The people must have complained enough, because the Lord is finally sending their armies into the towns to wipe them out. I lost count of the number of cities whose entire armies or populations are slaughtered. Of course the Israeli armies are always successful, according to their own writings.

What’s more interesting is how the Lord is acting in all this. After they take Arad, the people get uppity again, so the Lord sends venomous snakes. Moses pleads with Him to spare the people, so He has Moses build a bronze snake for everyone to pray to, and they are healed. Of course, this violates the third commandment, but the Lord never needs to be consistent.

I read the first half of the story of Balaam, how Balak of Moab wants to hire him to curse the IsraeliteS. The first time Balak tries to hire him, the Lord tells him not to go. The second time, the Lord tells him to go, but only speak what He tells him to.

On the road to Moab, the Lord sends an angel to stop him. The angel tells him he is being reckless for going. Balaam apologizes and says he’ll go home. The Lord tells him to go anyway. What’s the point here, that the Lord likes playing with people’s heads?

Later today: Numbers 23-25