1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:03,120 All right, good morning. Once again, church family, as 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,840 you find your seats, if you would open your Bibles to the 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:09,840 Book of Numbers. And this morning we're going to 4 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:17,680 be in Numbers 22, one to 18, Numbers 22 one to 18. 5 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:23,280 Title of the sermon this morning is this Disobedience is not an 6 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,120 option. And so let's read the text. 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:28,920 I'll open this in a word of prayer, and then we will jump 8 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,759 into our sermon this morning, Numbers 22, beginning in verse 9 00:00:32,759 --> 00:00:38,080 one. Then the people of Israel set 10 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,400 out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at 11 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,400 Jericho. And Balak, the son of Zippor, 12 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:48,400 saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and Moab was in 13 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,160 great dread of the people because they were many. 14 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,760 Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel, and Moab 15 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:00,360 said to the elders of Midian, This horde will now lick up all 16 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:04,640 that is around us as the ox licks up the grass of the field. 17 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:08,600 So Balak the son of Zippor, who was the king of Moab at the 18 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,680 time, sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor, at Pithor, 19 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:17,320 which is near the river and the land of the people of Amah, to 20 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:21,800 call him, saying, Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. 21 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:24,840 They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling 22 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,960 opposite me. Come now, curse this people for 23 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:31,600 me, since they are too mighty for me. 24 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,400 Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from 25 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,520 the land. For I know that he whom you 26 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:44,320 bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed. 27 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:48,320 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with 28 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,440 the fees for the divination in their hand. 29 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,360 They came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message. 30 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,040 And he said to them, Lodge here tonight and I will bring back 31 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,760 word to you as the Lord speaks to me. 32 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,880 So the Princess of Moab stayed with Balaam, and God came to 33 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,600 Balaam and said, Who are these men with you? 34 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:12,680 And Balaam said to God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, 35 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,920 has sent to me, saying, Behold, a people has come out of Egypt 36 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:19,040 and it covers the face of the earth. 37 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,880 Now come curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight 38 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:30,080 against them and drive them out. God said to Balaam, You shall 39 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:35,160 not go with them, you shall not curse the people, for they are 40 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,400 blessed. So Balaam rose in the morning 41 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:41,400 and said to the Princess of Balak, Go to your own land, for 42 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:43,720 the Lord has refused to let me go with you. 43 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,040 So the Princess of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, Balaam 44 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:52,280 refuses to come with us. Once again Balak sent Princess 45 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:56,040 more in number and more honorable than these, and they 46 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,440 came to Balaam and said to him, Thus says Balak, the son of the 47 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,600 poor, let nothing hinder you from coming to me, for I will 48 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,960 surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will 49 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,720 do. Come curse this people for me. 50 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:17,520 But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, Though 51 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:23,120 Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could 52 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:29,840 not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more, 53 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:39,660 and we'll stop there. Could you pray with me, Father? 54 00:03:39,660 --> 00:03:45,520 I pray as we look at this text of a Pagan king who was 55 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:52,440 determined to curse your people, and as we look at a Pagan 56 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:57,440 prophet who was seemingly determined to oblige his 57 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:03,560 request, help us to see God, that even for a man like Balaam, 58 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:09,040 he understands that when it comes to you, Almighty God, 59 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:16,079 disobedience is not an option. I pray God that you would 60 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:23,360 instill in USA a firm resolution to not disobey when we are 61 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:30,240 tempted to sin. Give us a a resolve to say to 62 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:32,520 our flesh, to the world, to Satan. 63 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:35,760 I cannot go beyond the command of the Lord. 64 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:39,240 I pray this in Jesus name. Amen. 65 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:47,160 In 1933 during the Great Depression, the unemployment 66 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:51,080 rate in the United States got up to 25%. 67 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:57,520 That's one out of every four people or adults unemployed. 68 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:03,800 In April of 2020, during the peak of of COVID, the 69 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:09,280 unemployment rate peaked at 15%, but in less than two years it 70 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:14,520 had dropped to historically low levels, less than 4% now. 71 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:18,480 Currently the numbers are still low relatively speaking, but 72 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:23,320 anecdotedly I've heard multiple stories of people losing their 73 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,320 jobs, especially in certain sectors. 74 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,040 Sectors like the tech world or the government. 75 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,520 Many companies have hiring freezes right now where in 76 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:35,920 certain sectors it's almost impossible to get a job in that 77 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:42,640 sector. But there is one company that is 78 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:48,720 always hiring. The pay is great, it's 79 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:55,400 phenomenal. The qualifications are low and 80 00:05:55,400 --> 00:06:06,200 they will take anybody. The CEO promises the world and 81 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:12,680 he delivers hell. You see, Satan comes to all of 82 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,520 us just as he did to Jesus. He offers us a Kingdom. 83 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:24,800 He offers us a limitless supply of riches and comfort and glory. 84 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:31,000 Limitless. And the question is, in order to 85 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:38,200 obtain whatever he is offering, is disobedience an option? 86 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:45,600 Or will we say, as Balaam said, though you were to give me a 87 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:52,040 house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command 88 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:56,040 of the Lord my God to do less or more. 89 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:03,600 Brothers and sisters, disobedience is not an option 90 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:07,000 for us. That's what the sermon is about 91 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,440 this morning. This morning I'm going to be 92 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:12,960 weaving exposition and application together. 93 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,000 And so I want to start by looking at this passage by 94 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:20,120 passage. Let's start looking at verses 1 95 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:24,120 to 3, Deuteronomy 22. Then the people of Israel set 96 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:27,760 out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at 97 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,520 Jericho and Balik, the son of support. 98 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:34,160 So all that Israel had done to the Amorites and Moab was in 99 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:36,560 great dread of the people because they were many. 100 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,600 Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. 101 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:44,720 So our text this morning has the Israelites setting out and 102 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:49,800 camping in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan, next to 103 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,440 Jericho. So they're on the east side of 104 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:55,240 the Jordan River, right? Israel's on the West side. 105 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:57,240 They're on the east side of the Jordan River. 106 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:02,080 Now it might be helpful to give a very brief history of who Moab 107 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:06,280 is. The Moabites descend from a man 108 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:08,280 named Moab. That's where they hit their 109 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,840 name. Moab was Lot's son. 110 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:16,000 If you remember, Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, had 111 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:20,280 a nephew named Lot. So Abraham, nephew Lot. 112 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:26,240 Lot has a son named Moab. And the Moabites come from Moab. 113 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:31,680 And so they are related to the Israelites, but they are not 114 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,840 Israelites. Now Moab had previously 115 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,600 controlled the area north of the Arnan River. 116 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:40,919 We looked at this a few weeks ago. 117 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,880 But Saihan, king of the Amorites, came in and he 118 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,960 conquered the Moabites and took all their land. 119 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:50,560 And so now Saihan is reigning in that area. 120 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,840 And we will learn in verse four that the king of Moab at this 121 00:08:54,840 --> 00:09:00,480 time is Balik, son of Zappour, and he is serving as the king at 122 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:04,400 this time. And he looks as this people come 123 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:10,520 and camp next to his land, and he sees all that they did to the 124 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,040 Amorites. Do you remember from three weeks 125 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,720 ago when I preached on chapter 21? 126 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:20,640 Israel had gone to several wars. They went to war with Arad and 127 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,440 they defeated them. They went to war with Sahan, 128 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:25,600 king of the Amorites, and they feeded them. 129 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:29,200 They went to war with Odd, king of Bashan, and they defeated 130 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,760 him. And Balak gets word of this. 131 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,960 He hears about all these victories of this massive 132 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:40,480 people, and they're just destroying everybody and it 133 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:45,120 makes him scared. Now, why is he scared? 134 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:49,640 Remember, Sion had defeated him. Sion, king of the Amorites, came 135 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:54,120 in and defeated them. But Israel conquers Sion, and so 136 00:09:54,120 --> 00:10:00,560 he thinks, if Israel can conquer my conqueror, what can they do 137 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:03,200 to me? What can they do to us? 138 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:05,920 Look at how they respond in verse three. 139 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:10,560 He says Moab was in great dread of the people because they were 140 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:14,720 many. Moab was overcome with fear of 141 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:21,040 the people of Israel. Now on one sense we might say it 142 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,680 makes sense why you know why he is afraid. 143 00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:28,040 But in another sense, what Balak didn't realize is that God had 144 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:30,680 commanded the Israelites not to go to war with Moab. 145 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,240 They are not allowed to go to war with them. 146 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:38,840 Deuteronomy 29, God says do not harass Moab or contend with them 147 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:43,760 in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for 148 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,040 possession. Did you catch that? 149 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:54,000 In other words, Moab is afraid because they don't understand 150 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:59,680 God or his ways. What we see from this is that a 151 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:05,360 misunderstanding of the Lord and His purposes will always and 152 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:09,440 inevitably lead to a misplaced fear of God. 153 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:13,240 Not just a fear of God, a misplaced fear of God. 154 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:17,960 Just as Balak looked at the Israelites and he did not 155 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:22,720 understand who God was or whose people were causing him to fear, 156 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:28,040 Even today the Lost World does the same and they look at the 157 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:32,720 church, they look at the people of God, they look at God, they 158 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,080 look at the doctrine of God, they look at the word of God. 159 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:41,040 They do not understand and it causes them to fear. 160 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:49,840 You see, we always fear what we don't understand, and this fear 161 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:53,360 can cause us to feel like we need to do something, we need to 162 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:57,280 take action. That's exactly what Balak does. 163 00:11:57,560 --> 00:12:01,120 Look at verse 4 to 6. Moab said to the elders of 164 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,960 Midian. This horde will now lick up all 165 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:07,080 that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field. 166 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:10,800 So Balick the son of the poor, who was king of Moab at that 167 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:14,560 time, sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor at P Thor, which 168 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:17,920 is near the river and the land of the people of a mall, to call 169 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:21,920 him, saying, Behold, a people has come up out of Egypt. 170 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:24,640 They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling 171 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:28,200 opposite me. Come now, curse this people for 172 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:32,560 me, since they are two for me, perhaps I shall be able to 173 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:35,400 defeat them and drive them from the land. 174 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:40,640 For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom 175 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:45,720 you curse is cursed. So the king of Moab believes he 176 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:50,240 needs additional help, he needs reinforcements. 177 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:56,400 And so he calls up the king of Midian and says we need to join 178 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,600 forces. Let me loop you into the plans 179 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:01,800 of what's going on. He calls a meeting with the 180 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:05,040 elders of Midian. Again, this is a short history 181 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:10,520 lesson of who is Midian. Midian was Isaac's younger half 182 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:12,760 brother. There was a man named Midian who 183 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:17,360 is Isaac's younger half brother. He's born to Abraham's concubine 184 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:21,560 Katura. So just like Moab, Midian is 185 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,840 related to the Israelites, but they are not Israelites. 186 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,760 And look at what Moab says to the Midianite elders. 187 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:36,160 Look what he says in verse 4B. He says this horde will now lick 188 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:41,600 up all that is around us as the ox licks up the grass of the 189 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:45,480 field. You see, Moab is now convinced 190 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:49,080 that they have to do something. And here's their plan. 191 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:55,720 Let's summon Balaam, the son of Bior, at Pithor. 192 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,400 Now who is that? We're not told much. 193 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:03,200 His name, Balaam means destruction of the people. 194 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:08,320 He is not an Israelite. He lives in Pithor, which is 195 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:11,360 near the river and the land of the people of a mall, which is 196 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:14,640 today would be northern Syria. He lives in what would be today 197 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,400 northern Syria. Now where he's living and where 198 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:21,440 Moab is is around a 300 to 400 mile journey. 199 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:25,680 So when he goes to summon him and he sends the elders, they 200 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:32,800 are travelling 300 to 400 miles to go get this Pagan diviner. 201 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:38,400 Now the fact that Balaam knows about him and summons him means 202 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,920 that Balaic knows about him and summons him means that Balaam 203 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,840 must have had a reputation. He must have been known in the 204 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:49,640 region as being a Pagan diviner who had success. 205 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:53,960 He must have been successful. And what, what, why did? 206 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,880 Why did he summon Balaam? Look what he says in verse 6. 207 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,800 Come now, curse this people for me. 208 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,840 They're too mighty for me. Perhaps I should be able to 209 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:05,200 defeat them and drive them from the land. 210 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:10,040 For I know that he who you bless is blessed, and he who you curse 211 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:15,080 is cursed. So Balak sees this mighty horde 212 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,440 opposite of him. He fears that they're going to 213 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:19,520 come and attack him and take over his land. 214 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:23,080 So he has this plan. Let me summon Balaam to come 215 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,520 curse these people. That's his plan. 216 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,360 I'll curse them. It's it's almost like it'll, 217 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,800 it'll weaken them. Now, what does it mean to curse 218 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,880 them? Well, it basically means to call 219 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,720 down the power of a deity to invoke injury or harm. 220 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:44,280 That's what it means to curse. He says come and invoke upon a 221 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:48,360 deity to invoke injury or harm upon the Israelites. 222 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,080 Now why does Balak want to curse them? 223 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,040 He gives 3 reasons. A. 224 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:55,280 He says they are too mighty for me. 225 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:58,320 B. Perhaps I should be able to 226 00:15:58,320 --> 00:15:59,920 defeat them and drive them from the land. 227 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:05,760 And see, I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and whom you 228 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:08,520 curse is curse. Now, I want to be clear here. 229 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,880 Balic's statement is not a statement of fact. 230 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,520 This is how he perceives the world. 231 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,000 Not all that different than how people believe that karma is a 232 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:25,000 real force, right? People say, oh, that's karma. 233 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,040 Even Christians will sometimes say that that's karma. 234 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:32,920 Karma's not a real force. Karma is a they believe this is 235 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:37,520 how Balak perceives the world. He believes that Balaam has the 236 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:40,880 power to bless people and to curse people. 237 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,280 Balaam does not have any power to do this. 238 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:52,680 It's clear that Balak feels trapped and hopeless. 239 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,680 You see that, right? He sees this, this great horde 240 00:16:56,680 --> 00:16:58,560 of people. He's already been defeated by 241 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,880 Cyhan, and now he thinks he's he's feeling trapped. 242 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:04,920 He feels hopeless. He thinks they're threatening 243 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:07,319 me. I'm about to lose everything. 244 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:10,560 And in this hopelessness, what does he do? 245 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:16,079 He turns to Pagan means. He turns to Pagan means. 246 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,079 Why? Because he's looking for 247 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:24,079 salvation. He is looking for some means of 248 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:27,680 salvation. You see, in the face of 249 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:31,240 hopelessness, the world will always turn to Pagan means. 250 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,400 Why? Because they're looking for 251 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:40,880 salvation. They turn to work and success 252 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:45,240 for salvation. They turn to self medication 253 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:49,520 through alcohol and prescription drugs for salvation. 254 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:54,440 They turn to adrenaline highs through extreme hobbies or 255 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:59,720 gambling for salvation. They turn to new age movements 256 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:03,920 or eastern meditation for salvation. 257 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:12,080 In the face of hopelessness, the world will always turn to Pagan 258 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:15,880 means because they're looking for salvation. 259 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:21,200 Our job, our our job, brothers and sisters, is to show them a 260 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:29,440 better way, to show them that salvation is not found in 261 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:36,680 Balaam, but in Christ. The Balaams of this world, the 262 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:41,280 Pagan means of this world will not give you salvation. 263 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:46,840 It is found in Jesus Christ. Our job is to show them that 264 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:49,600 only Christ has the power to bless. 265 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:56,680 This casino will not bless you. This yoga will not bless you. 266 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:04,560 This job will not bless you. There's only One who has the 267 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:09,080 power to bless you, and he has the power to eternally bless 268 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:17,320 you. The world is hopeless. 269 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:24,640 We are here to offer them a better hope, better than Balaam. 270 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:32,080 Look at verse 7. So the elders of Moab and the 271 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:36,000 elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their 272 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:40,040 hand and they came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message. 273 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,720 Moab's elders and Midian elders, they make the long journey, they 274 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:47,040 make the 300 to 400 mile journey to go to Balaam, but they don't 275 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,720 come empty handed. They come with the fees for 276 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:53,040 divination in their hand. Now 2 questions. 277 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:57,040 Number one, what is divination and #2 why are there fees? 278 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,720 Here's a definition of the Hebrew word for divination. 279 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:05,920 The Pagan state or process of stating or determining the 280 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,400 future or hidden knowledge through signs. 281 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:14,800 Omens and supernatural powers. Now in the Old Testament there 282 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:19,120 were 4 broad classes of divination #1 the position of 283 00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:21,720 stars, right? They would look at the stars and 284 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,080 try to figure out like, who am I supposed to marry? 285 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:26,760 Where am I supposed to go? Right? 286 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:29,440 Two. Speaking with dead spirits. 287 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:34,480 This is what Saul does when he summons the Witch of Endor. 3 288 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:37,760 Examining animal parts or potsherds. 289 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,480 Remember when they look at a a deer's a kidney or liver and one 290 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,960 of the prophets, I can't remember where it is, but let me 291 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:49,040 look at this. And if it's red, it means this. 292 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:54,040 And if it's if it's purple, it means this or 4. 293 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:56,280 Casting lots for a yes or no answer. 294 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,760 Now God had expressly condemned divination. 295 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,480 Deuteronomy 1810. There shall not be found among 296 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,360 you anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or 297 00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:13,560 interprets omens or a sorcerer. So they are not supposed. 298 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:19,200 This is this is Pagan in every sense of the word #2 Why are 299 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,480 there fees since they came with fees for divination? 300 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,640 Well, Pagan diviners are for hire. 301 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,560 That's what they're there for. Balaam is a for hire person. 302 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:33,360 On his LinkedIn page it says Pagan diviner for hire. 303 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:40,640 This was a also a practice that God would later condemn Micah 304 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,880 311 Its heads give judgment for a bribe. 305 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:48,560 Its priests teach for a price. Its prophets practice divination 306 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:51,160 for money. You see, even the Israelites 307 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,320 begin to do this later on. Their prophets begin to practice 308 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:58,800 divination for money. Now Balaam's practice of 309 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:02,960 divination for money will expressly be condemned by God in 310 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,560 the New Testament. Let me read 2 passages to you. 311 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:07,640 Balaam's mentioned multiple times in the New Testament. 312 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,120 Let me read 2 to you. Second Peter 215. 313 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:13,800 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. 314 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,760 They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who 315 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:22,800 loved gain from wrongdoing. Here's one one other Jude 11. 316 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,480 Woe to them, for they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned 317 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:31,560 themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error, and perished 318 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:34,320 in Cora's rebellion. There's a double reference to 319 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:39,800 numbers. You see, Balaam, just like 320 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:45,000 Judas, had sold his soul for money. 321 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:55,920 He put his soul for sale on the open market and he was willing 322 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:57,800 to sell it to the highest bidder. 323 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:05,360 Brothers and sisters, we are surrounded by a culture that 324 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:14,640 sells their souls for money. We, we swim in it, especially in 325 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:21,720 a place like Seattle, We swim in an ocean of people who sell 326 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:29,240 their souls for money. Peter says they have followed 327 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:34,240 the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from 328 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:36,280 wrongdoing. Now here's what I want to say. 329 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,040 You don't have to love gain from wrongdoing. 330 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:43,080 There are many who love gain from right doing. 331 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:48,840 There are many people, Christians included, who make it 332 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:53,720 their aim to make as much gain as they possibly can. 333 00:23:56,040 --> 00:24:00,000 That's their goal in life. I want to make as much as I 334 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:05,000 possibly can. Maximise earnings, maximise 335 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:09,520 profit, maximise stock market gains, maximise real estate 336 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,840 gains. That's their goal. 337 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,040 And listen, I am all for Christians being hard workers. 338 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,920 I am all for Christians being financially savvy. 339 00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:25,920 We should be hard workers. We should be financially savvy. 340 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,240 We should be wise stewards. Here's what I want to caution US 341 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:31,440 against, though. Listen to me when I say this. 342 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:35,200 Let me caution US against this. We are surrounded by a culture 343 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:41,480 that sells their souls for money and we need to be mindful of 344 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:46,080 that reality. We need to be mindful of that 345 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:50,960 reality and how we save, how we give, how we spend, how we 346 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:59,400 retire, how we travel. If we save and give and spend 347 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:04,760 and retire and travel just like the world, how do we look any 348 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:09,200 different than those who have sold their soul to get this? 349 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,560 There's a well known professing Christian, many of you would 350 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:20,600 know who it is, who gives financial advice and planning 351 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:33,640 for a living whose net worth is $200 million, $200 million. 352 00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:40,440 And I asked myself this question, How does that look any 353 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:46,040 different than the world? How does that look any different 354 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:55,740 than the world? Can you get to a place of having 355 00:25:55,740 --> 00:26:00,700 $200 million without loving gain? 356 00:26:02,780 --> 00:26:04,380 Can you get there without loving it? 357 00:26:05,780 --> 00:26:16,600 I don't see how 2 verses 8 to 11 And he said to them, Lodge here 358 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,920 tonight and I will bring back word to you as the Lord speaks 359 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,120 to me. So the Princess of Moab stayed 360 00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:25,520 with Balaam, and God came to Balaam and said, Who are these 361 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:28,520 men with you? And Balaam said to God, Balaic, 362 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,480 the son of the poor king of Moab, has sent to me saying, 363 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,280 behold, a people has come out of Egypt and it covers the face of 364 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,120 the earth. Now come curse them for me. 365 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:42,680 Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out. 366 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:45,960 Now verse 8 comes as a shock, doesn't it? 367 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,000 When I read verse 8 initially, it just comes as a shock because 368 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,640 Balaam doesn't immediately agree to go with them. 369 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:57,240 Did you notice that they, I mean, here comes these elders, 370 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,040 they like, they show up, they show up with money in their 371 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:02,800 hand. Who knows how much he is for 372 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:07,160 hire and they come and like we've travelled 300 and 400 373 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,320 miles to come to you. Here is we want to hire you. 374 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:17,520 And he says let me sleep on it. So spend the night. 375 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:22,400 I got an Airbnb Outback spend the night let me sleep on it. 376 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,160 He says lodge here tonight. I'll bring back word to you as 377 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:32,240 the Lord speaks to me. Now I want you to notice here he 378 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:36,360 uses the covenantal name of God. He doesn't use the generic 379 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:38,400 Elohim. Elohim can refer to any God. 380 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:42,040 He uses the covenantal name of God, the Lord Yahweh. 381 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:46,920 So he has some understanding of who the Israelite God is. 382 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:51,040 He is somehow acquainted with the Israelite God. 383 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,720 Now, Balaam is not a priest. Let's be clear about this. 384 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:58,040 He's not a priest and he does not have a relationship with 385 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:01,560 Moses. He says let me go, bring back 386 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:03,320 word from the Lord. Here's a question I had. 387 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,240 How is he going to approach God? He doesn't have access to the 388 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,880 temple. He doesn't have access to Moses. 389 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,400 How is he going to approach God? He won't. 390 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:20,000 He won't. God approaches him. 391 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:31,640 And God came to Balaam and said, you see, the lost world often 392 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:33,960 believes that they can call upon the Lord when they want. 393 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:38,440 It doesn't work that way. God initiates to us first. 394 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:45,520 God is the initiator. We are not told what God spoke 395 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:48,200 to him, but there are several examples of God speaking to the 396 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,040 lost world through dreams. So perhaps God used a similar 397 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:52,520 method. My guess is that God spoke to 398 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,840 him through a dream. What's interesting is that when 399 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,400 God comes to him, whether it's a dream or a vision or whatever, 400 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,080 God comes in and he asked him a question. 401 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:05,920 It's an interesting question. He says, who are these men with 402 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:09,720 you? So what does God ask that he 403 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:10,800 knows good and well? He is. 404 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,200 He is omniscient. We believe that God knows all 405 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,280 things. Why does God say, who are these 406 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:20,480 men with you? He's giving Balaam an 407 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:22,240 opportunity to examine his heart. 408 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:28,600 He's giving Balaam an opportunity to examine his 409 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:31,640 heart. Have you ever noticed that when 410 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:34,680 God initiates a conversation to people in the Bible, He almost 411 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:38,560 not, not always, but He often begins the conversation with a 412 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:40,680 question? You ever noticed that? 413 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:49,800 Where are you, Adam? Where is your brother Cain? 414 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:59,000 What are you doing here, Elijah? Do you do well to be angry? 415 00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:05,080 Jonah? Who are these men with you, 416 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:12,520 Balaam? God is giving all these men an 417 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:15,680 opportunity to examine their hearts. 418 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:23,440 The same is true today, brother and sister, even right now, God 419 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:25,360 will come to us. He will come to us through His 420 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:29,120 Word, through His Spirit, through His church, and He will 421 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:33,280 ask us some pointed questions. God may be asking you some very 422 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:37,280 pointed questions even this very morning, if you have ears to 423 00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:42,080 hear questions that He knows the answers to. 424 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,480 But He is giving us an opportunity to examine our 425 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:51,800 hearts. Why are you doing this? 426 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:59,360 You know what you're doing. Why are you doing this? 427 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:03,840 Why do you believe this is the only option? 428 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:07,600 You know there are more options than this. 429 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:10,520 Why are you believing that this is the only option? 430 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:14,200 How do you know this is God's will? 431 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:20,120 How do you know this is my will? You're so confident that it is? 432 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:25,440 How do you know what is your motive in this decision? 433 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,640 What is truly your motive in this decision? 434 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:38,760 See, brothers and sisters, God's questions are brake lights on 435 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:44,120 the highway. They are warning us, alerting us 436 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:51,400 to slow down and consider, is this the right way? 437 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,760 Is this the way that God wants me to take? 438 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:05,000 You see, the scary thing is that Balaam answers God's question, 439 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,600 and Balaam answers it truthfully and accurately. 440 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:18,320 So how will God respond? Look at verse 12 to 14. 441 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:23,520 God said to Balaam, You shall not go with them. 442 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,680 You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed. 443 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,560 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the Princess of 444 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:33,240 Balak, Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me 445 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:36,160 go with you. So the Princess of Moab rose and 446 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:40,120 went to Balak and said, Balaam refuses to come with us. 447 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,320 Now we're going to see next week what appears to be a 448 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:45,760 contradiction. Next week. 449 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:49,200 I'm, I'm really excited to teach on this because it just doesn't 450 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:51,440 make sense. And I love teaching on passages 451 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:56,120 that don't make sense. But for now, I want to highlight 452 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:58,800 something. Don't miss this. 453 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:05,600 I want to highlight God's first instruction to Balaam. 454 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:17,400 What did God say? First, you shall not go with 455 00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:23,200 them. Now keep that in mind. 456 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:26,640 Tuck that away for next week, because the story is going to 457 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:30,920 take some twist and some turns, leaving us to wonder what 458 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:35,040 actually was God's will here? Was it God's will for him to go 459 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:39,680 or not go? But for now, make no mistake, it 460 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,800 was God's will for him not to go. 461 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:48,080 God said very clearly, unequivocally, you shall not go 462 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,760 with them. You see, God's will is a tricky 463 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:55,640 thing, is it not? We have God's will of 464 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:59,600 ordination, what will happen? And we have God's will of 465 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:04,320 command, what should happen. And these two wills, they are 466 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:06,800 not the same. They are distinct, but they are 467 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:09,639 often intertwined and interconnected in mysterious 468 00:34:09,639 --> 00:34:12,159 ways, ways that we can't even comprehend. 469 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:21,199 Often we get ourselves into situations and we think, what 470 00:34:21,199 --> 00:34:25,719 was God's will here? Had somebody asked me this 471 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:28,480 before? You know, they, they, they dated 472 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:30,320 and then they dated for like a year and they broke up. 473 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:33,840 And, and the question was, is was it God's will for us to date 474 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:39,760 or was it not? If it, if it was his will for us 475 00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:41,679 today, then shouldn't we have been married? 476 00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:45,360 If it wasn't his will for us today, then how do I discern 477 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,400 what I discerned? And does that mean I was 478 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:53,600 disobedient? We often get ourselves into 479 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:57,760 situations and we ask ourselves, what was God's will here? 480 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:05,360 What was it? Was this God's will or was that 481 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:09,400 God's will? If this was God's will, why did 482 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:13,840 that happen? If that was God's will, why did 483 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:18,440 this happen? You ever think that God, if this 484 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,240 was your will, why did this happen? 485 00:35:25,790 --> 00:35:29,150 Next week it's we're going to look at it appears to be that it 486 00:35:29,150 --> 00:35:33,830 was God's will for Balaam to go. Next week we're going to see God 487 00:35:33,830 --> 00:35:37,030 tells him go and you're like, which is it? 488 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:44,440 But for now, for tomorrow, this morning, don't miss what God 489 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:52,320 said first. You shall not go with them. 490 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:58,920 I think sometimes we overcomplicate God's will. 491 00:36:04,350 --> 00:36:12,080 We overcomplicate it. People ask, you know, like is is 492 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:12,760 it? Is it? 493 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:24,560 Sometimes it is as simple as this question, What did God say? 494 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:30,320 What did he say? What did he say? 495 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:36,200 Now what does your pastor say? Now what does your parents say? 496 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:37,880 Not that. What does Reddit say? 497 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:42,680 Not does what society say. What did God say? 498 00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:50,960 It's that simple. You're over complicating it. 499 00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:00,080 Look what God says next. He says you shall not curse the 500 00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:06,840 people, for they are blessed. Notice not they will be blessed, 501 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:11,520 not they might be blessed, they are blessed. 502 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:18,600 God told Abraham in you all the families of the earth shall be 503 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:20,680 blessed. He said cursing the Israelites 504 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:24,440 is not even an option because they're already blessed. 505 00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:30,160 You can't curse what's already blessed, brother and sister. 506 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:34,880 No one may curse us, for we are already blessed. 507 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:41,360 And yet even though we know that, the reality is, is that 508 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:48,720 some of us are carrying around an emotional satchel of curses. 509 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:55,960 Things that people have said to harm us, injure us, aren't we? 510 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:01,000 Do you not have an emotional satchel of things that people 511 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:08,280 have said that have hurt you, harmed you, injured you May have 512 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:11,400 come from our parents, may have come from a boss, may have come 513 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:13,040 from a former boyfriend or girlfriend. 514 00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:15,640 May have come from a classmate, May come from a distant 515 00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:18,720 relative, may have come from a fellow church member, may have 516 00:38:18,720 --> 00:38:21,600 come from even a total stranger at the store. 517 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:27,760 These negative criticisms, these negative slander and revilements 518 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:31,680 and insults, they are spoken over us as curses. 519 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:39,520 But hear me when I say this. No one may curse us, for we are 520 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:46,920 already blessed. We're already blessed. 521 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:51,800 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has 522 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:55,720 blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the 523 00:38:55,720 --> 00:38:59,840 heavenly places. Ephesians 1/3 No matter what 524 00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:06,040 human flesh says about you, this is what God says about you. 525 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:18,300 It can't be undone. The blessing of God is 526 00:39:18,300 --> 00:39:24,320 irrevocable. Let people say what they want. 527 00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:34,200 I know what my father has said about abelian obeys. 528 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:37,920 He does as God instructs him, but his heart is not completely 529 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:42,560 right and how he does it. He obeys as God instructs him, 530 00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:44,920 but his heart is not completely right and how he does it. 531 00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:47,960 He's very slight. You might have missed it if we 532 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:50,280 don't slow down and observe his wording. 533 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:53,760 You really have to like slow down and pick this up. 534 00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:59,720 Look at what Balaam says. He says go to your own land for 535 00:39:59,720 --> 00:40:05,760 the Lord has and here it is, Refused to let me go with you. 536 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:10,160 Did you catch that? What stood out to me is this 537 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:14,360 word refused, Refused. You know why that's important? 538 00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:17,920 I looked at this Hebrew word. It's used 46 times in the Old 539 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:26,160 Testament. 45 of the 46 times it refers to man's refusal. 540 00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:32,280 This is the only instance where it refers to God or it's used of 541 00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:35,880 God. The overwhelming majority of 542 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:41,720 those 45 times is in the context of man being stubborn. 543 00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:47,760 Pharaoh will not let them go. He refuses to let them go. 544 00:40:49,720 --> 00:40:54,120 Now what does that mean? It's as if Balaam is accusing 545 00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:59,880 God of being stubborn. That's what he's doing. 546 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:05,800 Balaam is accusing God of being stubborn. 547 00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:10,800 Ian Dugwid, who's a commentator, a pastor as well, writes this. 548 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:16,200 So too, when Balaam said that the Lord had refused to let him 549 00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:20,920 come with them, he clearly implied that he personally would 550 00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:24,840 have loved to be able to oblige Balak if only the circumstances 551 00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:28,760 have been different. Balaam is essentially saying to 552 00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:34,640 Balak, hey, tell your king I would love to come. 553 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:38,640 I would love to come. Curse his people like I'm free, 554 00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:44,440 my calendar's free. But he refuses to let me go. 555 00:41:49,990 --> 00:41:55,710 Brother and sister, be careful that we do not subconsciously 556 00:41:55,750 --> 00:42:02,670 accuse God of being stubborn. I was talking to somebody the 557 00:42:02,670 --> 00:42:06,390 other day who had somebody who had lost their job. 558 00:42:07,270 --> 00:42:10,350 They have, they have actually changed jobs four to five times 559 00:42:10,350 --> 00:42:15,400 in the past four to five years. And they, this is what they 560 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:23,200 said. Really God, really, you see what 561 00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:27,240 is, what's behind that heart that says really God, here's 562 00:42:27,240 --> 00:42:29,520 what it is. There's an implication that God 563 00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:32,320 needs to get with the program and give them a job. 564 00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:36,520 That God is just being stubborn here. 565 00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:40,080 That God, you gave me a job and then I lost and you gave me a 566 00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:42,240 job and I lost. And God, just like he's just 567 00:42:42,240 --> 00:42:47,000 being stubborn. You see, we can all be guilty of 568 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:51,880 this, people. You hear it in phrases, right? 569 00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:56,400 Well, God just won't let me have this. 570 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:00,840 He knows I want to be married. He just won't give it to me. 571 00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:07,960 He's just being stopper. God's just not going to answer 572 00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:10,520 this prayer. He knows I need healing. 573 00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:12,880 I've been praying for it. I've been praying for this job. 574 00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:15,560 I've been praying for this, you know, whatever. 575 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:19,840 And God's, I mean, he's just not going to answer this prayer. 576 00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:23,920 You know, he just keeps giving me trials. 577 00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:29,280 God, I've had, I mean, I've had enough trials like another, 578 00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:35,240 really another haven't had. It's in these kind of 579 00:43:35,240 --> 00:43:37,040 statements, you know what we're doing when we say that kind of 580 00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:39,560 thing. We're subconsciously accusing 581 00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:45,600 God of being stubborn. We're subconsciously saying, 582 00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:54,880 God, stop being so stubborn. We're suggesting that God's will 583 00:43:54,920 --> 00:43:59,120 needs to bend to our desires, rather than praying that God 584 00:43:59,120 --> 00:44:01,600 would bend our desires to His will. 585 00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:08,080 Now what's interesting is that when the elders of Moab go back 586 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:10,640 to the king, they make no mention of the Lord. 587 00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:13,080 When they go back, what do they say? 588 00:44:13,080 --> 00:44:14,440 They don't say that the Lord refuses. 589 00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:17,240 They say who Balaam refuses. They don't even mention the Lord 590 00:44:17,240 --> 00:44:19,400 at all. God doesn't even factor into 591 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:22,920 their equation. They simply say Balaam refuses. 592 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:25,680 There's a word again. That's one of the 45 times 593 00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:31,680 Balaam refuses to come with us. They assume the decision lies 594 00:44:31,680 --> 00:44:34,160 with Balaam, that is his decision and that Balaam is 595 00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:36,520 being stubborn here. Look at verse 15 to 17. 596 00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:39,680 Once again Balak sent Princess more in number and more 597 00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:42,320 honourable than these, and they came to Balaam and said to him. 598 00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:45,640 Thus says Balak, the son of the poor, let nothing hinder you 599 00:44:45,640 --> 00:44:48,560 from coming to me, for I will surely do you great honour and 600 00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:50,080 whatever you say to me I will do. 601 00:44:50,240 --> 00:44:55,960 Come curse this people for me. Balak assumes that Balaam's 602 00:44:55,960 --> 00:44:58,400 refusal. You know what he thinks he's 603 00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:01,320 just negotiating. That's why he he refused. 604 00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:02,960 You never accept their first offer. 605 00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:07,800 We all know that he came and game, you know, an amount and, 606 00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:11,040 and, and Balaam is like, no, no, no, I can't come, sorry, I can't 607 00:45:11,040 --> 00:45:13,480 do it. And he's like, I got you. 608 00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:17,160 I he's negotiating. So what does he do? 609 00:45:17,720 --> 00:45:22,120 He sends more Princess, more Princess and more honourable or 610 00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:23,680 more distinguished than the first. 611 00:45:24,360 --> 00:45:27,360 The text doesn't say this, but implied in that statement is he 612 00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:32,280 UPS the payment, he sweetens the offer, he offers him more money, 613 00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:35,640 more honor. And look at what Balick said. 614 00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:40,720 Balick said let nothing hinder you from coming to me. 615 00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:52,600 Nothing which includes the Lord. Notice Balick doesn't even 616 00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:56,880 mention the Lord. In his mind, it doesn't matter 617 00:45:56,880 --> 00:46:01,360 if it's his wife, it's his health, it's his religion, it's 618 00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:04,520 his previous commitments, it's his reluctance to travel. 619 00:46:04,680 --> 00:46:11,600 He says let nothing hinder you from coming to me and look at 620 00:46:11,600 --> 00:46:14,400 what he offers. He says I will surely do you 621 00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:17,520 great honour. Whatever you say to me, I will 622 00:46:17,520 --> 00:46:19,680 do. In other words, here's here's 623 00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:24,680 how we would say it today. Name your price, Name your 624 00:46:24,680 --> 00:46:27,840 price. Name your price. 625 00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:35,000 It's yours. Who does that sound like? 626 00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:42,880 Brothers and sisters, it is the voice of Satan that whispers to 627 00:46:42,880 --> 00:46:47,600 us. Let nothing hinder you from 628 00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:53,360 coming to me. Satan will come to us and he 629 00:46:53,360 --> 00:47:00,840 will say name your price. What will it take for me to have 630 00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:04,280 you? How much? 631 00:47:05,120 --> 00:47:06,240 What do you want me to do for you? 632 00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:12,040 And here's here's the thing. Just like Balak, he won't take 633 00:47:12,040 --> 00:47:14,800 no for an answer. He'll sweeten the offer. 634 00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:19,280 Oh, it it's not money you're looking for. 635 00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:20,400 Oh, OK. What? 636 00:47:20,400 --> 00:47:23,400 Well, what is it? Oh, a relationship. 637 00:47:24,560 --> 00:47:33,600 Got it. Satan will say to us, let 638 00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:37,760 nothing hinder you from coming to me. 639 00:47:40,600 --> 00:47:41,800 Do you hear it? Do you? 640 00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:45,280 Do you hear that when you're tempted with sin that Satan is 641 00:47:45,280 --> 00:47:50,200 saying to you, What will it take for me to have you? 642 00:47:54,920 --> 00:47:58,400 And do you hear the voice of our Savior whispering in the other 643 00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:02,480 year, saying to you, What does it profit you to gain the whole 644 00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:12,560 world and to forfeit your soul? What is it profit you if you 645 00:48:12,560 --> 00:48:16,520 gain marriage but you forfeit your soul? 646 00:48:18,360 --> 00:48:22,560 What does it profit you if you gain that 6 figure salary that 647 00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:26,520 you want so badly, but you forfeit your soul doing it? 648 00:48:27,720 --> 00:48:31,120 What does it profit you to finally gain the approval of 649 00:48:31,120 --> 00:48:35,160 your family, but to forfeit your soul and doing it? 650 00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:40,520 What does it profit you to finally gain that retirement 651 00:48:40,520 --> 00:48:44,040 where you can travel the world and eat buffets for the rest of 652 00:48:44,040 --> 00:48:49,400 your life? If you forfeit your soul, 653 00:48:54,480 --> 00:48:59,480 brothers and sisters, what does it profit Balaam to gain all the 654 00:48:59,480 --> 00:49:03,760 riches of Moab and forfeit his soul? 655 00:49:04,240 --> 00:49:08,520 Because that's what he did. Balaam is not in heaven. 656 00:49:10,640 --> 00:49:17,520 He forfeited his soul. And here's the thing, Balak 657 00:49:17,520 --> 00:49:21,400 says. I I just need you to do one 658 00:49:21,400 --> 00:49:23,920 thing. Just know that Balak's not 659 00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:26,240 saying, look, when I hire you like we're going to make a 660 00:49:26,240 --> 00:49:28,480 contract, you're going to be like my professional cursor for 661 00:49:28,480 --> 00:49:32,400 the next 10 years. I want you to like he says, 662 00:49:32,400 --> 00:49:36,440 look, just come one time and make one. 663 00:49:36,440 --> 00:49:39,800 Curse one thing and think about it. 664 00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:42,280 Think you'll have all the riches? 665 00:49:44,120 --> 00:49:48,320 Everything that we have Moab has, It'll all be yours. 666 00:49:49,880 --> 00:49:55,000 Just do this one thing. That's what Satan does, doesn't 667 00:49:55,000 --> 00:49:59,360 he? Right. 668 00:50:01,240 --> 00:50:05,680 Just just just compromise in this one way and it'll all be 669 00:50:05,680 --> 00:50:08,520 yours. You can make a compromise once. 670 00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:14,280 It's just one thing. We are all sinners, none of us 671 00:50:14,280 --> 00:50:18,360 are perfect. Just compromise once and and 672 00:50:18,360 --> 00:50:23,800 think about what you'll get. Look at what Balaam says in 673 00:50:23,800 --> 00:50:27,560 verse 18. But Balaam answered and said to 674 00:50:27,560 --> 00:50:30,520 the service of Balak, though Balak were to give me his house 675 00:50:30,520 --> 00:50:34,080 full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the 676 00:50:34,080 --> 00:50:39,440 Lord my God to do less or more. Balaam says, listen, if you were 677 00:50:39,440 --> 00:50:44,280 to give me all of the King's treasury, your whole house full 678 00:50:44,280 --> 00:50:49,080 of silver and gold, I was wondering how much gold does the 679 00:50:49,080 --> 00:50:51,000 United States government have? United States government has 680 00:50:51,000 --> 00:50:55,800 over $700 billion of gold. Can you imagine if we had a 681 00:50:55,800 --> 00:50:57,400 king? We don't have a king, but you 682 00:50:57,400 --> 00:51:07,840 imagine if we did had a king and he offered you $700 billion to 683 00:51:07,840 --> 00:51:12,440 just do one thing. I mean, all you got to do is 684 00:51:12,440 --> 00:51:18,640 walk over and say you are cursed, thank you very much. 685 00:51:20,920 --> 00:51:24,760 That's it. You. 686 00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:28,880 Would you do it? Would you do it? 687 00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:32,680 What would you do for $700 billion? 688 00:51:37,080 --> 00:51:38,640 Balaam says. Even if you were to give it all 689 00:51:38,640 --> 00:51:43,040 to me, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord to do less 690 00:51:43,040 --> 00:51:46,120 or do more. Now I want to point out one 691 00:51:46,120 --> 00:51:49,800 thing about this phrase. When he says Lord my God, that 692 00:51:49,800 --> 00:51:51,840 might, you might read that and it might raise the question 693 00:51:51,840 --> 00:51:53,920 well, was he a worshipper of God or not? 694 00:51:54,280 --> 00:51:58,040 He calls him the Lord my God. Was he a true prophet of God or 695 00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:02,600 was he a false prophet or not? The fact that Balaam calls him 696 00:52:02,880 --> 00:52:10,920 the Lord my God means nothing. Nothing Jesus said on the day of 697 00:52:10,920 --> 00:52:14,560 judgement. Many, many will say to me, Lord, 698 00:52:14,640 --> 00:52:17,000 Lord, did we not prophecy in your name? 699 00:52:17,040 --> 00:52:19,000 And did we not cast out many demons in your name? 700 00:52:19,120 --> 00:52:22,160 And did we not do many money wonders and works in your name? 701 00:52:22,280 --> 00:52:25,400 And he says, I will turn to you and say, depart from me, you 702 00:52:25,400 --> 00:52:32,960 workers of evil. I don't know you talk is cheap. 703 00:52:33,960 --> 00:52:37,200 Balaam saying the Lord my God means nothing. 704 00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:43,280 Balaam simply understands as Satan does, how things work with 705 00:52:43,280 --> 00:52:45,280 an almighty God. You see, Satan would say the 706 00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:50,800 same thing if a demon came to Satan and said Satan do this and 707 00:52:50,800 --> 00:52:53,440 he says I can't do anything unless God allows me. 708 00:52:55,240 --> 00:52:56,600 And Balaam is saying the same thing. 709 00:52:56,720 --> 00:52:59,400 I cannot go beyond the command of the Lord. 710 00:53:00,120 --> 00:53:02,960 Balaam understands that he is not allowed to transgress the 711 00:53:03,120 --> 00:53:05,920 command of the Lord. And I love that he says less or 712 00:53:05,920 --> 00:53:09,520 more because it covers sins of omission and it covers sins of 713 00:53:09,520 --> 00:53:12,600 Commission. Meaning if God tells me to speak 714 00:53:12,760 --> 00:53:16,160 and open my mouth, I cannot decide not to speak, I have to 715 00:53:16,160 --> 00:53:18,040 speak. And if God tells me not to 716 00:53:18,040 --> 00:53:21,400 speak, I cannot decide to speak. I have to be silent. 717 00:53:23,560 --> 00:53:28,520 Brothers and sisters, disobedience is not an option 718 00:53:28,520 --> 00:53:33,320 for us. I am not suggesting that we 719 00:53:33,320 --> 00:53:34,560 don't sin. We will sin. 720 00:53:34,680 --> 00:53:37,640 We'll go out of this place and within an hour we'll sin. 721 00:53:40,680 --> 00:53:43,520 But I am saying that disobedience is not an option 722 00:53:43,520 --> 00:53:49,280 for us. How easy it would have been for 723 00:53:49,280 --> 00:53:54,360 Balaam to think, Lord, just let me have this this one time. 724 00:53:54,440 --> 00:53:59,240 Just let me get this one. Like, like God, I just need to 725 00:53:59,240 --> 00:54:03,400 pronounce one curse right. I do this one time and then I'll 726 00:54:03,400 --> 00:54:09,480 be a rich man. Let me pronounce one curse and I 727 00:54:09,480 --> 00:54:14,080 can go away a rich man. Yes you can. 728 00:54:14,280 --> 00:54:17,240 A rich man straight on his way to hell. 729 00:54:20,280 --> 00:54:25,000 Disobedience is not an option the next time. 730 00:54:25,320 --> 00:54:29,280 And this will happen maybe as early as today, probably today. 731 00:54:29,440 --> 00:54:33,320 The next time that Satan comes to you and he dangles that 732 00:54:33,320 --> 00:54:41,360 carrot in front of you and says just indulge. 733 00:54:41,360 --> 00:54:49,400 It's OK, we're all sinners. Just indulge. 734 00:54:51,720 --> 00:54:55,760 I want to encourage you to look at him and say back to him, by 735 00:54:55,760 --> 00:54:58,640 the power of the Spirit and the blood of Jesus Christ. 736 00:54:58,800 --> 00:55:04,480 The same thing that Balaam, a false prophet, says, I cannot go 737 00:55:04,480 --> 00:55:09,560 beyond the command of the Lord my God to do more or to do less. 738 00:55:09,800 --> 00:55:14,720 Disobedience is not an option for me. 739 00:55:17,160 --> 00:55:17,560 Let's pray.