Numbers 25 - The Park Forum

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Numbers 25 Listen: (2:20) Read: 2 Thessalonians 2 Listen: (2:32)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Read: Numbers 26 Listen: (7:47) Read: 2 Thessalonians 3 Listen: (2:16)
Read: Numbers 27 Listen: (3:08) Read: 1 Corinthians 1 Listen: (4:03)

Scripture Focus: Numbers 25.3, 10-13

3 So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites. Since he was as zealous for my honor among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. 12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

Reflection: Seduced by Corn Kings

By John Tillman

In his book, Miracles, C.S. Lewis described a type of deity: “the corn king.” Corn kings, were gods, like Adonis or Osiris, who died and were reborn, personifying the cycle of life and death in human and agricultural fertility and fruitfulness. Corn kings promised profit and growth through fertility and harvest. Baal is a god of this type.

Numbers 25 is the first time Israel falls into sin by worshiping Baal. The fall is hard and the consequences harsh. Many Israelites worshiped Baal in this incident, but one man flagrantly brought a shrine prostitute into the camp to have ritual sex with her. A priest, Phinehas, used a spear to stop them. This violence shocks modern readers, but there are important details we might miss. Baal worship didn’t show up by accident. This was a coordinated attack from Israel’s enemies.

Balaam and Balak, who failed to curse Israel in the previous chapters, introduced Baal worship to entice Israel to sin. (Numbers 31.16; Revelation 2:14) This wasn’t mere temptation, it was an act of war. They sought to strip Israel of their identity and force conformity to the Canaanite culture. Giving in to this temptation, wasn’t just moral weakness, it meant rebellion against God.

Phinehas’ zeal was not a zeal against mere sexual sin. Prostitution was a side-dish of sin, not the main course. Worshiping Baal showed flagrant disregard and disrespect for God, his community, and his glory. Siding with a “corn king” for provision and growth, and the enemies of Israel for safety and protection, was a far worse offense than any mere sexual act.

This temptation in the desert is like the temptation of the serpent in the Garden. That temptation and the fall of Adam and Eve was also an act of war. (Genesis 3.1-6; Revelation 12.9)

This war still rages and we are still tempted. Corn kings promise growth, profit, protection, security if only we will do homage, shift our identity, and conform to a few minor moral sacrifices. Corn kings don’t care about exclusivity. They encourage you to worship them right alongside Jesus.

Jesus will not share his glory. With the sword of his word, he is zealous to cleanse the temple of our hearts from other kings. (John 2.15-17; Psalm 69.9) Satan sends corn kings who promise the world. Jesus says, “What profit is that if you lose your soul?” (Mark 8.36) Don’t be seduced. We cannot serve both God and the corn kings of this world. (Matthew 6.24)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

I call with my whole heart; answer me, O Lord, that I may keep your statutes. — Psalm 119.145

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime

by Phyllis Tickle

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Psalm 68.11
Your procession, God, has come into view,
the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.
In front are the singers, after them the musicians;
with them are the young women playing the timbrels.

Reflection: Too Good Not to Be True
By John Tillman

I have personally always been drawn to the unusual stories of the Bible and I pray that many of you have benefited from an extended look at Balaam this week.

I worked with some writing partners on a children’s Bible teaching curriculum for many years. But before that curriculum, my partners had worked on another curriculum with a major Christian publisher. My partners wanted to tell the story of Balaam, but got pushback from the publishers, “Donkeys don’t talk and we don’t want to confuse the children.” My friends responded, “Does that mean we can’t teach Lazarus because dead men don’t come out of the grave?” The publisher eventually got their way and the Balaam lesson was cut.

It was a deep feeling of accomplishment when we eventually put a lesson on Balaam in the curriculum we wrote together later.

In his book, Telling the Truth, Frederick Buechner challenges preachers not to shy away from the fantastic and the miraculous, but to tell the truth in all its childishness.

“The preacher is apt to preach the gospel with the high magic taken out, the deep mystery reduced to a manageable size.

The wild and joyful promise of the gospel is reduced to promises more easily kept. The peace that passeth all understanding is reduced to peace that anybody can understand. The faith that can move mountains and raise the dead becomes faith that can help make life bearable until death ends it. Eternal life becomes a metaphor for the way the good a man does lives after him.

Let the preacher stretch our imagination and strain our credulity and make our jaws drop because the sad joke of it is that if he does not, then of all people he is almost the only one left who does not…

The joke of it is that often it is the preacher who as steward of the wildest mystery of them all is the one who hangs back, prudent, cautious, hopelessly mature and wise to the last when no less than Saint Paul tells him to be a fool for Christ’s sake, no less than Christ tells him to be a child for his own and the kingdom’s sake.

Let the preacher tell the truth…Let him preach this overwhelming of tragedy by comedy, of darkness by light, of the ordinary by the extraordinary, as the tale that is too good not to be true.”

Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me. — Psalm 101.6

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 25 (Listen – 2:20)
Psalm 68 (Listen – 4:26)

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Read more about Balaams and Balaks
Balaam is not concerned with whether what the king wants is right or moral. He does not care about reconciling men or nations to God. Balaam’s prophecies are for sale.

Balaams and Balaks

Read more about The Prophet of Profit
Despite his close relationship with God and his ability to hear God speak Balaam seems to show the Lord no loyalty, reverence, or love.

The Prophet of Profit

Tag: Numbers 25

Seduced by Corn Kings