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Numbers 21:10-35
“And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth. 11 And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising. 12 From thence they removed and pitched in the valley of Zared. 13 From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon, 15 and in the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab. 16 And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. 17 Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it: 18 The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah: 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth: 20 and from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon. 21 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22 Let us pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king’s high way, until we be past thy borders. 23 And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 24 And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. 25 And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon. 27 Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared: 28 for there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon. 29 Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites. 30 We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba. 31 Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. 32 And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there. 33 And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei. 34 And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. 35 So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.”
Introduction
[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED588]
“We’ve
come as far as verse 10, we are on the border of the Promised Land,
40 years have gone by, 38 years probably more exactly since the
children of Israel received the Law there at Mount Sinai. And again,
the LORD
being selective in regards to the things that he puts in front of us.
And it’s interesting as they’re brought back around to the
border of the land again, there are certain lessons that he makes
sure, that God deals with them so there wouldn’t be another turning
away. Some of the very issues that had turned them away years
before, the LORD
will deal with them before they cross into the land, to demonstrate
certain things to them. So we have come through this situation with
the fiery serpents in our journey through, looking at John chapter 3.
Final Series Of Encampments Are Listed
We’ve
come to verse 10,
where it says, “And
the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.” Now
as we look at some of these, some of these names, some of these
locations are still identifiable, some of them are not. Probably be
an interesting study, and I haven’t done it, to go through the
names, if you go through your Strong’s Concordance, and look at the
names of each place, they’re probably instructive. “And
they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeabarim, in the
wilderness which is
before Moab, toward the sunrising.” (verse 11) So
they’re coming up toward Moab from the south. “From
thence they removed and pitched in the valley of Zared. From thence
they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is
in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for
Arnon is
the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.” (verses 12-13)
So there’s a difference, you want to take note, between the
Amorites and the Ammonites, not that you thought about it all day.
But the Ammonites and the Moabites are from Ammon and Moab, they’re
the children of Lot, and they’re kin to the children of Israel. So
we’re going to see an interesting situation with Balak the king of
Moab thinking he needs to defend himself, where God was never going
to command the children of Israel to attack Moab. But as we look at
this, these are the Amorites that we’re going to be encountering in
this movement, particularly Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king
of Bashan. Back in Genesis chapter 15, when God told Abraham he was
going to take his descendants down to Egypt for 400 years, he said
therefore ‘the
iniquity of the Amorites has not yet come to a full.’ Very
interesting again that God judges time morally and not by the
calendar or the clock, and evidently indicated there would come a
time when the iniquity of the Amorites would be so unimaginable that
God then would use Israel, and justly so, to judge them and to wipe
them out. In a healthy body there’s a point in time where cells
are self-consuming, it’s cancer, then they’re to be removed. So,
interesting picture here, they’re coming to the border of the
Amorites, the southern part of Moab, and the Amorites had displaced
the Moabites in a war. “Wherefore
it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD,”
which I don’t have
a copy of, and you don’t either, “What
he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,” (verse 14)
So the battles that take place are notable enough here that it says
there is a book called “the
Book of the Wars of the LORD”
where it mentions what happened in the Red Sea, but it puts these
battles with Sihon and Og on the same level. We’re going to hear
in other places in the Old Testament a comparative picture between
the destruction of Pharaoh and the destruction of Og and Sihon, in
Psalm 136 and different places. So interesting here they’re at the
border of the land, and it says there’s a Book
of the Wars of the LORD.
Look, it’s a good thing for us to maybe write down, even in our
own journals, when God gives us victory. When we find ourselves
looking at something that seems insurmountable, looking at something
we think ‘We’re
not going to survive this, God, why are you letting this happen, if
you love me why is this happening in my life?’ and
somehow when we get on the other side of it, it’s a wonderful thing
for us to write down some notes and say ‘Here’s
where I struggled, here’s where I doubted, here’s where God began
to manifest, here’s where he began to answer prayer, here’s where
I realized I’ve been griping and complaining and he had a plan all
along, here’s where God was so gracious on this day,’ and
some of those things are very important in our lives. And here it
says there is this Book
of the Wars of the LORD,
and it’s recorded in there in regards to what he did at the Red
Sea, “and in the
brooks of Arnon, and in the stream of the brooks that goeth down to
the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.” (verses
14b-15) Ar, that’s
not a pirate word, Ar!
it’s something different. Now, Deuteronomy chapter 2, one of the
interesting things that we’re going to see as we look into this
this evening, is it talks about some of these battles. “The
LORD
said unto me, Distress not the Moabites,’
when he was coming into the area, “neither
contend with them in battle, for I will not give thee of their land
for a possession, because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot
for a possession.” Then
he says “The
Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and
tall, as the Anakims; which also were accounted giants, as the
Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims. The Horims also dwelt in
Seir” which is
Petra, “beforetime;
but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them
from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the
land of his possession, which the LORD
gave unto them.” (Deuteronomy 2:9-12)
And it goes in here and makes some very interesting mentions “And
I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king
of Heshbon” (verse 26)
and it talks about what a remarkable victory they had “Then
Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz,”
(verse 32) this
is Deuteronomy chapter 2 and 3, and the LORD
gave them victory, and it talks about how the LORD
delivered them.
Chapter 3 then it talks about Og and it says they took all of the
cities at that time, ‘there
was not a city which we took not from them,’ speaking
of Bashon, the threescore cities, the 60 cities, all in the region of
Argob, the kingdom of Og, “And
we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we
took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the
kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were fenced with high
walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many.”
(Deuteronomy 3:4-5) Jameson,
Fawcett and Brown, if you have their commentary, talk on these verses
Deuteronomy 3, verses 3 and 4, about the excavations in the Jarmuk
valley of some of these cities, up into Bashan, which have 16, 18
foot ceilings, with tall 13 foot doors that are a foot thick, still
swing on pin hinges that are set in incredible basalt walls, harder,
almost hard as iron, and these huge slabs they don’t know how they
moved, had shingles on the rooves, in these 60 cities of the giants
up in the area, something remarkable. I have several books that talk
about the cities that have been excavated there, remarkable. Verses
11 of chapter 3 says
“For only Og of
Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was
a bedstead of iron; is
it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was
the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the
cubit of a man.”
we’re not sure if it’s his bed or his sarcophagus, it seems to be
his bed, he was a big enough man, it had to be made of iron. They
had carried it away, and it had been on display in Rabbath. 9 cubits
was the length of it, and if that’s a short cubit it’s 13 ½ feet
long, a 4 cubit, 6-foot wide was the breadth of it, that’s a
king-sized bed, Og of Bashan, king Og. Our bed at home is 6 ½ foot
long, I lay in there, my feet don’t hang over the edge, I got a
couple inches. You know if he had a 13 ½ foot long bed, you’re a
12-foot guy. So it’s hard for us to imagine some of the opponents
that they faced. Joshua,
in chapter 24
says ‘I sent the
hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two
kings of the Amorites, but not with thy sword nor with thy bow.’
They were so secure within their fortresses that God says he used
hornets to drive them out into the open, where the children of Israel
could go to battle with them. It says this in the Book of Amos, let
me find the verses here, I’m in the Book of Amos, yes, well I can’t
find it. But it talks about the Amorites that were tall as cedar
trees and they were as strong as oaks, so we have an interesting
scene where, when the children of Israel had come to Kadesh-barnea
before, they said ‘We
saw the Anakim there, we were like grasshoppers in their sight, they
were giants, they eat of the land there.’ Now
here we are 38 years later, and one of the things the LORD
is going to do, is as he brings them back to the border of the land,
he’s going to bring them to Pisgah where they’re going to be in
view of Jericho, God is going to let them go to battle with the
Amorites, and Sihon king of the Amorites, and it talks about his
stature also being immense, and they defeat them, and then they push
northward across the Jabok river and the Jarmuk valleys and come and
then defeat Og of Bashan with his armies at Edrei. Just a remarkable
description of the battles they have with these giants. Now, some of
us read that, modern scholarship kind of wants to throw that out the
window, but there is an ancient rabbinic writing that agrees with it,
Josephus talks about the size of these men that they fought. The
early Church fathers had no problem describing some of this perverse
offspring of fallen angels and men. And it says in Genesis chapter
6, if you remember there, that these were the Nephilim, ‘they
were born when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, they
were the giants who were in the earth in that day, and also
afterwards,’
it says, ‘when
the sons of God came into the daughters of men.’ that
they were still there. So it seems like there’s this kind of
bursting forth of these giants again, just as the children of Israel
would come to inherit the things that God had for them, that there’s
spiritual warfare across the board to try to prevent them from doing
that. And God gives them incredible victories over Sihon king of the
Amorites, who had cities both on the east and west side of Jordan.
So by the time they come to Jericho, Rahab
says ‘the whole
land is shaking because of you, we know about your God, we know what
he did at the Red Sea, we know what he did to Sihon and Og of
Bashan.’ So
God gives them remarkable victories in the process here, and this is
part of the description here as they come into this area of Moab.
The Children Of Israel Conquer Sihon King Of The Amorites
Verse
16 says, “And
from thence they
went to
Beer:” some people
still have that problem, it means Beer, like Beersheba, it’s a
well, is the idea, there’s a well there,
“that is
the well whereof the LORD
spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them
water. Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto
it: The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it,
by the
direction of
the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they
went to
Mattanah:” (verses 16-18) so
this is not in the rock, it was some place in the desert in the sand,
and Moses said this is the place, and the stave is not normally a
tool for digging. With their staffs they began to tear up the ground
and water burst forth there, there was a well. “And
from the wilderness they
went to
Mattanah: and from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to
Bamoth: and from Bamoth in
the valley, that is
in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward
Jeshimon.” (verses 18b-20)
So from the top of Pisgah, where Moses is going to go and finally lay
down and give up his life, from there they can look into Canaan, they
can see the walls of Jericho, they can see the land of their
inheritance as they are on Pisgah. But God is not going to let them
go into the land until their enemies adjoining them on the east side
of Jordan are destroyed. And then Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of
Manasseh will take part of their inheritance there. So here it says
that they were up “to
the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon. And Israel sent
messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, Let us pass
through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the
vineyards; we will not drink of
the waters of the well: but
we will go along” here
it is again “by the
king’s high
way, until we be past thy borders.” (verses 20b-22)
Now the King’s Highway was a trade route, part of it today is the
Amaras, but of course the wording is interesting, these struggles
right on the border of the Promised Land, the border of taking hold
of the promises that God had given. We can be assured that when
we’re on the border of those promises to any degree in our life,
there are giants, there is going to be some type of struggle, there’s
no spiritual progress without warfare. And here they’re saying ‘We
just want to be on the King’s Highway, we’re not going to go to
the left, or go to the right,’ and
all the way along they get resistance. There are pictures of things
here, we’re told that in Romans 15 and 1st
Corinthians chapter 10. Here they’re saying ‘Let
us go, we’re going to go by the King’s Highway, we just want to
pass through your borders.’ “And
Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon
gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into
the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.”
(verse 23) Now, the
rabbinic literature says that Sihon was Og’s brother. We don’t
have that in the Scripture, we have a description of Sihon as great
in stature and so forth in Amos. But in the Midrash it says both
kings, they say, were the sons Shimazai a fallen angel, they were the
grandsons of this particular fallen angel, written in the Midrash,
you can go there in the Midrash and read it for yourself. So there’s
an interesting tradition in literature attached to this. But the
idea is, they were very intimidating forces. It talks about the
Amorites who were as tall as the cedars in the Book of Amos, and they
were strong as oaks, and you can just imagine how intimidating these
armies must have been as the children of Israel came. But God is
going to give them victory, just like he would give them supernatural
victory over Jericho, just like he would have the sun and the moon
stand still in the Valley of Aijalon. God is teaching them to do
war. When we get to the Book of Joshua, listen, and there’s a new
generation born that weren’t born in Egypt, they’re born in the
land, it says God left some of the enemy in the land that they might
teach the new generation how to do war. That’s not jousting,
that’s not teaching their moves, the idea is to teach them to fall
on their knees and to trust him, and to see supernatural victory. We
certainly see some of that in the lives of Jael and Shamgar and
Samson and others and so forth. So here they face this Sihon king of
the Amorites, and he says you’re not going to go through my land,
he refused to let them pass through, this is all God’s plan though.
Verse 24, “And
Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land
from Arnon unto Jabok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the
border of the children of Ammon was
strong.” Between
those two areas, which is in Jordan today, the children of Ammon, the
capital today, Amman taking its name from that. “And
Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of
the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. For
Heshbon was
the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against
the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even
unto Arnon.” (verses 25-26)
Now verse 27 down to verse 30 it’s going to give us the song, and
it is very interesting, it seems that the Amorites wrote it, and it
was a song for them to sing about the victory they had over Moab.
And what the children of Israel do is they take the verse from the
song that the Amorites sung about how they whupped the Moabites, and
they come to the end and they add verses saying ‘You
know, the Amorites think they’re something because they whupped the
Moabites, but we whupped the Amorites who whupped the Moabites,’ so
it’s a wonderful song, you might want to memorize it and put it to
music. “Wherefore
they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of
Sihon be built and prepared: for there is a fire gone out of
Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of
Moab, and
the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to thee, Moab! thou art
undone, O people of Chemosh:” their
god “he hath given
his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon
king of the Amorites.” that
was their song, and then the children of Israel sang,
“We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we
have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth
unto Medeba.” (verses 27-30)
“Heshbon” which was the capital of Sihon, the king of the
Amorites. So they had their own verse saying ‘Yes,
the Amorites defeated the Moabites, but through God’s grace,
obvious, we have defeated now the Amorites.’ “Thus
Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.” (verse 31)
The Children Of Israel Conquer Og King Of Bashan
“And
Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and
drove out the Amorites that were
there. And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the
king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the
battle at Edrei.” (verses 32-33) Now
he had a funny name, but you wouldn’t make fun of it if you were in
front of him, ‘I
think you have a great name.’ I
have in one of my books in my library ‘The
Great Cities of Bashan’ by
Professor Porter, there’s another one by a professor at Cambridge,
and they talk about the excavations and these cities and how
monstrous their doors, gates and ceilings were, just remarkable the
excavations, the technology to construct them, the way they’re
constructed. So just an interesting, interesting picture. Maybe
when we get to Deuteronomy when it speaks about them a little more
we’ll look at that more closely here. “And
they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of
Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle
at Edrei. And the LORD
said unto Moses,” with
good reason, “Fear
him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people,
and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king
of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. So they smote him, and his
sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and
they possessed his land.” (verses 33-35)
So you could imagine, Moses saying to the soldiers ‘When
you see this guy, don’t be afraid,’ and
them saying to Moses ‘Are
you sure that’s what the LORD
told you? Because I can see him already, he’s a half mile away.’
And he told them,
‘Don’t fear
them.’ The path
that God has to lead us on, to the things that he’s promised us,
that path is filled with battles, it’s filled with battles [and
giants], under his direction, for his purposes, to his glory. “So
they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was
none left him alive: and they possessed his land.” (verse 35) And
beautiful, the whole area of Bashan, fertile, green, a beautiful area
with streams, from the Jabok River all the way up towards Damascus up
in the Golan Heights, beautiful area. So they possessed that now.
And God has given them two incredible victories. So he doesn’t
want anybody coming to the land again and saying ‘We
can’t go in there, there’s giants in there,’ no,
they’re going to come to the border of the land this time and say
‘We already whupped
the worst of the giants, let’s go get them.’ And
God deliberately teaching his people to face adversity and to trust
him in those things. Whatever adversity we face, I’d rather face
my adversity than meet an Og in an alley somewhere, believe me. So
great lessons learned here by God’s people. Now, chapter 22, if
you’ve read ahead.
Numbers 22:1-41 “And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho. 2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. 4 And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 5 He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me: 6 come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. 7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak. 8 And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. 9 And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? 10 And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, 11 behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out. 12 And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed. 13 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you. 14 And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us. 15 And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they. 16 And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: 17 for I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. 18 And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more. 20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. 21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. 22 And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. 24 But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. 25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again. 26 And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with his staff. 28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? 29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. 30 And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay. 31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. 32 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: 33 and the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive. 34 And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again. 35 And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. 36 And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast. 37 And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour? 38 And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak. 39 And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjath-huzoth. 40 And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him. 41 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.”
Introduction: Who Were Balaam And Balak?
“We
come to this Moabite king Balak. Balak realizes ‘Well
the Amorites whupped us, and if the Israelites whupped the Amorites,
we don’t stand a chance against them. They killed Sihon and his
armies, and Og and his armies.’ So
Balak the king of Moab is going to send to Mesopotamia, 360 miles, to
Pethor, to a man named Balaam and ask Balaam to come and curse the
children of Israel, because he realizes ‘We
can’t defeat them in the natural.’ Now
it’s a picture of spiritual warfare, there are things going on
behind the scenes all the while, and as there are today. No doubt
over our lives there is warfare. But we know in whom we believe, you
know, the evil one comes, he touches us not, he has no right to us,
we are blood-bought, and we are sealed with the Spirit. And of
course the warfare takes place here, right here, in this piece of
protein that sits in your skull. And Satan knows that, and the Bible
knows that, and the Holy Ghost knows that, it seems to take us
forever to learn that, but that’s where it goes on, right here.
And they come to the border of this land. Now we have this man,
Balaam mentioned, 2nd
Peter chapter 2,
you don’t have to turn, I’ll read this. It’s talking about
‘false teachers
and so forth, eyes full of adultery, they can’t cease from sin,
beguiling unstable souls, a heart they’ve exercised with covetous
practices, cursed children, which have forsaken the right way, and
they have gone astray following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor,
who loved, it tells us, Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness,
but was rebuked for his iniquity, the dumb ass speaking with a man’s
voice forbade the madness of the prophet.’
So we’re told that. In the
Book of Jude we
hear ‘Woe unto
them, they have gone after the way of Cain, they have run greedily
after the error of Balaam for reward,’
it tells us again about this man. And then in Revelation chapter 2,
we hear once more about Balaam, it says when he’s speaking to the
church there at Pergamos, he says “But
I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that
hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling
block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto
idols, and to commit fornication.” (Revelation 2:14) and
it was for gain, it was again for money. So we hear of Balaam those
three times in the New Testament, he’s an enigma, he’s a strange
character. We’re going to hear him talk about the God of Israel as
LORD,
capital L, capital O,
capital R,
capital D,
Jehovah [Yahweh], he seems to have a familiarity with him, he’s
going to call him “my God” in one place. So he’s a very
strange character. Obviously he’s not his God by his behavior.
But we’re going to be introduced to this very, very interesting
scene here.
Balak King Of Moab Is Terrified Of The Israelites, Sends For Balaam To Curse The Children Of Israel
It
says “And the
children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on
this side Jordan by
Jericho.”
(verse 1) so they’re
in the area of Jordan today, they’re looking towards Jericho,
they’re in the plains of Moab. “And
Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were
many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.”
(verses 2-3) Now
God had already told them ‘I’m
not going to lead you into battle with the Moabites, they’re
family, they’re the children of Lot.’ They
really didn’t have anything to fear, but how often we’re afraid
of something we don’t need to be afraid of? how often are we
worried about something we don’t need to worry about? how often do
we have anxiety over something we don’t need to have anxiety over?
it happened to me in 1974, I remember clearly. “And
Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up
all that are
round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And
Balak the son of Zippor was
king of the Moabites at that time.” (verse 4)
and the Midianites were within their territory and they were also
afraid. Understand, they’re looking down in the plains of Moab,
the children of Israel are there, there’s 2 to 3 million of them.
Again, the city of Philadelphia, a million and a half, imagine double
the population of Philadelphia camped on your doorstep. It’s
unimaginable, the logistics and the number of people and what it took
to have them survive these 38 years in the wilderness. But imagine a
city twice the size of Philadelphia proper. That’s the encampment
of Israel. So he’s nervous, you know. “He
sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor,”
in Deuteronomy 23 it
tells us Pethor is in Mesopotamia,
“which is
by the river” that
would be the Euphrates,
“of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying,
Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover
the face of the earth,” and
of course it would look like that, again, imagine that many people,
“and they abide over against me: come now therefore, I pray thee,
curse me this people; for they are
too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that
we may smite them, and that
I may drive
them out of the land: for I wot [I
know] that he whom
thou blessest is
blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.” (verses 5-6) Sounds
awful familiar, doesn’t it? ‘I’ll
bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee,’ he’s
coming from Abraham’s homeland towards Ur of the Chaldees. The
cuneiform tablets that were unearthed in 1933 spoke of, from this
area of Pethor, Mari I think it’s called there, there were whole
families of sorcerers, whole families of magicians who specialized in
curses and so forth. And I would imagine that this is part of his
family, Balaam means devourer or to swallow, he’s the son of Beor,
which means “to burn up or destroy,” so I get the idea the family
is better on the curse side than the blessing side as I look at their
names. But they have to be awfully notable for the king of Moab, 360
miles away, to know about them. Because they didn’t see it on Fox
News, he didn’t go online and look up “blessers and cursers,”
he didn’t call any of his relatives on the phone who lived in Iraq
and say ‘Do you
know this guy?’ Just
imagine how notorious Balaam has to be for civilizations in those
days without communication, 360 miles away, he’s infamous, they
know about him. So he sends for him, to call him, thinking he’ll
curse the children of Israel, so that they might have victory. Now
is there any relationship to Abram’s family, how does he know about
Jehovah, how does he speak the way he speaks? There’s a lot of
questions that hang over this man. We’re not sure. It says “And
the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards
of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake
unto him the words of Balak. And he said unto them, Lodge here this
night, and I will bring you word again, as
the LORD
shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.”
(verses 7-8) They
basically said ‘We’ll
give you all of these rewards if you come and curse this people.’
notice this please,
he says “as the
LORD”
it tells us that’s Jehovah [Yahweh]. Now it wouldn’t be unusual
for him to know about Jehovah [Yahweh], because they were
pantheistic, they believed that each land had its own god who would
rule over it. And then he of course would feel like if I’m going
to go to that area, if I’m going to curse this people or curse this
area, I need to get word from their god so that I can do this. It
doesn’t give us the sense that this is his own personal god. But
over in verse 18 he says “I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD
my God to do less or more,” it’s very interesting. He doesn’t
seem to be a true believer, but he has some knowledge of and some
belief that if he seeks Jehovah, the God of the Jews [Israelites, 12
tribes, not just the Jews], that Jehovah will speak to him. Notice
verse 9, “And God
came unto Balaam, and said, What men are
these with thee?”
Now remember, the LORD
came to Abimelech in Genesis, who was a godless king, the LORD
came to Pharaoh in the Book of Genesis it talks about Sarah,
Abraham’s wife. The LORD
comes to Nebuchadnezzar and speaks to him, before he is a believer
[and he actually did become a believer later in his life]. So it
isn’t unusual that this might happen. The LORD
came to him and said ‘Who
are these men with thee?’ “And
Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath
sent unto me, saying,
behold, there
is a people
come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now,
curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and
drive them out.” (verses 10-11)
So, come, ‘curse
this people,’ and
that’s what they’re doing here.
God Tells Balaam ‘You Are Not To Go With These Men, Or To Curse My People Israel’
“And
God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not
curse the people: for they are
blessed.” (verse 12) ‘Thou
shalt not go,’ does
that seem confusing? Anybody? How do we get in such a mess all the
time, when the Lord has been so clear to us. ‘Thou
shalt not go with them, thou shalt not curse,’ that
seems extremely clear to me, “thou
shalt not curse the people: for they are
blessed.” Now I
don’t know if the children of Israel always felt blessed, but we’re
going to find out they are blessed. Not necessarily in their state,
but in their standing, ok. You and I, it says, are justified,
sanctified and glorified. You may not get up everyday and look in
the mirror and say ‘Boy,
you know you’re justified, sanctified and glorified.’ In
our standing before the Lord, because of the blood of Christ, his
righteousness has been imputed to us, it says we’re seated in
heavenly places with Christ Jesus, that’s our standing. But our
experience may seem to contradict that many times. And that’s
where we stand in God’s Word, we stand in faith and say ‘Help
me here, help me here to see this and understand this.’ God
is going to deal with the children of Israel, they turned away at
Kadesh-barnea, a whole generation perished in the wilderness. And
when this guy tries to open his mouth and curse them, he can’t do
it, ‘How lovely
are thy tents O Jacob,’
he says ‘There
is no iniquity found in thee.’
He looks at the
children of Israel and says ‘Let
me die the life of the righteous.’ I
mean, they had no idea any of this is going on behind the scenes.
They had no idea that someone was trying to curse them, but the LORD
was protecting them. I wonder when we get to heaven [into the
Kingdom of God] how amazed we’re going to be at so many of the
things that went on behind the scenes, that we had no idea of, when
God was caring for us, and looking after us, when his angels were
attending to us. He says ‘You
shall not go with them, you shall not curse this people, because this
people, they’re blessed.’ “And
Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak,
Get you into your land:” and
there’s a problem here, if you’ll notice,
“for the LORD
refuseth to give me leave to go with you.” (verse 13) He’s
saying ‘I really
want to go, but he won’t let me.’ He
doesn’t say ‘Get
up, and never come back, you don’t know who you’re messing with,
you’re messing with Jehovah, you’re messing with his people, and
those are blessed people, don’t you ever come back and talk to me,
you’re outa your mind,’ he
doesn’t say any of that. He just says, he’s looking at the
money, because it says he loved the wages of unrighteousness, he’s
saying ‘the LORD
refused to let me go.’ His
heart is resistant to God’s will. And that’s where Satan gets an
open door. When you and I know that the Lord has told us not to do
something, whether that’s in regards to money, it may be in regards
to relationship, in regards to something unclean, it might be in
regards to alcohol or drugs, or whatever it is, and we know his will,
and there’s a part of us that’s resistant inside, that is the
place where Satan gets an open door, where the enemy finds an open
door. This guy says, you know, it’s almost like ‘I
want to come, but the LORD
refuses to give me leave, to go with you.’
“And the princes
of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak,” 360
some miles, that was as the crow flies, must have been a longer
journey, “and said,
Balaam refuseth to come with us. And Balak sent yet again princes,
more, and more honourable than they.” it’s
a long trip, he sends guys with more prestige,
“And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son
of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:
for I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do
whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse
me this people.” (verses 14-17)
the enemy comes back and says ‘What’s
your price? Whatever it is, you name it, whatever you want I can
produce it, whatever pleasure you’d long after I can put in front
of you--WHATEVER YOU WANT, NAME YOUR PRICE, and it will be yours.’
And how often I
think the price that sometimes people settle for. “And
Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would
give me” and you
can tell he’s thinking,
“his house full of silver and gold,” ‘Oh
I’d really like to come,’
you know, from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,
“I cannot go beyond the word” please
notice, and I’m not sure what to do with this,
“of the LORD
my God, to do
less or more. Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this
night, that I may know what the LORD
will say unto me more.” (verses 18-19)
‘Let me check back
and see if he’s got anything else to say.’ Now
that’s why “No” seems perfectly clear to me, “thou shalt not
go, and thou shalt not curse” doesn’t seem to be confusing at
all. It seems the Court System likes to take that and turn it into a
complicated situation, you know, does “is” mean “is”? does
“if” mean “if”? What does “no” mean? “Thou shalt not
go” seems abundantly clear to me, but he’s got something else
going on in his heart, and he says ‘Let
me go back and check again, see if God has changed his mind, see if
there’s any new information.’ And
all the way through the Scripture we’re told not to add to the Word
of God, not to take away from it. To look out for the leaven of the
Pharisees, adding to the Word of God, or the Sadducees taking away
from the Word of God. All the way to the last chapter of the Book of
Revelation, we’re told not to add to it, not to take away from it.
And here is Balaam caught in a quandary because his heart, because of
the madness of the prophet longing.
‘Balaam, You Can Go With These Men If They Come To You In The Morning’--How We Reason Around God’s Specific Instructions, Commands
“And
God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to
call thee, rise up, and
go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that
shalt thou do.” (verse 20)
and the idea is ‘Nothing
beyond it.’ Now
look at verse 21, it
doesn’t say the men came, “And
Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the
princes of Moab.” woke
his donkey up, woke her up too. We’re not told they came to him,
so he’s up, he’s at it, he’s after this prize, this money.
“And God’s anger
was kindled because he went:” because
he didn’t wait, he didn’t get permission, God said “if they
come, if the men come to call thee,” so he’s up, he’s out of
there, he wants to go curse the children of Israel and get the money,
so he’s disobedient,
“and the angel of the LORD
stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding
upon his ass, and his two servants were
with him.” (verse 22)
Now “the angel of the LORD,”
definite article, we have a theophany, an Old Testament appearance of
the LORD.
“Now he was riding
upon his ass, and his two servants were
with him” two guys
with him. “And the
ass” the donkey
“saw the angel of the LORD
standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass
turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam
smote the ass, to turn her into the way.” (verse 23)
you know how you hate car problems, you hate to be stuck in traffic,
you hate gaper delays. Well he’s got, you can’t get out and beat
your car, but Balaam’s got a she-ass here, a donkey, and he starts
to beat her, he’s angry, you know, to get her back on the path.
“But the angel of
the LORD
stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being
on this side,
and a wall on that side. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD,
she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against
the wall: and he smote her again.” (verses 24-25)
he starts to beat her again, he’s beating this donkey, and the
donkey’s looking at him and looking at the angel of the LORD
with the sword drawn, looking at Balaam, getting whacked, whacked,
looking back up again. “And
the angel of the LORD
went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was
no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the
ass saw the angel of the LORD,
she fell down under Balaam:” she
couldn’t turn to either side, she just collapsed, fell down on her
face, bowed before the LORD,
I don’t know, “and
Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with his staff.”
(verses 26-27)
that’s why 2nd
Peter talks about the madness of the prophet. And he began to beat
the ass with a staff, so he’s got this long staff in his hand, this
wooden staff, you can see him now standing next to this poor animal,
whacking this animal, you know, the animal rights activists would be
having a heart attack, he’s beating this poor donkey, she’s
getting welts on her head, he’s whacking this animal, he’s
beating this animal now with his staff. I don’t know what his two
servants are thinking, they’re thinking ‘This
guy’s going off the deep end.’
Balaam Is Rebuked By A Talking Donkey
He’s
beating this animal, and look, verse
28, “And the LORD
opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I
done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?” In
the Old Testament it was a miracle when a donkey talked, in the New
Testament these days it’s a miracle someone doesn’t. There’s
one that talks here every Sunday morning, me up here, that the Lord
still can use when he pleases. Imagine this, “he
opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I
done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?”
Wilbur
[remember Mr. Ed the
Talking Horse?], just
imagine this. The LORD
opened the mouth of the ass, listen, the National Geographic just
came, I just got it yesterday, the cover is a picture of a Collie, a
Border Collie, and the feature article is ‘What
do animals think?’
And it’s fascinating to read, at least for me. It might be strange
for everybody else, something that fascinates me. But they talk
about this one researcher from Harvard who worked with a parrot, this
parrot finally had a vocabulary of over 300 words, and parrot could
differentiate between colour, the parrot could differentiate between
different shapes. They said the parrot had an abstract idea of
absolute zero. [Comment: the spirit-in-man that the Bible says God
places in every human being, is the software that gives the human
brain intelligence, the intelligence of a human being on the physical
thought plane (not spiritual thought plane). God also says in
Ecclesiastes that animals have this spirit software in their brains
as well, imparting animal intelligence into them, at their various
levels of intelligence. Most animals exhibit such abstracts as
emotions, such as love, friendship, anger, and fear. It seems like
God merely gave this donkey the spirit-in-man and the physical
ability to talk at this moment in time, which was no big deal for
God, the Creator of the Universe.] It took 31 years working with
this parrot. And then there’s this Border Collie, the part about
the Border Collie, it says it learns faster than a chimp, there’s
two of them in the world, and these researchers from Europe, said
this animal has a 340 word vocabulary, and it’s increasing every
day, and this animal knows 21 people by their names. That’s
remarkable. That’s a Border Collie. But the point is, what do
they think? what will animals be like during the Millennium? what
were they like before the Fall [inside the Garden of Eden, not
outside]? Did they communicate with Adam and Eve? I don’t know
that, but it doesn’t say here that the donkey’s demon possessed,
it just says this is an animal that evidently thinks to some degree,
and the LORD
opened the mouth of the donkey and lets it speak, not English,
whatever they speak, to Balaam. And the donkey turns around and says
‘What have I
done unto you, that you beat me these three times?’
Now I’d be dying of a cardiac at that point in time. You know,
people think, you could have dogs and cats, you think they understand
you, but that’s vastly different, you’re mad at your dog. You
ever whack your dog? Don’t look at me like you don’t know what
I’m talking about [laughter]. What would you do if your dog turned
around and in perfect English and say ‘Why
have you beaten me again? What is your problem!?’ What
would you do? Look what Balaam does, this is the most amazing thing.
“And Balaam said
unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a
sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.” (verse 29) He
enters right into an argument with a donkey, like he’s done this
before. And you look at this and think ‘What
kind of a man would kill a talking donkey?’ If
this guy’s interested in money, he could open up a sideshow and
make way more money with this talking donkey than he’s going to
make from Moab. You know one of those signs along the road ‘Reptile
Farm 200 miles, Reptile Farm 150 miles, Reptile Farm, Talking Donkey
200 miles, Talking Donkey 170 miles,’ what
kind of a guy would kill a talking donkey? The donkey looks at him,
it says God opens up her mouth, it’s a miracle, we don’t have any
record anywhere before this in the Bible that people talk to animals.
I don’t know what this guy’s used to. ‘Why
have you beaten me these three times, what’s your problem?’
‘Because you mocked me, what do you mean, what’s my problem,
you’re lucky I don’t have a sword, I’d kill ya.’ “And
the ass said unto Balaam, Am
not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I
was thine
unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said,
Nay.” (verse 30) The
only thing stranger than arguing with a donkey is arguing with a
donkey and loosing the argument, and that’s what’s happening
here. [laughter] The donkey’s making more sense than Balaam is at
this point in time. ‘Since
the day you got me I’ve been cooperative, have I ever done anything
like this before?’ ‘Ah, no, come to think of it.’ “Then
the LORD
opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD
standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed
down his head, and fell flat on his face.” (verse 31) I
wonder if the donkey said ‘See?’
“And the angel of
the LORD
said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three
times?” The
donkey’s gotta be smiling at this point in time,
“behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy
way is perverse before me: and the ass saw me, and turned from me
these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I
had slain thee, and saved her alive. And Balaam said unto the angel
of the LORD,
I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against
me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.”
(verses 32-34) This
is a strange day. ‘Um,
I’ll get myself back again to where I started. If you’re not
happy, I’m on my way home,’ at
the threat of death and the angel of the LORD
standing there, a donkey’s talking to you, chewing you out, and the
LORD’s
standing there with a sword drawn. “And
the angel of the LORD
said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall
speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the
princes of Balak.” (verse 35) Now
what are the servants doing at this point in time? Do they hear the
donkey talk? Or do they just see the donkey fall down, Balaam jump
off, whacking, whacking, whacking, see the animal turn around, look
at Balaam, and Balaam say ‘What
do you mean?’ “Because you mocked me, you’re lucky I didn’t
have a sword, I’d kill ya.’ And
then see Balaam say ‘No,
you never really did that before?’
What are they thinking of all this? “And
the angel of the LORD
said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall
speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the
princes of Balak.” (verse 35) And
it’s a long journey no doubt, from here on in. And look, even
after seeing the angel of the LORD,
he’s going to ultimately, in chapter 32, speak unadvisedly, he’s
going to say things that he wasn’t told to say. You would think
that would be enough to straighten most people out. An argument with
your donkey, and the LORD
appearing to you with his sword drawn, you’d think that would make
some impression. [Comment: and if an angel’s or the LORD’s
sword is like the one in Genesis 3, the ones guarding the entrance to
the Garden of Eden, those where “flaming swords,” quite
impressive, quite scary.] And he must have been saying to his donkey
‘Good donkey, you
see anything? Anything we need to be afraid about, you see anything
I don’t see?’
“And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him
unto a city of Moab, which is
in the border of Arnon, which is
in the utmost coast. And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly
send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I
not able indeed to promote thee to honour? And Balaam said unto
Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say
any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.
And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjath-huzoth. And
Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes
that were with
him. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and
brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see
the utmost part
of the people.”
(verses 36-41)
So he offers these sacrifices, and look, it doesn’t tell us that
these are Levitical, we don’t get the idea that these are
sacrifices being offered for sin, these are pagan sacrifices being
offered to appease the gods that they felt were, Chemosh or whatever
in Moab. Sometimes they would just burn them as burnt sacrifices,
sometimes they would examine their entrails, the Romans were famous
for that. Angary it’s called, Hepatoscopy it’s called, where
pagan cultures would cut open an animal, examine their entrails, burn
their body on a fire. There’s nothing here, don’t be confused,
of Levitical sacrifice of animals being offered for sin, it doesn’t
say that. They’re making pagan sacrifices here, hoping to appease
the gods, so the gods will be favourable, so that Balaam will be able
to curse the children of Israel.
In closing
Now it’s one minute to 9, so we can finish a minute early, but we can’t finish this whole picture of Balaam and Balak until next week, so my encouragement to you, is to read ahead, you can tell your friends that they missed the talking donkey because of the snow. Look at the new Geographic Magazine for fun, on your own. Very interesting, very interesting picture. So we’ll follow this man Balaam, three times he’s going to bless the children of Israel. I want you to know something too as we look at this, and the LORD again used this to reprove me. It was a situation where something was going on in church. And sometimes, believe it or not, my greatest joy is to study the Scripture, to teach, I love to do that. But there’s a responsibility that comes with it. There’s a big staff, and sometimes I spend a lot of time refereeing, and I really feel like I should just go to church with a striped shirt and a whistle, be easier if we had, you know, eight ounce gloves and head gear, and say ‘Don’t talk to me, just go beat the tar out each other, or act like Christians,’ I can’t say that. So, one day I just, there was a lot going on, I said ‘Lord, I don’t want to do that, referee,’ and all of a sudden the Lord reminded me of Balaam. And I think a lot about the Scripture, but to tell you the truth, I don’t normally think about Balaam, so it was one of those moments I know ‘OK, God you’re talking to me.’ And he reminded me that it says ‘The Holy Spirit came on Balaam, and Balaam said ‘How lovely are thy tents, O Jacob.’ You know, the Lord said to me, ‘Look, you’re a pastor, what are you griping about? Your problem is you’re not filled with the Holy Spirit, because this guy was an antagonist, he would rather have cursed my people, and when he was filled with the Holy Spirit, he could see the beauty of my Bride. And when you have days like this, instead of griping, you better get on your knees and get a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit, because my Bride is spotless, because of my completed work, not because of her performance. She’s beautiful because of what I’ve completed on the cross, and your problem is you ain’t filled with the Holy Ghost right now.’ I said ‘Lord, forgive me. I don’t need donkeys to talk to me, or anything, you got me, you have my heart.’ And it was a reproof that I will remember for the rest of my life. And it makes me enjoy the Body of Christ, and I’m a part of that with all of its insanity, with all of its humanness, realizing how beautiful she is before his eyes, she’s spotless. Even the Corinthian church, of all the churches, Paul picked that one and said ‘I want to present you as a chaste virgin on the Day of Christ,’ I’d have picked the Ephesian church or some other church I think, but he picked that one. So, interesting things as we go through here. Listen, read through next week, take note, Satan would love to curse God’s people, and God says ‘No.’ And they’re not even aware of it, they don’t even know this is going on. There is a contest going on, like there is in the Book of Job, behind the scenes, we wrestle not against flesh and blood it tells us in Ephesians 6. All through God talks about their beauty, ‘How lovely art thy tents, O Jacob, there is no iniquity found in thee.’ What? God had to deal with them all the way along through the wilderness, ‘There’s no iniquity found in thee?’ Balaam says ‘O how I would love to die the death of the righteous,’ just as we go through we see just incredible things from God’s point of view, and how they flow out of the mouth of Balaam about his people. And there are great lessons in that for us. So I encourage you if the Lord tarries, next Wednesday evening, let’s go through the next two to three chapters, and finish this scene. And it’s remarkable and it’s instructive. So, let’s stand, let’s pray…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Numbers 21:10-35 and Numbers 22:1-41, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116] related links: Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED588 |