God has a lot to say about generosity. In today’s post, we’ll talk about a woman whose faith and generosity were commended by Jesus and talked about for over two thousand years. We’ll, also, look at others who had the wrong heart attitude about giving.
In our Old Testament reading, we’ll look at one of the most interesting stories in the book of Numbers where God used a talking donkey to get his point across to a greedy, ungodly man.
Welcome, to “God’s Word Day by Day.” This year I’ve added a couple of new features. First, check out the “Free Resources” tab at the top. You’ll find a downloadable, printable PDF with “Going Deeper Study Questions” for each day’s post and a list of all the Bible readings so you can check them off as you go. You’ll also find the daily posts on YouTube. The daily emails now have a link to both these Soul Survival posts and the YouTube videos. If you’re not already signed up, you can do it here.
Today’s Readings:
Numbers 21 & 22
Psalm 33.10-17
Proverbs 11.25-26
Mark 12.28-44
Generosity & Talking Donkeys
Mark 12.28-44:
Giving & Our Heart
In verses 28-34, a scribe comes to Jesus:
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions (ESV).
He commended this man for his understanding while telling him that he didn’t fully understand. But there were other scribes that Jesus was not so generous with:
38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation” (ESV).
The scribes served as what we might call estate planners. Instead of giving honest advice, they would cheat grieving widows out of what their husbands had left them to live on by convincing them they would be supporting the work of God.
Verse 41:
41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (ESV).
The New Living Translation says this woman gave “all that she had to live on.” She humbly and quietly gave everything. She was generous and trusted God to care for her, unlike the greedy scribes who were willing to rip off widows for their own gain.
Jesus doesn’t address the motives of the rich givers in verse 31 but He does warn us against giving with wrong motives in Matthew 6.2.
Giving to Get
One of the most pernicious and popular teachings today is what is commonly called “the prosperity doctrine.” I know firsthand how damaging and wrong this teaching is.
God does bless our faithfulness whether in giving or any other area but our motives do matter. Remember the religious leaders of Jesus’ day often gave large sums, but their motives were pride, greed, and self-aggrandizement.
And while, as I said, God does bless our faithfulness, it is not usually by making us rich or in the ways we expect.
I could say so much more about this but will leave that for another time. If you would like to understand more about the prosperity doctrine and things connected to it, you might want to check out the documentary, “American Gospel – Christ Alone”. It is a full-length film so there is a charge. You can either rent it or purchase it. I’m not affiliated with it in any way, but I do recommend it.
You can watch the first part of it here:
Your Heart & Mine
So the question for each of us is, “What is going on in my heart when I give? Do I give begrudgingly? Cheerfully? Sacrificially? With a give-to-get attitude?
Giving is not about earning God’s love. He already loves each of us enough to die for us. It’s not about trying to look good to others like the religious people of Jesus’ time. And, even though God works through the giving of His people, He doesn’t need our money (Ps. 24.1, 50.10). He wants our hearts!
And Now a Few Words about Today’s Other Readings …
Numbers 21 & 22:
As Moses Lifted Up the Serpent in the Wilderness
In chapter 21 God had blessed the Nation of Israel with military success. He continued to feed them supernaturally, protect them and rule over them. Yet they continued to grumble, complain and turn against Moses. As a result, God sent poisonous snakes into the camp. These snakes had a bite that caused a fiery inflammation.
But even then God made a provision for them to be saved from the consequences of their sin. He instructed Moses to put an image of the snake, the result of their sin, on a pole, and anyone who looked at it, was saved from death.
This points us to a greater truth. John 3.14-15 says:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
As a result of our sin, Jesus allowed Himself to be hung or lifted up on a cross so that whoever looks to Him will also be saved.
According to A.W. Tozer in his book The Pursuit of God, looking and believing are synonymous. While Israel looked with their physical eyes and it saved them from physical death, we look on or believe in with the heart and are saved from eternal spiritual death.
Talking Donkeys
In Numbers 22, we meet Balaam and Balak:
1 Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. 2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. 4 And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.”
So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, 5 sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. 6 Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
Balaam does seem to seek God and is told that he is not to go but when Balak doubles down on the financial reward, Balaam goes back to God perhaps hoping He will change His mind.
Of course, God doesn’t “change His mind” but He does choose to use this greedy false prophet to carry out his purpose:
20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.
22 But God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him.
God had told him he could go but He was angry because Balaam’s motive still wasn’t right.
23 And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. 25 And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he struck her again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” 30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”
31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. 32 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse[c] before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.”
34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.”
I think Balaam finally got it! But it wasn’t that Balaam was suddenly a good, godly person.
In 2 Peter 2, talking about false teachers, Peter said this:
14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
Back to Numbers, Verse 35
35 And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.
Tomorrow we’ll read more about Balaam and Balak.
Psalm 33.10-17:
Blessed by God, and Yet …
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance (v. 12).
Like the nation of Israel, our nation has been blessed by God in so many ways: militarily, financially, with an abundance of food, protection, unheard of freedoms, and yet, we’ve turned to gods of our own making. The only answer is turning back to the One true God. That begins with us. We must surrender fully to Him in our own hearts, minds, and lives, and pray for a great revival in our nation.
Whether or not our nation as a whole will turn back to God, we don’t know, but just as God protected individuals in the nation of Israel from what was going on around them, He will protect us and our families as we look to Him. He won’t protect us from all the circumstantial effects, but He will protect us spiritually and provide us with the necessities of life (Matt. 6.25-34).
Proverbs 11.25-26:
The Generous Soul
The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.
It makes little sense to the natural mind, but one of the keys to God’s continued blessings in our lives is our generosity. When times get difficult we need to trust God by continuing to give and be a blessing to others.
Coming Up:
In the coming days, we’ll talk about vows, authority, soul winning, the challenge to trust God in an uncertain world, and ask the question, “What are you willing to pour out for Christ?”
I hope you’ll sign up so you don’t miss them.
If you have a prayer request or a question, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the post. I will do my best to answer and would love to pray for you.
And if this post spoke to you, I would so appreciate it if you would share it on your favorite social media platform.
Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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