The game of old- the game of telephone
Remember sitting in a line at school and the teacher or the first student telling the next student a short story. Then the students one by one whispered what they heard to the next until the last person had to say out loud what they were told. The level of comedy I remember hearing from how some of the stories turned out. Where it began and where it ended were usually so far apart it was unreal. It was supposed to be a life lesson to us on how we had to be careful what we listened to from others. A lesson about how gossip and chatter can spread false information so quickly. A good lesson to only trust the source of the information.
I am pretty sure a lot of people in this world today didn’t play the telephone game growing up. A lot of people talk and share things so quickly. They will share a story from Facebook without checking the facts, take a news articles as the same level of gospel as what the preacher would deliver on a Sunday morning, or hang up from a phone call just to turn around and call or text to say, “ did you hear about so and so”. Yep, I think you can at least chuckle and think of something or someone this makes you think about. You can probably even think of a scenario from this week that you experienced that lines up with what we are talking about. And if we are being really honest, we can probably all think of at least one time we have been guilty of doing this ourselves.
Morning devotion. . . where is this coming from in the bible you might be thinking. Well, if you have your coffee and bible, or whatever study tools you enjoy sitting with during these devotions, or maybe you are scrolling from your phone as you sit and wait for an appointment, regardless of where you are, settle in and I will share the thought for today.
Numbers Chapter 22, The Israelites have defeated their first enemy, the Amorites, and are traveling to their next destination. The Moabites have seen all that Israel has done to the Amorites and are now fearful of them coming to their land. Balak sent messengers to Balaam to ask for help. Balak has the messengers ask Balaam, “'Please come and put a curse on these people for me because they are more powerful than I am. I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that those you bless are blessed and those you curse are cursed.” (Numbers 22:6). Balak was sending men to Balaam to ask him to come and curse the Israelites so that they could defeat them. A pretty strong request. Balaam replied to them by inviting the men to stay the night while he spoke to God about the situation. I like Balaam. He didn’t react hastily. He said, Let me pray about it.
Balaam spoke to God that night and told God why the men had been sent to him. He sought out God’s will and plan for how he should respond. In verse 12 the Bible says that God told Balaam that he was not to go back with them men, that he was not to curse the Israelites, and that the people of Israel were blessed. So Balaam goes to the men the next morning and verse 13 says that Balaam told the men, “ Go back to your land, because the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” The men went back home and told Balak “Balaam refused to return with us.”
Balak didn’t like the response he got when he heard that Balaam had refused to come back, so in verses 15-17 we see his response. “Balak sent officials again who were more numerous and higher in rank than the others. They came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Let nothing keep you from coming to me, for I will greatly honor you and do whatever you ask me. So please come and put a curse on these people for me! ’”
As I read through those verses I caught myself reacting almost as if watching a suspenseful movie, you know, when you see them doing something that won’t turn out well for them and you are wanting to scream “just do this” or “ just say this”.
I questioned why Balaam left off the part that God had told him that he could not curse the people of Israel and that they were a blessed people. Balaam simply replied to the men, “The Lord has refused to let me go with you”. But Balaam, don’t they need to know the rest of what God said? Don’t you need to tell them they are blessed and why God is saying no?!? He didn’t, so the men went back and just said Balaam refused to come back. They in turn left off the part that God wouldn’t’ let Balaam come. Now it’s just all Balaam’s fault and he just refused to help the people. If that’s not the shortest game of telephone with the biggest example of how fast things can get turned around, I don’t know what is.
I can’t say if either response getting reduced with key details being left off was intentional or unintentional on either part, but I think this is such a beautiful illustration of what can happen when we fail to communicate all of what God is trying to communicate with us, and also just a good reminder of how careful we need to be when we find ourselves sharing information that has been passed on to us. Yep, I added an extra layer. Rather than just talking about a game of telephone and how stories can get all messed up, I also just said this is an example of what can happen when we fail to communicate all what God is trying to communicate with us. Balaam set himself up to be visited by men again. Now they are more numerous in number, carry more power, and are more forceful with their request. I think sometimes we put ourselves in positions to be tempted or re-tempted when we don’t stand firm and speak loud and clear about where we stand with God. Had Balaam been clearer about what God said in the first place, maybe those messengers would have never come back to tempt him again. We have all heard, “some people just won’t take no for an answer”. Maybe this is a good reminder for us today to speak our whole truth. Stand firm in your faith, live out loud for God, and never reduce or water down what God calls you to speak. If you do, the temptation might continue to come at you more and more until you find yourself falling victim to temptations.