I remember a great commercial from quite a while ago, maybe 15-20 years. The commercial was for a sub sandwich shop, one which I never visited, but I really enjoyed it. The ad was of the founder of the company slicing meat for a sub and every pass of the slicer exposed his t-shirt that had the company logo on it. The founder’s dialog was about how his advisers told him that repetition was the best way to get his product remembered. With humorous facial expressions he would glance down at his t-shirt when the name of the shop was exposed from behind the slicer. With a simple message, some humor, and obviously the repetition, it’s proven, at least to me, to work since I still remember that commercial even after all these years.
Which brings me to the topic of the reading for this time. I have been wanting to discuss the topic since way back in Numbers. A part of the reading, to my delight, has been repeated so I have had yet another opportunity to think on it and another opportunity to share about it.
When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand. Joshua 24:9-10
Like the retelling of the history of the Exodus from Egypt, God continues to remind the people of Israel of the amazing works He did. When Balaam was sent for he could not turn from the words that God was telling him. Even in Deuteronomy God reminds the people of this story.
“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever, because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. Nevertheless the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. Deuteronomy 23 3-5
It is amazing to me that the story of Balaam was part of the law of the early nation; a ban on those that tried to curse God’s people. However, the true highlight of this entire trail back to the book of Numbers and the story of Balaam is during the blessing Balaam bestows on the people of Israel instead of the curse that he is hired to perform.
“He has not observed iniquity in Jacob,
Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel.
The Lord his God is with him,
And the shout of a King is among them.”
Numbers 23:21 (NKJ)
In the midst of all the struggles of the wilderness, the advent of the law, the death of thousands as the people continued to rebel, there is an aspect of God that is easily overlooked. They are forgiven, and that forgiveness removes the stain of sin from their lives. God does not see the sin anymore, it has been removed from the records, it has been cleared. For the early nation of Israel it was because of the sacrifices conducted in the tabernacle, for us it is the final sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is that truth, the truth of God’s forgiveness, even in the times of rebellion, that needs to be repeated not only for us but for generations.
– Jeff Gilbert