Wildwood Assembly

The Donkey, the Angel, and Blessings That Cannot Be Reversed

Balak, king of Moab, watches the Israelite horde spread across his landscape and does what any frightened king would do—he hires a professional. Balaam is a prophet-for-hire, a man who deals in curses the way a merchant deals in spices. But God intercepts the transaction. ‘Do not go with them,’ He tells Balaam. ‘These people are blessed.’ Balak sends more distinguished envoys and more money. Balaam, to his credit, says the right words—‘Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could do nothing against the will of the Lord.’ But he saddles his donkey and goes anyway. And then comes one of the most wonderfully humiliating scenes in Scripture. The donkey sees the angel that the prophet cannot. Three times the animal swerves, and three times Balaam beats her. When God opens the donkey’s mouth, she asks the most reasonable question in the Bible: ‘What have I done to deserve this?’ Balaam, the man who speaks for God, is rebuked by his own beast of burden. His eyes are finally opened, and he proceeds—chastened—to do exactly what God commands. Three times Balak sets up altars and asks for a curse. Three times Balaam opens his mouth and blessings pour out. ‘God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind.’ The words are not Balaam’s; they are God’s, spoken through a reluctant vessel. And then, in his final oracle, Balaam sees far into the future: ‘A star will rise from Jacob; a scepter will emerge from Israel.’ The pagan prophet, hired to curse, becomes an unwitting herald of the Messiah.

00:00 Balak Summons Balaam
01:00 God Says Do Not Go
02:00 Balak Sends More Officials
03:00 Balaam’s Donkey Sees the Angel
05:00 The Donkey Speaks
06:00 Balaam Arrives in Moab
07:00 First Oracle: Blessing Instead of Curse
08:00 Balak’s Frustration
09:00 Second Oracle: God Does Not Lie
10:00 Third Oracle: The Spirit of God
12:00 Balak’s Rage
13:00 Final Oracle: A Star from Jacob
15:00 Balaam Departs

Buy Immerse Beginnings today!

4 Questions to get your conversations started:
1.    What stood out to you this week?
2.    Was there anything confusing or troubling?
3.    Did anything make you think differently about God?
4.    How might this change the way we live?

QUICK START GUIDE
3 ways to get the most out of your experience

1.    Use Immerse: Beginnings instead of your regular chapter and verse Bible. This special reader’s edition restores the Bible to its natural simplicity and beauty by removing chapter and verse numbers and other historical additions. Letters look like letters, songs look like songs, and the original literary structures are visible in each book.

2.    Commit to making this a community experience. Immerse is designed for groups to encounter large portions of the Bible together for 8 weeks–more like a book club, less like a Bible study. By meeting every week in small groups and discussing what you read in open, honest conversations, you and your community can come together to be transformed through an authentic experience with the Scriptures.

3.    Aim to understand the big story. Read through “The Stories and the Story” (p. 329) to see how the books of the Bible work together to tell God’s story of his creation’s restoration. As you read through Immerse: Beginnings, rather than ask, “How do I fit God into my busy life?” begin asking, “How can I join in God’s great plan by living out my part in his story?”

And for more great Bible podcasts for Christians and small groups,

Military life can place enormous strain on families through deployments, frequent moves, and long seasons of separation. But what if those challenges could become opportunities for deeper faith and even ministry? Beth Runkle shares how military spouses can replace fear with faith, use prayer as a powerful spiritual weapon, and see every new assignment as part of God’s calling on their lives.

Receive a copy of Another Move, God? 30 Encouragements to Embrace Your Life as a Military Wife and an audio download of "Practical Advice for Transforming Your Military Marriage" for your donation of any amount!

Get More Episode Resources 

If you enjoyed listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, please give us your feedback.

Jesus’ heart was so focused that his last words were “It is finished.” God wants us to have focused hearts like Jesus. Here are four simple questions to help us stay on course:

Read more Just Like Jesus

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

The Rock, the Serpent, and the Passing of an Era

Miriam dies at Kadesh, and the text records it in a single sentence—no eulogy, no mourning period mentioned. She who led the women in singing after the Red Sea crossing slips quietly from the story. Then there is no water, and the people do what they always do: they complain. God tells Moses to speak to the rock. Instead, Moses strikes it twice, shouting: ‘Must we bring you water from this rock?’ That small word ‘we’ may be the most consequential pronoun in the Pentateuch. The water flows, but the verdict is devastating: Moses will not enter the promised land. The punishment seems disproportionate until you understand what was at stake—Moses made it look as though the miracle depended on his effort rather than God’s word. Edom refuses passage, and Israel must detour. Then Aaron dies on Mount Hor, and there is a solemn scene: Moses removes the priestly garments from the dying father and places them on Eleazar, the son. The priesthood passes from one generation to the next while the whole nation watches from below. Israel mourns for thirty days. The march resumes, and again the people grumble. This time God sends venomous snakes, and the remedy is bewildering: a bronze snake lifted on a pole. Anyone bitten need only look at it to live. The cure requires no merit, no offering, no journey—only the willingness to look up. Jesus would later claim this image as His own, telling Nicodemus that the Son of Man must be lifted up in just the same way. The chapter closes with military victories over Sihon and Og—the first conquests of the promised land’s borderlands. A new generation is beginning to fight, and beginning to win.

00:00 Miriam Dies at Kadesh
01:00 Water from the Rock
02:00 Moses Barred from the Promised Land
03:00 Edom Refuses Passage
04:00 Aaron Dies on Mount Hor
05:00 Victory Over the Canaanite King of Arad
06:00 The Bronze Snake on a Pole
07:00 Journey Through the Wilderness
08:00 Victory Over King Sihon of the Amorites
09:00 The Ancient Song of Heshbon
10:00 Victory Over King Og of Bashan

Buy Immerse Beginnings today!

4 Questions to get your conversations started:
1.    What stood out to you this week?
2.    Was there anything confusing or troubling?
3.    Did anything make you think differently about God?
4.    How might this change the way we live?

QUICK START GUIDE
3 ways to get the most out of your experience

1.    Use Immerse: Beginnings instead of your regular chapter and verse Bible. This special reader’s edition restores the Bible to its natural simplicity and beauty by removing chapter and verse numbers and other historical additions. Letters look like letters, songs look like songs, and the original literary structures are visible in each book.

2.    Commit to making this a community experience. Immerse is designed for groups to encounter large portions of the Bible together for 8 weeks–more like a book club, less like a Bible study. By meeting every week in small groups and discussing what you read in open, honest conversations, you and your community can come together to be transformed through an authentic experience with the Scriptures.

3.    Aim to understand the big story. Read through “The Stories and the Story” (p. 329) to see how the books of the Bible work together to tell God’s story of his creation’s restoration. As you read through Immerse: Beginnings, rather than ask, “How do I fit God into my busy life?” begin asking, “How can I join in God’s great plan by living out my part in his story?”

And for more great Bib

Licensed counselor Debra Fileta highlights ways to “fill up” physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In a 6-part process that Debra calls “Soul Care,” she goes through the life and rhythms of Jesus to discover how we can care for our souls. Instead of living unsatisfied, we can experience renewed energy, purpose, and strength to serve others like never before!

Receive the book Soul Care plus a free audio download of the program "Godly Rhythms to Help You Live Life to the Full" for your donation of any amount! Plus, receive member-exclusive benefits when you make a recurring gift today. Your monthly support helps families thrive.

Get More Episode Resources 

If you enjoyed listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, please give us your feedback.

A vibrant, shining face is the mark of one who has stood in God’s presence. After speaking to God, Moses had to cover his face with a veil. But not only does God change the face of those who worship; he changes those who watch us worship.

Paul told the Corinthian church to worship in such a way that if an unbeliever entered, “he would find…the secrets of his heart revealed; and…would fall down on his face and worship God…” (1 Corinthians 14:25 NKJV)

Seekers may not understand all that happens in a house of worship. They may not understand the meaning of a song or the significance of communion. But they know joy when they see it.  And when they see your face changed, they may want to see God’s face. People, including your family, are watching. Believe me. They are watching.

Read more Just Like Jesus

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

I Am Your Share and Your Inheritance

The priestly duties outlined here carry an extraordinary weight: Aaron and his sons are personally responsible for any violation connected with the sanctuary. The closer you stand to holy things, the greater the accountability. But with the weight comes provision—the priests receive portions of every offering, the best of the oil, the new wine, the grain, the firstfruits. They eat from God’s table, sustained by the very worship of the nation. And then comes one of the most breathtaking lines in all of Scripture. When God tells Aaron that the priests will receive no allotment of land, He does not merely say ‘you don’t need land.’ He says: ‘I am your share and your allotment.’ The other tribes will have fields and vineyards. The priests will have God Himself. It is either the worst inheritance in Israel or the best—and everything depends on whether you believe God is who He says He is. The Levites, too, receive no land but are given the nation’s tithes, and from those tithes they must give a tenth—a tithe of the tithe—to the Lord. Even those who live on generosity must practice it. The reading closes with the red heifer ceremony—a strange and solemn ritual for purifying those who have touched death. The heifer is burned entirely, and its ashes are mixed with water to create the ‘water of purification.’ In a world saturated with death, God provides a way back to cleanness. The path from defilement to restoration always exists, but someone must prepare the ashes, and someone must sprinkle the water. Purity, like everything else in God’s economy, requires a mediator.

00:00 Priestly Responsibilities and Accountability
01:00 The Priesthood as a Gift
02:00 The Priests’ Share of Offerings
03:00 Firstfruits and Firstborn
04:00 ‘I Am Your Share and Your Allotment’
05:00 Tithes for the Levites
06:00 The Tithe of the Tithe
07:00 The Red Heifer Ceremony
08:00 Purification from Contact with Death
09:00 The Water of Purification
10:00 Defilement and Restoration

Buy Immerse Beginnings today!

4 Questions to get your conversations started:
1.    What stood out to you this week?
2.    Was there anything confusing or troubling?
3.    Did anything make you think differently about God?
4.    How might this change the way we live?

QUICK START GUIDE
3 ways to get the most out of your experience

1.    Use Immerse: Beginnings instead of your regular chapter and verse Bible. This special reader’s edition restores the Bible to its natural simplicity and beauty by removing chapter and verse numbers and other historical additions. Letters look like letters, songs look like songs, and the original literary structures are visible in each book.

2.    Commit to making this a community experience. Immerse is designed for groups to encounter large portions of the Bible together for 8 weeks–more like a book club, less like a Bible study. By meeting every week in small groups and discussing what you read in open, honest conversations, you and your community can come together to be transformed through an authentic experience with the Scriptures.

3.    Aim to understand the big story. Read through “The Stories and the Story” (p. 329) to see how the books of the Bible work together to tell God’s story of his creation’s restoration. As you read through Immerse: Beginnings, rather than ask, “How do I fit God into my busy life?” begin asking, “How can I join in God’s great plan by living out my part in his story?”

And for more great Bible podcasts for Christians and small groups, check out

Licensed counselor Debra Fileta highlights ways to “fill up” physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In a 6-part process that Debra calls “Soul Care,” she goes through the life and rhythms of Jesus to discover how we can care for our souls. Instead of living unsatisfied, we can experience renewed energy, purpose, and strength to serve others like never before!

Receive the book Soul Care plus a free audio download of the program "Godly Rhythms to Help You Live Life to the Full" for your donation of any amount! Plus, receive member-exclusive benefits when you make a recurring gift today. Your monthly support helps families thrive.

Get More Episode Resources 

If you enjoyed listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, please give us your feedback.

Do you prepare for church worship?  We’re sadly casual when it comes to meeting God. Suppose you were invited to a Sunday morning breakfast at the White House?  How would you spend Saturday night?  Would you think about your questions and requests?  Should we prepare any less for an encounter with the Holy God?

Come to worship prepared to worship.  Pray and read the Word of God before you come, and come expecting God to speak. Then you’ll discover the purpose of worship—to change the face of the worshiper.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “Our faces, then, are not covered.  We all show The Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like Him” (EXB).  God wipes away our tears, softens our furrowed brows and touches our cheeks. He changes our faces as we worship.

Read more Just Like Jesus

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.