Choose Your Reward: Balaam and Balak
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus: When God speaks, we must learn to obey - for his glory and our good.
Numbers 22-24
God Has Spoken
Say Again?
Don’t Negotiate, Trust the Cross
God Has Spoken
When God speaks, we need to take him at his word so that we and others might be blessed.
Numbers 22:1-14 ESV
”Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. And Moab said to the elders of Midian, "This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field." So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, "Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message. And he said to them, "Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me." So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. And God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?" And Balaam said to God, "Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 'Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.'" God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, "Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you." So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, "Balaam refuses to come with us."“
We need to stop looking for omens and trust what God has already said.
What has God already spoken to you about - in his word and through prayer that he expects you to obey?
“There is no peace like the peace of those whose minds are possessed with full assurance that they have known God, and God has known them, and that this relationship guarantees God’s favor to them in life, through death and on for ever.”
-J.I. Packer
Say Again?
What God has blessed, no man can curse.
Numbers 22:15-21 ESV
”Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these. And they came to Balaam and said to him, "Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: 'Let nothing hinder you from coming to me, for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.'" But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more. So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me." And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you." So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.“
Have no doubt about it, Satan and his hordes will try over and over again to throw you off track with God, just as Balaam attempted multiple times to have Israel cursed.
Each time the devil tempts, the deal will seem sweeter and sweeter to you, and he’ll show you different angles from which to look at his offer.
The good news is that God is resolute.
Relationally:
The good news is that in this spiritual battle in which we find ourselves, God is for us, not against us, and is intent on blessing his people.
“Adoption is the highest privilege of the gospel. The traitor is forgiven, brought in for supper, and given the family name. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater.”
-J.I. Packer
When we have enemies who arise, because of the righteousness of God and the cross of Christ, even in our imperfections, we remain in the grace of God because he has called his children blessed.
Covenantally:
When God has spoken by his word (what is revealed in the Scripture) he is communicating to us what he has and will bless.
No amount of desire, reasoning or cultural shifts will change that - because God is disclosing his immutable character and giving us the blueprints of his all-wise design in creation.
Yet if we persist in trying to find ways around God’s clearly stated commands and decrees, we will reap the consequences of it.
Israel would see this later as they gave themselves over to sexual immorality with the Moabites.
Trying to add or subtract from God’s commands is sin and leads to death.
God continually says that he opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble; that unless we become like children, we will never enter his kingdom (Matthew 18:3; I Peter 5:5).
Yet we’ve become like modern oracles with all of our instant access to information deeming it wisdom.
Yet knowledge and wisdom before God lead to life giving instruction.
Proverbs 1:7 ESV
”The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.“
Knowledge can be cheap and easy to attain - wisdom is found in God’s unchanging word and is gained at the price of humbling ourselves and listening to his instruction.
I get nervous if my wife and I have been in a disagreement and eventually she says with a certain tone, “that’s fine.”
It usually does not mean that she agrees, but that she is no longer willing to argue and that the consequences of my decisions are now in my hands.
God’s discipline and wrath are revealed when he turns us over to what we desire (Romans 1:18-32) despite his commands that are contrary to our choices.
God’s mercy is revealed when people in our lives who we have looked down upon thinking they are less educated, skilled or experienced can be the very voice of God to turn us away from folly and to Christ.
This was the case with Balaam and the donkey.
Numbers 22:22-35 ESV
”But God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall. So he struck her again. Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" And Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you." And the donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?" And he said, "No." Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. And the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live." Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back." And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you." So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.“
Who has it been in your life that has attempted to act as an obstacle to sin and folly?
How have you treated them?
How were your eyes opened to the impending consequences of your choices?
2 Peter 2:15-16 ESV
”Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.“
Don’t Negotiate, Trust the Cross
When God has spoken, we should not expect him to change his mind.
Balsam’s Second Oracle
Numbers 23:18-27 ESV
”And Balaam took up his discourse and said, "Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor: God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them. God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, 'What has God wrought!' Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain." And Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all." But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'All that the Lord says, that I must do'?" And Balak said to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there."“
We often persist in our negotiations with God hoping that he will change his mind.
However, God has made it clear that he does not change his character, his mind or his commands, regardless of the fluctuating convictions of the environments in which we live.
What have we tried to hold onto in life, thinking that it held our great reward, that God has told us to let go?
The things that we hold onto that God has told us to let go will be disappointing in the end.
What I thought to be my numismatic coin collection:
When we understand the cross, we will begin to trust God more in every circumstance because:
1. We know that God loves us and wants what is best for us, demonstrating this in that he was willing to lay down the life of his own beloved son to save ours.
2. We know that whatever we endure is not the end of the story since through Christ’s resurrection, those who trust and obey him are ushered into an eternal good that far surpasses anything that we feel we might have lost.
When we embrace these two truths, our prayers begin to change to seek God to fortify our trust in his divine will rather than trying to hold onto what we perceive to be better, our temporary gain.
Balaam’s negotiation with God was different from Jesus’ prayers offered at Gethsemane.
Jesus asked the Father if there was any other way, yet when the Father answered, Jesus did not go back to the Father to get a different answer, but the resolve and strength that he needed to go to the cross.
Hebrews 12:1-6 ESV
”Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."“
Because God has spoken and Jesus has obeyed, we have immutable benefits from the cross of Christ.
“Readiness to die is the first step in learning to live.”
-J.I. Packer
Let’s trust Jesus by picking up our cross daily to truly live in the best that he has for us as we focus on God’s glory and he focuses on our good.
Balaam’s Fourth and Final Oracle
Numbers 24:1, 15-17 ESV
”When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness.
And he took up his discourse and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.“
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher