In the Wilderness: The Way of Balaam

Text: Numbers 22-24

Theme: This is the story of God’s sovereign care over His people even when their enemies seek to use supernatural powers to bring destruction on them. Balaam can’t curse them, put ultimately puts a stumbling block before Israel encouraging them toward idolatry and sexual impurity.

Date: 04/19/2020 Title: InTheWilderness-10.wpd No:

This morning’s message focuses on a biblical character who heard the voice of God, and who even spoke for God, but who never put his faith in God. His name is Balaam. His story is the story of God’s sovereign protection over His people Israel, when their enemies seek their destruction.

Because of our need to celebrate Easter, we’ve been on a hiatus from the Book of Numbers. This morning we are returning. Today we will look at the story of King Balak, and the prophet Balaam. It’s a strange, but true story. Most Christians are familiar with the story because since childhood we’ve seen the flannel-grafts and heard the children’s story of Balaam’s talking donkey. The donkey, however, is a vary small part of the story of Balaam.

• Balak’s Concerns (over Israel’s might)

• Balaam’s Pronouncements (seeking God’s curse of Israel)

• Israel’s Seduction (by the Moabite women at Balaam’s instigation)

• Today’s Lessons

I. BALAK’S CONCERNS (Over Israel’s Might)

“Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho. 2 Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, 3 and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.” (Numbers 22:1–3, NIV84)

ILLUS. The back-story: After forty years of wandering Israel is within sight of the Promised Land. From the high ground east of the Jordan River they can see the Dead Sea; they can see the fertile fields of Israel. They’ve had several victories over those who would oppose their entry into the land. The news of those victories have spread like wildfire amongst the people of Moab, and they are shaking in their boots.

1. Balak is the King of the nation-state of Moab—at the time a loose confederacy of people who were descendant of Abraham’s nephew, Lot

a. it’s a nation to the east of the Dead Sea making up part of modern-day Jordan

1) the Moabites would be a constant thorn-in-the-flesh in Israel’s side throughout Old Testament history

2) the most famous Moabite mentioned in the Bible is Ruth who is an ancestor of Jesus

2. even though Israel had skirted the kingdoms of Edom and Moab on their way north from the wilderness, Balak, and his people are frightened by reports of the approaching Israelites

a. Numbers 22:3 says that Moab was terrified because there were so many people

1) their illustration is graphic; “ ... “This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” ... “ (Numbers 22:4, NIV84)

b. to stymie Israel’s power Balak decides to hire a prophet to pronounce curses upon Israel so that he will be able to defeat them in war if that is what it comes to

c. this was not an unusual practice in that day

1) we might think of it as psychological warfare ... “my god can beat up your god kind of thing”

3. Balak wants to employ the best-known soothsayer and diviner of the trans-Jordan to put a hex on Israel, and Israel’s army, and even Israel’s God

a. it’s Balak’s attempt to put the fear of God—his god that is—into Israel

b. his choice is Balaam of Pethor on the Euphrates River up in northern Mesopotamia

1) Pethor is four-hundred miles away and would be a thirty-day round-trip journey

c. Balak can vouch for Balaam’s soothsaying powers, and prophetic abilities because Balaam had years before prophesied that Balak would become king

4. Balak’s message to Balaam is simple; “ ... “A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. 6 Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.”” (Numbers 22:5–6, NIV84)

a. and Balak is willing to send important people with lots of money to secure Balaam’s services

1) in vs. 7-35 we read that three times Balak sends envoys to Balaam, who twice turns them down

a) God unequivocally tells Balaam “You shall not go with them; You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed”

b) Balaam is thus trapped between the demands of Balak and the commands of God

b. finally, God says that Balaam may go, but he may say and do only what God permits

1) the listener or reader is meant to be surprised and to ask himself why this apparent change of mind on God’s part?

2) will Balaam really be allowed to curse Israel after all?

5. early the next morning Balaam saddles his donkey and heads out for Moab

II. BALAAM’S PRONOUNCEMENTS (Seeking God’s Curse of Israel)

1. most of us are familiar with the story of Balaam and his donkey ... who ends up talking to him

a. as Balaam is on his way to Moab, the donkey veers off the path twice, and twice Balaam beats the beast—probably with his ridding crop—for doing so

b. a third time, the donkey simply comes to a stop, lies down and refuses to go forward, and Balaam beats the poor animal with his staff (where’s PETA when you need them?)

c. now donkeys are known for being cantankerous and stubborn, but Balaam’s donkey is not being obstinate because of its nature

1) all three times the donkey balks at moving forward because it sees the angel of the Lord standing before it with drawn sword

ILLUS. Ligon Duncan, Chancellor of Reformed Theological Seminary, notes that “... dumb animals are more sensitive to the presence and will of God than the unregenerate human heart is.”

2) this poor donkey was caught three times between the angel’s sword and Balaam’s stick

d. finally, God opens the donkey’s mouth to speak to Balaam ... which he doesn’t seem to find strange whatsoever

2. what’s the point of this story?

A. BALAAM IS A “SEER” WHO DOESN’T “SEE” WELL

1. Balaam has been portrayed as a man of great spiritual stature, who can meet with God when he wants and whose words have tremendous effects on the fate of nations

a. but the passage reveals two critical flaws in Balaam’s character and abilities

2. 1st, in this passage we see his spiritual blindness and powerlessness

a. he cannot see the angel of the LORD standing in his path, though his donkey can

b. he sees no significance in her behavior, though strange actions by animals were regarded as significant omens in Mesopotamia

1) as a specialist in this sort of divination, and omen observation, he ought to have realized the deity had a message for him

“The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said.” (Numbers 22:30, NIV84)

a) at that point God opens Balaam’s eyes to see the angel

2) instead, of thinking to himself, “Gee, I’ve been ridding this donkey for twelve years and she’s never behaved like this, I wonder if God is trying to tell me something?”

3) instead he beats his donkey viciously three times, an ungodly act in itself

c. the donkey’s acts and words anticipate the problems Balaam is about to face

1) soon Balaam will find himself trapped three times between Balak’s demands and God’s prohibitions

2) through his third encounter with God, Balaam was reminded that God wields a sword and that disobedience means death, so he goes on his way fully committed to declaring God’s words rather than submitting to Balak’s wishes

3. 2nd, in this passage we see the recklessness of the decision that Balaam has

a. the angel plainly tells him so

“The angel of the LORD asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.” (Numbers 22:32, NIV84)

1) Balaam is being spiritually reckless because 1st, he’s willing to curse Israel for money

a) he is a diviner for hire

2) Balaam is being spiritually reckless because 2nd, he’s an unfaithful prophet

a) the text seem to indicate that Balaam knows and converses with the true God, which is why the story of Balaam is so tragic

b) by the powers granted him by God, Balaam had the opportunity to demonstrate the power of the true God against the deception of false gods and idols the Moabites worshiped

c) he could have helped the Moabites and their neighbors to turn to God from idols, to serve the living God (1 Thess. 1:9), but he doesn’t

d) he becomes a false prophet being led away from God’s truth into error, and in turn led Israel astray (Num. 25:1-9, Num. 3:14-16)

3) Balaam is being spiritually reckless because 3rd, he loved money more than truth

a) for all Balaam’s talk about speaking only what God put into his mouth, he really, really wants to curse Israel because of the generous divination fee Balak will pay him if he does

4) Balaam is being spiritually reckless because 4th, he presumed to manipulate God

a) Balaam uttered blessings on Israel rather than curses, but only because God gave him no option

b) he repeatedly agrees to Balak’s requests to curse Israel in the hopes that, through his repeated sacrifices, God might be persuaded to “change His mind” and curse Israel

B. BALAAM IS A PROPHET WHO DOESN’T CURSE VERY WELL

1. two whole chapters are taken up with Balaam’s attempts to curse Israel

a. I won’t take the time to read each of the oracles that Balaam utters, but I encourage you to read them because they are wonderful blessings upon the People of God

2. Balaam delivers four oracles while in the land of Moab

a. they all follow the same pattern

1) three times Balak takes Balaam and an entourage of important Moabite officials to the tops of four consecutive mountains where they can see part or all of the Israelite encampment

2) three times Balaam tells Balak to build seven altars, and sacrifices a bull and a ram on each

3) three times Balaam then goes off by himself to meet with God, and each time he reminds God, “I’ve sacrificed to you, so tell me what I want to hear”

4) three times we’re told “The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth” to give to Balak

5) and three times Balaam goes back to Balak and his entourage and speaks words of blessing upon Israel

6) and all three times Balak is agitated that this diviner he’s hired to curse his enemy is doing just the opposite

b. in his first oracle Balaam first set forth the proposition that he could not curse what God had not cursed

“How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced? 9 From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations.” (Numbers 23:8–9, NIV84)

c. in his second oracle Balaam tells Balak about Israel’s God—that He is absolutely true to His word, and does not change His mind

1) sorcery and divination had no power against Israel because God was working in their midst

2) but Balak is holding out hope that the “third time is the charm”

3) Balaam did not hesitate to comply with Balak’s third request, proof that he wanted to accommodate his host as much as possible

d. in his third oracle Balaam not only hears the words of God, but he has a vision from the Almighty of Israel exalted over the nations with a powerful kings

1) Balak’s anger came to a boil

2) he struck his hands together, not in amazement, but as a sign of contempt!

3) he orders Balaam to leave his land—no reward would be given this diviner who could not deliver a curse

3. if you had to put a theme on each of Balaam’s first three blessings here they are:

a. the 1st oracle pictures Israel as a chosen people

b. the 2nd oracle pictures Israel as a conquering people

c. the 3rd oracle pictures Israel as a covenant people

d. only Balaam’s fourth oracle is different in pattern ... you might call it a departing “freebe” on Balaam’s part

1) this time there is no new mountain top, no sacrifice; Balaam—a pagan diviner—offers a Messianic prophecy

2) he describes a glorious future king of Israel, one which he figuratively designated as “the star” and “the scepter”

3) the future king would crush all the enemies of Israel

4. these are the end of Balaam’s oracles concerning Israel, but he offers three more oracles concerning future events that will change the geo-political structure of the Middle-East and providentially prepare the way for God’s redemptive plan to be accomplished through “the star” and the scepter”

5. now then, a lot of people think this is where the story of Balaam ends ... it doesn’t

a. Balaam actually partially accomplishes for Balak the cursing of Israel

III. ISRAEL’S SEDUCTION (By the Moabite Women at Balaam’s Instigation)

1. Balaam could not curse Israel; God would not let him

2. nonetheless he wanted the honor and money which had been promised, so before leaving Balak he whispered a suggestion that he knew would defeat the people of God

a. Numbers 25 describes the outworking of Balaam’s plan

b. it seems like an abrupt change in the flow of the text, but it’s really a continuation of the story of Balaam

“While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them.” (Numbers 25:1–3, NIV84)

c. why would the men of Israel do this?

3. while Israel camped at Shittim, beautiful Midianite and Moabite women lured the men of Israel into the debasing rites of the god Baal

a. it is Balaam’s strategic master-stroke

“ “They [speaking of the midianite and Moabite women] were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD’s people.” (Numbers 31:16, NIV84)

ILLUS. We don’t have the conversation between Balak and Balaam, but I can imagine how it went. Balaam tells Balak, “Listen, O King. I know that you’re really disappointed that I didn’t curse Israel. But I told you in the beginning that I could only say what I heard the God of Israel telling me. I am a diviner, after all, and if I stop listening to the god’s no one will ever hire me again. But look, if you really want to “curse” Israel here is what you do. You get them to turn away from their God. You do that be using the women of your nation to sexually entice the men of Israel. Once you’ve lured them into a relationship, instruct your women to tell the men, ‘Look, if you want to continue a relationship with me, you need to change you faith to mine and sacrifice to my nation’s gods.” Balak, if you’ll do that, you’ll weaken the nation, because I know Israel’s God, and if they become sexually immoral and begin worshiping foreign gods, their God’s anger will be kindled against them, and He will do to them what my curses could never have accomplished.”

b. it almost works

4. Balaam never makes it home ... Number 31:8 tells us that as Israel begins to fight its way into the Promised Land They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword

IV. THE LESSONS FROM THE STORY OF BALAAM

1. we tend to think that the story of Balaam in merely an Old Testament story, but the authors of the New Testament see him as an illustration of the kind of behavior Christians are to avoid

2. Balaam is an example of a prophet gone bad for the right price

a. the Apostle Peter warned against the way of Balaam (2 Pet. 2:15)

b. the Apostle John warned against the doctrine of Balaam (Rev. 2:14)

c. the Apostle Jude warns us against the error of Balaam (Jude 11)

A. FAITHFULNESS IS NOT ALWAYS EASY—BE FAITHFUL ANYWAY

1. in so many ways this is a sad story

a. despite all that he saw, and all that he heard, from God, and all that he said for God, Balaam did not trust in this God

b. can you imagine being the one through whom God announces a star that comes out of Jacob, and the scepter out of Judah?

1) Moses doesn’t make that prophecy ... Aaron doesn’t make that prophecy ... Joshua doesn’t make that prophecy ... Balaam (a non-Jewish prophet for hire) makes that prophecy

2) but Balaam never embraces, by faith, the God Israel

2. it is not difficult in our world to get a person interested in the message of the Gospel

a. it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest

3. millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate

a. many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim

b. in our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged right

c. but when it loses its novelty, it often goes on the garbage heap

3. there is a great market for religious experience in our world

a. there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue

b. there is little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness

4. if the church is going to be relevant, it must be a church populated by believers who will be faithful to Christ even when the state and culture curse us and curse at us

B. THE CHURCH MUST BE VIGILANT AGAINST THE CORRUPTING INFLUENCE OF SECULAR SOCIETY

ILLUS. If you’ve ever driven through Kansas, Oklahoma or north Texas it doesn’t take long to notice that all the trees grow toward the northeast. Why? From the time these trees are seedlings, they live under the influence of a prevailing wind out of the southwest. They are influenced by that wind to lean to the northeast. They just grow that way. Sometimes a wind from the opposite direction makes them lean a little in another direction, but they always go back leaning toward the northeast.

1. let me ask you a question this morning as I come to a close: “Which way is your life leaning?”

2. do you live your life under the influence of Jesus Christ?

a. if so, then your natural inclination will be toward God?

3. or do you live your life under the influence of secular society?

a. sometimes the influence of the world causes us to lean in a different direction, but only temporarily

b. the person who is truly under the influence of Christ always returns to lean toward the Heavenly Father

4. the problem is that if too many believers are leaning in the direction of our secular culture this cannot help but to eventually influence the church

a. we keep the church safe from the corrupting influence of society by keeping our lives free from the corrupting influence of society

C. THE CHURCH MUST GUARD ITS ORTHODOXY AGAINST THOSE WHO WOULD PROMOTE COMPROMISE WITH IDOLATRY AND IMMORALITY

1. the church in the West has been too willing to accommodate the message of the Bible to appease the masses of contemporary culture

2. too many in our society see no real need to listen to the church because they see so little difference between what most churches teach and the prevailing philosophies of the world, of how most Christians live verse how non-Christians live

a. the world which once imprisoned our ancestors now responds to an utterly enculturated church with mere indifference

3. why is the church in this state today?

a. why do so many see the church as irrelevant?

b. because so many have adopted the way of Balaam, and the doctrine of Balaam, and the error of Balaam in an attempt to make the church more palatable to a thoroughly pagan culture

c. all three of these refer to the danger of false prophets, preaching false doctrines that lead to false Christian living

d. Balaam’s lies continue to influence individual believers and churches today and the cancer of compromise weakens our witness and saps our spiritual strength

4. the result has been a loss of credibility and relevancy

In a day in which the church is classified as irrelevant, let us be diligent to use our influence, our "salt" and "light", to make a difference in our world.