Numbers 22 ~ Lessons from a Donkey
Thursday.
I have one day of work left in Wellington, and then my obligatory time here is done. 8:30 until 5PM tomorrow and then I’m free for the next 46 hours before coming back home again.
I’m terrible at doing this, focussing on the end of the trip too soon. So I’ll stop.
Tonight I went to Te Papa Museum, the National Museum here in Wellington; and I have to say it was quite an experience. They have these rides, for a start, where you get to experience a variety of more exciting sports and adventures while sitting on a seat that throws you around. They also have another one that’s an underwater expedition to Brothers Volcano in the Pacific Ocean; an underwater volcano on the fault line that runs between the Australia plate and the Pacific plate.
I actually learned quite a lot about the Maori people, New Zealand’s history and things like this while I was walking through the museum, it was great. I just hope some of it sticks!
Photography was allowed, so I managed to get a whole heap more photos from the evening. Walked back to the hotel along the waterfront and got a few more photos in the fading light from there too. All in all, another nice day.
Numbers 22:
One of the lesser favourites when it comes to bible stories, is that of Balaam and his donkey.
I like this story, it’s cute, but when we look at it there’s a few things to bring out of it.
The first thing that I noticed, was that while God had chosen the Israelites as his people, as those he would dwell amongst – he evidently wasn’t exclusive toward them. Here’s Balaam, who God speaks directly to.
However I do notice that suddenly God is referred to as God. Whenever he speaks to Moses or the Israelites, it seems to be consistently, “The LORD” speaking to them; yet here, with Balaam, it’s suddenly God. I can’t help feeling like there’s a point there. I know that when it came to God, using ‘the Name’ was forbidden, so perhaps this is a literary technique that separates, again, the relationship between God and and the Israelites, and God and others?
This is all speculation, obviously.
Balaam gets sent for, though, to curse the Israelites, by Balak, king of Moab. After consulting with God, though, Balaam says no.
And as kings seem wont to do, Balak doesn’t like this so he sends for Balaam again. This time, God says that he can go with the men, but seemingly changes his mind the next day.
I can’t help thinking there’s something more to the story. Perhaps Balaam got caught up in the rewards being offered by Balak, and so when God said to go, he figured he could get away with whatever he wanted, even though he’d been told to keep his ears on God and say only what he was told to say. The reason I think there’s something more, is because suddenly God’s mad at him, and an angel keeps standing in front of them as they make their way to Moab.
So Balaam beats him.
Then the donkey turns to him and asks why.
I don’t know about you, but I’d stop what I was doing pretty quickly if a donkey spoke to me.
When we start to venture off the path that God has for us, he does tend to put roadblocks up for us. Sometimes it’s actually really hard to continue on and walk further away from him; but with persistence, we can do it. In those instances, nothing is going to end up turning us back onto the right path, and that’s when we really have walked away from God.
But he does try to stop us.
Numbers 21 ~ History
So, tonight’s adventures in Wellington involved a journey to Lower Hutt.
Dave Strassman, the comedian and ventriloquist did a show here in Wellington which I have on DVD, and makes a joke about Lower Hutt, so while I was here I just had to make sure that I got down there and had a look at it. Hutt City is actually quite a pleasant little place. It has a nice river running through it, clean streets, and some wonderful parkland.
That’s actually one thing that I’ve noticed about New Zealand – at least, Wellington region anyway – they really like the presentation. There’s a lot of parkland around, lots of greenery and places to just walk and relax.
Tonight I got pizza, and sat under a tree on this nice lawn area and just relaxed for a while, before walking from Lower Hutt to Petone. It was a nice long walk, and then walked along Petone beach, too, and out along the jetty they have there. Got some good photos on the way and along the beach and jetty too.
The thing about walking and catching buses is that you get to see a lot of the scenery – often times, things that you probably wouldn’t see otherwise. I was sitting on the bus coming back to Wellington from Petone, and realised just how much the landscape reminded me of Hong Kong. We were on a motorway, the water on one side of us, only about twenty metres away, if that; and on the other side of the road were these extraordinarily steep mountains, just covered in greenery, it’s absolutely beautiful.
Anyway, though. Two more days of work and then another day and a half in NZ before I head home on Sunday.
Numbers 21:
And so start the battles.
Queue my excitement.
This is the stuff that I love reading about, the battles, the wars, the excitement. This is where I can let my imagination run wild with stories of warriors cutting down dozens of enemies. The Israelites are wandering about, enjoying their long journey that they’re only just starting out on, when this guy, the king of Arad, from the Negev, decides to send out his entire army to take them out. The Israelites cry out to God, he backs them up, and they destroy everyone. This king’s name isn’t even remembered any more, he was only the King of Arad, but his name is lost.
Well, it would seem so from this passage anyway.
Then, the next couple of verses, the Israelites get impatient and once again revert back to the same lines that they’ve used over and over again already. Why should they die in the desert, they were better off in Egypt, blah blah, woof woof. There really is very seldom anything original to our complaints, is there?
This time, its vipers; and Moses has to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole, then anyone bitten by a snake manages to live if they look at it.
Funnily enough, I remember being told several years ago that this symbols is still used today. The idea of a snake wrapped around a pole is still used in some health services and ambulance services. Quite astonishing, really.
Then we finally get into the part that really intrigues me. First of all we’re reading about the Israelites wandering the border of Moab and the land of the Amorites – and there’s reference to the “Book of the Wars of the LORD”. What a book that would be to find. When I get back home I must look this up because it sounds interesting. I wonder if it still exists.
Tbhen we come to the Amorites actually attacking the Israelites. Again, the Israelites ask permission to walk through his land, stipulating that they will remain on the main road, and not actually take anything from the land, but he doesn’t believe them and marches his army out against them. The Israelites defeat him and take over the land of the Amorites, inhabiting their cities etcetera.
Which of course begs the question, how come they kept wandering? I’m keen to see how the rest of this story pans out. I don’t think I have ever actually read the entire story of the Israelites wandering in the desert.
Recent Comments