All right, good morning church family.
As you guys find your seat, if you would open your Bible, type
in your device the Book of Numbers, chapter 23, Numbers 23.
This morning we're going to be in verses one through 12.
We've been going through the book of Numbers for several
months now and we've been doing a series on the, the prophet
Balaam and we've, I think I've preached 2 sermons so far, the
three. And so now we're going to
actually get to his prophecy and we're going to be in his
prophecies, his oracles over the next several weeks because he
gives four of them. And so this morning we're going
to get to the first one title. The sermon this morning is this.
God has the final word. So let's read the text, open us
in a word of prayer, and then we'll jump into the sermon this
morning. Numbers chapter 23, beginning in
verse one. And Balaam said to Balak, build
for me here 7 altars, and prepare for me here 7 bulls and
seven Rams. Balak did as Balaam had said.
And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram.
And Balaam said to Balak, stand beside your burnt offering, and
I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to
meet me, and whatever he shows me, I will tell you.
And he went to a bear height, and God met Balaam, And Balaam
said to him, I have arranged the seven altars, and I have offered
on each altar a bull and a ram. And the Lord put a word in
Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall
speak. And he returned to him.
And behold, he and all the Princess of Moab were standing
beside his burnt offering. And Balaam took up his discourse
and said, From a ROM Balak has brought me the king of Moab.
From the eastern mountains Come curse Jacob for me, and come
denounce Israel. How can I curse whom God is not
cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord
has not denounced? For from the top of the crags I
see him, from the hills I behold him.
Behold a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among
the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob,
or number the 4th part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like
his. And Balak said to Balaam, What
have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies,
and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.
And he answered and said, Must I not take care to speak what the
Lord puts in my mouth? And we'll stop there.
If you will pray with me, Father, I pray as we look at
this first Oracle of Balaam that you would help us to to see this
morning that Balaam does not have a final word.
Balak does not have a final word.
Moab does not have a final word. Even Israel does not have a
final word on who your people are.
You, O Lord, have the final word.
You decide who your people are. I pray this morning, God, You
would help us to see that the same is true for us.
You have the final word on our life.
Help us to see that this morning God, I pray in Jesus name, Amen.
If you go to a courtroom, the attorney for the plaintiff and
the attorney for the defendant will both make their arguments
to the court. They will state their case.
They will call their witnesses. They will give their opening and
statements, but at the end of the day, the jury or possibly
the judge has the final word. In sports, people will debate
about who is the best team all throughout the season.
For months and months, sports analyst and commentators will
make their arguments. Fans will get on social media
vehemently defending their team, but at the end of the day, the
team that wins the championship has the final word.
If a movie is being made, there are always extra scenes that are
filmed. Writers or actors may make their
case to leave this scene in or cut this scene out, but at the
end of the day, the director or possibly the producer has the
final word. Even in my own family, my boys
may argue with each other. They may argue with mom, mom may
argue with them, but they know that at the end of the day, dad
has the final word. Who has the final word on your
life? By the time that you get to be
6070 eighty years old, people will have things about you.
Some good, some bad, some glorious, some humiliating.
But who has the final word on your life?
God does. God has the final word.
That's what the sermon is about this morning.
I want to give the context if you have not been with us for
the past few weeks. We started a series.
We started a series on numbers, and more specifically, we
started a series on Balaam a few weeks ago.
And so let me give the context because we're jumping right into
this story this morning. Here's the context.
Balak is the king of Moab, and he fears that the Israelite
people are going to attack him. So he decides to summon Balaam,
a Pagan divider for hire, to come and curse Israel in an
attempt to weaken them so that he can win in battle.
The Lord initially tells Balaam not to go, but since Balak won't
take no for an answer, God allows Balaam to, but with one
stipulation. He says you shall only do or say
what I tell you. Now on his way to meet Balak,
Balaam runs into a roadblock. He runs into the Angel of the
Lord. Now Balaam doesn't see the Angel
of the Lord, but his donkey does, after striking his donkey
three times, thinking that his donkey was simply being
stubborn. Finally, the Lord opens Balaam's
eyes, and he sees the Angel of the Lord in the road opposing
him. The Angel rebukes Balaam's
perverse way, and he reiterates to him God's instructions.
You shall only speak the word that I tell you.
So Balaam finally meets with Balaic, and Balaic begins to
honor Balaam's feast. And that's where we pick up this
morning. So let's start looking at verses
one and two of Numbers 23. Balaam said to Balak, Build for
me here 7 altars, and prepare for me here 7 bulls and seven
Rams. Balak did as Balaam had said,
and Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram.
Now before the prophecy can begin, Balaam has a task for
Balak. He tells him to build for him 7
altars and to offer on each altar 1 bull and 1 ram.
Now you may be wondering, why does Balaam tell Balak to do
this? Why?
Why do they do this? Why do they go through this
charade, if you can call it that?
It appears that Balaam and Balak, they build these altars
and they offer these 14 animals because they think it will
somehow make God give them a favorable answer.
I think that's what they're doing here.
They are using a Pagan practice that was common among the
nations to sacrifices were not just an Israelite thing.
It was very common among all nations to make sacrifices to
the gods, thinking that it would make the gods give them a
favourable answer. Now what's interesting to me is
that Balak is willing to pay this cost.
Notice he doesn't question Balaam's instructions.
He doesn't say why do I need to do this?
Why do I have to build 7 altars and give up 14 of my animals?
Balak is willing to pay an extraordinary cost.
First, he had the cost of sending 2 envoys.
Remember, Balaam is 400 miles away and he sends them all.
These elders make 2 trips, so they have to go 400 miles.
They come back, and then they go back and then they come back.
That's expensive. In those days, he's willing to
pay that cost. Then he has the cost of the
initial sacrificial feast when he honored Balaam.
Then he has the cost to build 7 altars.
Then he has the cost of seven bulls and seven Rams.
Now we we not think about, but remember a a bull is like a
Tesla, like a matter if I told you like give me your Tesla,
give me 7 Teslas, seven bulls and seven Rams.
These are costly sacrificial animals.
Balak spares no expense because he is trying to buy the favour
of God. Brothers and sisters, God's
favour is not for sale. It is already been purchased by
Jesus Christ. God has already bought His own
favour. He bought His own favor for us
and He didn't pay a costly price.
He paid an infinite 1. He built 1 altar and sacrificed
one man, His beloved Son. Do not try to buy or secure or
earn God's favor. If we are in Christ, we already
have it. We always look at verse 3 to 4
and Balaam said to Balak, stand beside your burnt offering and I
will go. Perhaps the Lord will come and
whatever He shows me I will tell you.
And he went to a bear height, and God met Balaam, and Balaam
said to him, I have arranged the seven altars, and I have offered
on each altar a bull and a ram. So Balaam tells Balak to stand
beside his offering. And Balaam says, I'm going to go
in an attempt to meet with the Lord.
Notice how Balaam words this. When he says this, he says
perhaps did you catch that? Perhaps the Lord will come to
meet me. Now remember, Balaam is not a
true prophet of God. Balaam is a Pagan diviner.
So he is totally dependent on whether God is going to be with
him or not. This is why I think he probably
says perhaps doesn't know if God's going to meet him.
What does that mean for us church family?
There is no perhaps when we meet with the Lord, there is no
perhaps. Recently my starter in my car
went out It started to go bad several months ago.
One day I my car didn't start. I tried to start it and it
didn't start and I was like oh man, why is this not starting?
So I, I messed around with it for a little while and it
started and I was like OK, thank you.
And then it ran and it ran fine and then it went out again and I
messed around with it for a little while and it started
again. It did this for months.
It would like sometimes it wouldn't start sometimes it
would. I knew something was wrong, but
I was like, maybe, maybe not, you know?
And every time I would start my car during the season, I before
I would start, I'd be like, please work, please work, please
work, please work. Yes.
Or please work. Oh, no.
Even after I got a new starter, I finally, it finally went out
totally. I had to buy a new starter and
get it installed. And, you know, I got a new
starter. I had grown so accustomed to
hoping it would start that for the first week or two after
getting the new starter, before I would start it, I would think,
please work, please work, please work.
And I'd grown so kind of. And then we could tell I was
like, wait, why am I? It's going to start every time I
have a new starter. Like it's, I think sometimes
that's how we might view prayer with God.
I hope it works this time. Perhaps, perhaps it'll work this
time. We should never say or think.
Perhaps the Lord will meet with me.
Perhaps the Lord will speak to me, God says to his people, You
will seek me, and you will find me.
When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you.
Jeremiah 2914. There is no perhaps now, Balaam
tells Balak. Whatever he shows me, I will
tell you. Whatever he shows me, I would
tell you. Now here's what's interesting.
Balaam doesn't know if God's going to meet with him, but he
assumes that if God does meet with him, God's going to show
him something. You see that he says whatever he
shows me, I will tell you. She's like, I don't know if
God's going to meet with me, but if God does meet with me, he
assumes God is going to show him something.
Do you expect God to show you something?
Do you expect that when you meet with God tonight, tomorrow
morning, do you expect God to show you something?
When you came to church this morning, did you come expecting
God to show you something? Because God's normal pattern is
to show something, even to a Pagan prophet, we should always
expect God to show us something. Sometimes we just have to be
patient. We have to wait for it.
You know those pictures where there's like a 3D image?
They used to be popular years ago.
They're not popular anymore. But remember those pictures with
a 3D image, you stare at it for a while and after standing for a
while, all of a sudden you see it, right?
And if, if you don't see it, you're like, you're looking at,
you're looking at, you're like, I don't see it, right?
Like just keep looking. Or, you know, those pictures
where somebody does a painting and it's two different images.
Like you can see like a lamp or a woman.
And it's like depends on how you look at it.
You know, there's like the dark and the light contrast.
And if you look at it one way, you see this, you look at it,
right? And a lot of people look at it
like, I don't see it. There's a woman.
Where's the woman? I see a lamp, right?
Like keep looking, keep looking it.
That's kind of how it is with God.
You see, if we meet with God while we're in a hurry, if we
meet with Him while we're on the fly, if we only meet with God
when we're driving or while we're distracted or while we're
multitasking, if that's the only time that we ever meet with God
is when we're doing something else, I suspect much at all.
But if we slow down, focus, meditate, give God our undivided
attention and wait and be patient, I think God will show
us what he wants us to see. I think he will.
That's that's his, his normal mode.
Now I wonder what Balak is thinking here.
What is he thinking does does he think the Israelite God is going
to let Balaam curse his own people?
Like does does he honestly think that this is going to work?
Like, like he's like, you're calling on their God to curse
them. Does he think that's going to
work? Apparently he does.
Balaam goes to a bare height and
God met Balaam. Notice Balaam didn't meet God.
God met Balaam. God initiated to Balaam.
Balaam tells God that he has arranged 7 altars and he's
offered a bull and a ram on each of them.
Look at verse 5. Or put a word in Balaam's mouth
and said, return to Balak and thus you shall speak.
And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the Princess
of Moab were standing beside his burnt off.
I like how this is worded. The Lord put a word in Balaam's
mouth. Last week we looked at that verb
put there. That verb put can be translated,
arrange, fix, mount, install, established, right?
It's in other words, it's not just the idea that God is
inspiring Balaam. That's true, but it's more than
that. It's almost as if God is taking
control of Balaam's mouth. I don't think he's puppeting it,
but it's, it's, it's, it's closer to that than it is just
inspiration. God is putting a word in his
mouth. Now.
We see God doing this all throughout the Old Testament
with the Old Testament prophets. Let me show you a few examples.
Deuteronomy 1818 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from
among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth.
Isaiah 5116 And I have put my words in your mouth.
Isaiah 5921 My spirit that is upon you, word that I have put
in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth.
Jeremiah 19 Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
My favorite is an Ezekiel. It's very graphic and I love it.
Ezekiel 3 one to two Son of man, eat whatever you find here.
Eat this scroll and go speak to the House of Israel.
So I open my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat.
God put a word in a donkey's mouth.
Why not a Pagan prophet? Brother, sister, what word has
God put in your mouth? The question is not as God put a
word in your mouth. The question is, what word has
God put in your mouth? Has God-given you an
encouragement, A rebuke, an exhortation, A prophecy, a
teaching, a revelation, A counsel, a correction, sympathy?
What word has God put in your mouth?
Now, if you're sitting there saying, I have no idea, pastor,
let me encourage you to ask God to put a word in your mouth or
to God to show you what word he's put in your mouth.
I submit to you that a great deal of change in the Christian
life has come through the spoken word.
I imagine if I were to take a survey of all of you and I were
to ask this question because somebody actually asked me this
question for Ask the pastor, If I were to ask it to you, what
things have changed you the most in your Christian life?
I imagine a large percentage of your answers would be some
version of the spoken word things that people have said to
you. Ask God to put a word in your
mouth to give to others. God told Balaam, return to Balak
and thus you shall speak. Now we aren't told the content
yet. We have to wait.
But God's going to make it clear what He said.
In verses 7 to 10, when Balaam gets back to Balak after meeting
with the Lord, the narrator says hold.
Why does he say behold? Because something is surprising
here. What is surprising?
Not just Balak is there, all the Moabite Princess are there as
well. So Balak while Balaam's meeting
with the Lord, he summons all the Moabite Princess to come and
stand beside him. Now why does he do this?
It appears that Balak wants an audience for what is about to
happen or what he thinks is about to happen.
Look at verses 7 to 8. And Balaam took up his discourse
and said From a ROM Balak has brought me.
From a ROM Balak has brought me the king of Moab from the Easter
mountains. Come curse Jacob for me, and
come denounce Israel. How can I curse whom God is not
cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord
has not denounced? So the narrator tells us that
Balaam took up his discourse. That word discourse there can be
translated probably by word taunt, parable, song.
This that word discourse is actually the same word as
proverb in the book of Proverbs. That's that's the usual word
that's used in the book of Proverbs.
The discourse that takes up begins by him contrasting these
two kings. Balaam is going to start by
contrasting these two kings. King A, the Moabite King Balak
has summoned me for a purpose. As he stands there, he says from
a ROM, this king has summoned me to this people, to people.
But there's another king. This king, the sovereign King of
the universe, the Lord God Almighty has not cursed these
people. He has not denounced these
people. What's he getting out there?
Balaam is testifying that this king, Balak, does not have the
final word on his people. He may be king, he may have
riches to hire me, but this king does not have the final word on
the people of Israel. This king does.
God has the final word on who these people are.
Brother, sister, God has the final word on your life.
Not your parents. I don't care what your parents
have said about you. Not your parents, not your
friends, not your siblings, not your boss, not your teachers,
not your spouse, not your girlfriend, not your boy, not
your coach, not your counselor, not your pastor, not your fellow
church members, not society at large.
God has the final word on your life.
And that's important because throughout your life, throughout
my life, people have probably called us things have let us
things. You all know it.
I all I know it because sticks and stones may break bones, but
words will hurt. Throughout our life, people may
have called us and labeled us failures, but then unsuccessful,
dumb, the ugly, fat, liar, loser, trash, racial slurs,
insignificant, crazy, weak. But they don't have the final
word. God does the cross of Jesus
Christ has the final word, Amen. The day of judgement there will
be only one person speaking. You will only hear one statement
if you are in Christ and it will be this well done, good and
faithful servant. God has the final word.
Look at verse 9. For from the top of the crags I
see him, from the hills I behold him.
Behold a people dwelling alone and not counting itself among
the nations. I love verse 9 because they may
be the one who is saying these words I don't know about.
I'm behind him. Can you?
Don't you hear the voice of God speaking through Balaam here?
From the top of the crags I see him.
From the hills I behold him. God sees his people.
One of the most helpful things
that I have heard in several years.
I mean this, this is like probably the most one of those
helpful things I've heard in several years.
I was by a man named Paul Washer.
I've listened to him for many years.
He, he's been a tremendous blessing.
He's a preacher. He was at this conference called
the Shepherd's Conference. He was preaching there at the
conference and before he gave his message, he gave this
introduction. It wasn't even part of his
message. It was just something on the
spot the Lord gave him. It was about 5 minutes and it
was honestly one of the most helpful things I've heard.
I've listened to it like 10 * I cry almost every time I listen
to it. He tells a story about how he
used to go to conferences just like this many many years ago,
and every time he went he felt lost, he felt small, he felt
unseen. Can relate to that?
He asked a philosophical question.
Why would God plant the most beautiful rose he ever created
in a forest through which neither man nor Angel would ever
walk? How does God get glory from that
rose? He gets glory from that rose
because he sees it. He goes on to say we live in a
Christendom where we believe that a person only has
importance, that they have a church size or that size, they
author a book, they have a podcast, or they share a stage.
Brother and sister, God gets glory from your life because He
sees you. Even if nobody else does.
Even if nobody else ever recognizes anything good in your
life, God sees you, Balaam continues.
Behold a people dwelling alone, not counting it among the
nations. It was not so much that they
dwelled alone as a part. I think that's probably a better
translation that they dwell apart, set apart at this point.
Israel was not a nation. Remember, They're not a nation.
They're Wanderers in the desert. What made them distinct was not
their land. It was not their citizenship,
but their God. As I look at these people, Moab
is established people. They have a king, they have a
land, they have citizenship. And here are these people who
are just Wanderers in the desert.
But what makes them distinct is not the fact that they land or a
citizenship, but that who their God is.
And the same is true for us, brother, sisters, what what
makes us distinct is not our citizenship.
What makes us distinct is not whether we're homeowners.
I'm 43 and I've never owned a home in my life.
I may never. What makes us distinct is not
that we have a six figure salary, or that we have a
spouse, or that we have a family, or that we have a
platform. What makes us distinct is our
God. He makes us distinct.
I am set apart for Him. You are set apart for Him.
Look at verse 10. Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number the 4th part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like
his. Balaam ask a question, he says.
Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the 4th part of what
is the 4th part of Israel? I think this probably means who
can count even 1/4 of this people?
I think that's probably what it means there.
Who can count even 1/4 of them? Remember what God told Abram and
his promise to him. He said I will make your
offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could
count the dust of the earth, your offspring will could be
counted. Throughout 400 years of slavery
and then 40 years in the desert, God has fulfilled His promise.
They are now like the dust of the earth and now even more so.
Today, 2000 years after Christ, through Jesus Christ, we have
all become sons of Abraham. That promise given to Abraham is
given to us because God has made us sons of Abraham.
And this dust is now scattered throughout all, almost all the
nations, the earth. We're getting there, but most
nations on the earth. And then Balaam makes a request
of the Lord. He says Let me die the death of
the upright, let my end be like his.
What a great statement. He is a false prophet.
But what a great statement. Let me die the death of the
upright, and let my end be like his.
Now this is an ironic request, because if you read the story of
Balaam, he does not die the death of the upright.
He dies the death of the wicked. But his point is taken.
His point is true for the upright death is gain.
Remember what Paul said, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
John heard a voice from heaven saying, Blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord from now on. Revelation 1413.
Brothers and sisters, do you look to death?
Not a morbid way, but in a glorious way.
This, I don't really have this in the sermon, but I, I was
talking to a pastor this a few weeks ago who's not part of our
church. And, and, and he was telling me
he, he, he was like, these are his words.
So please don't be offended. He was like, yeah, don't talk to
Cantonese people about death. They don't like talking about
death. Why don't we look forward to
death? Don't we want to be with the
Lord?