Day 26
After 400 years in Egypt, followed by decades in the wilderness, Israel is readying to come into the Promised Land. It will be many years more before they are able to enter, but In Numbers 22, we read of the Israelites traveling through the plains of Moab to camp along the Jordan River, east of Canaan, at the northern end of the Dead Sea. Here they prepare to cross the Jordan and enter Canaan proper, but not before a lengthy encampment. While there, Israel runs into a couple pagan nations and kings and defeats them thoroughly, sending shock waves of fear throughout the region, as Israel’s reputation, and more importantly, Israel’s God’s reputation, spreads. Though Israel has not attacked Moab, but skirted their territory, the Moabite king Balak is so scared by their defeat of Sihon and Og that he summons a man with an international reputation for blessing and cursing to defeat Israel by cursing them, the prophet Balaam.
Or is he a prophet? Because Balaam is said to speak God’s word and sounds pious, it is natural to conclude that he is a saint. But more likely Balaam’s greed, hoping to obtain as much as he could for his cursing services, confirms that he was a corrupt seer, willing to prophesy the will of the highest bidder. The problem for Balak and Balaam is that God is sovereign over His plan for His people and that plan will not be thwarted!
As Balaam rides his donkey toward King Balak’s summons, in direct disobedience to the LORD God’s commands, God’s angel stands in Balaam’s way with a drawn sword, but only Balaam’s donkey can see the angel. The donkey resists moving forward due to the angel’s presence, and Balaam beats his donkey three times for refusing to go forward. Then comes the amazing moment: “the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she asked Balaam, ‘What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?’” (Num 22:28)
Rather than being shocked and alarmed that his donkey is speaking, Balaam argues with his donkey! Finally, God opens Balaam’s eyes to see what the donkey saw: the angel of God standing in the road with his sword drawn. Balaam finally realizes his donkey has saved his life. The angel then sends Balaam on his way with a stern warning to speak only what God tells him to speak. Unfortunately, Balaam continues in his greedy ways yet every time he tries to speak a curse over the Israelites, a blessing comes out of his mouth instead! Divine irony!
In his warnings to the early church, the Apostle Peter accuses false teachers as having “gone astray by abandoning the straight path and have followed the path of Balaam, son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness but received a rebuke for his lawlessness: A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.” (2 Pet 2:15)
Today we read of another example of divine irony, from the mouth of the Jewish high priest, Caiaphus. He has no idea how true his words are!
Read John 11:45-57
Many of the Jews who saw and/or heard about Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead believed, but others went straight to the Pharisees and stirred up trouble. A meeting of the high court, known as the Sanhedrin, made up of 70 priests, elders and scribes, along with high priest, Caiaphas, presiding was called. Amidst the chaotic conversations amongst the Jewish leaders they ask, “What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs?” (v 47) Indeed he has performed multiple signs, seven in fact: He first turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana. (2:11) Second, He restored the terribly sick son of a Roman official to complete health. (4:53) Jesus’ third sign was healing the paralytic man by the Pool of Bethesda (6:2) followed by His fourth sign - multiplying five loaves and two fish to feed thousands. (6:14) Jesus’ fifth sign was walking on the water to His disciples on the Sea of Galilee (6:19) then sixth, giving sight to a man blind since birth. (9:16) But just recently the most impressive and important sign of all, when Jesus raised a dead man who had been in the grave four days to life! (11:44)
Yes, he has done many signs. But instead of asking, like many common people are, “Could this be the long-promised Christ?” the leaders as a whole are tragically more concerned with preserving their own place and privilege. They are more oriented on political concerns with the unbelieving Romans than with spiritual concerns in their Scriptures. “If we let [Jesus] go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” (v 48) Even after receiving testimony and evidence supporting the miracle of Lazarus restored to life, high priest Caiaphas refused to believe Jesus was the Messiah and was more firmly resolved than ever to have Him put to death. He used the excuse that Jesus might cause the Romans to destroy the Jews’ religious system. So he said, “You’re not considering that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.” (v 50) Wow! There is no truer statement.
Like Balaam, forced to prophesy what he did not intend, Caiaphas was made to predict the true significance of Christ’s coming death. Instead of His death being “to your advantage”—for the Sandhedrin, Caiaphas and their religious power system—it was indeed “advantageous that one man should die for the people.”
What remarkable divine irony! Caiaphas, the chief religious representative of God to the people of Israel, should have known the Old Testament prophecies and gladly welcomed Jesus as the promised Messiah. Instead, he organized His trial and condemnation. Yet he was divinely inspired (without knowing or intending it) to point out the real mission of Jesus, the Messiah, to the Jews and the whole world - that of substitutionary sacrifice, atonement for their sins.
So far as we know, Caiaphas died still rejecting Christ. Nevertheless, following Christ’s substitutionary death, the evidence for His glorious resurrection, which was eternal, by the way, not temporary like that of Lazarus, became so clear and compelling that “a great group of priests became obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7) Caiaphas did, indeed, manage to get Jesus crucified, but the result was salvation for multitudes.
There are in fact two visions of the coming death of Jesus: Caiaphas’ and God’s. Caiaphas perceives the situation, considers his own interest, and issues his counsel, which carries the day. But God is not caught off guard. He doesn’t rush in to fix things and turn them for good. No, before Caiaphas willed it, God willed it. Before Caiaphas said it, God planned it. God superintends these evil words from Caiaphas’ evil heart, for God’s good purposes and the salvation of his people from sin and death.
And strange as this sounds in our ears, this is not new in the Bible. It should sound familiar for any who are familiar with the story of Joseph and his brothers at the end of Genesis. Joseph says to his brothers who, mind you, sold him into slavery 20 years prior, “You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result - the survival of many people.” (Gen 50:20) Joseph doesn’t say God used it or that God turned it. Sinners planned evil; God planned it (the same evil) for good. Same evil, two intentions. Divine Irony.
Big Picture Questions for Today:
Was Caiaphas a prophet or a villain? Did he have a choice in what was coming out of his mouth?
How do you feel as you think about God intending all things - even our sin - to achieve His purposes?
Pray for eyes to see God’s Sovereignty at work all around you today. Maybe even some divine irony…
