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Balaam

Balaam. Balaam. Num. 22-24. Background The 2 nd generation of Israelites (out of Egypt) were making their way to the Promised Land This required passage through enemy lands The leaders of these countries were nervous

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Balaam

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  1. Balaam

  2. Balaam Num. 22-24 • Background • The 2nd generation of Israelites (out of Egypt) were making their way to the Promised Land • This required passage through enemy lands • The leaders of these countries were nervous • King Sihon & King Og (kings of Amorites & Bashan) tried to refuse passage and were soundly defeated • The story of Balaam begins when Israel was camped on the plains of Moab • Balak, king of Moab, “was exceedingly afraid” (Num. 22:3)

  3. Balaam Num. 22-24 • Balaam had a reputation • He was a prophet of God (cf. 2 Pet. 2:16) • “I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks” (22:8) • “The LORD has refused to give me permission” (22:13) • “I could not go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more” (22:18) • “Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak” (22:35) • “Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you” (23:3) • “The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth” (23:5) • “The LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth” (23:16) • “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do'?’” (23:26) • Balaam possessed great potential for good…for God!

  4. Balaam Num. 22-24 • Balaam had a reputation • He was a prophet of God • He was a soothsayer/diviner (Jsh. 13:22; Num. 22:7) • When Balak needed “help,” he knew who to call • “I know that whom you curse is cursed” (Num. 22:6) • Balaam was in Mesopotamia – 400 miles away • God had been very clear about sorcery • “You shall not…practice divination or soothsaying” (Lev. 19:26). • “Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them” (Lev. 19:31). • “There shall not be found among you anyone who… practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist…” (Deut. 18:11-11). • Balaam could be whoever you wanted him to be!

  5. Balaam Num. 22-24 • Balaam had a reputation • He was a prophet of God • He was a soothsayer/diviner • He could be bought (Nu. 22:5-21; 2 Pt. 2:15; Jude 11) • Price #1: Flattery (22:6) • Price #2: Diviner’s fee (22:7) • Price #3: Even more honorable princes (22:15) • Price #4: Let nothing stop you, great honor will be yours, I will do whatever you say to me (22:16-17) • Response #1: “Stay here tonight, let me check” (22:8) • Response #2: “Refused to give me permission” (22:13) • Response #3: “Though give me…stay here…what more the Lord will say to me” (22:18-19) • Response #4: Balaam rose and went with them (22:21) • Balaam had a price. Bless or curse, just wanted reward!

  6. Balaam Num. 22-24 • Balaam had a problem • He clearly knew the will of God in this matter • You shall not go with them (22:12) • You shall not curse the people; they are blessed. • Only the word I speak to you (22:20) • Your way is perverse before Me (22:32) • Only the word I speak to you (22:35) • The word that God puts in my mouth (22:38) • Whatever He shows me I will tell you (23:3) • The LORD put a word…thus you shall speak (23:5) • Must I not speak what the Lord put in my mouth (23:12) • The LORD put a word…thus you shall speak (23:16) • All that the LORD speaks, that I must do (23:26) • Balaam saw it pleased the LORD to bless Israel (24:1) • Did I not speak, What the LORD says (24:12-13)

  7. Balaam Num. 22-24 • Balaam had a problem • He clearly knew the will of God in this matter • He tried his hardest to violate the will of God • To enemies of God: “stay here tonight” (22:8) • To enemies of God: “stay here tonight” (22:19) • “I may know what more the LORD will say” (22:19) • “IF it displeases you, I will turn back” (22:34) • Allied with Balak to do what God forbid him to do • Went with Balak to high places of Baal (22:41) and offered sacrifices three times (23:1-4, 13-15, 27-30) • Used sorcery/enchantments/omens in first attempts to curse God’s people (24:1) • Balaam finally went back home (24:25)

  8. Balaam Num. 22-24 • Balaam had a problem • He clearly knew the will of God in this matter • He tried his hardest to violate the will of God • Angry with God, Balaam shrewdly counseled with Balak before leaving, with a plan that would destroy/curse Israel as Balak wanted • “…You have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality” (Rev. 2:14) • “Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD” (Num. 31:16; cf. 25:1-9)

  9. Balaam Num. 22-24 • Balaam still has a reputation • He died in the Lord’s vengeance on the Midianites (31:8) • He is renowned in Biblical history for: • Having less sense than a donkey • Having an argument with a talking donkey • Trying to resist God’s will but failing & looking like a fool • Instigating sinful behavior among God’s people that led to 24,000 deaths • “Loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet” (2 Pet. 2:15-16; cf. greedy error, Jude 11). • “You have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam…Repent!” (Rev. 2:14)

  10. Balaam Num. 22-24 • Positive Things We Can Glean from Balaam • May we say it and mean it: • “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.” (22:18) • “I have sinned” (22:34) • “Now, have I any power at all to say anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak.” (22:38) • “All that the Lord speaks, that I must do” (23:26) • “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.” (23:19-20)

  11. Balaam Num. 22-24 • Positive Things We Can Glean from Balaam • God’s word & God’s will do not change, no matter how many different ways I approach it, no matter where I’m standing, no matter what I want it to be. • “Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.” (Deut. 23:4-5; cf. Josh. 24:9-10) • “Hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.” (Neh. 13:2) • God used even Balaam’s tongue to prophesy of Christ: “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult.” (cf. Is. 9:2; 13:10; 14:12; Jn. 8:12; Rev. 22:16; Gen. 49:10; Heb. 1:8; etc.)

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