1. Balaam

2. Israel Heads Towards the Promised Land
As the Children of Israel’s forty years in the Wilderness began to come to an end. They started to journey up the eastern side of the Jordan River. Preparing to enter the Land of Canaan.
While on this side of the Jordan they encountered some of the nations that we hear about in other parts of the Old Testament

3. Israel Heads Towards the Promised Land
The Amorites, Ammonites and Edomites all lived on the eastern side of Jordan
The nation Israel encounters in our lesson today was the Moabites. Balak was their King
Balak heard how Israel destroyed his neighbor the Amorites and He is afraid of them
He sent for a Prophet of God named Balaam in order for him to curse Israel

4. Balaam
Nu 22:1 ¶ Then the children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho.
2 Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
3 And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel.

5. Balaam
4 So Moab said to the elders of Midian, "Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field." And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.
5 Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: "Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me!

6. Balaam
6 "Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed."
7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner's fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak.

7. Balaam
8 And he said to them, "Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me." So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
9 Then God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?“
10 So Balaam said to God, "Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying,

8. Balaam
11 'Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.'“
12 And God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed."

9. Balaam
13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, "Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to give me permission to go with you."
14 And the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, "Balaam refuses to come with us."
15 ¶ Then Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more honorable than they.

10. Balaam
16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, "Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: 'Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me;
17 'for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.'“
18 Then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.

11. Balaam
19 "Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me."
20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you-that you shall do."
21 So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

12. Balaam
22 ¶ Then God's anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the LORD took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
23 Now the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road.

13. Balaam
24 Then the Angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side.
25 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall; so he struck her again.

14. Balaam
26 Then the Angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
27 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam's anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
28 Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?"

15. Balaam
29 And Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!"
30 So the donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?" And he said, "No."

16. Balaam
31 Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face.
32 And the Angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me.

17. Balaam
33 "The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live."
34 And Balaam said to the Angel of the LORD, "I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back."

18. Balaam
35 Then the Angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

19. Balaam We may remember the outcome of this story
Balaam tried 3 times to curse the Children of Israel
On all three occasions Balaam blessed them instead of cursing them
Balaam however did teach them that getting the Israelites involved in sin would cause God to turn against them
Balaam was eventually killed by the Children of Israel when they destroyed the Midianites

20. Balaam We may wonder why God was upset with Balaam. He told him to go.
Maybe we can get a better understanding of Balaam’s problem from other scriptures
Balaam was a prophet of God who went bad.
Because he loved money more than he loved God
Neh 13:2 because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.

21. Balaam He was hired to disobey God!
He put physical wealth ahead of obedience to God
2Pe 2:15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
He even circumvented God not allowing him to curse the Israelites by telling others to get the Israelites involved in sin

22. Balaam
Nu 31:16 "Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
Because of his greed, he was not willing to accept the Simple and Plain Word of God

23. Balaam
Nu 22:12 And God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed."
13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, "Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to give me permission to go with you.“
What was hard to understand about what God told him?

24. Balaam
The men left and came back. The only thing that changed from the first time they saw Balaam was they were offering more money.
Nu 22:19 "Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.“
God could not have been plainer with his command.
Was God’s mind going to change His mind because they offered more money?

25. Are we Like Balaam? Are we anything like Balaam?
Could we be hired or paid to disobey God?
We may think of a Hitman, Drug dealer or Car Thief
What about one who teaches false doctrine for money?
What about one who takes a job that prevents them from attending worship services on a regular basis?

26. Are we Like Balaam? Is that being hired or paid to disobey God?
What about one who would cheat on his taxes?
Remember what Jesus said when asked about paying taxes?
Mt 22:21 They said to Him, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

27. Could We Be Paid to Disobey?
What about the one who does not give as he has been prospered on the first day of the week
All of these in a sense have been hired to do evil by someone else or even by themselves.
Do we look to circumvent God’s commands? Or look for ways to get around doing what God wants us to do.
Many try to get around God’s law concerning marriage

28. Do We Circumvent God’s Laws?
Mt 19:3 ¶ The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"
4 And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,'
5 "and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?

29. Do We Circumvent God’s Laws?
6 "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.“
7 They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"
8 He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

30. Do We Circumvent God’s Laws?
9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.“
Some try to get around this law of God by saying “it doesn’t apply to us, it applied to the Jews”
Jesus’ answer came from before the Jews existed
Jesus’ answer was true from the beginning of time and is true even now!

31. Do We Circumvent God’s Laws?
Some want to circumvent God’s law concerning women preachers?
1Co 14:34 ¶ Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.
35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

32. Do We Circumvent God’s Laws?
Would we try to circumvent the law of God by saying:
”That was back then, times have changed”
“The Church needs to keep up with the changes in society”
Do God’s laws change because man changes? Absolutely not!

33. Do We Circumvent God’s Laws?
Some would like to circumvent God’s law about singing in the worship service
Eph 5:19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

34. Do We Circumvent God’s Laws?
All the music that Christians used in worship to God was Vocal or Singing not Playing.
Would we say “but the organ (submit any instrument here) just makes our songs sound more beautiful”
More beautiful to who? Us or God?
Have we come up with a better way to worship God than He did Himself?

35. Do We Circumvent God’s Laws?
Would we say “David played the Harp”
Ps 150:3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!
4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

36. Do We Circumvent God’s Laws?
Do we live under the same law as David?
No, we do not, David lived under the Law of Moses that was given to Israel at Mount Sinai
We live under the Law of Christ given to us by the Son of God
We cannot sing by the Authority of the Lord Jesus because he has not commanded us to do so.

37. Do We Circumvent God’s Laws?
He has been very specific in what he wants and that is for us to sing
Example: Why don’t we use steak and sweet tea for the Lord’s Supper? Because the scriptures are specific about what to use.
Why do we sing and not play? Because the scriptures are specific about what to do.

38. Are we dumber than a donkey?
Balaam was so blinded by his own wants and desires that he was unable to see the danger that waited in his path that even the dumb donkey could see.
2Pe 2:15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

39. Are we dumber than a donkey?
16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet.
Are we so blinded by our own lusts and desires that we are not able to see the dangers of the path we are on?

40. Are we dumber than a donkey?
Ro 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

41. Conclusion We simply do not want to be like Balaam
This prophet of God is remembered as an evil man
He was unwilling to accept the plain and simple word of God
He sold his soul for material things
He knew God’s will but found a way around it so that he could fulfill his own lust
Because of his lust for wealth he was unable to see the danger ahead of him.