Balaam
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Reading (“Please stand…”)
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.”
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.
Pray...
Intro:
Intro:
Let’s play a bit of “name association”.
When someone says, “She is Pollyanna”,
what do they mean?
They mean that someone is hopelessly optimistic.
Without a grasp of reality.
Based on a 1913 children's novel.
Made into a movie in 1960.
If someone is described as “Chicken Little”...
they are overwhelmed by irrational fears and panic....
“The sky is falling.”
But history is full of these names as well.
If you call someone “Einstein”,
they are typically pretty smart.
Unless you use it sarcastically,
and then they’ve probably done something that is NOT so bright.
“You’re a regular Florence Nightengale.”
Nursing - Selfless Care, compassionate service
Names Associated With Negative Behavior
Benedict Arnold — Treason / Betrayal
A creative way to call someone a “traitor”
Casanova — Immoral Seduction / Womanizing
His name became shorthand for a manipulative charmer.
Jezebel — Manipulative, Idolatrous Influence
Used to describe someone who leads others into moral compromise.
Scrooge — Greedy, Cold‑hearted Stinginess
From Charles Dickens, but now a cultural label for miserliness.
People from the Bible
Judas Iscariot — Betrayal for Personal Gain
The archetype of someone who betrays trust for selfish reasons.
Numbers 22-24 lays out a prophet, Balaam...
who is used throughout the Bible in such a way.
He is attached to certain character traits,
where is name has become a sort of short-hand for
It is remembered in, speaking about the people of Moab.
O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”
Speaking about people “who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion.
This one sentence answers the question of “Why should I read the OT?”
Cain - Genesis 4
Balaam - Numbers 22-25
Korah’s rebellion - Numbers 17
But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.
More on this next week… in Numbers 25.
Speaking of people who indulge in defiling passions and despise authority...
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.
I found it helpful to know the end of story before we look at all the details,
b/c it’s easy to get lost in them.
So if a biblical author wanted to talk about someone who was greedy for more through any way possible...
they were like Balaam.
Also, if someone tries to curse God’s people instead of bless, Balaam as well.
About the people of Moab...
for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.
God Cannot Be Manipulated
God Cannot Be Manipulated
(Timer: ___ minutes left)
(Usually between 8:15 and 12:30 to get to 1st point)
From Chapter 22:1-21...
We see the king of Moab (Balak) and his people...
consumed with fear of the people of Israel.
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.
What were they afraid of?
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.”
Fear drives people to all sorts of things.
Here… the king has the idea of calling a prophet (pagan prophet),
for him to curse the people of Israel.
Balak sends money to pay the prophet.
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.
This is Balak’s attempt to manipulate Balaam...
in order to manipulate God.
Yet, God’s answer to Balaam that night was clear.
God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
Then the king sends more princes...
More money
More pressure
More manipulation
The king: “If I press hard enough, I will get my way.”
The pagan-diviner says something quite profound.
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.
Even this greed-driven man...
cannot move beyond what God permits.
You could give me a house-full of silver and gold,
and I still won’t do it.
B/c God cannot be manipulated.
But this notion is throughout the passage:
Do something for God...
so he will do something for you.
That is not biblical.
That is Karma,
not of God.
Later, we will see the king sacrificing oxen and sheep (v. 40).
This was not driven out of worship for God,
but rather out of an attempt to manipulate God into doing what he wanted.
This will never work.
Another time...
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.”
App. We all play these mental gymnastics.
I do something to make God obligated to act for me.
Or I do something to sway God to act.
And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
If you want an overarching theme of these chapters,
it is that God’s Sovereign plan cannot and will not be reversed.
He rules over all.
He rules over pagan kings trying to manipulate him
He rules of pagan prophets
He rules over armies
No human scheme (political, spiritual, or personal) can bend God’s will.
App. The fear we feel about this world.
Completely unfounded.
One of the most commonly given reason for young couples to not have kids:
“I don’t want to bring a child into this crazy world.”
One author pointed out,
That is a claim rooted in hopelessness.
It is also rooted in a thought that...
God is somehow subservient to the craziness of this world.
Don’t forget that God is still on his throne.
His purpose will stand.
Think of the ways that you go through life forgetting that God is in control.
God cannot be swayed.
Therefore, we can live freely in his goodness and sovereignty.
God Cannot Be Surprised
God Cannot Be Surprised
(Timer: How much time left?)
Better: God IS NOT Surprised (when we are)
The next part of chapter 22 is simply comical...
and surprising (but God is not surprised)
God permits Balaam to go with them.
“but only do what I tell you” (22:20)
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.
Two scholars (Ashley and Milgrom) offered a solution for “b/c he went”
Didn’t God just tell him to go?
They suggest that taking the Hebrew particle kî as temporal,
hence “while he was going...
God became angry with him.
“The rabbinical tradition… interpreted this sequence as evidence of Balaam’s personal rebelliousness in embracing the idea that he might eventually be successful in pronouncing a curse on Israel.”
So what transpires?
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.
The first clue to Balaam should have been that he responded back to a donkey that talked to him.
It wasn’t complete shock that the donkey talked.
The angel reveals the reason for opposing him.
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.
Not simply that he went.
His way was still for his own selfish gain.
“Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.”
a donkey with more spiritual sight than a prophet
an angel blocking the path
a pagan diviner being corrected by his own animal
God sees what we cannot see —
the angel of the Lord stands in the road while Balaam remains blind to danger (22:22–27).
God exposes the truth we try to ignore —
the donkey’s speech reveals Balaam’s spiritual blindness and misplaced anger (22:28–30).
God opens eyes when and how he chooses —
Balaam’s sight is restored only by God’s initiative, not Balaam’s insight (22:31–35).
God uses the unlikeliest of things and people to accomplish his will and reveal his purposes —
a donkey sees what the prophet cannot,
showing that God’s sovereignty is not limited by human ability (22:23–30).
God Cannot Be Thwarted
God Cannot Be Thwarted
(Timer: How much time left?)
Series of four oracles (4 pronouncements):
Balak is wanting Balaam to curse Israel (God’s people)
Starting in Numbers 23...
And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
Balaam goes before the Lord...
God gives him a word to speak.
And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering.
“Oh boy, this is going to be good.”
How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
Balak - “What have you done to me?”
2nd:
And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.”
“Ok, you won’t curse all of them.
What about part of them?”
Again, seven altars.
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.
Whatever God has blessed cannot be reversed.
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.
Balak - “Stop talking...”
And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.”
3rd Oracle:
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.
How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel!
God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows.
Balak...
And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times.
4th Oracle:
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.
Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly.
And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”
saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
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.
God cannot be thwarted.
Close in Prayer
Close in Prayer
Closing Song:
Closing Song:
Benediction:
Benediction:
The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you
and give you peace.
