Another frustration to God's chosen and redeemed people was Balaam's plot and teaching (Num. 31:16; Rev. 2:14b).
Balaam taught Balak to stumble the God-chosen and God-redeemed people by seducing them to commit fornication with the daughters of Moab, which led them into idolatry (Num. 25:1-2). It is hard to believe that a large number of God's people could commit the sins of fornication, which damaged themselves, and idolatry, which insulted the person of God. Nevertheless, many of the people fell into these sins.
Through this fall into fornication and idolatry, the God-chosen and God-redeemed people provoked God to consume twenty-four thousand of them with the plague (Num. 25:3, 9). This was a great sifting, purging, and purification. Through this frustration the children of Israel were purified, and after this purification they were renumbered.
With respect to whatever is negative in our situation and condition, frustrations are needed. I have considered this very much as I have faced the recent rebellion among us. Whether we realize it or not and whether we understand it or not, we need the purification which comes through the frustrations.
All the frustrations suffered by God's chosen and redeemed people should be considered as means to humble God's people by afflictions and to test them on their journey in the wilderness (Deut. 8:2). This is our situation today. The different kinds of frustrations are used by God to humble us and to test us. As we make our journey through the great and terrible wilderness, we will suffer frustrations again and again. Just as some made themselves sacrifices for the benefit of the children of Israel, today some may become sacrifices for our benefit, in particular for our purging and purification. From this we see once again that the record of the journey of the children of Israel in the wilderness is a record of our journey today. The frustrations they experienced in their journey we will also experience in our journey. Therefore, it is helpful for us to consider the frustrations recorded in the book of Numbers.