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The Paradox of Balaam: Summoned to Curse Israel 0:10 Good morning, and welcome to stand on the word as we look at numbers chapters 22 and 23. And today, I think we encounter 1 of the most, you know, paradoxical, enigmatic figures in the0:21 scripture, a man who god spoke through, yet the man was not surrendered to god. We're We're gonna look at Balaam today. Verse 8 chapter 23, how shall I curse whom God has not cursed, and how shall I denounce0:33 whom the Lord has not denounced? Now Balaam's name appears 60 times in the Bible in, 3 Old Testament books and 3 New Testament books. He is mentioned0:45 more often than many of Jesus's disciples. So there must be something that we can learn from the life of of this individual. I would describe him as a for profit0:58 prophet, which divided his priorities. Alright. Verse 1, chapter 22. Then the children of Israel moved and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho. Now Balak, the1:09 son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. Now the Moabites were the descendants of of Lot. Okay? So there's some history here. Verse 3. And Moab was exceedingly afraid of1:21 the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel. Now don't miss this because this is exactly what God promised. God promised that he would put1:33 the fear and the dread into the hearts of Israel's opponents. I mean, just think. Had those who had died in the wilderness over the last 40 years understood and believed the promise from1:45 God, they would have been in the promised land at this point and would have been enjoying their grandchildren and even their great grandchildren. You know, what a price to pay for1:57 our disobedience and our failure to trust God and act upon it. Alright. Verse 4. So Moab said to the elders of Midian, now this company will lick up everything around2:08 us as an ox licks up the grass of the field, and Balak, the son of Zippor, was king of the Moabites at the time. Then he sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor at2:20 Pethor, which is near the river in the land of the sons of his people, to call him saying, look. A people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth and are settling next to me. Now this was a large group2:32 considering the population at the time. Now Balaam came from the region where Abraham originated, a place where a latent, though likely corrupted knowledge of the 1 true God2:44 still lingered. Now his actions really kinda suggested a syncretic form of religion, 1 that acknowledged god yet blended that recognition with pagan2:56 rituals of the culture of that day. Now as a result, Balaam approach, his approach to God was near near neither orthodox nor aligned with God's revealed direction of3:08 worship. Verse 6. Therefore, please come out at once, curse the people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he3:19 whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed. Now Balaam had quite the reputation. But question is, was he a genuine prophet of God, or was he a huckster?3:31 There's a lot of debate actually over that question. Again, I would describe him as a for profit prophet. So they go to Balaam, and they ask him to come. And he says, well, let me pray3:43 about it. Sanctified, I guess. Verse 12, and god said to Balaam, god spoke to him, you shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people for they are blessed.3:55 But, the, the the folks coming from Balak will not take no for an answer, and so they up the ante. And look what Balaam says. He he doesn't take no for an answer either. He4:07 goes back to the Lord. I guess he's thinking that maybe god will have changed his mind. Verse 18, then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold,4:19 I could not go beyond the word of the lord my god to do less or more. Now this sounds noble as if I don't have a price, but what he was stating was his price. You know? I I4:30 I see this kind of similar to the situation with Abraham over in Genesis 23 when he was purchasing the cave at Machpelah from Ephron where he said, it's4:42 400 shekels, but what that's what is that between us? But, of course, he takes the 400 shekels when Abraham gives it to him. Verse 19. Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight that I may know what more the4:54 lord will say to me. And god gave him to Balaam at night and said, if the men come to call you, rise and go with them, but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do.5:06 So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled as a donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. Then God's anger was aroused because he went, and the angel of the lord took his stand in the way as an adversary againstThe Donkey's Rebuke: Exposing Balaam's Greed 5:18 him, and he was riding on his donkey, and his 2 servants were with him. Now how do we explain this? God says go, but then he opposes him. It could be that we're seeing another example of the5:30 permissive will of God where he gives us what we ask for even though it's not his perfect plan, even though God uses it to accomplish his purposes. I think it could also be god exposing the5:42 weakness of religion and ritual, which is a part of what Balaam came from, this syncretic faith. Regardless, we see from god's anger being aroused and5:53 the fact that 3 times on this journey, the angel of the lord, which would be Jesus, opposed Balaam in the way. Now the opposition most likely was focused on6:06 Balaam's motivation. We know that from, other passages. His motivation was money, and we can deduce this from numbers chapter 22 verse6:17 32 where it says, and the angel of the Lord said to him, why have you struck your donkey these 3 times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you because your way is perverse before me. Now let's6:29 let's explore this perverse way a little bit more by looking at the 3 references to Balaam in the New Testament. Okay? So we get a very clear understanding of what this motive is and why6:41 I call him a for profit prophet. Second Peter chapter 2 verse 15, they have forsaken the right way and gone astray following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages6:53 of unrighteousness, but he was rebuked for his iniquity, a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. You know, people are amazed. A donkey would speak? I don't7:05 know. Is that the most amazing thing or the fact that Balaam was talking back to him? Jude chapter, Jude in verse 11. Woe to them for they have gone in the way of7:17 Cain, have run greedily in the era of Balaam for profit and perish in the rebellion of Korah. Again, for profit. In Revelation chapter 2 verse7:29 14, but I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam. Alright. What's the doctrine of Balaam? Who taught Balak7:41 to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat the things sacrificed to the idols and to commit sexual immorality. Now we're gonna look at that later in actually in in numbers chapter 25.7:53 We're gonna look at that scheme of Balaam that's referenced here in Revelation. So I'm just gonna wait, and we'll get to that later. But it's actually 1 of my, favorite passages of scripture because we see8:05 I'm gonna get ahead of myself. But we'll see Phineas, a man of god who takes a stand. Alright. Verse 35. Then the angel of the lord said to Balaam, go with the men, but only the word that I speak to8:16 you, that you shall speak. So Balaam went with the prince princes of Balak. Now in chapters 23 and 24, there are 3 attempts to curse the children of Israel, but it results inUnbreakable Blessings: What God Blesses, Man Cannot Curse 8:28 Balaam pronouncing a prophetic blessing 3 different times. Of course, the significance of 3 is that it is an established matter. It's complete when something is said 3 times or done 3 times.8:40 It it it's from a numerology standpoint, it's significant. It's an established matter. Verse 1, chapter 23. Then Balaam said to Balak, build 7 altars for me here and prepare for8:52 me here 7 bulls and 7 rams. Now let me ask you this question. What's wrong with this picture? Right? This looks sanctified. I mean, he's building an altar. He's offering these, appropriate9:04 offerings. Well, the 7 altars actually reflects the pagan practices of the ancient Far East. Balaam was used by God, but he did not totally yield to God. In fact,9:15 we we of course, he was not of the children of Israel. But build we we don't find any place else. No. Abraham didn't do this. Jacob didn't do this. No 1 built 79:27 altars. Elijah didn't do that. Elisha didn't do this. And then this was a this was a pagan practice. Alright. Verse verse 11. Then Balak9:39 said to Balaam, what have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them. So he answered and said, must I not take heed to speak what the Lord has9:51 put in my mouth? Now Balak was not happy, because he was not getting what he paid for. So what does this mean to, to us? Well, first off, if we10:03 have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior, we are a child of god, and we are blessed by god. What is blessed by god cannot be cursed by man. You10:14 you you can take yourself outside the covering of God, but while your spiritual enemy, Satan, can harass you and hound you, he can't harm you as 1 who is10:26 blessed by God. Yes. Some will try. Balaam gave it his best shot, but he could not undo what God has done or what God had done. So there's a confidence in that as as10:38 1 who has trusted Jesus Christ as your lord and savior. And if you're walking in fellowship with him, abiding with him, the enemy can't touch you. I I know he can harass you. He can do things to us, but he we10:50 cannot be cursed if the blessing of god is upon us. Alright. So then Balak takes him to another spot to try again. Look at verse 18. Then Balaam took up his oracle and said, rise11:02 up, Balak, and hear. Listen to me, son of Zippor. God is not a man that he should lie nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do?11:14 Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. Verse 25. Then Balak said to Balaam, neither11:26 curse them at all nor bless them at all. So Balaam answered and said to Balak, did I not tell you saying all that the Lord speaks that I must do. So here here's the11:38 takeaway. Choose to live in the confidence of god's blessing. No matter what challenges or oppositions you may face, god's word stands authoritatively over your11:50 life and rest in that blessing and walk in it. Father, we thank you that what you have blessed, no man can curse. You will not allow that. And so I pray12:01 that as we trust Jesus Christ as our lord and savior and we abide in him, that as we abide in the blessing, we would have the confidence of knowing that that12:13 no curse can come upon us because you have blessed us in the name of Jesus, and we thank you for that. And we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for being with me12:25 this morning, and be sure and turn tune in tomorrow because, 1 of my favorite passages. In fact, I've got the, the Hebrew scroll of this passage we're gonna be reading tomorrow12:37 hanging in my office. It is a powerful passage of scripture that should serve as a an example and a reminder of our call to stand as12:49 believers. Alright. Have a great day, and until next time, keep standing on the word.12:56 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:08 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 The Paradox of Balaam: Summoned to Curse Israel5:11 The Donkey's Rebuke: Exposing Balaam's Greed8:21 Unbreakable Blessings: What God Blesses, Man Cannot Curse
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