Balaam and Balek

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Ballam and Balak

The Israelites came to the edge of the promised land. They camped out in the plains of Moab. Balak the king of Moab, saw the Israelites and was afraid. King Balak sent his messengers to a man named Balaam. The King called for Balaam to “Come and curse the Israelites so that I might be able to defeat them.”
When Balaam went with the king’s officials, God sent an angel to stop Balaam. Balaam could not see the angel, but his donkey could. Three times the angel stood in the way, and tree times the donkey stopped. Balaam didn’t understand why the donkey was stopping , and he beat the donkey with his stick, so God gave the donkey the ability to speak.
God then allowed Balaam to see the angel, and Balaam said, “I was wrong. I didn’t know you were trying to stop me. If you don’t think I should go, I’ll return right now.”
The angel said, “It’s ok for you to go. But you must only say what I tell you.” Balaam told the king that God had blessed the Israelites. So Balaam blessed them too. In fact, he blessed them three times.
Before Balaam returned home he gave this special message:
Numbers 24:15–19 ESV
And he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”
This last “Oracle” starts off the same as the previous three but quickly turns in a prophecy about David who will eventually become King of Israel, many years later- David’s father wasn’t born yet.
Balaam is ultimately pointing to another King who would come and establish an everlasting Kingdom- Fourteen Hundred years after Balaam announced God’s promise Jesus was born.
At the time Jesus’ birth the magi followed a star to where the messiah was born, and the magi worshiped Him as King. This is who Balaam was prophesying about. The one who He “could see but not now.”
God sent Jesus to bless the whole world by rescuing people from sin- WE see God’s faithfulness to His word- Balaam blessed the people of Israel all while Israel was grumbling and complaining.
This story shows that God is Faithful- and we can trust or put of Faith in Him- He keeps His word
Psalm 138:7–8 ESV
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
We can put our Faith in God because of His Faithfulness- He sent Jesus the promised one, and we have this promise that we hold onto that no matter what we face God is faithful- His purpose of us will come to pass- we can trust in Him
Also, we are called to be like. How do we use our words to glorify God?
Luke 6:28 ESV
bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
We treat other as Christ has treated us. When we were enemies of God, Christ came and wen to the cross for us
Romans 5:8–10 ESV
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Enemies of God- is the term that Paul uses to describe us when we were in sin. Not a great title nor is it a great place to be. An enemy of the Creator of the universe…
Ephesians 2:1–8 ESV
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
God has blessed us, so we bless others. God gave us the greatest blessing even though we didn’t deserve it
“I have heard it said, “God didn’t die for frogs. So he was responding to our value as humans.” This turns grace on its head. We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They aren’t bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it.
There is only one explantation for God’s sacrifice for us. It is as Eph 1:7says, “for the riches of his grace.” It’s all free. It is not a response to our worth. It is an overflow of his infinite worth. In fact, that is what divine love is in the end: a passion to enthrall underserving sinners, at great cost, with what will make us supremely happy forever, namely His infinite beauty.”
1 Peter 3:9 ESV
Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
This is what Christ has done for us
John 3:16 ESV
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
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