Tuesday July 2 Pentecost 6
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Psalm 124
We would have been destroyed in Egypt if God hadn’t been acting on our behalf to rescue us from drowning in the Red Sea. A beautiful short psalm of appreciation.
Psalm 125
A prayer that God will continue to protect God’s people by being like the protective hills around Jerusalem. God’s protection included ensuring that good people don’t turn to selfishness under pressure.
Psalm 126
Joyful memories of when by God’s act they escaped from captivity in Babylon, and returned to their land. A prayer that God will do it again.
Numbers 22: 21-38 What’s Numbers about?
Although Balaam starts the journey to curse the Israelites, God sends an angel to prevent his donkey from proceeding. Balaam does not see the angel and he hits the donkey. God enables the donkey to speak and the donkey rebukes Balaam. Balaam then sees the angel who explains that God would have killed him had the donkey not refused to proceed. God then tells Balaam to proceed.
It could appear that two stories have been interwtined here to produce a story in which Balaam disobeys God and God turns his disobedience to good, or it could be that the story intends to teach that God is free to intervene arbitrarily in history and even in non-Jewish cultures in whatever way God wishes. After this confrontation, Balaam the foreigner will obey the Jewish God and refuse to curse the Israelites.
Matthew 21: 23-32 What’s Matthew about?
More challenges to Jesus as his execution approaches: the religious leaders try to trick him into claiming special knowledge of God which would provide authority for Jesus to challenge the collection of tribute by the temple, thereby undermining the religious authorities and be found guilty of rebelling against the Roman empire.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God,
you have taught us through your Son
that love fulfills the law.
May we love you with all our heart,
all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength,
and may we love our neighbour as ourselves;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.