4 posts tagged “balaam”
The Lord spoke to Moses, Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites because he was zealous among them with My zeal, so that I did not destroy the Israelites in My zeal. Therefore, I grant him My covenant of peace. It will be a covenant of perpetual priesthood for him and his descendants because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites. Num 25: 10-13
I find it interesting how the enemy of Israel summoned a foreign prophet to curse Israel, but they were unsuccessful because the Lord would not allow Israel to be cursed. The end of chapter 24 has Balaam and Balak going their own ways, frustrated over Gods blessing of Israel, despite their attempts.
Of course, all of this plotting was taking place outside of Israels awareness. Perhaps, more interesting is how unaware of Balaam & Balak Israel was doing a fine job of cursing themselves! Their enemies were wondering where Israels weakness was, and Israel was engaging in open sexual sin with the women of Moab. The bible says the personal sexual sin was itself, Baal worship.
Lesson: Israels enemy is not among the Nations. The enemy of Gods children is Satan. This also applies to His children in Messiah, Jesus.
For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. Eph 6: 12
Make no doubt: Spiritual forces affect human attitude and actions. But where men will give up the fight, the enemy never relents. Balak & Balaam walk away confused, but Satan entices the men of Israel with the oldest trick in the book.
Were it not for the zealousness of Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, Gods wrath would have destroyed Israel.
Often, we compartmentalize our lives. We have a section for work, family, religion. When we say we give our lives completely to God, we often mean we give Him all of that compartment which bears His label.
God is jealous to consume ALL of your life. Whether our sin is hidden our openly flaunted, if we are truly His people, He will pursue us in order to purge that sin from our midst. Why not just confess it, and give it up?
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
God is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill? I have indeed received a command to bless; since He has blessed, I cannot change it. Num 23: 19-20
Balaam tried his best to curse Israel, to do more than God instructed, or to speak beyond what God put into his mouth.
Why would Balaam continue to angle against the Lord? Balaam is a for profit prophet.
In recent years, Americans have witnessed the advent of the celebrity defense attorney. These lawyers generally choose high profile clients who are clearly guilty. Utilizing courtroom theatrics and a keen understanding of the weak points of the law, they somehow win their clients freedom.
When these attorneys study the law, they arent looking for ways to serve justice. They are searching for loopholes that will circumvent justice because thats what their clients are paying them to do! Balaam would have made a great criminal defense attorney.
Balaams biggest problem was, perhaps, that he never understood the connection between obedience & blessing. Because Balaam was driven by money, by pride, and who knows what else, he constantly, consistently refuses to do what God tells him to do. He consistently chooses the seen over the unseen. Faith is the evidence of things unseen. Hebrews 11: 1
Balaam wanted to have a relationship with God, to be able to bless and curse, to be a real prophetbut he never wanted to obey. He wanted all the benefits and none of the responsibilities.
Balaam is an illustration of a person who has access to the truthlike a person who reads the Bible all the timebut never obeys it! These people have access to the truth, or have knowledge of the truth, but are never willing to put it into practice because they insist on doing what they want to do.
It is admirable that you would join with me in reading a chapter of the bible each day. The benefits of the bible come not from simply reading, but living what you read.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
Then the Lord opened the donkeys mouth, and she asked Balaam, What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times? Balaam answered the donkey, You made me look like a fool. If I had a sword in my hand, Id kill you now. But the donkey said, Am I not the donkey youve ridden all your life until today Have I ever treated you this way before? No, he replied. Then the Lord opened Balaams eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the path with a sword drawn in His hand. Num 22: 28: 31
What is a donkey? It is simply a beast of burden. It carries your load, and even you, wherever and whenever you want. A donkey, although stubborn by nature, exist solely to serve men.
For Balaam, his donkey was a metaphor of his relationship with God. Balaam wanted the benefits of Gods power and wisdom, without having to be accountable to Him. In that sense, Balaam was a bit of a braying donkey, himself!
What I find interesting in Balaams conversation with his donkey, and the subsequent dialogue with the Angel of the Lord, is how merciful God was towards Balaam. The Lord is basically saying, What have I done to you, that you would mistreat me, mistrust my leading, and attempt to insert your will, where you know it is impossible to change mine?
I believe Balaam a non-Jew, had a real shot at a relationship with God. In the end, he chose an affiliation over a relationship. Balaam knew about God, but he never really knew Him. In the same way, there are many who affiliate with church, yet don't know Jesus in a saving way. They wish to reap the benefits of associating with the Lord, but never surrender to His authority.
Maybe, we should ask ourselves what God has done to us, when we are
tempted to choose our personal gain over the Lords promises. Could it
be that we have affiliated with God, yet denied ourselves a true (and
completely obtainable) relationship with Him? How we follow Him,
regardless of the circumstances, is perhaps the truest indicator of our
faith.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
"Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance
to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came
forward, He said: 'Listen to what I say: If there is a prophet among
you from the Lord, I make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak
with him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is the only one
faithful in all My household. I speak with him directly, openly, and
not in riddles; he sees the image of God. So why are you not afraid
to speak against My servant Moses?'" Num 12: 5-8
"Envy" is pride wounded in competition. Whenever I see someone who
is consumed with envy, I start looking for where the competition is,
because somehow they are responding from that vulnerable place of
realized or impending defeat.
For Cain & Abel, the competition was over God's favor of their
offerings. For Jacob & Esau, it was over birthright and blessing.
I've seen it between recording artists in the marketplace, and between
ministers over congregants. There was serious competition going-on
between Moses' siblings.
Moses' brother, Aaron was oldest, and by birthright it was his
responsibility to spiritually lead the family. As high priest, he
was indeed leading Israel, spiritually. Perhaps, he also wanted to
lead them militarily & administratively.
Miriam was Moses' older sister. She followed Moses' baby basket down
the Nile, straight to Pharaoh's daughter. Miriam negotiated for
Moses' own mother to nurse and raise him! It must have been hard for
Miriam to submit to Moses, without seeing him as a child who needed to
be watched-over.
God saw past their pseudo-righteous indignation and spoke directly,
concerning their envious hearts. Miriam & Aaron's dispute wasn't over
Moses marrying an Egyptian woman. It was over his authority. God cut
straight to the issue, never mentioning the Egyptian woman.
In God's pronouncement, there is a profound lesson concerning
prophecy and faithfulness. There are several biblical instances,
where people who aren't particularly righteous prophesy. Even
Balaam's donkey prophesied! All that meant was that God wanted to
send a message, and He isn't limited by the righteousness of the
messenger.
Most profound is God's statement about faithfulness. When we are
faithful, God's messages don't come to us in abrupt off-time spurts.
He speaks directly and openly to the faithful. Leadership is not
about age or experience, necessarily. It is a matter of faithfulness.
Be faithful.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
