In this episode of the Daily Bible Podcast, the hosts start by discussing their office moving day and lightheartedly talk about packing and organizing their spaces. The main content of the podcast delves into Numbers chapters 21 and 22, exploring key events such as the Israelites' wilderness wandering, Aaron's death, the grumbling of the people, the incident with the bronze serpent as a foreshadowing of the cross, and the accounts of battles and victories as the Israelites approach the Promised Land. Additionally, they discuss the peculiar story of Balaam, his talking donkey, and how God used and responded to Balaam's actions. The episode emphasizes trusting God's word and understanding the broader biblical context.

00:00 Welcome and Moving Day Excitement

00:42 Office Setup and Space Challenges

01:49 Invitation to Help and Pizza Offer

02:00 Bible Reading: Numbers 33:38

03:27 Israelites' Journey and God's Lessons

04:42 The Bronze Serpent and Jesus' Foreshadowing

06:46 Traveling, Singing, and Victories

08:03 Balaam and the Talking Donkey

11:04 God's Authority and Human Understanding

15:24 Closing Prayer and Encouragement

Find out more about Compass Bible Church.

Learn more about our Bible Reading Plan.

Questions or Comments? Email us podcast@compassntx.org

Hey everybody.

2

Welcome back to another edition

of the Daily Bible Podcast.

3

What's up?

4

It's Tuesday.

5

It's moving day.

6

Oh yeah, that's right.

7

It's moving day.

8

It is moving day.

9

Yeah.

10

We are at the office bright and

early to start packing the truck

11

up and getting everything over.

12

It's gonna take us.

13

I don't know.

14

A good three or four minutes to

get to the new place at least.

15

Yeah.

16

And at least that long

to load up our stuff.

17

We don't have a lot.

18

No.

19

I got a lot of knickknacks though.

20

I got lots of little things that

are gonna, I don't wanna put in a

21

box 'cause it doesn't make sense.

22

We're just driving three

minutes down the road.

23

Yeah.

24

So I think I'm just gonna

tape it in my little cubby Oh.

25

Cubicle thing or whatever you call that,

that rolling thing on wheels of drawer.

26

Yeah.

27

It's made of I don't know, cardboard.

28

Yeah.

29

But it's great 'cause I can tape it

and then we can just transport it.

30

And then the little things that we

don't pick up, I can just drive back

31

and forth and do, I'm excited about it.

32

Yeah, me too.

33

Yeah, no, for sure.

34

I it's new.

35

It's, I get to rearrange

my office with that.

36

I get to arrange office multiple times.

37

Rear no, you said it right.

38

You get to arrange and rearrange

to your heart's content.

39

No, far more.

40

You just said on Saturday when we

were recording this, that I had

41

left my office, my current office

in its current configuration for

42

longer than you thought I would.

43

Yeah.

44

And it actually, this is the

one time it landed on something

45

that is the less helpful for me.

46

You don't like it, you're like

this, you're like the Israelites.

47

You're grumbling and

complaining about my office.

48

No, the circular table that you installed

here, which it served its purpose.

49

It's just, it's so small.

50

I have zero.

51

I so if I office is not that big.

52

But when we were using your desk, I

had a lot more space to work with.

53

That's true and I miss

that is all I'm saying.

54

That was helpful.

55

Okay, that's the one thing

I miss is a lot of space.

56

I love Texas 'cause there's a space

of plenty, but there's places that

57

you and I are our church space

and different things like that.

58

Our office space that are

much more constricted.

59

I'll be looking forward to the time when

we have ample space, the one we have our

60

own studio where we can record the podcast

and where we have our own church gym.

61

And when your office is as big

as the gymnasium is at Founders,

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I might be a tad too small.

63

Just set it in the corner

of your desk in the corner.

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Empty.

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The rest.

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I'll just put in there.

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I put it right in the middle.

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I'll just sit it right in the

middle with a couch right in front.

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Yeah, that'd be great.

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Anyways, if you wanna swing by either

our new office or our old office

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today, you might find us out there.

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Yeah.

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Sweating a little bit and

loading up some material.

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Come by in your gym shorts.

75

There you go.

76

Come ready to work.

77

Ready to work?

78

Yeah, that'd be great.

79

We'll give you a piece

of pizza or something.

80

That'd be great.

81

Hey numbers 21 and 22.

82

Pastor Rod, I've got a question.

83

Alright, numbers 33, 38.

84

Numbers 33, 38.

85

Numbers 33, 38.

86

So I'll wait for you to get over

there in your fancy new Bible.

87

It's pretty, it is.

88

Oh, we didn't talk about it.

89

You know what, that was the episode.

90

That, that got cut.

91

That got cut.

92

Was it?

93

Yes, it was.

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Oh.

95

So doesn't even know what

you're talking about right now.

96

Pastor Rod has a very nice new Bible.

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I do.

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Yeah.

99

Okay.

100

33, what now?

101

Numbers 33, 38.

102

Can you read that for everybody?

103

For us?

104

And Aaron, the priest went up to Mount

whore at the command of the Lord and died

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there in the 40th year after the people

of Israel had come out of the land of

106

Egypt on the first day of the fifth month.

107

Okay.

108

So we've got 40 years

of wilderness wandering.

109

Yep.

110

And this is the 40th year after Israel

has come out of the Promised Land or

111

after Israel has come out of Egypt

and Aaron's dying in the 40th year.

112

So we've got a lot of the Torah

left in front of us, but it seems

113

like we've covered a lot of ground

without realizing we've covered.

114

As much ground as we have.

115

Oh, yeah.

116

The episodes move quickly, don't they?

117

Yeah.

118

Because we just read about Aaron's death

prior to the, this occasion here, and

119

we don't realize that man, 40 years

has gone by since they left Egypt.

120

I think one of our last time markers

was they celebrated Passover in the

121

second year after they had left Egypt.

122

That's a great point.

123

And now Aaron's dead and we're

40 years into this thing.

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Just a time marker there as it's a bridge

between last episode and this episode

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as Aaron died in the last episode there.

126

Yeah.

127

We get so many.

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Small episodes and none of

them are really favorable Yeah.

129

For Israel, but perhaps it makes it a

little more palatable when we realize

130

it is over the course of 40 years.

131

Yeah.

132

Maybe God is just taking out

the highlights reel, as it were.

133

Or the low lights.

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Or the low lights.

135

Yep.

136

Yeah.

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Alright, so chapter 21 chapter 21

the Israelites Return to Horman,

138

where they had been defeated after

refusing to accept God's punishment.

139

So you remember they said,

nevermind, we're gonna go anyways.

140

And God said, you better not.

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And then they did.

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And then they lost.

143

Anyways, they're back there.

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But this time the Lord was.

145

Was with his people, and they're

gonna merge victorious because

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AAD is gonna come up against them.

147

Now there's some question as to who AAD

is, whether it's a geographic region or

148

whatever it may be, because the nation

itself was not there at this time.

149

It had been destroyed and defeated

long before this and wasn't gonna

150

come back on the scene for a while.

151

So this is probably a

more of a geographic.

152

Term to refer to this region than it

is referring to as specific people here

153

when we read about the King of iad maybe

some of the wilderness Midianites or

154

some other band or tribe of desert people

there that were coming up against Israel.

155

But the point is this time God is

with his people and he saves them.

156

But again, here comes another low

light in verses four through nine.

157

The people after this, they

grumble again because that's what

158

they're really good at doing.

159

And they grumble.

160

And again, they say, man,

we want to go back to Egypt.

161

Let's go back to Egypt.

162

And so in response, God sends poisonous

serpents and these poisonous snakes

163

come into the camp and they begin

to bite people and people are dying

164

as they're bitten by these serpents.

165

And they come to Moses repentant,

at least apparently repentant here.

166

And Moses intercedes with God.

167

And then you get this bronze serpent that

is lifted up on a stick and if the people

168

will look at the stick, they'll be healed.

169

Now Jesus takes this in John three

14 through 15 and associates that as

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a, an allusion to and a foreshadowing

of the cross, that as Jesus was gonna

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be lifted up on the cross, it was

like the serpent, so that if we would

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look to Jesus, we would be spared.

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We would be healed.

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From our greatest problem, which is

not a serpent that's bitten us except

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for the serpent in the garden and

the results of that being sin, right?

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Our sin needed to be dealt with

and it was gonna be dealt with by

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Christ hanging on a tree, not by

the serpent hanging on this stick.

178

I.

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By the way that serpent is going

to become a snare to the people

180

of Israel in the future there.

181

And I think that's worth us

talking about just the idea of

182

why don't we have more icons?

183

Why don't we have more things that the

church would've held onto from the time

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of the apostles or from the time of Jesus?

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And I know if you go into some Eastern

Orthodox churches or Catholic churches,

186

you're gonna find things like, you'll

find a box, a shadow box on the wall,

187

and it's gonna have a splinter and

be like, this is part of the cross.

188

Or part of Peter's cross or whatever.

189

But the, I think the temp, the

reason we don't have those things,

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and the reason, for example I, we

don't have the arc or the covenant.

191

The reason we don't have these

things, I think is because God knows

192

our heart in an act of great mercy.

193

Totally.

194

He prevented those things

from being preserved.

195

'cause the bronze serpent's

gonna be idolized by people.

196

I'd understand that.

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I would have a, if I had, hypothetically

speaking a piece of the cross.

198

And I had reasonable confidence.

199

This was the cross that Jesus died on.

200

Yeah.

201

And I see a little blood spot there.

202

I could foresee my heart saying,

man, I want to protect this.

203

And there is a healthy reverence.

204

But it probably could turn into worship

without even becoming fully aware of it.

205

Yeah.

206

Yeah.

207

Even you just go to, to, to Israel

and you walk around Israel and you're

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like, wow, Jesus walked on these steps.

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Like you Oh yeah.

210

Your heart is moved.

211

Even just there, just thinking about that.

212

Start worshiping the ground.

213

Right, I get it.

214

I don't think I would

do that, but I get it.

215

I get the draw, I get the inclination.

216

We do stuff like that today.

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It doesn't have to be the cross.

218

We have a lucky rabbit's

foot, for instance.

219

Yeah.

220

People would carry that in their

key ring back when I was a boy and

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I'd see that and it was ubiquitous.

222

Yep.

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People would carry it.

224

'cause it was good luck.

225

It was one of those weird, like really

this thing is a, I never understood

226

it as a child, but now that I'm older.

227

I think we all have those things.

228

Athletes, they have their lucky

pair of socks or their routines

229

that they do before they perform.

230

Yeah.

231

We all have these things

and I think you're right.

232

The danger is that our human heart

is an idle factory, as John Calvin

233

said, and our job then is not to

allow those things to ens air us.

234

Yeah, no, for sure.

235

Yeah.

236

Verses 10 through 20, there we get

into some traveling and singing.

237

They're wandering around, they're in

the wilderness, and as they're wandering

238

around, they're gonna come across the

place where God provided water and

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they're gonna sing a song about it.

240

Spring up.

241

Oh, and they begin to sing and they

commemorate this through song, which

242

is a good reminder of the fact that

we have good songs that commemorate

243

God's faithfulness as well, and

reasons to be, paying attention to

244

those things and celebrating and

remembering those through song as well.

245

Song is important for us.

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They sang about everything.

247

Yep.

248

Yep.

249

Verses 21 or chapter 21, verse

21, all the way through the end

250

and into chapter 22, verse one.

251

Just continued, four

tastes of victory here.

252

The Amorites initially

refused passage for Israel.

253

They're defeated by Israel.

254

And then they write another

song in verses 27 through 30 to.

255

Remember that victory and then the King

of Baan comes out to oppose Israel.

256

But Yahweh tells Israel he's

gonna give OG into their hand.

257

And so he does.

258

And Israel defeats and destroys the people

of Baan and takes their land as well.

259

So some of the foreshadowing of

what's gonna happen when God's people

260

enter the promised land and the

conquest of the promised land, we

261

see some of that during these latter

years of the wilderness wanderings.

262

Which again if this is 40 years

in, I think this is part of God's

263

sovereign plan to prepare his people

for what they're about to have to do.

264

Because they're an untested people

prior to this they really had, they had

265

lost to the Amalekites, but aside from

that, they were not a battle hardened

266

people in any way, shape, or form way.

267

And so I think God is preparing

his people to, to enter the

268

promised land by introducing the

conflicts like he is here Indeed.

269

Chapter 22.

270

Then we get to Baik and Baalam.

271

This is an interesting chapter and there's

some interesting things going on here.

272

It basically records the initial events

here of this situation, this relationship

273

God, is gonna be at work here through

this Pagan or foreign, this gentile named

274

Baam BIK is this king who summons Baam.

275

And it's interesting here because

we've been talking about the numbers.

276

Did you know Pastor Rod, why

Bik was afraid of Israel?

277

It says in the text there,

because of their numbers.

278

I did see that and how large they were.

279

And perhaps that does give the cre

credence to the 2 million number

280

those large, 600,000, numbers

that we've talked about, maybe

281

that gives some credence there.

282

Regardless, he's afraid of the people.

283

And so he calls this guy

Baam, who was a, an oracle.

284

He was a prophet if you will and

says, Hey, I want you to curse

285

the na the people of Israel and.

286

Balam initially says, no,

I'm not gonna do that.

287

I can't do that.

288

And then God says, go and

Balam goes to do this.

289

And it says that God

becomes angry with him.

290

And then we get the whole situation

with the angel of the Lord, probably

291

praying Car of Christ and Blum's

donkey and the talking donkey there.

292

But pr, why?

293

Why does God say go and

then get angry when he goes?

294

Most immediately in the text.

295

If you look at verse 32, notice that the

angel of the Lord says to him, why have

296

you struck your donkey these three times?

297

Behold, I have come out to oppose you

because your way is perverse before me.

298

So you have a hint in the immediate

context that the reason that he's

299

opposed and that God's angry with

him is because his heart is wrong.

300

His heart is wrong, and what you

have is not only commentary here,

301

thankfully we have some in the New

Testament that also tells us that.

302

Bam.

303

Wanted gain.

304

He wanted shameful gain.

305

And so even though you can't see it in his

heart, God knows the heart and therefore

306

was able to call him out appropriately and

say, you're going for the wrong reasons.

307

I wanted to use you as my tool, but

you're going there to get some money.

308

And I wonder, I think he actually

did end up with a pocket full

309

of change at the end of it.

310

Because even though he's not

successful in initially to do

311

what Balik wants, he does give.

312

Baam does give Balu some good

advice about how to ensnare Israel.

313

Yes, I agree with that a hundred percent.

314

What about, the donkey.

315

The donkey talks to him.

316

Does your donkey not talk to you, bro?

317

And Bain talks back to the donkey.

318

Is I just, it just reminds me, man,

that the biblical world is vastly

319

different than what we expect it to be.

320

That things happen in weird ways.

321

We're smarter than

everybody else before us.

322

Is what we feel uhhuh.

323

And when we read stories like

this, we start to say this clearly

324

is legend and it's mythical.

325

This is one of the reasons that atheists

argue against Christians because they'll

326

say something like, when have you ever

seen any animal, let alone a donkey?

327

I.

328

Say anything more than,

ah, one of those things.

329

And a Christian, might get blushed

in the face and say I, I don't know.

330

Could God do it though?

331

Yes, he could.

332

We get angry and we'll bark back.

333

But I think the world is more

enchanted than we realize.

334

And I don't know all of what that implies.

335

I just know God is a mysterious God.

336

We know so much about him because of his.

337

Revealed these things in his word,

but yeah, you and I playfully

338

joke and argue about UFOs.

339

UAPs, what are they?

340

And I like, I'm okay saying, man there's

stuff out there that I can't explain

341

that God knows exactly what's happening.

342

I don't know.

343

Yeah.

344

I don't know.

345

I don't know what's happening.

346

I just know that it's entirely

feasible that he's doing something

347

that he doesn't tell us about.

348

A talking donkey doesn't concern me.

349

In the biblical worldview, God is able

to suspend the laws of nature because

350

they're his laws to do what he pleases.

351

I don't have no, no problem with that.

352

This is not fantasy.

353

This is not us thinking about,

fairies and the fay and the forest.

354

We're not talking about

anything like that.

355

We're just saying this makes perfect

sense in a biblical worldview

356

where God normally, not normally.

357

Lemme try that again.

358

Where God will suspend

natural law to make a point.

359

And that's what we have here.

360

Yeah.

361

Yeah.

362

I'm with you on that.

363

And I think we see it even reflected in

just some of the creative urges of some

364

of the people that have written, some

of the great works look at Lewis and the

365

world of Nart that he created with the

talking animals and the talking creatures.

366

There, you get some of it in in

some of the other the mystical

367

fantasy creatures and things,

Aslan as the Christ figure there.

368

Yeah.

369

So I think it's.

370

Within the realm of possibility for

us to just say, yeah, God's bigger.

371

And also this is a very, this

is not an American culture.

372

This is not a left brain culture in

which all of these events are unfolding.

373

This is more of the spiritualized, even

animistic at in some regards in the

374

foreign pagan cults and things like that.

375

There, there's, this makes sense in

that culture a lot more readily than it

376

would've made sense in our culture today.

377

And I think that's some of what

you were saying there as far as.

378

Yeah, we're post-enlightenment.

379

Yeah.

380

We think only the things that we can think

around are things that are real and true.

381

In fact, Rene Decart, right?

382

I think therefore I am ergo,

what's the rest of the ergo Sume?

383

Something like that.

384

Yeah.

385

Anyway, it's the idea that if

we can't rationally understand

386

something, then it certainly cannot.

387

Be true.

388

Yeah.

389

For the Christian, we don't say

think first and then everything

390

else we say, what does God say?

391

I know we get into a certain

quandary here, it eventually becomes

392

circular reasoning and that's the

way highest authorities always work.

393

There always has to be an appeal

to that highest authority until

394

you can't appeal any higher.

395

At that point, it must

become circular in its logic.

396

Why do you believe this?

397

Because this person says so well,

why does that person say so Bec?

398

Or why?

399

Why is it?

400

Why is it true?

401

'cause that person says so for

the Christian, we have to, this

402

is why studying the word of God,

understanding it's so challenging and

403

so difficult because we have to put

all these pieces together that God

404

has given us, and that's gonna leave

us ultimately saying God's word is.

405

True, but it doesn't mean

check your brain out.

406

Don't think he wants us to think, but he

wants to say to us, ultimately, he's the

407

defining authority of everything that we

believe, everything that we think, say and

408

do, he must be the one who's the ultimate

reason for which we believe something.

409

Yeah.

410

Yeah.

411

Kogi to or Koto, ergo sum.

412

That was close.

413

Yep.

414

Yep.

415

Yeah.

416

And even the, didn't you study Latin?

417

I did back in.

418

It didn't do anything.

419

It doesn't sound like you,

you appreciate that though.

420

It, you're mad about it.

421

I'm not mad about it.

422

It's just not a status symbol.

423

Like we need to get over it.

424

Let's build our bridges and get over

the fact that my kid studies Latin.

425

Look, I studied Latin too.

426

Look.

427

Okay.

428

So great.

429

Congratulations.

430

Maybe they want their

kids to plan a church.

431

Maybe they do and I worked

for Pastor pj, so I think I

432

would've been fine without it.

433

I just, I don't know.

434

I just pulled out the cogito.

435

I appreciate the, that's

a good cheese, by the way.

436

I think I probably mispronounced it too.

437

You put that cogito on a good elte.

438

Yeah.

439

Yeah.

440

I appreciate the education I had.

441

I just like.

442

It's like we just, that's, yeah.

443

Whatever.

444

I'm gonna start making anti-vaxxers mad.

445

All of a sudden.

446

I need to stop.

447

'cause measles are on the rise too.

448

Anyways something less controversial.

449

Yeah, man, you were just talking about

the highest conceivable authority that,

450

that's part of one of the apologetic

arguments for the existence of God too.

451

It's called the ontological argument.

452

If you can conceive of a, of the

highest possible being, that is God.

453

That, that, that being.

454

Must exist.

455

And if you can conceive of a,

of being more powerful than that

456

being then that becomes God.

457

And it's until you get to the

highest conceivable being which

458

just the mind is such an untapped

reservoir that we just limit so much.

459

I, that's one of the things I'm

looking forward to in eternity more

460

more and more as the older I get,

is just the unhindered ability to

461

use our minds to the fullest extent.

462

And, yeah, can't wait to get there.

463

I think.

464

I think we, I don't know.

465

Is it wrong to say?

466

I think we utilize a great

deal of our mind power.

467

It's just disordered.

468

And so maybe it's not that we're

not using the power, it's that

469

because it's fallen and it still

inclines towards sin, therefore it

470

just gets to the wrong conclusions.

471

Yeah.

472

I would like a mind that

functions perfectly.

473

Yes, absolutely.

474

But also functions.

475

Perfect union with God's

word and God's spirit.

476

That's exciting to me.

477

'cause then the possibilities are endless.

478

Yeah.

479

Even just retention ability.

480

I think of the movie A Beautiful

Mind where they did the graphic

481

where the guy's putting all the

equations together in his mind.

482

Yeah.

483

And connecting all these

different thoughts.

484

Russell Crow, everything.

485

And, yeah.

486

Some people e even Louis

Zuma is one of them.

487

Dude, that guy retains sermons

like nobody's business.

488

He comes up to me and reminds me

of sermons that I preached in the

489

college ministry back in av that I

totally didn't have any recognition.

490

You weren't even there preaching,

like mentally you were gone.

491

You'd be like you preached this sermon,

you said this and you said this.

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Ah, I, now that you say that, I

remember that, but would never have

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pulled that outta my memory banks.

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So anyways, let's pray and then

we'll be done with this episode.

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God, thanks for your word.

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We are grateful for it and grateful

that you are so much bigger than we are.

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You would, life would be so boring if

you fit into all of our preconceived

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understandings and expectations, but

you are bigger than we are and you

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do things that we don't understand

and we're grateful for that even

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as sometimes it's difficult for us.

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And so help us just to trust

you in the face of that and to

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continually trust your word.

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Is the most clear and direct

revelation we have of you, and

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we pray this in Jesus' name.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Keep reading your Bibles.

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Tune it again tomorrow for another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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Bye bye.

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Speaker: Hey, thanks for

joining us for another episode

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of the daily Bible podcast.

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We hope and pray this has been a blessing

to you and your time in the word.

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If it has, if you would subscribe to this

podcast, leave a like, leave a comment

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and share it with some friends and family.

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That would be awesome.

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If you need more information about

Compass Bible Church here in North

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Texas, you can go to compassntx.

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org.

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Again, that's compassntx.

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org.

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And we'll be back with you

tomorrow for another episode

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of the daily Bible podcast.