Where there is a true vision, or revelation of God, it motivates those who have reverence for it to conduct their lives in a way that produces good fruit - happiness.
The vision a person has is the cause, and the effect is the way he then conducts his life. The Living Bible paraphrases this verse as, "Where there is ignorance of God, the people run wild, but what a wonderful thing it is for a nation to know and keep His laws!" An old English version based on the Latin Vulgate provides a fascinating rendering in light of what has happened recently in the church: "When prophecy shall fail, the people shall be scattered." Adam Clarke comments, "Where divine revelation, and the faithful preaching of the sacred testimonies, are neither reverenced nor attended, the ruin of that land is at no great distance."Īll these renderings show a measure of cause and effect. Modern versions replace "vision" with "revelation," but the choice is negligible because God's revelation is the true and most important vision (foresight, discernment, insight) for our lives. Because God has mercy on us, we who see God are the only ones keeping the Balaams of this world from getting totally snuffed out. This donkey was the only thing standing in God's way of totally consuming Balaam. If the saints did not exist, there would be no world. Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, and part of its meaning is that we are the preservative in this world. This is interesting because the same thing happens because of us. God says that it is for her sake that He has not carried out His judgment on Balaam.
Does she reach back and nip Balaam like he should have been? No. The donkey, in her meekness, does not retaliate. The donkey is persecuted for her obedience. Conversely, if we consider the donkey to stand for those who actually see God at work, we can notice a few things: If a man like Balaam gets up a head of steam, he thinks that no one will stop him. God says that is perverse.Ī wise man looks ahead and sees where he is going to land. He is so consumed with himself that he sees nothing down the road, only what is happening now. He is a man who cannot look past the end of his nose. He rushes through life for everything that he can get out of it, never thinking about what will happen afterward, in the end. He is like a daredevil, like Evel Knievel, who without thought or fear, endangers his and others' lives for his own selfish purposes. Balaam, you are not looking ahead to the consequences! Your way is going to get you into trouble." It is precipitant." It is as if Balaam were driving 90 mph down a steep hill, heedless of the danger at the bottom.
God says to Balaam, "Your way is headlong and reckless before Me. It does not quite mean "perverse" the preferred meaning is interesting: "to precipitate to be precipitant to push headlong to drive recklessly." Homophone: Forsythe ( in accents with the horse-hoarse merger )įoresight ( countable and uncountable, plural foresights).( non-rhotic, without the horse– hoarse merger ) IPA ( key): /ˈfoəsaɪt/.( rhotic, without the horse– hoarse merger ) IPA ( key): /ˈfo(ː)ɹsaɪt/.( Received Pronunciation ) IPA ( key): /ˈfɔːsaɪt/.( General American ) IPA ( key): /ˈfɔɹsaɪt/.Compare Scots foresicht ( “ foresight ” ), Saterland Frisian Foarsicht ( “ caution ” ), West Frisian foarútsjoch ( “ foresight ” ), Dutch voorzicht ( “ foresight ” ), German Vorsicht ( “ caution care attention ” ). From Middle English forsight, forsyght, forsichte (since 14th c.), a calque from providentia equivalent to fore- + sight.