1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:06,840 Let me invite you all to find your seats, and as you find your 2 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:09,960 seats, if you would open your Bibles to the Book of Numbers 3 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:15,600 this morning, we're going to be in Numbers 2411 to 25. 4 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,480 We've been going through the Book of Numbers for several 5 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:22,600 months, and we've been going through the prophecies of 6 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:24,640 Balaam, the false prophet Balaam. 7 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,880 And so we're on his final prophecy this morning. 8 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:33,000 His fourth and final prophecy, Numbers 2411 to 25. 9 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:34,640 The title of the sermon this morning is this. 10 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:39,680 God holds the future. So let's read the text, open us 11 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,320 in a word of prayer, and then we'll jump into our sermon this 12 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:47,760 morning, Numbers 24, beginning in verse 11. 13 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,840 Therefore now flee to your own place. 14 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:59,480 I said, I will certainly honor you, but the Lord has held you 15 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,280 back from honor. And Balaam said to Balaic, Did I 16 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:05,800 not tell your messengers whom you sent to me? 17 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,920 If Balaic should give me his house full of silver and gold, I 18 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:12,720 would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do 19 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,520 either good or bad of my own will. 20 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:19,080 What the Lord speaks, that will I speak. 21 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,720 And now, behold, I'm going to my people. 22 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:26,160 Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your 23 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:30,320 people in the latter days. And he took up his discourse and 24 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:34,320 said, the Oracle of Balaam, the son of Bior, the Oracle of the 25 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:39,040 man whose eye is opened, the Oracle of him who hears the 26 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:43,640 words of God and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who 27 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,360 sees the vision of the Almighty falling down with his eyes 28 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:51,680 uncovered. I see him, but not now. 29 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:59,040 I behold him, but not near. A star shall come out of Jacob, 30 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,320 and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. 31 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,520 It shall crush the forehead of Moab and breakdown. 32 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,800 All the sons of Chef Edom shall be dispossessed. 33 00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:14,040 Say here also his enemies shall be dispossessed. 34 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:19,600 Israel is doing valiantly, and one from Jacob shall exercise 35 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,960 dominion and destroy the survivors of cities. 36 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:26,640 Then he looked on a malek and took up his discourse and said A 37 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:30,880 malek was the first among the nations, but its end is utter 38 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,440 destruction. And he looked on the key night 39 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,680 and took up his discourse and said Enduring is your dwelling 40 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,320 place, and your nest is set in the rock. 41 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:43,360 Nevertheless, Cain shall be burned when Asher takes you away 42 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,840 captive. And he took up his discourse and 43 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:50,080 said, Alas, who shall live when God does this? 44 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:54,480 But ship shall come from Kateem, and shall afflict Asher and 45 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,320 Eber, and he too shall come to utter destruction. 46 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:04,320 Then Balaam rose and went back to his place, and Balak also 47 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,200 went his way. He will pray with me. 48 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,360 God, this morning as we close out the story of Balaam, at 49 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:22,520 least for now, God help us to reflect on all that we've 50 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,560 learned over the past four weeks, looking at this, this 51 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:32,000 story of of Balaam and and how from start to finish, it has 52 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:39,400 been a story of your Providence that were man planned, where man 53 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,680 connived and and try to control the future. 54 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,240 You have shown us, Lord, that you hold the future. 55 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:54,360 You are the sovereign God who controls all things and all 56 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,080 things are under your hand, including the future. 57 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,680 So this morning, God, would you help us to see that and, and 58 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,120 especially as we look at Balaam's prophecy and how he 59 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:09,560 prophesized what will happen to Moab, what will happen to Israel 60 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:15,120 and how it is certain because you have decree to God. 61 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:18,959 I pray this all in the name of Jesus, Amen. 62 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:25,120 What would you pay to know the future? 63 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:31,760 If there was somebody who could objectively know the future, 64 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:38,040 they came to you and they said, I can tell you one thing about 65 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,720 your future. You can pick it whatever you 66 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,920 want, however near or far into the future. 67 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,520 I can tell you one thing about the future. 68 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:56,520 What would you pay? How much would that kind of 69 00:04:56,520 --> 00:05:00,280 information be worth? What would it be worth to you? 70 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,360 Or better yet, what if you could control the future? 71 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:11,680 What if this person said for an extra fee, not only can you know 72 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,320 the future, but you could control something. 73 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:16,840 You can dictate what happens in the future. 74 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:20,840 You can pick one thing and you can control. 75 00:05:20,840 --> 00:05:23,360 You can make this happen in the future. 76 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,680 How much would that be worth to you? 77 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:37,320 For Balak, it was worth a lot. He was willing to pony up a 78 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:42,200 small fortune to control his future. 79 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,880 And yet, when Balaam shows him in this 4th and final Oracle 80 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:53,120 this morning, he shows him this. God dictates the future. 81 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:59,160 God holds the future. That's what the sermon is about 82 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:06,440 this morning, that God holds the future, your future, my future, 83 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,320 all of our futures. God holds it in the palm of His 84 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:14,600 hand. I want to give a context. 85 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:16,680 We're jumping right into the middle of a story this morning. 86 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:19,240 Let me give just a brief context and then we'll jump into our 87 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:24,880 text and our sermon. Balak is the king of Moab and he 88 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,800 has hired Balaam, a Pagan diviner to come and curse 89 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,120 Israel. Balaam has already 3 prophecies 90 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:33,880 that we've looked at over the past several weeks. 91 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:38,280 But with all three prophecies, rather than curse Israel, Balaam 92 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:43,000 has instead blessed them. Now Balaam warned Balak from the 93 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:47,600 get go that all the words that God puts in his mouth that he 94 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,480 must say. But Balak ignores this warning. 95 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:57,600 And as a result, what man meant for cursing, God used for 96 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:00,040 blessing. And this morning we're going to 97 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:05,640 get to Balaam's 4th and final prophecy starting in verse 11. 98 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:06,720 That's what we're going to pick up. 99 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,600 If you will look at me with me in your text. 100 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:15,320 Therefore, now flee to your own place. 101 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:20,840 I said I will certainly honour you, but the Lord has held you 102 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:27,040 back from honour. So after three failures, Balak 103 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:31,520 is now done with Balaam. Three strikes and you're out. 104 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,480 He says, I hired you to curse my enemies, but you have done 105 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,360 nothing but bless them. So now we're done. 106 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:44,240 I'm done with you. Therefore, now flee to your own 107 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,560 place. Now this is Balick's way of 108 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,480 saying go, Go home and go at once. 109 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:52,840 Flee. Do not pass. 110 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:57,520 Go, do not collect $200. Go home. 111 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:03,360 As for our contract, I wrote in there that I would honor you. 112 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:05,560 I said I will certainly honor you. 113 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:10,160 Meaning I had every intention of rewarding you handsomely, but 114 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:14,480 the Lord has held you back from honor. 115 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:20,520 In other words, I know you desire to get rich, but the Lord 116 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:27,080 has kept you from getting rich. Now what's interesting is that's 117 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,960 true. That's true. 118 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:33,640 The Lord did keep him from getting honored. 119 00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:41,200 Church family, what is God keeping you from? 120 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:51,920 What is God keeping you from? God kept Balaam from cursing 121 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:56,440 Israel. What is God keeping you from? 122 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,840 In the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prays that God would keep 123 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:09,120 us from the evil one. What evil is God keeping you 124 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:14,040 from? Remember the story of David and 125 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:18,680 Abigail and Nabal? Remember David asked Nibal for 126 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:22,840 some refreshments for his soldiers and Nibal said I don't 127 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:24,960 know who David is. I'm not giving him any 128 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:27,440 refreshments. Nibal rebuffs him. 129 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:29,640 And what does David do? David tells all of his men, 130 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:31,960 strap on a sword. We ride from the balls. 131 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,760 Tonight David is planning to get there and denominably kill 132 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:40,360 Nibal, but to kill all of his family, all the men in his 133 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:44,880 family. But Abigail wisely intervenes. 134 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:47,520 She makes amends for her husband's folly. 135 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,280 And when she gets to David, this is what she says to David. 136 00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:59,200 Because the Lord has restrained you from blood guilt and has 137 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:03,400 kept you from saving with your own hand. 138 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:10,000 You see, David sought vengeance, and had he enacted this 139 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:11,640 vengeance, he would have been guilty. 140 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:14,080 He would have been guilty of blood guilt. 141 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:20,400 But God kept him. God restrained him from doing 142 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:26,680 it. What is God keeping you from? 143 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:32,920 You see, it's so easy for us to focus on all the things that God 144 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:40,240 is not giving us, right? God, why are you not giving me 145 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:42,880 this promotion? I deserve it. 146 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,480 I've earned it. I've worked hard for this. 147 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:48,760 Why are you not giving me this promotion? 148 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:56,080 Or this job or healing? Ever wonder why God wouldn't 149 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:01,240 heal you? Or a boyfriend, or a girlfriend, 150 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:10,080 or a spouse or friends, or a child or another child. 151 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:15,560 Why won't you give me? This is so easy for us to focus 152 00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:18,200 on all the things that God is not giving us. 153 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:22,200 But have we ever stopped to consider that maybe it's not 154 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:27,240 that God is refusing to give us something good, but that He is 155 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:37,100 keeping us from something worse? Have you ever stopped to 156 00:11:37,100 --> 00:11:49,400 consider that every day of our life God is keeping us from 157 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:54,080 evil? We may never even know it. 158 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:59,240 We may never even discern what it is, but He is doing it. 159 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:08,960 He is keeping us from evil. Look at verse 12 to 13, and 160 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:12,040 Balaam said to Balak, did I not tell your messengers whom you 161 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:14,400 sent to me? If Balak should give me his 162 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:18,080 house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond 163 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:21,560 the word of the Lord to do either good or bad of my own 164 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:25,320 will. What the Lord speaks that will I 165 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,000 speak. You know that phrase. 166 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:31,800 I told you so, right? Nobody likes to hear that. 167 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:33,840 But that's what Balaam gives to Balak. 168 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:36,760 He's like, why are you surprised, Balak? 169 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:43,640 Why are you so angry with me? I told you so even before this 170 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:47,040 whole charade started. When your servants first came to 171 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:49,800 me, all the way back long ago, they came to me. 172 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,880 I told them. I said, look, if your king gave 173 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:57,680 me all of his riches, I could not go beyond the word of the 174 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:01,080 Lord. I would not be able to do it. 175 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:08,480 The problem is that Balaam Balak thinks that Balaam can still do 176 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:12,840 his own will. Balak hears this and he thinks, 177 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:15,960 yeah, but Balaam, you still have a will of your own, and you can 178 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:19,200 do your own will. And Balaam says, no, I can't. 179 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:24,400 I can't do good or bad of my own will. 180 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,640 That's what he says. I can't do my own will. 181 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:35,880 Even Balaam, a false prophet, teaches us the importance of 182 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:44,640 saying not my will. You see, Balaam's will is to 183 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:46,120 curse Israel. That is his will. 184 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:48,160 His will is to curse Israel and get rich. 185 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,600 That's what he wants. But Balaam says I can't carry 186 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:57,240 out my own will. The entire battle with sin in 187 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:00,320 this life comes down to one line spoken by Jesus. 188 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:05,120 You can really say that our entire battle with sin in this 189 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:09,280 life comes down to this one single line by Jesus. 190 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:14,480 And here it is. Nevertheless, not my will, but 191 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:21,480 yours be done. I was talking with Lauren a few 192 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:26,320 weeks back and I was sharing with her that one of the hardest 193 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:34,280 pieces about marriage is that a husband has a will and the wife 194 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,960 has a will and often you can't accomplish both. 195 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:40,760 I mean, not even on spiritual things. 196 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:46,360 I mean just like just life, husband has a will, wife has a 197 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:48,160 will, you often can't accomplish both. 198 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:52,840 The husband wants to eat out or wants to eat at home. 199 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:58,080 The the wife wants to eat out. One of those wills has to win 200 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:00,960 out unless they're going to do their own thing. 201 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:04,800 The wife wants to have a second child. 202 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:06,840 The husband wants to stop at one. 203 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:09,680 One of those wills has to win out. 204 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:12,880 The husband wants to buy this house. 205 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,200 The wife wants to buy that house. 206 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,760 One of those wills has to win out. 207 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,360 It's a in marriage, you have to decide whose will is going to 208 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,640 win out. How are we going to figure this 209 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:32,120 out? And yet when we come to God, 210 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:37,920 this dynamic does not exist. It doesn't exist. 211 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:43,320 It must not exist. It's never, well, God, can we 212 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:47,880 compromise? You know it's a, it's a 5050 213 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,480 God, right? You get your way 50% of the 214 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:52,640 time. I get my way 50% of the time, 215 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:55,720 right? It's, it's a give and take. 216 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:58,920 God, you know sometimes your will, right? 217 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:06,080 No, God's will must win out every single time. 218 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:12,040 Every time. We never know better than him. 219 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,240 We never have a better idea than God. 220 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,760 We have never thought through this decision more thoroughly 221 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:26,080 than God has. When it comes to the decisions 222 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:31,200 that we make in our life, we should never say, well this is 223 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:36,600 what I want and therefore what it's going to happen. 224 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,720 We should say I don't have a will. 225 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:52,400 I have submission to His will. My desires matter. 226 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,680 They are not ultimate. I don't have a will. 227 00:16:55,840 --> 00:17:03,200 I have submission to His will. Balaam says what the Lord speaks 228 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:07,720 that will I speak. They like it doesn't matter what 229 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:12,359 I want. I have to say what God says. 230 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:17,480 You know, what I find interesting is that there is a 231 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,079 final Oracle. Do you think about that? 232 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:22,680 Why? Because Balak was angry. 233 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:27,800 Balak was angry. Verse 10 says that his anger was 234 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:31,360 kindled against Balaam. He struck his hands together. 235 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,000 He told him not only to go home, but he says flee to your home. 236 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:39,640 Now, I don't know about you, but if I'm a Pagan diviner and this 237 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:44,440 king who's got an army behind him tells me you best flee, I 238 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:47,840 might want to run out of there, right? 239 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:51,160 This guy might kill me. He is a king. 240 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,200 He's got an army behind him. And yet Balaam says to Balak, I 241 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:58,240 don't get to go home. I don't get to go home until the 242 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:02,120 Lord sends me home. Everything that God tells me to 243 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:07,960 speak that must I speak. Balaam continues to prophecy 244 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:17,400 despite Balak's anger. Think about that, brothers and 245 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,480 sisters, we need not let man's anger glue our mouth shut. 246 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,120 You ever told your mom something that made her angry? 247 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:28,600 What do? What do we do? 248 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:35,000 Let's end of that conversation. You ever told your friend 249 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,680 something that made them angry? End of that conversation. 250 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:46,880 We need not let the anger of man glue our mouths shut. 251 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:53,400 You ever made someone unrighteously angry with your 252 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,320 righteous words? We've all been guilty of making 253 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,960 someone righteously angry with our unrighteous words. 254 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,560 But you ever made someone unrighteously angry with your 255 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:10,800 righteous words? You see, Balaam shows us that we 256 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:15,360 need not let the anger of man silence us. 257 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:19,920 Remember when Stephen was given his witness in the Book of Acts? 258 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,720 He spoke the truth to them. He tells them nothing but the 259 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:26,520 truth. And how did the people respond 260 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,240 when they heard these things? They were enraged. 261 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:33,160 They ground their teeth out to him, They covered their ears, 262 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,520 They yelled at the top of their voices, and they all rushed at 263 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:37,960 him. And they stoned him. 264 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:46,120 Brothers and sisters, if you make it your goal to never make 265 00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:50,720 man angry, you will actually accomplish two goals. 266 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:58,080 You won't make man angry, and you will make God angry. 267 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:10,000 I would rather. Man, be angry with me, then God 268 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:16,440 be angry with me. Look at verse 14. 269 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:20,800 And now behold, I'm going to my people. 270 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:22,480 You kind of wish that was the end. 271 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,080 Balak's like, OK, go, that's what I said, go home. 272 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:28,600 He says, come, I will let you know what this people will do to 273 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:32,720 your people in the latter days. Balaam says, look, I'm going 274 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:36,240 home. But before I go home, before I 275 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,240 go to my people, I got one more thing I need to do. 276 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,240 I'm going to tell you what's going to happen to your people. 277 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:49,240 I have blessed Israel. Now it's time for me to tell you 278 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:51,600 what's going to happen to your people. 279 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:54,160 I know you didn't pay me for that. 280 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:58,920 It's free of charge. Here's what's going to happen to 281 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:01,320 your people in the latter days. I want you to notice how 282 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:03,960 different this time is. Balak didn't ask for a final 283 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:05,640 prophecy. Bailey doesn't ask for this. 284 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,240 Balaam doesn't tell him to build 7 altars and all for seven bulls 285 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,960 and seven Rams. Balaam doesn't seek the Lord as 286 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:15,480 before. So why does Balaam give this 287 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:17,680 final prophecy? Why does he give it? 288 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:22,080 This is my conjecture. 2 reasons #1 Because the Holy Spirit is 289 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,000 still upon him. Remember we looked at the last 290 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:25,880 week. The Spirit of God comes upon 291 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:29,600 Balaam and I think the Spirit of God is still upon him, still 292 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,440 working in his life. It's almost as if the Spirit is 293 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:37,480 saying, I'm not finished with you yet, Balaam, and #2 it's 294 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:41,400 almost as if God is saying, Balak, this is not going to end 295 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,760 on your terms. This will end on my terms. 296 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,880 God says I have one more final prophecy to deliver. 297 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:56,920 Brothers and sisters, don't let the fire of the Spirit be 298 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:02,840 extinguished. Let it burn, Let the fire of the 299 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,120 spirit continue burning, don't extinguish it. 300 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,400 The Spirit of God has rushed upon Balaam and God is not 301 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:14,280 finished with him yet. The reality is, is that the 302 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:16,040 Spirit may be working in your life. 303 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:19,480 There are many of you here where the Spirit is actively working 304 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:21,040 in your life. I mean, he's all working in all 305 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:25,880 of our lives, but maybe in a, in a unique way, in a fresh way, in 306 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,200 a different way, the Spirit is working in your life. 307 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,160 Maybe He's shown you several insights, prophecies, 308 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:36,200 revelations. Maybe He has enabled you to put 309 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:38,440 to death, for the first time in your life, some several 310 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,320 besetting sins. Maybe He has spurred you on to 311 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,880 step out in faith in a way that you've never stepped out in 312 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,560 faith before. And if that's true, I want to 313 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:51,240 exhort you right now. Don't let that fire go out. 314 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:59,120 Let the fire continue burning. Let it continue to burn. 315 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:06,320 One of my biggest pet peeves in basketball is when a team is on 316 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:12,160 a run and the coach of the team that is on the run either calls 317 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:16,560 a time out or puts in Subs. I can't stand it. 318 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:22,680 You're down 15 points, You then go on an 18 to three run and you 319 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:27,080 tie it up and then you make one small state mistake and the 320 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:33,520 coach is like time out, no, or you put it, you're on a run, 321 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:35,080 time out. You put some Subs in. 322 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:39,360 No, let the run continue. We're on a run. 323 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:43,320 We got a good thing going here. Why would you put in Subs? 324 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:47,280 Why would you call time out? Let it continue. 325 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:54,320 And I want to say the same to you, brothers and sisters, if 326 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:59,080 the spirit is working in your life, let it continue. 327 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:05,840 Don't be satisfied and be like, oh, that's good lot, lot, lot 328 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,240 was accomplished there. Let it continue. 329 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,440 Don't quench the spirit. You know what that word quench 330 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:13,520 there means literally extinguish. 331 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:20,240 Don't extinguish the spirit. Let the fire of the spirit 332 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:26,560 continue burning in your life. Let God accomplish all that He 333 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:37,520 wants to do and in through you. Sometimes we let the Spirit take 334 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:47,840 us this far and God says, I'll take you further, I'll take you 335 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:51,440 further. Let it take. 336 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:56,480 Let him take you further. Look at verse 15 to 16. 337 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,400 And he took up his discourse and said the Oracle of Balaam, the 338 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:05,240 son of Beor, the Oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the 339 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,800 Oracle of him who hears the words of God and knows the 340 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:12,080 knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty 341 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:17,280 falling down with his eyes uncovered, Balaam takes up his 342 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,040 final discourse. Now the opening of this 4th 343 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,560 prophecy, it's almost identical to the opening of third, so I'm 344 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:28,760 not going to rehash most of it. The one change is this addition 345 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:32,200 of the line. And knows the knowledge of the 346 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:35,400 Most High. That piece is added, knows the 347 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:38,320 knowledge of the Most High. So here it is. 348 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:42,720 Not only had God opened Balaam's eyes to see him, not only had 349 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:47,800 God opened his ears to hear him, God has also opened his mind to 350 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:50,960 know him. And for the second time, Balaam 351 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:55,520 has the same response, same as the third prophecy, same as the 352 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:56,320 4th. What does he do? 353 00:25:56,400 --> 00:26:01,240 He falls down. He falls down in the presence of 354 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:03,000 God. I want you to see the 355 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,720 connection. What does seeing God, hearing 356 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:11,160 God, and knowing God produce? Worship. 357 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:18,160 It produces worship, even if it is a Pagan kind of worship. 358 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:21,520 That we'll see at the judgement when every knee bows down before 359 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:28,120 the Lord. Our worship of God is directly 360 00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:35,120 correlated to how much we see God, know God, and hear God. 361 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:41,040 They're directly correlated. Let me give a very basic 362 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:45,120 analogy. Suppose a 30 year old shepherd 363 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:50,160 man living in 600 BC lived on a flat plain. 364 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:56,120 I mean, it's, it's it, it is just completely flat, peak 365 00:26:56,120 --> 00:27:03,360 elevation, 4 feet. All this man, his whole life 366 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:09,040 ever saw, all he ever heard, all he ever knew about was this flat 367 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,720 plane. Thought that that was all that 368 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,600 there was. Thought the whole world was this 369 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:20,760 one giant flat plane. And then suppose one day his 370 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:24,600 sheep is lost and he goes looking for it. 371 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,960 He goes looking for it and looking for it and he travels 372 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,440 farther than he's ever travelled before in his whole life. 373 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:36,200 And he sees something in the distance. 374 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:42,920 He's like, what is that? As he gets closer, it's a hill, 375 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:52,120 a 200 foot hill, and he just marvels at it. 376 00:27:53,720 --> 00:28:00,240 He just sits there and stares at it and wonder, wow, I didn't 377 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:05,960 know such things existed. What a majestic hill. 378 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:13,440 He's never seen anything but flat plains and this 200 foot 379 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:21,360 hill looks majestic to him. Now let me ask you a question. 380 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:31,320 What do you think his wonder will be if he sees Mount 381 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:43,900 Everest? You see, if all we see and all 382 00:28:43,900 --> 00:28:53,280 we hear and all we know is a 200 foot hill, that our worship will 383 00:28:53,280 --> 00:29:02,480 be 200 feet deep. But if we see, if we hear, if we 384 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:09,800 know a 29,000 foot mountain that our worship will be 29,000 feet 385 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:21,240 deep, The more we see God, the more we hear God, the more we 386 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:25,320 know God, the more we worship God. 387 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:33,960 See, God is the same. You look at one person, you say, 388 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:36,400 why is your worship of him greater than mine? 389 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:38,560 It's not because they see a different God. 390 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:45,120 It's that they see more of God. They hear more of God. 391 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:54,640 They know more of God. That's always how it happens. 392 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:04,480 Your worship of God will always be as deep, as deep is your 393 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,200 knowledge of Him, and you're hearing of Him, and you're 394 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:16,880 seeing of Him, no more, no less. Look at verse 17. 395 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:22,240 I see Him, but not now. I behold Him, but not near. 396 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:26,400 A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of 397 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:28,440 Israel. It shall crush the forehead of 398 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:34,120 Moab and break down all the sons of chef Balaam says I see him, 399 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:37,920 but not now. I behold Him, but not near. 400 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,320 What does this mean? And who does this refer to? 401 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:45,560 This either refers to the person in the second-half of the verse, 402 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:50,280 the star and the scepter, or refers to Israel as a people in 403 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:52,480 the latter days. Either is possible. 404 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:58,320 The point is that Balaam sees this prophecy and he sees it as 405 00:30:58,320 --> 00:30:59,680 taking place in the distant future. 406 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:01,440 This is not going to happen anytime soon. 407 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:03,360 This is going to happen in the distant future. 408 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:06,320 And then Balaam gives this beautiful prophecy. 409 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:13,080 He says a star shall come out of Jacob, a scepter shall rise out 410 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,880 of Israel. Now this is Hebrew parallelism, 411 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:21,320 where scepter is paralleling star and Israel is paralleling 412 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:23,280 Jacob. So they're referring to the same 413 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:27,000 thing. Now why A star and why a 414 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:29,400 scepter? And who is this? 415 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:34,800 Well, stars were often used metaphorically to refer to 416 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,600 kings. The Babylonian king is called 417 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:42,240 the day star in Isaiah 1412. So I think this is a king. 418 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:47,080 Who is this future king? This is generally understood as 419 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:51,000 a messianic prophecy. This is King Jesus. 420 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:57,960 We are given a messianic prophecy of our king by a false 421 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:02,640 prophet. Jesus refers to himself in 422 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:08,600 Revelation 2216 as the bright morning star, and even a star 423 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:13,520 announced his birth. This is further solidified by 424 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:15,280 the fact that it talks about a scepter. 425 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:16,520 A scepter? What is that? 426 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,880 A scepter is a staff, or it's a baton, usually in the hand of a 427 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:22,800 sovereign or ruler. It's an emblem of authority, 428 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:27,040 again giving credence to the fact that this is a king that's 429 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:29,960 coming. Interesting that when Jacob 430 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:34,440 gives his prophecies about his sons back in Genesis, this is 431 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,160 what he said about Judah. He says to Judah, the scepter 432 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,960 shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between 433 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:43,360 his feet. Now, why is that important? 434 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:47,800 Because Jesus descended from the tribe of Judah. 435 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,760 Now this star and this scepter may have found its partial 436 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:56,720 fulfillment in King David. I do think there's a, there's a 437 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,240 double fulfillment here. It's partially fulfilled with 438 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:03,680 King David, but it is ultimately fulfilled in King Jesus. 439 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:13,960 Brothers and sisters, Jesus is the light to our darkness and he 440 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:17,000 is the King to our hellbound rebellion. 441 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:22,280 You know, we have flashlights now and all kinds of things for 442 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:24,960 light at night time. But in those days, stars were 443 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:27,120 vastly important. That's how you navigated. 444 00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:31,400 If you're a ship on on the seas and you have no idea if you're 445 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:34,560 heading towards land or not, you need the stars. 446 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:37,640 They are the light in your darkness. 447 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:45,800 Jesus is the light to our darkness and he is the king to 448 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:50,600 our hell bound rebellion. I'm going to tell a very 449 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:57,800 personal and embarrassing story. When I was in 7th grade, my 450 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:02,520 church took a youth trip to the beach and we stayed in a hotel 451 00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:07,400 room. It was me, my older brother, my 452 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:12,239 older cousin that I like worshipped, and a friend. 453 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:19,320 All four of us were in one room. On the first night, I woke up in 454 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:23,120 the middle of the night and I had to go to the bathroom so 455 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:26,840 bad, but I couldn't find a light switch. 456 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:31,480 The room was so dark. I don't know why it was so dark, 457 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:33,960 but it was so dark. It was a new room, so I was 458 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:35,800 disoriented. I couldn't even find the 459 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:39,760 bathroom door either. So I started to panic. 460 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:44,159 I was frantically running my hands along the walls trying to 461 00:34:44,159 --> 00:34:47,080 find the bathroom door, trying to find a light switch or the 462 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,199 bathroom door, and I couldn't find either. 463 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:52,120 Couldn't find the bathroom door, couldn't find the light switch. 464 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:59,160 Panic begins to set in. And then after a minute or so, I 465 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:01,120 couldn't hold it anymore. And so I just stood in the 466 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:05,040 middle of that hotel room and peed all over myself. 467 00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:13,920 I was so embarrassed, I was so ashamed. 468 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:21,080 I did not want my brother, my older brother, and my older 469 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:25,720 cousin and my friend to know. I'm in 7th grade. 470 00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:28,040 I'm not a 7 year old, I'm in 7th grade. 471 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:31,320 I did not want them to know that I had done this. 472 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,080 So I took my clothes off and I hid them. 473 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:40,840 I couldn't find. I couldn't even go get a shower 474 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:42,120 because I couldn't find the bathroom. 475 00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:50,320 I think about that moment from time to time, the feelings of 476 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:56,480 panic, the feelings of anxiety, the feeling of shame, the 477 00:35:56,480 --> 00:36:01,320 feeling of embarrassment, desperately hiding my clothes. 478 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:04,040 I'm wanting like please don't let them find this out. 479 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:11,640 All of which which could have been solved if I could have just 480 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:26,600 found the light. Friends, Jesus is the light to 481 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:39,280 our darkness. He is the king to our hell bound 482 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:43,680 rebellion. You see, we were born on this 483 00:36:43,720 --> 00:36:46,360 earth leading a rebellion against God. 484 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:52,480 Satan has convinced us that our name plate is on this throne. 485 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:55,480 And So what do we do? We sit down as King. 486 00:36:56,200 --> 00:37:00,200 But we have been deceived. We have been deceived by him. 487 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:06,600 I love that scene in Lord of the Rings where Solomon has taken 488 00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:10,320 over King Theodrid. He's holding the king hostage 489 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:15,200 until Gandalf the White comes in, removes his robe and reveals 490 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:16,280 that he is. And he, what does he do? 491 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:20,920 He drives Solomon out. It's such a picture of Christ 492 00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:24,640 coming into our life and driving out Satan. 493 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:31,400 Jesus is the light to our darkness. 494 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:37,160 He is the king to our hell bound rebellion. 495 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:45,440 The Balaam started this prophecy by saying come, I will let you 496 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:48,320 know what this people will do to your people in the latter days. 497 00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:52,560 And here's what he will do. It shall crush the forehead of 498 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:55,240 Moab and breakdown all the sons of Chef. 499 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:58,040 In other words, God is going to judge Moab for their sin. 500 00:37:58,240 --> 00:38:01,680 What an ironic twist. Talk about irony. 501 00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:05,200 Balak hired Balaam to curse Israel so that Moab can defeat 502 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:07,640 them in battle. And instead, Balaam says, well, 503 00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:10,040 actually here's what's going to happen in later days. 504 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:13,920 Israel is going to crush Moab's forehead. 505 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:21,040 You see, Balak was so desperate to control the future. 506 00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:25,960 Desperate to control he he went to extraordinary means to 507 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:28,120 control the future. But the future could not be 508 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:29,800 controlled by this king. Why? 509 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:32,800 Because another king has already written the story. 510 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:35,440 The story's already been written. 511 00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:41,680 Brothers and sisters, we can sometimes be so desperate to 512 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:48,160 control our future, right? I'm in that why we're anxious. 513 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:51,920 We want to know how the story turns out. 514 00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:59,000 We like we we would do anything to know that like this will 515 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:04,040 happen. Whatever this is, when God has 516 00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:07,160 already written our story, it's already been written. 517 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:12,840 We can be so desperate to plan for the future, to predict the 518 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:15,600 future, to secure the future, to determine the future. 519 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:17,360 Why? Because the future is scary. 520 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:21,760 It is right. I'm a human like you. 521 00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:24,840 The future scares you. These four boys like their 522 00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:31,120 future terrifies me. We don't like the unknown. 523 00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:34,520 We don't like not having control. 524 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:39,040 And yet, despite our best efforts to try to control the 525 00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:46,840 future, God holds the future. And we need to realize this. 526 00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:53,000 In the summertime, we'll usually get a few spots with ants in our 527 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:54,240 house. We can get them in the church. 528 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,720 I find it fascinating to play with ants because an Ant will 529 00:39:58,720 --> 00:40:01,440 try to go this way. And I'll put my finger up to try 530 00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:03,880 to redirect it, you know, And then it just tries to go around 531 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:05,720 my finger. I put my finger up again and it, 532 00:40:05,720 --> 00:40:10,640 it, it just keeps trying, right? And I think to myself, this is 533 00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:11,960 futile. Ant, give up. 534 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:16,320 I have limitless resources to block you. 535 00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:23,080 I can remove the trash that you so love. 536 00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:28,320 I can give you poison to end your life. 537 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:35,440 I have sovereign control over you Aunt. 538 00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:48,880 Give up, you will not win. Brothers and sisters, God has 539 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:53,080 sovereign control over your life. 540 00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:58,040 You might say. Yeah, yeah, I already know that, 541 00:40:58,040 --> 00:40:58,560 Matt. Right. 542 00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:01,040 It's one thing to know that it's nothing to live like it. 543 00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:10,360 Give up on trying to dictate your future. 544 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:18,640 Give up. God has already written your 545 00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:22,760 prophecy. It's already been written. 546 00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:32,870 Stop trying to control it. Look at verse 18 to 24. 547 00:41:34,350 --> 00:41:37,430 Edom shall be dispossessed. Say you're also his enemy shall 548 00:41:37,430 --> 00:41:40,470 be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly and 549 00:41:40,470 --> 00:41:43,190 one from Jacob. So exercise dominion, and 550 00:41:43,190 --> 00:41:46,760 destroy the survivors of cities. Then he looked on a maleic and 551 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:50,200 took up his discourse, and said, A maleic was the first among the 552 00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:52,560 nations, but its end is utter destruction. 553 00:41:52,960 --> 00:41:56,000 And he looked on the kenite and took up his discourse, and said, 554 00:41:56,240 --> 00:42:00,000 Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the 555 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:02,040 rock. Nevertheless Cain shall be 556 00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:04,680 burned when Asher takes you away captive. 557 00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:08,920 And he took up his discourse, and said, Alas, who shall live 558 00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:11,920 when God does this? But ship shall come from Kateem, 559 00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:15,600 and shall afflict Asher and Eber, and he too shall come to 560 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:19,960 utter destruction. I find it fascinating that 561 00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:22,520 Balaam doesn't stop with Moab, Right. 562 00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:26,160 I mean, Balak's here for Moab. And then Balaam tells him, 563 00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:27,360 here's what's going to happen to Moab. 564 00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:31,200 And he says, Oh yeah. By the way, before I go, I'm 565 00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:33,680 going to give some prophecies on some other nations. 566 00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:36,320 While I'm here. I might as well. 567 00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:40,840 God is going to judge four other nations. 568 00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:44,280 Let's look at them individually, really briefly #1 eat them. 569 00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:48,960 Edom is the descendants of Esau. Balaam says that Edom will be 570 00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:51,080 dispossessed. Essentially, they will be 571 00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:53,520 conquered and possessed by another. 572 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:56,000 Sayir is a mountain range in Edom. 573 00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:57,600 So they're one in the same. They're not two different 574 00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:00,160 things. But while all this is happening 575 00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:03,160 to Edom, Israel is getting stronger. 576 00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:07,120 Israel is growing valiantly. Balaam says that one from Jacob, 577 00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:11,280 we don't know who, one from Jacob will exercise dominion and 578 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:15,520 destroy the survivor of the cities second group, the 579 00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:17,760 Amalekites. He says a Malik. 580 00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:19,600 A Malik was the first among the nations. 581 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:21,800 I don't know if they're actually are that maybe meaning that like 582 00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:24,120 they thought they were the first among the nations, first in 583 00:43:24,120 --> 00:43:27,360 supremacy, but its end is utter destruction. 584 00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:31,080 If you remember, when Israel came up out of Egypt, a Malik 585 00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:35,040 came and attacked Israel. And what did the Lord say about 586 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:37,600 a Malik? He said write this as a memorial 587 00:43:37,600 --> 00:43:40,320 in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua. 588 00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:44,080 That I will utterly blot out from memory a Malik from under 589 00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:46,240 heaven. The Lord will have war with a 590 00:43:46,240 --> 00:43:49,520 Malik from generation to generation, and later God will 591 00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:51,640 use Saul to wipe them off the planet. 592 00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:54,840 Saul fails to do so, but that will happen in the days of 593 00:43:54,840 --> 00:44:01,400 Hezekiah 3 key night. They are one of the 10 tribes 594 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:03,280 living in Canaan during Abraham's time. 595 00:44:03,880 --> 00:44:06,000 He says Enduring is your dwelling place. 596 00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:10,000 Your nest is set in a rock. Nevertheless, Cain shall be 597 00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:12,040 burned. It was commonly thought that 598 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:14,040 Cain was the father of the Kenites. 599 00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:15,880 That's conjecture, but that's what is commonly thought. 600 00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:20,560 And he says God says he'll use Asher to judge them. 601 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:23,160 Now, what is that? Asher is an ancient city dating 602 00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:26,480 back to 2500 BC. Asher's going to come in. 603 00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:28,760 It's going to take the Kenites captive. 604 00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:32,360 This will later become the homeland of the Assyrians. 605 00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:36,640 But then he says look, don't think that Asher is going to get 606 00:44:36,640 --> 00:44:40,040 off Scott free. Asher's day of judgement will 607 00:44:40,040 --> 00:44:44,160 come for Asher. Balaam asked the question, who 608 00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:48,600 can live when God does this? He says ships will come from 609 00:44:48,600 --> 00:44:50,840 Kateem. That's an ancient name for the 610 00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:54,000 island of Cyprus. This probably refers to the 611 00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:56,920 Philistines. He says the Philistines will 612 00:44:56,920 --> 00:45:00,760 afflict Asher and Eber. He too will come to utter 613 00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:04,600 destruction. Now why does he give all of 614 00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:07,960 these prophecies? I think because Balaam is 615 00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:14,360 testifying to Balak, to Moab, to Israel, that one day all of 616 00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:17,120 Israel's enemies will be crushed. 617 00:45:18,400 --> 00:45:20,680 They will all come to utter destruction. 618 00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:25,080 And the same is true for us brothers and sisters. 619 00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:31,400 One day, all of our enemies will be destroyed. 620 00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:40,280 This star coming out of Jacob will use his scepter and he will 621 00:45:40,280 --> 00:45:46,560 crush the forehead of Satan. He will break down all the sons 622 00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:49,400 of darkness. Sin will be dispossessed. 623 00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:52,760 Our flesh will come to utter destruction, The world will be 624 00:45:52,760 --> 00:45:56,640 burned, and death will be carried away in chains to an 625 00:45:56,640 --> 00:46:02,080 everlasting lake of fire. We know how the story ends. 626 00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:06,640 We've been told, we it's been prophesied. 627 00:46:06,720 --> 00:46:11,400 We know how it ends. Our enemies lose. 628 00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:18,720 God wins and I love how this story ends. 629 00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:21,560 Verse 25. I love verse 25. 630 00:46:23,280 --> 00:46:28,680 Then Balaam rose and went back to his place and Balak also went 631 00:46:28,680 --> 00:46:32,600 his way. Balaam rose and went back home. 632 00:46:33,800 --> 00:46:38,840 Balak also went his way. That's it, the end. 633 00:46:40,880 --> 00:46:43,600 I love this ending because of its simplicity. 634 00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:51,400 God has spoken, God has decreed, and all Balaam and Balaam could 635 00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:56,000 do is go home. What are we going to do? 636 00:46:57,080 --> 00:47:02,120 I guess we'll go home. Church, family. 637 00:47:02,120 --> 00:47:06,280 Sometimes the best thing we can do is go home. 638 00:47:07,680 --> 00:47:15,840 Go home in submission. Sometimes we are fighting God, 639 00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:19,480 fighting God, fighting the will of God, fighting the desires of 640 00:47:19,480 --> 00:47:21,680 God. And sometimes the best thing we 641 00:47:21,680 --> 00:47:27,880 can do is say, I need to go home. 642 00:47:31,080 --> 00:47:37,520 God, you win now. Tragically, we'll find out later 643 00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:41,280 that Balaam doesn't go home. We'll find this out too much 644 00:47:41,280 --> 00:47:42,080 later. He doesn't. 645 00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:44,800 He actually goes to Midian and becomes a snare to Israel. 646 00:47:47,280 --> 00:47:52,640 But he had a window right here. Right here. 647 00:47:52,640 --> 00:47:55,080 He has a window. He had a chance. 648 00:47:55,160 --> 00:48:00,880 He saw God, he heard God, he knew God, and he has this small 649 00:48:00,880 --> 00:48:07,720 window where all he needs to do is go home and submit to God. 650 00:48:13,320 --> 00:48:17,560 And he doesn't do it. He doesn't do it. 651 00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:30,200 Sometimes the godliest thing we can do is go home and submit to 652 00:48:30,240 --> 00:48:41,520 God's control over our life because He holds the future. 653 00:48:43,120 --> 00:48:43,600 Let's pray.