WEDNESDAY 02 February 2022 “I STAND” Numbers 23:1-24:25

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Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,

Have you ever had the experience of being shocked by the results of something, which you had been diligently working on, with an anticipated conclusion, and then suddenly things changed at the last minute, leaving you befuddled?

Today, let’s look at one of those experiences in the Bible. I left you yesterday with sorcerer Balaam and King Balak having their long anticipated first conversation. Balak had summoned Balaam for a specific and very strategic purpose. King Balak felt threatened by the arrival in his kingdom of nearly 2 million Hebrew people, along with all their animals, under the leadership of Moses. They were camped on the large grassy plain on the east side of the Jordan river. King Balak had heard many stories about these people and how God had protected them, provided for them, and guided them by a mysterious pillar of fire in the night sky. He wanted them out of his country but was not prepared to fight them.

Balaam had also heard about them, and upon receiving King Balak’s summons, Balaam had sought an audience with God seeking to know what he should do. We don’t know if Balaam had ever had any encounter with God before, nor how much he might have known about the God of the Hebrews, but clearly Balaam was deeply impacted when God began speaking to him in this situation. This one statement shows us Balaam’s respect for God and resolve to not disobey God in any way: “Even if King Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.” (Numbers 22:18)

Numbers 23 is the very interesting account of King Balak challenging sorcerer Balaam to do whatever he needed to do in order to muster up some mysterious supernatural power, and place a curse on this huge throng of Hebrews so they would either die or leave Balak’s land. Three times we have the record of Balaam doing what he had evidently always done to seek counsel from the spirit world. Now before we write this story off as something so mystical it can’t be believed, remember we have millions of such people, as Balaam, in our world today! They call themselves diviners or palm readers or channelers or voodoo priests or shamans or even witches. They dabble in the occult, in the dark practices of Balaam… making contact with the dark, evil, demonic world.

In his past Balaam evidently was quite proficient at making such contact with the spirit world, but this time Almighty God Himself spoke with Balaam several times, and gave him specific messages to give to King Balak. I’m fascinated to see that Balaam was fearless in the face of this very powerful man Balak who could easily order his soldiers to chop Balaam’s head right off. Balaam had that courage because of his respect and awe of Almighty God. How much Balaam knew about God or who had taught Balaam about God, we do not know. But clearly Balaam was very careful as he sought encounters with God which would give him the information and the instructions he needed for King Balak. Three times in Numbers 23 Balaam went through his process of contacting God, and the record says all three times “The LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth…” (Numbers 23:5, 16; 24:2) Again, my friends, may I urge you to listen to the Audio Dramatized Bible link at the end of today’s “Walking with Jesus”. It will put you right into this remarkable experience with Balaam and Balak.

May I point out one phrase in each of the three messages which Balaam received from God and delivered to King Balak? In the first message, this phrase strikes me powerfully: “How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?” (Numbers 23:8) May I ask us all, my friends, do we sometimes find ourselves speaking badly of those with whom we do not agree, especially politically? Do we find in our hearts and minds that we have declared judgement on those people we feel God would not bless because of their evil lifestyle or their sinful past or their addictions or their habits or even their vocabulary? Do you believe God loves EVERY person that He has created in His image? Do you believe God grieves when HE watches the terrible damage done to so many people by broken families, gangs, violent crime, addictions of all types, and dysfunctional political leadership in so many countries? Let’s be careful to guard our hearts from the attitudes which also grieve the heart of God when we ‘think cursing thoughts’ against those whom God has not cursed!

The phrase which strikes me in Balaam’s second message is this: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should change His mind.” (Numbers 23:19). About 1000 years after this event God spoke these words through the prophet Malachi: “I the LORD do not change.” (Malachi 3:6) And about 500 years after that, the author of the New Testament book titled “Hebrews” wrote this: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) While politicians and courts write and rewrite the laws in every nation. And politicians and educators write and rewrite history in many nations. And politicians and courts make laws which they claim to be irreversible truths upon which people should build their lives… we must recognize all those efforts are like smoke wafting up into the wind from a fire.

God alone defines TRUTH upon which human lives are built and laws governing life should be made. God spoke this through Isaiah the prophet: “This is what the LORD says – He who created the heavens He is God; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it not to be empty but to be inhabited… He says, ‘I am the LORD and there is no other. I speak the truth, I declare what is right...There is no God apart from Me, a righteous God and a Savior, there is none but Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:18-22) Now ponder that my friends, and look closely at how these irrefutable truths are being handled in your country, your courts, your politics, your schools, your social media?

The third statement which strikes me from Mr. Balaam, spoken in his third message is this: “God brought them out of Egypt.. May those who bless them be blessed and those who curse them be cursed.” (Numbers 24:8,9) Friends, do you remember that echoes the original covenant promise of God to Abraham, when God said: “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. …I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you and all the peoples on earth will be blessed by you.” (Genesis 12:2,3)

As King Balak stood on the mountain overlooking the Jordan river valley below with the Hebrew people spread out almost as far as the eye could see in all directions, he was livid with anger. He said to Balaam: “I summoned you to curse my enemies but you have blessed them these three times. Now leave me at once and go home! I would have rewarded you handsomely but the LORD has kept you from being rewarded.” (Numbers 24:10,11) Look at the smile on Balaam’s face. He has the deep contentment and confidence that he has been obedient and faithful to God, saying only what God had told him to say. A palace filled with gold and silver does not compare with the deep sense of peace that only comes from God when you’ve done the right thing, that which honors God, regardless of the expectations or demands of other people! Have you discovered that my friends? Oh with what dramatically different emotions those two men looked down from that hilltop on Moses and the Hebrew people below.

Then Balaam turned to the king and with a profound sense of confidence, courage, and even authority, Balaam spoke these words to King Balak: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of one whose eyes see clearly, the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty… A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel…a ruler will come out of Jacob…” (Numbers 24:15-19) Now Mr. Balaam was speaking powerful future prophecy!

Yes, one day Magi would come from the distant east, following a star, seeking a newborn king of the Jews! Remember that story in Matthew 2? And yes, one day a king would rise in Israel who would govern a united Israel and be revered as a man after God’s own heart… David. He would write much of the book of Psalms. The city of Jerusalem, the capital of Israel would be called the ‘city of David’. The star on the flag of the Jewish nation would be called the “star of David”. And the ruler who would one day rise to rule the eternal kingdom of God, Jesus Christ, would come to earth as a descendant of David, born in Bethlehem.

This remarkable story of Balaam and Balak ends with this simple summary statement: “Then Balaam got up and returned home and Balak went on his way.” (Numbers 24:25) I presume Mr. Balaam went home riding that same donkey which has spoken to him and helped him understand God wanted to help Balaam in a very important encounter with a king. I presume Mr. Balaam was never the same for the rest of his life. I doubt he ever again attempted contact with the demonic world, but remained a worshipper of Almighty God, forever grateful for these multiple encounters with God, and the courage God gave him to stand boldly, nose to nose, with a wicked king, declaring only and always the truths which God gave him. Balak on the other hand, I presume went home a discouraged, defeated, angry man. He had been given the opportunity to change, to bow before God, to understand what God was doing with His people, the Hebrews. But instead Balak remained hard hearted, like Pharaoh before him and Nebuchadnezzar centuries later, and billions of other people who absolutely refuse to bow their hearts, their heads and their lives to God.

So this remarkable event leaves you and me with some powerful questions, doesn’t it?

1. How is your heart toward God… like Balaam or angry King Balak?

2. How courageous are you in standing firm on God’s truth, in the face of ever changing social attitudes, powerful social media, and turbulent political change?

Here’s a worship song, my friends, to help us reflect on these questions and this entire story of Balaam and Balak. How very, very relevant it is for 2022, would you agree?

Today’s Scripture is Numbers 23:1-24:25.

Choose below to read or listen.

Numbers 23

Numbers 24

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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