1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,280 On the prophet, the false prophet of Balaam. 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,400 And so we're, we've made it to the third Oracle. 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:09,840 We've we've looked at the 1st and 2nd and this morning will be 4 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,600 on the the third one. And so we'll be in numbers 23 5 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:15,960 beginning in verse 27. And we're going to go all the 6 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,120 way through chapter 24, verse 10. 7 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:24,400 Title of the sermon this morning is this open eyes and bent ears. 8 00:00:25,080 --> 00:00:29,040 So let's read the text. Open us in a word of prayer and 9 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:30,160 we'll jump into the sermon this morning. 10 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:32,759 Numbers 23, beginning in verse 27. 11 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,200 And Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another 12 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,520 place. Perhaps it will please the Lord 13 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,680 that you may curse them for me from there. 14 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,160 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Pior, which overlooks the 15 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:52,040 desert. And Balaam said to Balak, Build 16 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,360 for me here 7 altars, and prepare for me here 7 bulls and 17 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,800 seven Rams. And Balak did as Balaam had 18 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,760 said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 19 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:07,160 Chapter 24. When Balaam saw that it pleased 20 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:13,200 the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to 21 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:17,760 look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. 22 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,840 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping, tried by 23 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,760 tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon 24 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:31,560 him, and he took up his discourse and said the Oracle of 25 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:37,120 Balaam, the son of Bior, the Oracle of the man whose eye is 26 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:44,280 opened, the Oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees 27 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,960 the vision of the Almighty falling down with his eyes 28 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:52,200 uncovered. How lovely are your tents, oh 29 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:58,360 Jacob, your encampments, O Israel, Like palm Groves that 30 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:03,640 stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that 31 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:08,320 the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. 32 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:12,320 Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seeds shall be 33 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,280 in many waters. His king shall be higher than a 34 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,040 gag, and his Kingdom shall be exalted. 35 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:22,400 God brings him out of Egypt, and it's for him like the horns of 36 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,440 the wild ox. He shall eat up the nation's, 37 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,640 his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and Pierce 38 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:33,640 them through with his arrows. He crouched, he laid down like a 39 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:38,000 lion, and like a lioness who will rouse him up. 40 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,440 Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse 41 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,440 you. And Balak's anger was kindled 42 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,240 against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. 43 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:53,840 And Balak said to Balaam, I called you to curse my enemies, 44 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:59,840 and behold, you have blessed them these three times. 45 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:02,440 And we'll stop right there with our text. 46 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:11,670 You will pray with me, God, as we continue our study of the 47 00:03:11,670 --> 00:03:14,390 interaction between Balaam and Balak. 48 00:03:15,070 --> 00:03:23,230 And your people got to pray. You would open our eyes and you 49 00:03:23,230 --> 00:03:28,520 would bend our ears. You would cause us to see God 50 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:33,440 and cause us to hear what you want us to see and what you want 51 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:35,880 us to hear. I pray that everybody in this 52 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:41,560 room, God would know that there is something that you want us to 53 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,320 see this morning. There is something you want us 54 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,960 to hear. You have a a vision. 55 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:51,440 You have a word for every single individual in this place. 56 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:57,360 Help us to believe that Lord, and help us to to do something 57 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,000 about it. By your grace I pray in Jesus 58 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:08,120 name, Amen. You can't get someone to 59 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:15,280 necessarily see what you see. I remember when we moved here, 60 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:25,360 we noticed how many people here loved corgi dogs and I was like, 61 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:28,600 I don't get it. I don't see the appeal. 62 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,320 No offense if you love them or you have one, but I was like, I 63 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:36,360 don't get it. Sometimes you'll see a couple 64 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:39,960 together and you'll think, I don't get it. 65 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:47,160 What does he see in her or what does she see in him? 66 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:52,120 I don't get it. Or you might see an outfit or 67 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:56,440 some kind of a tire that's considered cool or trendy or 68 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:59,680 hip, and you say, I don't get it. 69 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,040 I don't see it. It looks ridiculous to me. 70 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:10,880 Or you might go to an Art Museum and someone says, oh, look at 71 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,040 that. What an exquisite painting. 72 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,800 And you say it's just a yellow dot. 73 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:21,960 I don't get it. I don't see it. 74 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:28,920 You can't always get someone to see what you see. 75 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:34,080 It's also true that you can't get someone to necessarily hear 76 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:39,800 what you hear. I listen to country music and 77 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:44,520 I'm like, I don't get it. What's the appeal? 78 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:53,600 But people love it. I don't know why my my wife 79 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:58,720 listens to comedians and she's often like I don't get it that 80 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,520 just sounds mean. So why do you like this? 81 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:11,080 Or what is a pleasant sound to one person is noise to another. 82 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,960 You can't get someone to necessarily see what you see. 83 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:21,640 You can't get necessarily to get someone to hear what you hear. 84 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:25,520 And the same is true in the spiritual world, isn't it? 85 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,800 You can be sharing about how wonderful God is, or what God 86 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,840 showed you this morning in your quiet time, or why you love God 87 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:38,120 so much. But as you're sharing, you 88 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:43,880 realize they don't see it. They don't hear it. 89 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:55,000 And the reason is because we all need God to open our eyes and to 90 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,560 bend our ears. Otherwise we'll never see it. 91 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:04,680 We'll never hear it. That's what the sermon is about 92 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,240 this morning. I want to start off by giving 93 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:10,880 the context. If you haven't been here with us 94 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:12,880 the past few weeks, I'm going to give the context so you kind of 95 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:15,360 know where we're at, and then we'll jump into our text this 96 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,560 morning. So here is the context. 97 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:23,320 Balak is the king of Moab, and he has hired Balaam, a Pagan 98 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,080 diviner, to come and curse Israel. 99 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:30,440 Balaam has given his first prophecy, but rather than curse 100 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:34,040 Israel, he has instead blessed them according to the word of 101 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,920 the Lord. Now Balak thinks that well maybe 102 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:42,080 if we change location, God will change his mind. 103 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:47,080 But Balaam affirms that God is not a man that he should lie, or 104 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:49,760 a son of man that he should change his mind. 105 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:54,040 So Balaam gives his second prophecy and he once again for 106 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:59,920 the second time blesses Israel. Balak then tells him stop all 107 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:06,720 prophecy, cease all operations, but Balaam tells him I can't, I 108 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:10,080 cannot be silent. Every word that God puts into my 109 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:14,160 mouth that must I speak. And that's where we left off 110 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,000 last week. So we're going to pick up in his 111 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,040 third Oracle. Let's look at verse. 112 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,240 We'll start at verse 27 of chapter 23. 113 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:27,360 And Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another 114 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,960 place. Perhaps it will please God that 115 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:35,039 you may curse them for me. From there. 116 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:41,880 You know the definition of insanity doing the same thing 117 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:45,840 over and over again but expecting different results. 118 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,520 You ever heard that definition? Insanity is doing the same thing 119 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:51,880 over and over again but expecting different results. 120 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:56,960 It appears that Balak might qualify for that definition, he 121 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:02,520 tells Balaam. Let's try another location now. 122 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:07,400 He's already tried this. I want you to consider Balick's 123 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,280 stubbornness, or maybe we might say stupidity, here. 124 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,880 Think about it. Why would changing a location 125 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:19,640 change God's mind? Why? 126 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:21,640 Why? Like why would that change God's 127 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:25,440 mind? If someone asked me, will you 128 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,440 curse your son? If you came to me and you know, 129 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:29,760 and not not that you would, but maybe someone in the world came 130 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:32,160 to me and said, will you curse one of your sons? 131 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:37,920 No. Well, what if it was in a park? 132 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:45,840 No. What if it's in the woods? 133 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:48,440 No. What? 134 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,480 What does it matter where I am? Why would I? 135 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:59,320 It is ironic that Balak would think this because Balaam has 136 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:04,080 just said, he just told him. He said Balak, God is not a son 137 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:06,360 of man, that he would change his mind. 138 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:08,720 He is not going to change his mind. 139 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:10,840 God is determined to bless these people. 140 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:14,040 He is not going to change his mind. 141 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:20,280 And Balak is stubbornly refusing to accept God's will. 142 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,840 Stubbornly. Church family, be careful that 143 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:30,040 we don't kick against the goads. You ever heard that phrase kick 144 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:33,160 against the goads? Here's how one commentator 145 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,040 describes it. In the many instances where the 146 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,120 proverb occurs in Greek literature, it always has the 147 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,480 meaning of resisting one's destiny or fighting the will of 148 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:45,480 the gods. Like a beast of burden kicking 149 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,240 against his master's goads, he would only find the blows more 150 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:51,720 severe. With each successive kick. 151 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:57,680 He was fighting the will of God. It was a futile, senseless task. 152 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:04,000 In other words, the more that Balaam resisted his donkey, the 153 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,800 more he got hurt and the more foolish he looked. 154 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:13,320 And the more that Balak tried to curse Israel, the more Israel 155 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:17,800 was blessed. Brothers and sisters, sometimes 156 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:25,880 God is goading us, provoking us, steering us, disciplining us, 157 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:31,840 teaching us. And we might be kicking against 158 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,920 it. Why? 159 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,320 Because we're determined to make something work. 160 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:41,800 We are determined to have our way. 161 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,120 We are determined to do our will. 162 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:53,280 Church family, submit to the will of God in your life, 163 00:11:54,880 --> 00:12:04,800 especially if you don't like it. Notice how Balak words this. 164 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:11,520 Perhaps it will what please God that you may curse them for me 165 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:12,720 from there. Did you catch that? 166 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,160 He says perhaps God will be pleased literally. 167 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:20,200 Perhaps it will be pleasing in the sight of God to curse them. 168 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:22,960 They like really does not understand who the Lord is. 169 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:27,960 Here you see, one of the marks of the lost world is the belief 170 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:31,640 that God could possibly be pleased with sin. 171 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:35,600 One of the ways that you know the lost word from the 172 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:38,480 Christians is that you could possibly believe that God could 173 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:44,960 ever be pleased with sin. June is so-called Pride Month 174 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:49,000 where there is a month long celebration of sin. 175 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:53,760 What I find interesting about the movement is that they don't 176 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:56,840 have the perspective. We don't care what you think 177 00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:58,800 about us. That's not their perspective. 178 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:08,160 Rather, they want this lifestyle to be viewed as moral, good, 179 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:15,080 righteous, loving. In other words, they want the 180 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:20,760 world to see their choices as pleasing in God's sight. 181 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:28,000 In other words, the lost world doesn't just want their evil, 182 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:32,040 they want the world. They want Christians. 183 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:35,720 They want everyone to call their evil good. 184 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:41,080 They're not content to just have it, they want it to be labeled 185 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:45,880 as good as well. Look at verse 20 to 30. 186 00:13:47,680 --> 00:13:50,560 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Pior, which overlooks the 187 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:53,360 desert. And Balaam said to Balak, Build 188 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,960 for me here 7 altars, and prepare for me here 7 bulls and 189 00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:59,880 seven Rams. And Balak did as Balaam had 190 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:04,760 said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 191 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:09,120 Now previously they were on top of Mount Pisgah and now he takes 192 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,720 them to the top of Mount Pior which overlooks the desert. 193 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:16,400 And Balaam gives him the same instructions as before. 194 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:22,200 He says build 7 altars, prepare 7 bulls and prepare 7 Rams and 195 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:25,200 offer them on those 7 altars. And Balak does it. 196 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:27,120 He does exactly as he's instructed. 197 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:32,200 Now consider how deep he is in. Now Balak has invested 21 198 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:38,400 altars, 21 bulls, 21 Rams. This is starting to get quite 199 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:43,960 costly. The world is willing to pay an 200 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:49,680 extremely high cost to get what they want. 201 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:55,040 If you study history, you will see that people are willing to 202 00:14:55,040 --> 00:15:01,280 pay extraordinarily high cost to get what they want. 203 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:06,120 Just take, I mean take human sacrifices for example. 204 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:08,920 Historically, if you look at human sacrifices, they will 205 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,720 practice in China, the Incans practice them, the Mayans, the 206 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:17,760 Aztecs, Israel, Egypt, the Assyrians. 207 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:22,400 I mean, one has to wonder that what if Balak, What if Balaam 208 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,000 told Balak, if you want me to curse them, sacrifice your first 209 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,600 born son. One has to wonder, would Balak 210 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,160 have done it? Maybe, maybe. 211 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:38,080 And yet the one thing that everybody wants, including 212 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,360 Balik, including you and including me, and including the 213 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:43,640 whole world, the one thing that everybody wants, whether they 214 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:49,400 know it or not, which is eternal life and eternal happiness in 215 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:56,960 that life, is a free gift. It's a free gift. 216 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:02,760 God does not require us to build an altar. 217 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,360 He built himself an altar in the cross. 218 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:10,200 God does not require us to sacrifice a bull or a ram. 219 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:14,880 He provided his own lamb. God does not require us to 220 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:21,240 sacrifice our Son. He chose to sacrifice his Son. 221 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:31,560 Friends salvation, eternal life, eternal happiness is a free gift 222 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:38,360 of God through Jesus Christ. Luke chapter 24, verse one. 223 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:44,440 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did 224 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:50,280 not go as at other times to look for omens, but he set his face 225 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:54,200 toward the wilderness. Now this is such an interesting 226 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:56,840 twist in the story. It's so interesting. 227 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:02,760 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did 228 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:07,240 not go, as at other times, to look for omens. 229 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:10,400 Now what does that mean? And he set his face toward the 230 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:11,680 wilderness. What does that mean? 231 00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:14,240 Well, let's break this down first. 232 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:20,280 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, so he 233 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:23,280 sees that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel. 234 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:26,640 This implies that it was somewhat of a surprise to 235 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:30,400 Balaam. He was like, oh, you're actually 236 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,960 pleased to bless them. This is again highlighting the 237 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:36,920 fact that Balaam is not acquainted with the ways of the 238 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:39,320 Lord. This blessing should come as no 239 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:42,200 surprise. God is always delighted to bless 240 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,600 His people. Nevertheless, when Balaam sees 241 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:50,360 this, it changes his actions. It changes what he does. 242 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:56,920 How he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens. 243 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,480 What does that mean? Omens here can be translated 244 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:04,480 sorcery, divination, or enchantments. 245 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:09,520 In other words, in the previous instances, in the first Oracle 246 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:16,640 and in the second Oracle, Balaam still sought to find a curse 247 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:20,880 against Israel. So when he said that he was 248 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:26,360 seeking the Lord, he it it seems to imply he was still seeking to 249 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:31,080 find a curse as well. Now whether he was legitimately 250 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,960 doing this, whether he was legitimately seeking a curse or 251 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:39,800 maybe he was just doing it as a pretense to Balick, I don't 252 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:41,480 know. Both could be true. 253 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,560 He might have legitimately be seeking a curse, or he might 254 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,920 have just been doing this to appease Balick thinking, well, I 255 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,520 still want to get paid, I don't know. 256 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:55,360 But after two times of getting no omens, he has no omens given 257 00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:59,400 to him, Balick says. Balaam says, I'm not going to 258 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:01,280 seek out a curse. I'm not going to seek out a 259 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:03,720 divination. He seeks out no curses, no 260 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:05,880 divination. Instead, what does he do? 261 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:09,680 He sets his face toward the wilderness. 262 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,040 Now, what does that mean to set his face toward the wilderness? 263 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:17,520 I think it means this. I think it means that rather 264 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:23,360 than looking for an omen, he looked at the people of God. 265 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:30,520 Rather than setting his face to find an omen, he set his face on 266 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,640 the people of God, because that's who's in the wilderness 267 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:38,920 is the people of God. Now, why does that matter? 268 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,800 You almost get the sense that in the first two oracles, Balaam 269 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:48,400 has one eye on the Lord and one eye on Balak's riches. 270 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:50,920 That's kind of the sense you get. 271 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:55,400 He's got one eye on the Lord and one eye on Balick's riches. 272 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,800 He has what we might call chameleon eyes. 273 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:00,720 You ever seen a chameleon's eyes? 274 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:03,520 They can move them independently of each other. 275 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,200 It's kind of weird, right? When I was looking this way, 276 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,920 when I was looking this way, you see where as we can only focus 277 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:12,760 on one thing, right? Like if I'm looking at my wife 278 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,640 right here, I can kind of see some stuff over here, but I, I 279 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,080 can't see Frank at all. Like if I had a chameleon's 280 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:20,480 eyes, I could see Frank. And he can tell me how many 281 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:23,160 fingers he's holding up. I have no idea what he's doing 282 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,360 right now. I can only focus on one thing at 283 00:20:26,360 --> 00:20:31,040 a time, whereas A chameleon can focus on multiple things at a 284 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:35,200 time. Brothers and sisters, if we are 285 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:42,160 not careful, we can develop spiritual chameleon eyes where 286 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:46,880 we have one eye on God and one eye on something else. 287 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:50,640 That was the rich young rulers problem. 288 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:56,120 Remember the rich young ruler, he has one eye on Jesus and he 289 00:20:56,120 --> 00:21:00,680 has one eye on his riches. The reason that the rich young 290 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:06,000 ruler could not set his full face on Jesus is because his 291 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,720 eyes were on his riches. He couldn't take his eyes off of 292 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:18,760 his riches. Friends, you can only focus on 293 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:24,840 one thing at a time. In other words, if Jesus is in 294 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:29,640 the background and something else is in the foreground, and 295 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:34,920 you're focusing on what's in the foreground, Jesus will always be 296 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:39,200 blurry to you. You'll see him. 297 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,640 You'll get a distinct idea of who he is. 298 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:47,480 He'll always be blurry. At best, he'll be blurry. 299 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:55,560 It's not until the 3rd Oracle that Balaam stops looking for 300 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,160 omens. And notice what he starts 301 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:02,480 looking at. He set his face toward the 302 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:04,720 wilderness. Now why is that significant? 303 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:09,200 Look at verse 2 and Balaam lifted up his eyes. 304 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:13,800 He saw Israel camping tribe by tribe, and the Spirit of God 305 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:18,880 came upon him. Balaam lifted up his eyes. 306 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,720 There is a clear theme of scene in this third Oracle. 307 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:24,440 Clear theme. Let me show it. 308 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:30,120 Pior overlooks the desert. Balaam saw that it pleased the 309 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:33,480 Lord. He did not look for omens, he 310 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,400 said his face or his eyes toward the wilderness. 311 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:41,200 Balaam lifted up his eyes, He saw Israel. 312 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:45,240 Clear theme of scene here. And when he looks out at the 313 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:48,520 wilderness, he sees Israel. He sees the people of God 314 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:52,320 camping try by tribe. Now remember, in the previous 315 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,080 two oracles, Balak specifically said you won't see them all, 316 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:57,360 you're only going to see a portion. 317 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:01,320 It's almost as if like Balak doesn't want him to see him, all 318 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:05,680 of them. But now he sets his face toward 319 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:09,440 the wilderness and he sees all of Israel, camping tribe by 320 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:13,600 tribe. What's interesting is that it 321 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:19,800 appears that for the very first time, Balaam truly saw the 322 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:25,360 people of God for what they were previously. 323 00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:28,240 I think he saw the people of God as a means to an end. 324 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:31,440 I think that's what he saw, right? 325 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,680 Bailey's got money. I'd like to get that money. 326 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,600 These people, that's the means to an end. 327 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:42,200 If I curse them, I get this money. 328 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:46,160 And when he looked at the people of God, they were a means to an 329 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:48,440 end. I think it's what he saw. 330 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:50,960 And I think this is the first time that he actually looks at 331 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:54,760 the people of God and he sees them for what they actually are. 332 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:00,960 Friend, what do you see when you look at the church? 333 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,560 You step inside this building on Sunday or Friday or small group 334 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:09,880 or any kind of church event. When you look around and you see 335 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:14,080 the people of God, what do you see when you see the church? 336 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:22,400 Is it a means to an end? Is it a means to community? 337 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:29,920 I don't have any community. Is it the means to a potential 338 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:35,000 spouse? Is it a means to friends? 339 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:37,000 Purpose. Identity. 340 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,800 What do you see when you see the people of God? 341 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:51,080 When you look, do you see what the psalmist sees? 342 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,800 As for the Saints in the land, they are the excellent ones. 343 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,320 And whom is all my delight? Psalm 16 Three. 344 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:05,520 And then something amazing happens. 345 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:09,400 Something unexpected happens to Balaam. 346 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:11,840 The Spirit of God comes upon him. 347 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:15,280 I mean, we could not expect this. 348 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:18,600 It didn't happen in the first one, didn't happen the second 349 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,240 time, and now all of a sudden the Spirit of God Almighty comes 350 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,160 upon him. Now previously the Lord put a 351 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,200 word in his mouth both times 1 and 2, the Lord put a word in 352 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:31,400 the now, instead of God putting a word in his mouth, the whole 353 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:35,960 Spirit of God comes upon him. Now what does this mean and why 354 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,320 did this happen and why did it happen now? 355 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:40,920 Let's first discuss what it doesn't mean. 356 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:46,080 This is not the same thing as the indwelling of the Holy 357 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:47,960 Spirit that we see in the New Testament. 358 00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:52,000 That's not what this is. We were given no indication that 359 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,360 anybody in the Old Testament had the indwelling of the Holy 360 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:58,280 Spirit the way that we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in 361 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:02,000 the New Testament. In the Old Testament, God sent 362 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:04,760 His Spirit to come upon multiple people. 363 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,280 This happened to Samson, it happened to the 70 elders, it 364 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,760 happened to Othneil, it happened to David, it happened to Saul. 365 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:14,760 And it doesn't mean that they weren't dwelt by the Spirit. 366 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:20,760 There is a difference between the Spirit rushing upon someone 367 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:28,600 and residing within someone. If the Spirit resides within 368 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:34,000 you, you are in Christ. But if the Spirit rushed upon 369 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,480 someone in the Old Testament, it simply meant that God was 370 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:39,840 empowering them for a particular ministry. 371 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:42,560 The Spirit would come upon people. 372 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,000 Remember, the Spirit came upon Saul and left Saul. 373 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:48,240 The Spirit would come upon Samson and leave Samson. 374 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:51,920 Right. The Spirit comes upon Balaam. 375 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,800 He is a false prophet. We know that he's a false 376 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,360 prophet and the Spirit comes upon him to empower him for a 377 00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:01,480 particular ministry. So Balaam now is going to give 378 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:05,160 this third prophecy under the power of the Spirit. 379 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,840 The Spirit is going to empower him and equip him to give this 380 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:13,000 third prophecy. Now why did the Spirit come upon 381 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:18,120 him? Now at this point, I don't know, 382 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:19,840 but I'm going to give my best conjecture. 383 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:25,080 I assume verse 2 is connected to verse one. 384 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,960 I assume that the Spirit came upon him because for the very 385 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:34,960 first time, Balaam didn't seek for omens. 386 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,680 Instead he sought the people of God. 387 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:45,080 I think that's why I think that before he is looking for omens, 388 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:48,240 he seeks God. But with reality, maybe he 389 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,800 didn't seek God at all. Remember, God's the one who 390 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:55,320 initiated to him, so maybe he's seeking omens and God interrupts 391 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:57,240 his omens, seeking to talk to him. 392 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:02,320 But now he's not doing that. He sees the people of God and 393 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:06,360 the Spirit decides to come upon him because of this change. 394 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:12,720 Brothers and sisters, there is a connection between how much we 395 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:17,040 seek the Spirit and how much we are filled by the Spirit. 396 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:23,960 There is a connection. We can never be more indwelled 397 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:28,600 by the Spirit. On day one of your justification 398 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:32,440 you are 100% indwelled by the Spirit. 399 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:36,480 That will never increase. Nobody is more into. 400 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:39,680 Charles Spurgeon has the same indwelling the Spirit that I 401 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:44,160 have and that you have. We will never be more indwelt by 402 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:48,480 the Spirit, but we can be more filled by the Spirit. 403 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:52,640 How do we know this? Because Paul writes in Ephesians 404 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:57,200 518, Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be 405 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:01,600 filled with the Spirit. That's a command to do 406 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:05,080 something. That's a command to do something 407 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:09,640 to be filled with the Spirit. Have you ever wondered why in 408 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:13,920 Acts 6, when they needed to choose seven men to handle the 409 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,520 food distributions among the widows, that they didn't say, 410 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:19,520 all right, guys, we need to choose seven men. 411 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,160 Do this. Let's pick out seven Christian 412 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,040 men. They didn't say that. 413 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:29,160 They didn't say let's pick out seven members of the church. 414 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:33,920 They didn't say that. Let's pick out seven mature men. 415 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:35,440 They didn't say that. Here's what they said. 416 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:41,840 Pick out from among you 7 men of good repute, full of the Spirit 417 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:51,080 and of wisdom. We need men and women who are 418 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:56,960 full of the Holy Spirit, not just indwelled by the Spirit, 419 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:04,200 full of the Holy Spirit. I used to play basketball with 420 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:10,840 this guy several years ago who would drink several beers before 421 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:15,640 games. Every time we go to play a game 422 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,720 and he would come and he he would, I mean, he would go to 423 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:20,560 the bar and he would drink several beers before the games. 424 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,560 One time he got kicked out simply because he smelled like 425 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:26,920 alcohol. He used to joke that he was the 426 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:31,480 first player ever to get a DUI playing basketball, dribbling 427 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:36,880 under the influence. He was a good player. 428 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:41,240 That that's the irony. He was a good player and I would 429 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:47,200 think if you can play this well drinking beer, imagine how good 430 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:55,330 you'd be if you drank water. Same is true for us. 431 00:30:59,250 --> 00:31:04,650 Imagine what God would do in and through us if we came into this 432 00:31:04,650 --> 00:31:08,330 place filled with the Holy Spirit. 433 00:31:12,410 --> 00:31:18,800 Imagine if we spent our Saturday night or Saturday morning or 434 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:25,200 Sunday morning instead of catching up on work emails or 435 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:32,840 watching silly YouTube videos or whatever the case is filling our 436 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:38,360 souls with the Spirit of God. Imagine what God would do in and 437 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:44,800 through US. We need men and women who walk 438 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:49,000 in through those doors who are not just Christians, but who are 439 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:56,400 filled with the Holy Spirit. The verse three to four. 440 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:00,680 And he took up his discourse and said, the Oracle of Balaam, the 441 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,200 son of Beor, the Oracle of the man whose eye is open, the 442 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:07,720 Oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the 443 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:12,000 vision of the Almighty falling down with his eyes uncovered. 444 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:16,240 I want you to consider what effect the Spirit had on Balaam. 445 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:18,080 The Spirit, Notice the connection. 446 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:22,360 The Spirit came upon him, and he took up his discourse. 447 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,640 Don't miss that. The Spirit came upon him and he 448 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:31,480 took up his discourse. In other words, the Spirit moved 449 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:34,360 Balaam to give this third prophecy. 450 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,000 You see, the Spirit functions as a crowbar. 451 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:43,000 Our mouths. We have a lot of people in our 452 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:45,640 church who can be very slow to speak. 453 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:48,480 We do. I mean, that's just the truth. 454 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:50,880 You know what, I know it. We have a lot of people in our 455 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:54,600 church who can be very, very slow to speak. 456 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:59,640 I think a lot of that is rooted in courtesy and respect and 457 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:01,640 deference to others, which are all good. 458 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:06,600 Those are all good. The downside of that though, is 459 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:13,120 that sometimes our mouths can become sealed shut and we need a 460 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:19,040 crowbar to pry it open. It can be sealed shut out of 461 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:25,120 fear of man, sealed shut out of fear of appearing dumb, fear of 462 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:29,960 being wrong, fear of offending others, fear of saying the wrong 463 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:33,200 thing. You see, fear can function like 464 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:41,880 rust, and over times our mouths can become rusted shut, and the 465 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:49,800 spirit functions like a crowbar. He comes and he pries our mouth 466 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:57,480 open and says, you must open your mouth, you must speak all 467 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:05,180 that I give you. Look at how Balaam describes his 468 00:34:05,180 --> 00:34:09,060 Oracle. He says the Oracle of the man 469 00:34:09,060 --> 00:34:14,239 whose eye is opened, there's our theme of seeing again. 470 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:17,520 See, Balaam was a man who was blind. 471 00:34:17,679 --> 00:34:20,880 He was blind to his own greed. He was blind to the aims of the 472 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:22,760 Lord. He was blind to what his donkey 473 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:25,199 was showing him. He was blind to the ways of the 474 00:34:25,199 --> 00:34:29,719 Lord. And now God has opened his eyes. 475 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:35,480 He says who sees the vision of the Almighty falling down with 476 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:40,440 his eyes uncovered. Balaam now sees God. 477 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:42,440 He sees the vision of the Almighty. 478 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:46,199 His eyes are uncovered. He, God, has opened his eyes. 479 00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:48,000 But you know what's scary about this? 480 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:53,360 Balaam's eyes were open to who God was. 481 00:34:55,040 --> 00:35:02,640 Balaam wasn't saved. God opened his eyes to see God, 482 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:10,160 and he wasn't saved. Friends, it is possible to have 483 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:16,240 your eyes open to the truth of God, but not the beauty of God. 484 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:25,520 Let me give you a basic analogy. If you and I are in a completely 485 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:27,520 dark room, imagine we're in a completely dark room. 486 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:29,800 There is no light that gets in this room whatsoever. 487 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:35,440 You and I are in this room and you tell me, Matt, there's a 488 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:42,320 third person in this room. I can't feel them. 489 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:45,240 I, I have to take your word for it. 490 00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:48,040 I have to take your word for it that there's a third person in 491 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:49,640 this room because I can't see them. 492 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:53,080 But suppose I, I have trouble taking your word for it. 493 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:56,120 I'm like, there's not a third person in this room. 494 00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:59,440 I have explored this entire room. 495 00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:03,960 I have exhausted all corners. There is not a third person in 496 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:05,880 the room. Suppose I have a hard time 497 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:08,000 thinking room with. Then suppose you turn the lights 498 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:13,600 on and when you turn the lights on, there is a third person in 499 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:16,160 the room. There they are. 500 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:23,520 I see them. I can now see the truth that a 501 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:29,680 third person exists, but that doesn't mean I see the third 502 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:34,480 person as beautiful. I might see the third person and 503 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:40,680 think they are ugly. I might see the third person and 504 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:42,640 think, why would you show me this person? 505 00:36:44,320 --> 00:36:46,480 I don't want to see them. Turn the light back off. 506 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:57,040 You see, that takes another kind of opening of the eyes. 507 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:04,920 It is possible to see the truth of God and not see the beauty of 508 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:13,040 God. Balaam sees God, he doesn't see 509 00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:14,000 God. It's beautiful. 510 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:21,000 Not only have Balaam's eyes been opened, but so have his ears, 511 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:27,040 the Oracle of him who hears the words of God. 512 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:31,080 His ears were open to the voice of the donkey, and now they are 513 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:36,240 open to the voice of God. God is in the business of 514 00:37:36,240 --> 00:37:40,760 opening eyes and bending ears. Brother and sister, when you 515 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:44,360 read this book, do you hear the words of God? 516 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:56,520 Do you hear them? Few years back during pastor 517 00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:59,240 appreciation, Frank, I think it was Frank. 518 00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:00,320 I don't know if it was, but I think it was. 519 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:02,520 Frank got me this noise cancelling ear buds. 520 00:38:03,720 --> 00:38:07,080 So I think they're fascinating. I use them now when I work out, 521 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:11,360 my boys will come up to me. I'm I'm sitting there like doing 522 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:13,240 a bench press and they come up to me and it's always the same 523 00:38:13,240 --> 00:38:14,320 question. When are we leaving? 524 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:20,360 My boys will come up to me while I'm working out and they'll 525 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:25,120 they'll ask me something. I can hear them, but it's very 526 00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:28,520 faint. It's very, very faint. 527 00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:31,960 And often I, I really can't discern what they're saying. 528 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,320 I can kind of discern it, but I can't really discern it. 529 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:37,240 And so often I'll either need to pause the music or I'll just 530 00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:39,520 take the earbuds out all together so I can actually 531 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,760 properly discern what are they saying? 532 00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:52,720 You see, we can sit down to read this book and our calendar can 533 00:38:52,720 --> 00:39:00,560 function like earbuds. Our To Do List can function like 534 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:08,080 earbuds, or the conflict that we had yesterday, or the work 535 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:09,960 problem that we can't seem to solve. 536 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:17,360 You can hear God speaking, but it's very faint. 537 00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:27,880 It's very faint, friend. Ask God to open your eyes to 538 00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:32,880 properly see him. Ask God to bend your ears to 539 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:36,400 properly hear him. Because it won't happen. 540 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:40,360 If he doesn't do it, it won't happen. 541 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:46,320 He has to do it, but you have to ask. 542 00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:52,920 Ask Him and mean it. Mean it. 543 00:39:55,760 --> 00:40:01,600 Open my eyes God, open my ears. I want to see, I want to hear. 544 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:09,640 Don't be content with a half hearted vision of God, with a 545 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:13,200 half fainted like whisper of God. 546 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:15,440 I want to hear Him loud and clear. 547 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:24,200 Verse 57. How lovely are your tents, O 548 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:27,760 Jacob, your encampments, O Israel, like palm Groves that 549 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:31,520 stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that 550 00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:34,800 the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. 551 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:38,240 Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be 552 00:40:38,240 --> 00:40:40,640 in many waters. His king shall be higher than 553 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:43,240 Agag, and his Kingdom shall be exalted. 554 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:46,280 Balaam begins blessing the people of God. 555 00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:50,120 I mean, this is a future blessing because they, this is 556 00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:51,960 not true of them right now, right? 557 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:54,360 They're in the desert and they're wearing 40 year old 558 00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:57,960 shoes. And like, this is a future 559 00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:00,000 blessing. He starts off by describing that 560 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:04,000 how lovely are your tents? Oh, Jacob, how lovely are your 561 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:05,680 encampments? 00, Israel. 562 00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:09,000 Now let's be clear, it's not as though Israel got the best 563 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:12,920 camping gear from REI. That's not what's going on here. 564 00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:19,240 What makes their tents lovely is not their tents, but their God 565 00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:24,000 that dwells among their tents. And then Balaam describes them 566 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:28,040 with four similes, like palm Groves that stretch afar, like 567 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:31,800 gardens beside a river, like aloes that the Lord has planted, 568 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:34,280 like cedar trees beside the water. 569 00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:38,120 What a beautiful sight that this will be of the people of God. 570 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:44,200 This coming Saturday will be 17 years of marriage for me and 571 00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:46,520 Lauren. And I was thinking about that 572 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:49,960 because that means that the our 20 year anniversary is only 573 00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:52,000 three years away. And I was thinking what are we 574 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:53,760 going to do for our 20 year anniversary? 575 00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:56,680 I was thinking maybe we could go to Hawaii. 576 00:41:56,920 --> 00:42:02,400 We both never been. And I was like, I heard it was 577 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:04,080 beautiful. I imagine this is what it's 578 00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:09,200 like. Lovely palm trees that stretch 579 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:15,920 afar, gardens beside a river, aloes that the Lord planted 580 00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:20,640 himself, beautiful trees beside the water. 581 00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:26,120 And yet I want you to consider this is not a place that Balaam 582 00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:33,520 is describing, but a people. It makes me think about a 583 00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:36,240 wedding. You can have a wedding and a 584 00:42:36,240 --> 00:42:38,560 beautiful place. It can have gorgeous 585 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:41,800 decorations. It can have lovely flowers. 586 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:49,600 And yet the groom's eye are on his bride, and the bride's eyes 587 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:58,160 are on her groom. There is nothing more beautiful 588 00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:05,960 than our God, and the beauty of Hawaii does not compare to the 589 00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:10,640 sight of God's people worshiping their God. 590 00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:20,640 The most beautiful sight in this world does not compare to what 591 00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:27,800 we are doing right now. You will not find a more 592 00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:37,710 beautiful picture the 1st 2 lines of verse 7. 593 00:43:38,990 --> 00:43:40,470 They're translated quite differently because of the 594 00:43:40,470 --> 00:43:43,550 Hebrew. The idea seems to be that Israel 595 00:43:43,550 --> 00:43:45,310 will be prosperous, will be fruitful. 596 00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:47,840 They're already numerous, and God says that they'll be more. 597 00:43:47,840 --> 00:43:51,440 So He says water shall flow out of his buckets. 598 00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:54,160 It's kind of the idea when you would put a pole on your back 599 00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:56,040 and you had a bucket on this side and to this side, right? 600 00:43:56,240 --> 00:43:59,400 And as you're walking, right, water's just, you know, water is 601 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:01,320 like gold in those days. If you're, especially if you're 602 00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:03,280 in the wilderness, you know, it's like you give somebody 603 00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:04,280 gold. It's like, what am I going to do 604 00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:05,600 with gold, right? I need water. 605 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:09,880 And he is so prosperous that water is just overflowing from 606 00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:11,440 his buckets. That's the idea. 607 00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:14,840 His king shall be higher than a gag. 608 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:17,760 This is an interesting prophecy because Israel does not have a 609 00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:20,480 king yet. So we get even here one of the 610 00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:23,000 earliest prophecies that God was eventually going to give them a 611 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,760 king, yet they won't have one for quite some time. 612 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:29,600 I don't think this is the same a gag as in First Samuel 15 613 00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:31,320 because he comes much much later. 614 00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:34,760 We don't know who this king is. A gag also might be a a title 615 00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:37,720 like Pharaoh or Caesar or some or something. 616 00:44:37,720 --> 00:44:40,600 We don't know who this king is, but not only is this king 617 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:46,120 exalted, but so is his Kingdom. Balak wanted to curse Israel. 618 00:44:46,160 --> 00:44:50,200 He wants to bring them down. But Balaam testifies their God 619 00:44:50,200 --> 00:44:54,640 will actually exalt them, meaning that not only am I not 620 00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:56,880 going to curse them, I'm not even going to leave them 621 00:44:56,880 --> 00:44:59,760 neutral. I'm going to exalt them. 622 00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:04,480 You know what's ironic about verse 7 coming from the mouth of 623 00:45:04,480 --> 00:45:11,560 Balaam is that this is what Balaam wanted, Prosperity. 624 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:15,440 This is what he wanted. He just sought it from the wrong 625 00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:19,640 source. You see brother and sister, God 626 00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:24,880 will exalt us. He will prosperous in due time. 627 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:28,600 This is why the story of the rich young ruler just blows my 628 00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:32,640 mind because Jesus wasn't offering him poverty. 629 00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:38,840 It wasn't like Jesus said go sell all that you have and be 630 00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:44,040 poor. He says go sell all that you 631 00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:55,880 have and you will have what treasure in heaven? 632 00:45:56,480 --> 00:46:00,480 How tragically ironic that Balaam sought out treasure. 633 00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:02,600 He did. He sought out treasure and yet 634 00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:05,240 here it was. Here it is. 635 00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:11,080 Here is true treasure, He just sticks it from the wrong source. 636 00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:19,960 Look at verse 8-9. God brings them out of Egypt, 637 00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:22,120 and his forehand like the horns of the wild ox. 638 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:24,480 He shall eat up the nation's His adversaries. 639 00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:27,640 He shall break their bones in pieces and Pierce through with 640 00:46:27,640 --> 00:46:30,440 arrows. He crouched, He laid down like a 641 00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:33,600 lion, and like a lioness who will rouse him up? 642 00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:37,680 Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse 643 00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:41,040 you. Balaam testifies that Israel did 644 00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:44,040 not escape Egypt. God brought them out of it. 645 00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:47,720 He is for them like the horns of the wild ox. 646 00:46:47,720 --> 00:46:49,920 We looked at that similarly last week. 647 00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:54,680 The reason that they were able to defeat Sahan and Odd, two 648 00:46:54,680 --> 00:46:59,080 nations that were far more powerful and larger than Israel, 649 00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:02,360 is because precisely because God is for them. 650 00:47:03,640 --> 00:47:07,040 God says that His plan is not only to bring them out of Egypt 651 00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:11,760 to the promised land, but God's plan is also to use them to 652 00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:15,000 judge the nation's. That was part of what God is 653 00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:16,960 doing. Israel is going to be a tool in 654 00:47:16,960 --> 00:47:21,440 the hand of God to judge the nation's, righteously judge 655 00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:24,400 them. And Balaam gives 3 metaphors to 656 00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:27,840 describe this judgement. He shall eat up the nation's as 657 00:47:27,840 --> 00:47:30,360 adversaries. He shall break their bones in 658 00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:32,640 pieces. He shall Pierce them through 659 00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:35,520 with his arrows. Balaam is basically telling 660 00:47:35,520 --> 00:47:40,800 Balaic Balak, if you go to war with these people, you're going 661 00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:44,280 to lose. You lose. 662 00:47:45,560 --> 00:47:50,160 He is crouching, he is laying down like a lion, and like a 663 00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:56,160 lioness who will rouse him up. In other words, he's Balaam is 664 00:47:56,160 --> 00:47:59,040 basically telling Balak, Balak, do you really want to poke the 665 00:47:59,040 --> 00:48:04,400 bear? Brothers and sisters, we win in 666 00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:08,680 the end. We win in the end. 667 00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:12,440 This is so important because it feels like Christianity is 668 00:48:12,440 --> 00:48:16,400 losing all the time, doesn't it? It feels like the church is 669 00:48:16,400 --> 00:48:19,600 losing. Morality is losing, right? 670 00:48:19,600 --> 00:48:22,520 The world is just is winning and we're losing. 671 00:48:22,720 --> 00:48:27,200 That may feel that way, but we win in the end. 672 00:48:29,160 --> 00:48:31,280 And Balaam concludes his prophecy with the same words 673 00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:33,440 given to Abraham several 100 years before. 674 00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:36,320 He says blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those 675 00:48:36,320 --> 00:48:39,720 who curse you. And so, Balak, if you desire to 676 00:48:39,720 --> 00:48:42,040 curse these people, you brought me here to curse them. 677 00:48:42,040 --> 00:48:44,320 I need you to know you will be the one who's cursed. 678 00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:49,680 I need you to know that all curses that are hurled at God's 679 00:48:49,680 --> 00:48:51,800 people, they function like a boomerang. 680 00:48:52,880 --> 00:49:00,400 They come right back at you. Verse 10 last verse And Balak's 681 00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:04,240 anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands 682 00:49:04,240 --> 00:49:06,400 together. And Balak said to Balaam, I 683 00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:08,640 called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed 684 00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:13,640 them these three times. After the first prophecy, Balak 685 00:49:13,640 --> 00:49:17,280 was abashed. He says, what have you done to 686 00:49:17,280 --> 00:49:20,920 me? After the second prophecy, Balak 687 00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:24,000 was anxious. Don't don't bless them at all. 688 00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:26,480 Don't curse them at all. Don't don't do anything at all. 689 00:49:26,560 --> 00:49:29,280 And after the 3rd prophecy, Balak is now angry. 690 00:49:30,280 --> 00:49:31,920 His anger is kindled against Balaam. 691 00:49:32,960 --> 00:49:35,720 He struck his hands together. Now what is that? 692 00:49:35,760 --> 00:49:38,320 That was apparently an ancient expression of contempt. 693 00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:41,320 Our closest, probably clenched fish. 694 00:49:41,320 --> 00:49:44,880 You ever been so angry? You're like, that's got to be 695 00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:49,000 idea. Balak once again repeats his 696 00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:51,720 previous words. He says I, I hired you for a 697 00:49:51,720 --> 00:49:54,440 specific purpose in my contract with you. 698 00:49:54,520 --> 00:49:57,960 I specified specifically in my contract that I wanted you to 699 00:49:57,960 --> 00:50:00,360 curse them, but you have done nothing but bless them. 700 00:50:00,360 --> 00:50:04,920 Now the three times I want you to consider the progression of 701 00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:08,320 Balak. He went from feeling abashed to 702 00:50:08,320 --> 00:50:12,600 anxious to now angry. Why? 703 00:50:14,360 --> 00:50:18,680 Because he can't accept God's will. 704 00:50:20,080 --> 00:50:25,440 He can't accept it. Friends, so much of our 705 00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:31,800 confusion, so much of our anxiety, so much of our anger 706 00:50:32,800 --> 00:50:38,080 finds its root in a wrestling with the will of God. 707 00:50:41,800 --> 00:50:44,320 We don't like it. I don't like your will, God. 708 00:50:45,400 --> 00:50:52,080 I don't like it. You may not say that, but you 709 00:50:52,080 --> 00:51:01,520 feel it. I don't like your will or I 710 00:51:01,520 --> 00:51:05,440 don't trust your will. I don't trust it. 711 00:51:06,880 --> 00:51:08,880 I don't trust I'll be happy with this. 712 00:51:09,720 --> 00:51:12,800 I don't trust that you can make me happy with this. 713 00:51:17,400 --> 00:51:24,280 And so I want to close with this Until God opens our eyes, I 714 00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:26,280 don't mean salvifically necessarily. 715 00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:33,920 Until God opens our eyes and bends our ears, we will continue 716 00:51:34,080 --> 00:51:39,200 to be either confused, anxious, or angry. 717 00:51:41,920 --> 00:51:44,160 Job wrestled with all three. Did you read the book of Job? 718 00:51:44,160 --> 00:51:47,360 Job wrestled with all three of these. 719 00:51:47,360 --> 00:51:50,680 He was confused, he was anxious, and he was angry. 720 00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:55,520 And it wasn't until the end of the book that this is what Job 721 00:51:55,520 --> 00:52:00,280 said. I had heard of you by the 722 00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:09,520 hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you. 723 00:52:12,200 --> 00:52:12,720 Let's pray.