Sermon Tone Analysis

Leader Guide ESV, Unit 7, Session 3

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Edited by Rev. Lex DeLong, M.A., April 10 2022.

Summary and Goal

In the last session we looked at the deadly effects of sin with its ultimate consequence being separation from God forever.

We are all sinners, but just as God made a way for the Israelites to be saved from the consequence of their rebellion, God has made a way for us to be saved from ours.

Just as the Israelites repented of their sin and looked to the bronze snake in faith to be healed, we look to Jesus, who died on the cross, to be saved from the consequences of sin.

God is faithful to keep His promises to bless His people.

Because God is faithful, we can trust that He will keep His promises to us as well, even in the midst of our unfaithfulness.

Session Outline

++1.

God blesses His people by delivering them (Num.

23:19-23).

++2.

God blesses His people by keeping His covenant promises (Num.

24:5-9).

++3.

God blesses His people by providing a conquering King (Num.

24:17-19; 1 Cor.

15:25-26).

Session in a Sentence

God is faithful to keep His promise to unconditionally bless His people.

Christ Connection

Balaam could not curse God’s people but blessed them instead and proclaimed God’s faithfulness.

Balaam’s blessings ultimately were realized centuries later in Jesus.

Jesus is the conquering King who fulfilled God’s covenant promises and delivered His people from sin and death.

Interact: Ask group members the following question.

What are some promises we might hold on to but never use?

(the offer of a friend for help in a time of need; roadside assistance; insurance benefits; product coupons; product rebates)

page 29 (DDG) Crowfoot received a lifetime railway pass that he likely never used.

During the late 1800s, the Canadian government wanted to construct the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to unite the country from coast to coast, but doing so required land from some Native American territories.

In 1883, when the Blackfoot Confederation of tribes retaliated against the railroad, a Native American chief named Crowfoot, a spokesperson for the Blackfoot Confederacy, negotiated with the government for compensation of land elsewhere.

In recognition of Crowfoot’s statesmanship, the CPR vice-president awarded him with a lifetime railway pass in 1887.

Crowfoot wore this pass on a chain around his neck for the rest of his life, though he most likely never used it.

1

God’s promises are designed to give us a sure and steadfast hope in life.

We aren’t to hang God’s promises around our necks like ornaments and never use them; instead, we are to hang our lives on God’s promises.

They have eternal significance, and God will be faithful to fulfill every last one of them.

Therefore, even today as we wait for Him to fulfill them, we can live in the reality of their fulfillment that is to come.

Because God is faithful, we can trust that He will keep His promises, even when we might be unfaithful.

Point 1: God blesses His people by delivering them (Num.

23:19-23).

Let me give you the timeline leading up to Balaam’s second oracle before reading the passage for this point.

· Near the end of their wilderness wandering, the Israelites were led to the east side of the Jordan River, across from the promised land.

They sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites asking permission to pass through their land, but they were met with an army in response.

The Israelites defeated them and took possession of all their cities.

Then they headed north and King Og of Bashan came out to attack them.

The Lord also handed him and his land over to the Israelites (Num.

21:10-35).

· Turning south, they camped in the plains of Moab across the river from Jericho.

King Balak of Moab was afraid of the Israelites because of their numbers and their success over the Amorites, so he wanted to hire Balaam, a diviner from Pethor, to come and curse them so he could defeat them in battle (22:1-6).

· After some interesting events, including the angel of the Lord and a talking donkey (read in the DDG), Balaam arrived with the intent to speak as the Lord directed him.

His first oracle did not curse the Israelites but blessed them instead, much to Balak’s consternation.

Undeterred, Balak took Balaam to another place where he could look out over the Israelites, and God gave the diviner a second oracle to share (22:7–23:18).

Read: Numbers 23:19-23 (DDG p. 30).

19 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?

20 Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.

21 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.

22 God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.

23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What has God wrought!’

DDG (p.

30) It was impossible for Balaam to curse the Israelites—because God had promised to bless them.

In Balaam’s second oracle, we are reminded that God does not lie and He does not renege on His promises.

Ever.

Therefore, it was impossible for Balaam to curse the Israelites because God had promised to bless Israel.

The Lord is steadfast and faithful in His commitment to His people because He is unchanging.

If God were anything less than one hundred percent faithful to His word, He would not be God.

He would either not be true or not be powerful enough to keep His word; He would be just like us—flawed and weak.

But...

While we are like Him, created in His image, He is not like us.

Commentary: Though we were created in the image of God, we are, of course, not completely like Him.

God is completely holy and perfect (Isa.

6:3).

God is the Creator of the universe.

With a word, He created all things, and with a word, He can bring the most powerful of nations to nothing (Isa.

40:17).

He changes the seasons and establishes kings and removes them (Dan.

2:21).

God’s plans are best, so all that He says, He will do, and every promise He has made, He will keep.

Interact:Ask group members the following question.

How should knowing that God is unchanging encourage us to trust Him more and live more faithfully?

(we know that He is with us no matter what because He said He will never forsake His children; we can believe that He rewards those who seek Him and His will by faith; the promise of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus is a certainty on which we can build our lives)

Voices from the Church

“God’s grace and faithfulness are stronger than those who would hurt us … There is no greater power than the one we have in Jesus.

If your life is hidden in Christ, you have no reason to fear any curse from anyone because God has all power.” 2

–Africa Study Bible

DDG (p.

30) The Moabites were right to be afraid, only they were afraid of the wrong thing—God was the One who delivered His people.

The Moabites feared the Israelites, thinking they had delivered themselves from Egypt and defeated the Amorites.

It was not the Israelites, however, who should have caused them to tremble but rather God who delivered the Israelites.

God displays His immeasurable power to all the world though His people who are weak and sinful.

He does so with the goal that all the world will recognize that there is nothing and no one greater than our God and therefore praise Him.

Point 2: God blesses His people by keeping His covenant promises (Num.

24:5-9).

After God denied Balak’s request a second time, Moab’s king took Balaam to yet another location, the top of Peor, hoping that Balaam might curse the Israelites from there (23:27-28).

Balaam, however, perceived that God desired to bless Israel, and the Spirit of God came upon him (24:1-2).

He began the third oracle by describing both Israel’s current state of blessing and the future blessings they would enjoy.

Read Numbers 24:5-9 (DDG p. 31).

5 How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel! 6 Like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters.

7 Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

8 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.

9 He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?

Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.”

DDG (p.

31) God’s protection and provision for the Israelites were a fulfillment of His promises, even though they were not yet in the promised land.

God’s faithfulness to His promises applies to all those who are in Christ by faith, even when we have not yet received His full promise for us.

No matter your circumstance, please remember that God is still faithful; He will establish and fulfill all His word.

While the Israelites rested in the wilderness, they were likely unaware of Balak’s repeated attempts to curse them.

God, though, was aware and He was working on behalf of His people to protect and preserve them, as He had promised.

Even in the wilderness, where the Israelites were forced to wander for forty years because of their unfaithfulness, God had blessed them and given them all they needed in abundance.