan would have you believe that the true you is “flesh you”. Satan and the world try to nurture “flesh you”, encourage it, give it strength. The Triune God, from whom you have been given a new “spirit you”, is declaring to you that the true you is God’s you—the you given life from His Son as His Spirit was poured into you giving the eternal life of God to you, a new life born of God with the Father.

Isaiah 6:1-7
Romans 11:33-36
John 3:1-17

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.  

God can not be understood.  The Spirit blows where He will.  You can not control Him.  You do not have power to control Him.  You do not even have power to save yourself or even see God at work in this world.  When it comes to salvation, and much else in life, you have no power.  All the power you think you have is an illusion.  God holds all power.  But it does not seem like that, does it?

Isaiah 6:1-7
Romans 11:33-36
John 3:1-17

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.  

Jesus is playing mind games.  Because the Holy Trinity is, in a sense, a mind game.  You can’t comprehend it.  You can try but it will blow your mind.  You have no words, no categories to describe it.  For God is bigger than your words.  He is bigger than your mental categories that you try to fit everything into to make them understandable to you.