“From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and who do not consider themselves one of the nations.” (Numbers 23:3 NIV)
King Balak had summoned the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam was not too keen on the idea and resisted until the lure of riches grew larger than his fear of a holy God. Ultimately, through a divine-designed sequence of events involving a talking donkey, Balaam could not bring himself to curse what God had blessed. When he finally opened his mouth to rightly prophesy, he shared God’s view of Israel: a people set apart for God’s purpose.
I love that Balaam climbed a mountain to get a better view of the circumstances. We are reminded, it’s our instruction as well. Life is loud and close and messy. If we want to see our situation accurately, we must go up. We must ask for divine perspective on our circumstance.
Balaam saw the Israelites prophetically. He saw a people living apart: set aside for God’s purpose among the nations. He spoke divine truth but he wasn’t done. He prophesied six more times. God was with these people. (Numbers 23:21) They were abundant. (Numbers 24:5-7) They were strong. (Numbers 24:8) A ruler will be born. (Numbers 24:17). From there the words turned against Moab and though he did not like what he heard, King Balak could not shut down the prophet.
It occurs to me that Balaam saw God’s people as they could be, not necessarily as they were. We know the Israelites, they struggled to live fully consecrated. We get it. We struggle, too.
I wonder, what if we could see as God sees? If a prophet climbed the hill overlooking our story and got a God-picture, what would it be? I suspect His hopes for us as believers are very much like the Israelites: that we would be a people set apart for His purpose. I suspect it because His word says it over and over again.
“Know that the Lord has set apart His faithful servant for Himself;”
(Psalm 4:3 NIV)
“Therefore, Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 7:17 NIV)
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10 NIV)
“Look, God’s dwelling place is now among the people and He will dwell with them. They will be His people and He will be their God.” (Revelation 21:3 NIV)
Like the Israelites, we struggle to live out God’s reality. We fight our flesh. We battle our will. We wrestle with our earthly desires. We need to go up; to gain a more accurate picture of who God is calling us to be. We need divine help in learning to walk it out.
Lord, we declare our dependency in living out Your picture of us. Let our desire to walk rightly with You eclipse all other appetites. May we routinely climb up to adjust our perspective and reaffix ourselves on Kingdom priorities. Show us the way to walk in step with You. Amen.