The Stubborn Fool

Story of burning building and two men

Definition of stubborn

Oxford defines stubborn as- stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or chosen course of action, despite attempts to persuade one to do so

(My fav is Hardened bc this encompasses people like pharaoh and other people who’s hearts were hardened and stubborn)

Pharoah is directly called stubborn in exodus 13:15

· Hebrew-Hard, severe, obstinate

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3 main points of focus

I. The Stubborn fool in proverbs

II. The stubbornness of Balaam

III. The cure for a stubborn fool

I. The Stubborn Fool in proverbs

Proverbs 12:15 15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise.

In proverbs 12 there is an common overarching theme of contrast.

This chapter shows us the difference between wickedness and righteousness

and verse 15 shows us the true identity of a stubborn fool

In their own eyes they are always right! in their own eyes, they can never be wrong!

So we see that pride is one of the main characteristics of a stubborn fool!

He doesnt need permission, he doesnt need guidance

He’s stubborn and prideful

Next in

2. Proverbs 10:17 (ESV) “Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, But he who rejects reproof leads others astray.”

Wow, that should make all of us reflect on our lives. Sometimes we can get so stubborn in our ways and opinions and we dont even realize thee effect that that can have on other people!

As followers of Christ we need to be open minded and listen to others when they rebuke us

The word of God needs to be our guide!

And if someone approaches us with with correction from Gods word, we need to accept that rebuke and not be a stubborn fool.

Because if we are stubborn in our ways, we very well could take others with us on our road of stubbornness

3. Proverbs 29:1 “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

That word destroyed means to be demolished or annihilated.

That is the future of the stubborn fool.

Friends this is a huge concept that we really to understand and apply We have got to cultivate a balanced approach to recieving correction!

Because if we don’t learn how to recieve correction in a humble and healthy way, then it will cause a landslide of problems in our lives and in our loved ones lives

4. Proverbs 17:10- "A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool."

When a wise man is open to rebuke it will go a long way!

It will go deep into a mans heart!!

A fool does not change his ways and is not open to correction

are we open to correction? Or are we stubborn fools

II. The stubborness of Balaam

who is balaam slide = a double minded man

Explain the context of the story of balaam up until the 2nd offer

(Moabite King balak is terrified after the Israelites crushed sihon and og

Balaam is a prophet who has been given the ability to bless and curse people and nations through the power of God

So out of fear for his peoples safety balak calls for balaam to come and curse Gods chosen people)

1. Why was Balaam a stubborn fool?

A) Balaam's pride

(Numbers 22:15–19 “Then Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more honorable than they. And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me; for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.’ ” Then 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 word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.”” ).

Balaam’s pride is further evident in his delight in the attention and honors bestowed upon him by Balak. He relished the idea of being a key figure in Moab's plans against Israel, showcasing his pride in wanting to be recognized and esteemed by others

Instead of outright rejecting the offer, Balaam hesitates and tells them to wait while he seeks God’s will again, even though God had already made His stance clear. This hesitation reveals his stubborn desire to find a loophole—he hopes God will change His mind so he can accept the prestige and wealth being offered. His pride blinds him to the fact that obedience to God should be immediate and unwavering, not something to be negotiated.

This passage serves as a warning against self-deception—when pride takes root, it can make us stubborn, causing us to rationalize disobedience rather than submit fully to God’s will. Balaam’s story is a powerful reminder that seeking personal gain over God’s command leads to spiritual downfall.

B) Balaam’s desires (Money)

Balaam’s stubbornness is shown by his desires for money!

Numbers 22:15–19 “Then Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more honorable than they. And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me; for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.’ ” Then 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 word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.”

This is a serious temptation for balaam!

This shows balaam’s desires bc right after the speech that balaks men just gave him, the thing he was most concerned about was the sliver and gold being offered.

We see this phrase in vs 16 that says please let nothing hinder you from coming to me

Balak is basically saying “Don’t let your service and devotion for God get In the way of you committing this sin/treason against God and His people.”

And at first balaam seems noble, in vs 18 he says “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.

But in reality balaam is being a stubborn fool and has a terrible mindset of his obedience to Gods will

Notice how specific balaam is when he says says, I COULD NOT go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do LESS OR MORE

Balaams telling balaks men “I cannot physically curse these people of God unless He gives me the power to do it!

Balaam is admitting here that the power he has as a prophet comes only from God!

Balaam is not saying that he’s going to follow Gods will bc its the right thing to do.

But lets also notice that Nothing has changed since the last offer except for balaams reward

Vs 7 tells us that the first time the elders of moab came balaam, they brought a diviners fee for him

explain what a diviners fee was

But then the 2nd time they came to balaam, king balak told balaam that he could ask for ANYTHING he wanted

Now notice where balaams mind went to. He responded and talked about silver in gold

Now lets really think about this for a second, baalam was offered anything he wanted, and he assumes the offer is silver and gold.

This shows where balaam’s mind is and it shows his desires.

One more thing i wanna notice about this second offer.

This 2nd time that balak offered, Nothing had changed on Gods part, balaam had already asked to curse the israelites and God said no!

Nothing changed in this second offer except for the fact that balaam was offered a lot more money

But balaam still ends up asks God again bc of his love and his desire for money

Jude 1:11 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

2. How did being a stubborn fool affect Balaam?

A) His relationship with God

Numbers 22:20–22 “And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “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.” So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his 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 against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.”

The bible says God’s anger was aroused at Balaam

This is because Balaam disobeyed the command of God

you may be confused so Lets look back at the passage carefully

God said “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them”

The men did not call Balaam, the bible says balaam just got up, saddled his donkey and went!

Balaam misrepresented Gods command!!

And thats why Gods anger was aroused at balaam

Also in Vs 20 God says that balaam can go IF the men come to call him

This is not a change in Gods will, but God is allowing balaam to exercise his free will.

And as we see in vs 22 this stubborn decision that Balaam made severely affected his relationship with God!

Vs 22 says Gods anger was aroused against balaam!

Friends Having Gods anger aroused at you is a very scary place to be

And if we start being stubborn in our lives and we want and desires things so badly that are against Gods will

Gods anger will be aroused at us also

Hebrews 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

This whole situation with balaam would’ve been solved if he just would’ve gone back and submitted to the words that God told him the first time when He said to not go and curse the israelites

And its the same for us today, when we start being stubborn fools and we start going against the will of God

We HAVE to get back the word of God. We need to see what God says to do and we need to submit to it

Bc if we don’t, then one day we’ll have to face the anger of God, and thats a scary place to be

So we see that balaams stubbornness affected His relationship with God,

But we also see that balaam’s stubbornness affected him by clouding his judgement!

B) Clouded judgement

This is gonna be a little bit of a lengthy reading but i want us to really observe and pay attention to the stubbornness of Balaam in this story and how his stubbornness clouded his judgement

Numbers 22:22–33 “Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road. Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again. Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 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?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!” 30 So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.” 31 Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. 32 And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. 33 The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.”

There’s 2 things in this story that really stood out to me about balaam and his stubbornness

Pride/stubbornness blames others

Vs 23 says

Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road.

Balaam is striking and punishing the donkey when really its Balaams stubbornness that got them in that situation

Vs 25 says

And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again.

So Balaam’s donkey keeps trying to avoid the Angel of the Lord whos actually trying to kill Balaam!

But balaam has absolutely no clue whats happening around him right now

He just keeps blaming his donkey and hitting her bc he’s blinded by his stubbornness

There’s some big application that i think we can draw from this

Be THANKFUL for the “donkeys” in your life that protect you from your own stubbornness

Instead of being a stubborn fool and blaming the person in your life thats trying to save you from death, be wise and listen to the donkeys in your life

2. Stubbornness had balaam headed toward death

Vs 22 says

“Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him.

When we become stubborn in our own ways and we disregard God and His word… Then friends we’re towards death!

And it may not be physical death but its something a lot worse!

Romans chapter 6 tells us that the wages of sin is DEATH! Spiritual death!

Spiritual death means that we are seperated from God and we have no hope of going to heaven to be with Him!

Friends thats a very scary place to be in our lives

So we have to cultivate a mindset of listening to the Words of God and making that our very source of life!!!

Bc thats what the bible is!! its words of life!!!!

And when we get so stubborn in our ways that we lose our respect and allegiance to God and His word… We could not be in a darker place

Tell the ending of balaam and how his stubbornness led him there

When God wouldnt grant balaam the power to curse the israelites divinely, balaam just found another way to fulfll balaks wishes!

He sent moabite women to tempt the israelite men and cause them to fall away from God

Yk what that reminds me of.....… A proverb we read just a few mins ago

Proverbs 10:17 (ESV) “Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, But he who rejects reproof leads others astray.”

Balaam is a prime example of someone whos stubbornness and rebellion against God ended up leading others away from God....

How can we avoid being like balaam???

So we’ve looked at balaam and how he’s a perfect example of someone who is so stubborn in their ways and how that brings about their downfall.

And we’ve also seen that the common theme for the stubborn fool throughout this sermon is pride.

So if pride is the root of a stubborn fool then whats the cure for a stubborn fool??

3. The cure

A) Humility

Proverbs 11:2 – "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."

1 Peter 5:5 – "In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’"

Things humility does

Humility invites correction – A stubborn heart resists advice, but humility welcomes wisdom.

Humility acknowledges limitations – Stubbornness clings to self-sufficiency, while humility recognizes the need for God and others.

Humility fosters peace – Stubbornness breeds conflict, but humility diffuses tension and promotes unity.

Humility leads to growth – A stubborn person stagnates, but a humble person learns and matures.

Humility reflects Christ – Jesus humbled Himself, showing that true strength is found in surrender.

james 4:8 eradicates stubbornness

A.First Visit Of The Messengers Numbers 22:5-14

· Numbers 22:13 13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to give me permission to go with you.”

This verse implies that Balaam wanted to go and earn the reward offered to him

But he reluctantly submitted to God because he physically could not curse the Israelites (Earn riches) without Gods permission

Sometimes serving the Lord will keep us back from honor!

· Numbers 24:10-11 10 Then Balak’s anger was aroused against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have bountifully blessed them these three times! 11 Now therefore, flee to your place. I said I would greatly honor you, but in fact, the LORD has kept you back from honor.”

Points to add

New testament verses about balaam and his character

· 2 Peter 2:15 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

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· Revelation 2:14 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things  sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.

An old author named Stuckley said, “There were some professed Christians who were not so good as Balaam’s donkey, for Balaam’s donkey once rebuked the mad prophet for his sin. But there were some Christians who never rebuked anyone all their lives long.”—6.483

Charles Spurgeon