Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Good Morning and how are we doing this morning?

Well after our Easter experience last week we are moving right back into the Gospel Project where we are looking at all of the Bible through the lens of the Gospel and this morning we have reached a section of the Bible that includes what I would say is one of... if not thee weirdest story in the Bible.

It is not the most supernatural, or the most significant, or the most awe inspiring - like wow, I can’t believe God could do something like that...it is just the weirdest.

This morning we have reached a section of the Bible that includes one of what I would say is one of if not thee weirdest story in the Bible.

It is not the most supernatural, or the most significant, or the most awe inspiring - it is just the weirdest.

We are going to move out from this weird story into some pretty applicable truths, but first we are going to look at this weird story so I am going to have you go ahead and open your Bibles up right away because the story that I am going to tell you is so weird that you might not believe me if you don’t read it for yourself right there in your own Bible.

If you are visiting with us today or just didn’t remember to bring your Bible then please feel free to grab one of the Bibles in the chairs in front of you and turn to page 130 where we find Numbers chapter 22.

To give us a little context this mornin

Tension

Remember the Israelites were rescued from slavery in Egypt by the LORD YHWY and He led them to Mount Sinai where they were given the gift of the law.

It was a gift because YHWY didn’t leave the people to try and figure out how to have a right relationship with Him.

He gave them the gift of knowledge, as He told them exactly what they needed to do.

No more or no less was needed.

Then the LORD continued to lead them to the promised land, teaching them along the way that the law was good and that He was faithful.

Then they got to the promised land and they did not trust the LORD to bring them into the land.

While it took only one night to get Israel out of Egypt, it took 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel.

So for 40 years they wandered around bring trained and tested until all the adults had died off and the children of the children of Israel who left Egypt are now standing in that same situation again…but the questions remained, will they trust the LORD to take possession of the land that He promised or not.

Before Easter we saw that they did not, at first, and God sent serpents in as a consequence of their disobedience.

But then they did something their parents never quite able to do - they wholeheartedly repented of their rebellion against the LORD and against Moses.

So the LORD YHWY instructed Moses to put a serpent up on a pole and anyone who is bitten and looks to that snake would be saved.

We pointed out how profound that image was as a foreshadowing of the curse of sin that Jesus wore on himself as He hung on the cross.

And how our salvation is also wrapped up in our looking to Jesus.

So it seems that Israel is ready to take possession of the promise land, they have handled the obstacles from within, but there are still external obstacles in their way.

The nations who are currently living in this land that God gave His people long ago are not so excited about giving it up.

In between that experience with the serpent on the pole and the story we are going to look at today, Israel has defeated several Kings who waged war against them.

They didn’t start these battles, but with the help of the LORD they did end them.

Their victories were so definitive, that the neighboring nations are beginning to fear the Israelites as they prepare to do battle with them as well.

Numbers 21:

One of the many weird aspects of our story today is that the Israelites are not at all a part of it.

In these three chapters (22-24) the children of Israel play more of a background role, but YHWY is still the main character.

This is certainly one of the applicable truths that we can take from this story.

I wonder how would our lives change if we rightly understood that we are not the main character in our story.

Lets do something different this morning...

#1 WE ARE NOT THE MAIN CHARACTER IN OUR STORY Lets do something different this morning...

#1 I AM NOT THE MAIN CHARACTER IN MY STORY

Lets do something different this morning...

For the most part we don’t even think that the nation of Israel had any idea that these things were going up on the mountains around them as they camped peacefully in their tents in the valley below.

Lets take a look at the story starting in Verse 1 of Chapter 22.

Numbers 22:1

An alliance is formed between these two rival nations and they decide to try and tip the scales in their favor by hiring a pagan seer from about 400 miles away.

It appears that they believe the strength of the people of Israel is in their great numbers, because the comparison is made between the people and a domesticated ox eating grass in a field.

I bring that up, because

this image will reappear later in the story.

Something else that should ring familiar to us is the wording found in that last statement.

They called on this Balaam because they believed that whoever he blessed would be blessed and whoever He cursed would be cursed.

We have heard this before, in fact it was a part of the covenant of God to his people - and now someone else is being hired to make this a reality against these same people.

We will see how well that goes...

So Balaam receives these messengers and then does his pagan seer thing, and the LORD YHWY speaks to him.

Some of this is a little difficult to understand from this text alone.

If you just read these couple of chapters it seems that Balaam might be a prophet in good standing with the LORD.

That is not the case.

In this story, Balaam did have an encounter with the one true God, but he did not build his career around calling on the name of the LORD.

As a Midianite pagan seer He would call out to many of their gods, but this time YHWY decides to answer him because of who Balaam was hired to curse.

So as Balaam does his seer thing, the one true God YHWY responds

Numbers 22:

But King Balak is not giving up that easy, knowing the character of Balaam he decides that it must be a matter of money.

He is operating under the common perspective that everyone has their price - we even saw that last weekend with Judas - so the King sends Balaam a more extravagant band of ambassadors to broker the deal.

And despite YHWY being so clear on his instructions, Balaam decides to try God again to see if maybe he might change his mind and allow these people to be cursed.

This is a good example of how sometimes God allows us to have something that we are so desperately clamouring for, only to show us that it is not as great as we think it is.

We only see the good aspects of our requests and so we pray and pray and ask God to give us what we ask for.

Sometimes God does, even though from his infinite perspective He knows that it will not turn out to be the good thing we think it is.

This brings us to a second applicable truth

#2 THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS AS THEY SEEM

Let’s try something new this morning…in an effort to internalize these truths today, let me invite you to participate by saying this phrase back to me, So if you have the courage to…say: THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS AS THEY SEEM

#2 THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS AS THEY SEEM

So God allows Balaam his request, but gives him the instructions that he is only to say what God tells him to do.

So Balaam goes, but he does not appear to have the commands of the LORD in mind for his trip - So the LORD YHWY gets his attention in an incredible way.

An incredibly weird way.

I will read it right from the text so that you don’t think I am making this up.

Numbers 22:28-

This is where it gets really weird...

Numbers 22:28

Unless y

Ok, that is weird.

Unless they are palling around with a Ogre, we just don’t expect donkeys to be talking.

But what even weirder is that Balaam talks back to the donkey as if they have these kind of conversations every day...

(vs 28 again)

Numbers 22:28-

Balaam is piping mad, and isn’t it interesting how he tells the donkey this, I mean considering the fact that the whole reason they are having this crazy little pow wow is there is someone with a sword very nearby.

So the donkey continues…of course she does

Numbers 22:

I don’t know what is more striking here, that God opened the mouth of a donkey or the eyes of a pagan seer.

Remember Balaam is not an Israelite.

He is not one of the Children of God.

Culturally he is a Midianite pagan, but that does not stop God from using him to accomplish his will.

If God can cause a donkey to speak, then certainly he can use use someone like Balaam to deliver his message.

Numbers 22:7

Numbers 22:8-

I don’t know what is more striking here, that God opened the mouth of a donkey or the eyes of a pagan seer.

Remember Balaam is not an Israelite.

He is not one of the Children of God.

Culturally he is a Midianite pagan, but that does not stop God from using him to accomplish his will.

If God can speak through someone as outlandish as this beast of burden, certainly He can and will use someone like Balaam to deliver his message.

So what is it that God opens Balaam’s mouth to say?

That is what we will focus on for the rest of our time this morning, but first lets stop for just a moment and pray, and then we will continue into the message of God through Balaam.

So what is it that God opens Balaam’s mouth to say?

That is what we will focus on for the rest of our time this morning.

Lets stop for just a moment and pray, and then we will continue into the message of God through Balaam.

Lets stop for just a moment and pray, and then we will continue into the message of God through Balaam.