For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    If a nation’s leaders are not wise, that nation is doomed. On the other hand, a leader who listens to many advisers, and knows how to decide which of their advice to take, is guaranteed to lead the nation to safety. When deciding whether to follow a leader, consider not just their wisdom, but the wisdom of their advisers.

    This psalm contrasts the actions and thoughts of those who are evil with the actions and thoughts of those who serve God. Those who are evil come out at night. They speak cutting words. Most importantly, they believe that they will never be held accountable for their sins. Those who serve God praise Him in the morning. They sing with joy about God’s unfailing love. Most importantly, they recognize that it is God who keeps them safe and protects them from their enemies.

    One of the most significant parts of this passage is the fact that the angels made their announcement to the shepherds. I have trouble imagining what group today would be the equivalent. The closest I can come is migrant farm workers, or perhaps carnies (the people who work the traveling carnivals). Few people from the rest of society interacted with shepherds and most people could never imagine doing that job if they had any other choice. Those were the people to whom God chose to send the angels to announce the birth of the Messiah.
    I want to point out their reaction to the announcement. When the angels were finished, the shepherds said, “Let’s see this thing that has happened.” Would we have reacted the same way? Or would we have said, “That’s neat, but I have to get some sleep?” As I write this I am reminded of how I react to stories about strange events. If I did not witness the actual event, I am cautious in what I say about it. This is appropriate. Many people are easily fooled by scam artists into thinking something amazing happened when it was merely a trick of some sort.
    However, when we hear that God is doing wonderful things, we should take time to check it out. We should find out if it is really God doing wonderful things…or is it just a scam artist preying on the gullible? Let us go, see for ourselves, and, if it is indeed God doing wonderful things, tell everyone what it is that we have seen.

    The passage tells us that when Balaam realized that God was going to insist on blessing Israel, he did not use his normal methods for discovering God’s will. That sounds to me like Balaam was going to attempt to make up a curse on his own. However, the Holy Spirit came over him anyway and caused him to speak yet another blessing. The Moabites had failed to gain victory over the Israelites by having them cursed, so they turned to other tactics.
    After the failure of Balak’s attempt to have the Israelites cursed by Balaam, the Moabites tried a different strategy. They began to try to assimilate the Israelites. Some of the Israelite men found some of the Moabite women attractive and began having sexual relations with them. The Moabite women encouraged the Israelite men to join them in the sacrifices and worship rituals to the Moabite god. As a result of this activity a plague began to spread among the Israelites.
    I am a strong believer that we as Christians need to be involved with the society around us. However, this passage is a reminder of the dangers of doing so. As we become involved with the society around us it is all too easy to allow that society to draw us away from serving God and from doing His will. We can become seduced into worshiping the gods of those around us rather than converting them to worship our God.