Giving God bigger and better worship will not help you get your way.
Numbers 23:1-3 Then Balaam said to King Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice." 2 Balak followed his instructions, and the two of them sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offerings, and I will go to see if the LORD will respond to me. Then I will tell you whatever he reveals to me." So Balaam went alone to the top of a bare hill.
In the
previous post
we learned that Balaam is not at all who he seems to be from a casual
reading of his life story in the Book of Numbers. We have to look at all of
the scriptures about him to get the rest of the story. This is a double
minded man that God will use as a tool to tell us about his chosen people.
After Balaam encounters God on the road he arrives to find that the king is
irritated with him for taking so long to get there, this would have been a
great opportunity for Balaam to tell the king what happened that caused the
delay, instead he suddenly changes the conversation. Maybe he didn't want to
give a testimony of what God had done in his life because it may lead to the
king changing his mind and canceling the offer to pay him big for his
services. (Numbers 22:35-41)
Balaam didn't testify about his experience with God on the road but later he does testify that he cannot say what God doesn't allow. But the king
doesn't care about the disclaimer, in the morning Balak took him up to a
location that was a good lookout to see God's people. The people of Moab are
so involved in worship to false gods that every time the king takes Balaam
to a high place it is a location that is used to worship Baal.
The False Prophet
The blessing is the Lord's and a prophet for hire cannot change what God has declared about His people. Balaam is paid to speak the king’s desires, but he is shrewd enough to protect his reputation. If he curses Israel and God still blesses them, his credibility—and future business—is destroyed. Who would hire a prophet proven so wrong?
Balaam demonstrates that even the most extraordinary revelations from God can be squandered by a stubborn heart. God revealed Himself multiple times—sending an angel with a drawn sword, even opening the mouth of Balaam’s donkey—yet Balaam still sought to curse God’s people for profit.
The False Priest
To become more effective as a false prophet, Balaam tries to gain God's favor
by also pretending to be a priest, he is probably hoping that he can get a
different answer from God after he sacrifices a bunch of animals. Balaam
ordered the building of too many altars, and he sacrifices too many animals as
if he were trying to impress God with his worship in order to get what he
wanted from God.
Balaam seems to know the number seven is used by God to signify that something
is set apart as perfect, complete or holy. The number seven shows up hundreds
of times in the Bible starting in Genesis with the days of creation and the
day set aside for the Sabbath. Seven's continue throughout the Bible to
Revelation where there are seven churches, seals, bowls and more.
Balaam tried to give God "better worship" in order to get his way, instead of serving God as a real priest should, this priest is
self serving, trying to manipulate God to get the desired outcome. That might work on the other "gods" that he is
familiar with but not the God of Israel.
"Better Worship" Didn't Change God's Mind
Numbers 23:20-21 Listen, I received a command to bless; God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it! 21 No misfortune is in his plan for Jacob; no trouble is in store for Israel. For the LORD their God is with them; he has been proclaimed their king.
Balaam has done everything possible to gain favor with God and change God's
mind about his chosen people but none of it has made any difference. God
sees the heart of his worship and is not impressed, instead of Balaam
getting his way, God's will is still going to happen. Balaam will be
used as God's tool to confirm and clarify the blessings of God's people.
This false prophet, false priest and the ungodly king are a picture of the
opposite of Jesus (anti-type). This unholy trinity will come against God's people but Satan's power is limited in strength and it will only last for a season. (Revelation 12–13 and Revelation 16:13)
Just as God had a
plan for his people in the wilderness in the days of Moses he has a plan for
his people in the wilderness of today's world. God has
declared a blessing in my life that can not be reversed. I can be confident that God will take me to the
Promised Land despite the accusations of Satan about all of my
shortcomings.
