The Blessing Of Consequences

Sometimes God gives us what we want so we can learn from the results. 

Numbers 22:7-8 Balak's messengers, who were elders of Moab and Midian, set out with money to pay Balaam to place a curse upon Israel. They went to Balaam and delivered Balak's message to him. 8 "Stay here overnight," Balaam said. "In the morning I will tell you whatever the LORD directs me to say." So the officials from Moab stayed there with Balaam.

In the previous post we saw that God's people are almost home despite themselves, they have proven that they are not worthy to be God's people that will inherit the promises made to Abraham, but they will do so anyway. We saw that the blessing is the Lord's and nothing that they can do will change the blessing. God always knew that they would be undeserving so there isn't any reason to change his mind hundreds of years later.

As the story of Balaam continues to unfold we will see that it creates a lot of questions than it doesn't explain. We will see that God and Balaam will both say and do things that are surprising and confusing, they will both go against what we expect. If you disregard the other scriptures about Balaam and just focus on the next couple of chapters of Numbers it will seem like Balaam is a pretty good guy, doing the right thing most of the time, but don't forget that is how Satan always presents himself. 

God's people are probably unaware that King Balak is so afraid of them that he is planning to attack them, they are in their camp minding their own business, unaware that God is working to protect them in supernatural ways even though they are probably complaining about him while all of this is going on.

Balaam Has Visitors

Numbers 22:9-12 That night God came to Balaam and asked him, "Who are these men visiting you?" 10 Balaam said to God, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent me this message: 11 'Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come and curse these people for me. Then perhaps I will be able to stand up to them and drive them from the land.'" 12 But God told Balaam, "Do not go with them. You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed!"

A delegation sent by King Balak visits Balaam to hire the false prophet to curse Israel. When Balaam receives the invite to curse God's people he seems to react the way that he should, you would think that he would not hesitate to make some quick money but Balaam responds wisely, stating he will seek God's will first and he would only do whatever God tells him to do. 

God takes the initiative and visits Balaam and opens the conversation with a question. When God begins a conversation, especially with a question, there is usually a very good reason to be afraid, but  Balaam seems very comfortable talking to God. It seems like he has probably done it before, instead of fear, the prophet seems to be acquainted with the idea of talking to God or possibly with other spiritual beings.

Balaam appears obedient and spiritually sensitive when he sends them away because God said no. We are not told that he felt disappointed about missing out on the large sum of money and fame that could be his. At this point, all we know is that Israel is a nation blessed by God, and Balaam’s role is to stay home and not interfere.

Balaam receives visitors again, this time it is another delegation from the king and also a return visit from God. The king sent more important people with bigger prizes, what a picture of how Satan works, he is the best at making his offer better and better to try and wear us down.

Numbers 22:18-19 But Balaam responded to Balak's messengers, "Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of the LORD my God. 19 But stay here one more night, and I will see if the LORD has anything else to say to me." 

Balaam never sounded more spiritual than when he referred to God as “the LORD my God” but don't be fooled. Balaam wants a God he can manipulate and negotiate with, he knows God and he knows his will but he is pretending to love God more than money. He is constantly searching for a loophole that will let him have both God’s approval and Balak’s money. 

Balaam Gets What He Wants

Numbers 22:20-22 That night God came to Balaam and told him, "Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But do only what I tell you to do." 21 So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials. 22 But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the LORD to stand in the road to block his way. As Balaam and two servants were riding along,

Imagine the delight Balaam had when God told him to go to King Balak, he was probably as delighted as we are surprised that God seems to make a complete turn around from what he said before without any explanation. And then surprise again, God is angry that he went. What's going on?

What looks like permission was actually God letting Balaam have exactly what his stubborn, money-loving heart insisted on. Balaam is going to learn that God's permission is not the same as God's approval. God is going to graciously give Balaam the opportunity to learn more about the God that he thinks he already knows.

It is difficult to understand that God’s sovereignty means nothing happens outside of his ultimate permission, but he permits things that are contrary to his perfect will that grieves Him. We have the freedom to choose to accept God's will or go our own way. (Matthew 23:37, Romans 1:24-28)

This not the first time that God allowed something outside of his will, we will see this concept play out after Israel was settled in the Promised Land, they will ask to have their heavenly king replaced by an earthly king, despite God's will. 

I always wondered why God chose Saul as their first king but now I think that God gave them exactly the type of king that he warned them about so that they would be blessed to learn from the consequences. (1 Samuel 8:1-22, Numbers 23:21)

Balaam did what we all do, we assume that the path of least resistance, with wide open doors, is the will of God but Balaam shows us that we need to be careful about that logic.We fail to see that God's permission is not the same as God's approval and he often permits things that he doesn't approve of.

Balaam Enters God's Classroom

Numbers 22:22b-23 As Balaam and two servants were riding along, 23 Balaam's donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road.

Balaam wasted no time getting on the road without any idea that he was entering God's classroom where the angel of the Lord stood ready to teach him, opposing his path with a drawn sword. It is amazing that Balaam is in this situation without any understanding of what is going on because it isn't until God allows himself to be seen that Balaam becomes aware of his presence. (Numbers 22:31-33)

Balaam's knowledge of God continues to show after he sees the angel of the Lord, he isn't afraid because he sees an angel with a sword, Balaam is afraid because he believes that the angel of the Lord is actually God. We know the angel is not an ordinary angel because he speaks in the first person as God and Balaam responds in fear with a confession and repents.

All of these encounters with God should have drawn Balaam to God but instead he is dangerously close to God's drawn sword. Ultimately Balaam chooses the path that leads to the sword, tragically he dies by the sword because he ignore God's kindness. (Numbers 31:8, Joshua 13:22) 

The “way of Balaam” proved to be the way of destruction, Balaam is proof that intellectual knowledge of God, spiritual experiences, the ability to speak true words about God, and even miraculous encounters with God does not guarantee your eternity with God. (2 Peter 2:15, Matthew 7:22–23)

Balaam Reminds Me Of The Prodigal Son

Let's compare the two, both men know the father, they know the fathers will and they both chose greed and lived to please themselves. God was merciful to both men and blessed them with a wake up call while they were in the middle of the consequences of their sin. (Luke 15:11-32)

Both men show us that getting our own way can be the severest judgment of all. However, they also offer a stark contrast in how to react to the consequences of rebellion. God's blessings were wasted on Balaam as he failed to learn his lesson, leading to an unhappy ending. The Prodigal Son, in contrast, repented and returned to the Father.

Their stories should make us think twice about our demands. Instead of demanding that God agree with us, we should ask God to help us agree with Him. We need His wisdom to discern which "open doors" are truly His will and which are paths He is merely allowing us to walk against His perfect plan.

These two men should make me think twice about what I ask for, instead of demanding that God agree with me I need to ask God to help me to agree with him. I need to remember that God might let me have my way and he may let doors be wide open that he may not want me to enter. 

I need to pray to discern God's will without asking for my own, I need to realize that he may have plans to use my will to teach me more about his will. (Romans 2:4)

God's Appointed Times - A Weekly Sabbath

The first event on God's calendar.

Leviticus 23:3 "You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the LORD's Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live.

Genesis 2:1-4 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 

2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation. 

4 This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

Deuteronomy 5:12 "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.

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In the beginning God created, day after day he didn't stop creating until his work was perfectly completed, then he rested. But don't get the idea that he was tired and needed to re-energize as a result of his labor, his rest was a result of the fact that creation was 100% perfectly finished. (Psalm 121:3-4)

Thankfully God is always working and never gets tired, if he stopped sustaining his creation then everything would fall apart. When we spend time creating something we will eventually need to spend time restoring our energy level but that's not true of God. I have to wonder if work was tiring for Adam and Eve before sin entered our world.

God introduces the idea of resting right after he completed the work of creation but we don't have any evidence that God told man to rest one day out of seven until after the exodus from Egypt. 

God knew that we would be dissatisfied with our work. 

Contentment will always be a struggle for us, no matter how hard we try we will execute our plans and never produce the exact outcome that we were striving for. We can look back on our work and see the imperfections staring back at us and we will have to say that it is good enough.

God knew that we would use work for evil:

• We work to gain God's favor
• We work to gain favor with the people around us
• We work so that we can feel good about ourselves

God knew that we would need to change our focus.

Ezekiel 20:20 And keep my Sabbath days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the LORD your God.' 

We need to turn our eyes upon God and put more effort into knowing and enjoying him instead of the achievements that our work gets us. God wants us to want him more than the blessings that we can gain from our daily grind. 

I need to make sure that I keep my treasure in proper perspective, my time and abilities are from God so therefore everything I produce also comes from him. All of my flawed outcomes are made possible because God gave me the time and ability to make my treasure.

God wants me to rest from earthly labor and he also wants me to rest from my attempts to earn my salvation. The Sabbath helps me remember that I cannot produce holiness in myself, I will only be good enough when I put my faith in Jesus work instead of my own.

God gives us rest for today and for eternity.

Matthew 11:28-29 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

This is the one gift that nobody will return because everybody can use some more of the gift of rest. When Jesus came into our world his people were in a very desperate state of mind, the country had been invaded for hundreds of years by various political leaders, some of them invaded the temple and stole anything valuable while others broke the temple rules, desecrated and defiled the place. 

Even the religious leaders made the burden of the people even worse as the turned the Sabbath into a legalistic nightmare. The religious leaders sought to so narrowly define the rules of the Sabbath to the point that nobody could really enjoy the day. It got so bad that every other day of the week was far more enjoyable and restful than the Sabbath.

Hebrews 4:1-2 God's promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. 2 For this good news-that God has prepared this rest-has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn't share the faith of those who listened to God.

God is still looking for people that will rest in him. People that will trust his love and care enough to have peace with him for this life and for eternity. I can look forward to eternal rest and enjoyment in God’s presence in the new place that he is preparing for me. (Isaiah 26:19, John 14:1-4, Revelation 14:13)

Thank you Lord for the gift of rest. I need to realize that my work will never be perfectly complete as your work of creation was. I will be tempted to keep working but it will never be fulfilling. Help me to focus on you and your work in my life.

RELATED ARTICLES

Resting on the Sabbath and Unpacking Its Treasures (firmisrael.org)

What Is the Sabbath in the Bible and Should Christians Observe It? (bibleproject.com)

How is Jesus our Sabbath Rest? (gotquestions.org)

Doing God's Will God's Way

Our skills and talents won't help us do God's will before God is ready.

Exodus 2:11-12 Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work. 

During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews. 12 After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand.

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The comfortable life that God's children had when they first arrived in Egypt is just a distant memory at this point. God preserved their lives during the famine by sending them to Egypt but he also allowed them to be persecuted for hundreds of years before they were released. Being in the center of God's will does not guarantee that you will live on easy street.

God sent a rescuer in the form of a defenseless baby that would have to be protected from the evil dictator that wanted him dead, instead of killing Moses, God would see to it that Moses would grow up in Pharaoh's own family. Moses would get the best education and military training that the government could provide. But as much like an Egyptian as they tried to make him Moses still knew that he wasn't one of them.

Moses could have stayed in his comfortable life but the day came when he couldn't stand the unjust treatment of his people any longer. Seeing the oppression and injustice day after day finally pushed him over the edge but the problem was that he hadn't talked to God about his decision.

Moses Thinks He Is Ready, God Knows Better

Moses thinks that he is ready to make a difference in the life of his people but he doesn't realize that he doesn't have God's blessing yet. Moses proves by his actions that he has a heart for his people, and that he has leadership skills but he was wrong to assume that it was time for him to take action. 

Seeing a need that your training and skills can handle and having the courage to solve a problem doesn't mean it is time to get to work. Sometimes God isn't ready for you even if you think you are ready to serve him. It is easy to take action in the areas that God has gifted us before God is ready for us to use those gifts. 

How God Uses Failure
1. God uses imperfect instruments who fail in their attempts to serve Him.  2. God shapes and prepares imperfect instruments before He uses them. 3. God’s gracious covenant faithfulness prepares His servants for His people and His people for His servants. Learn more>

It seems like God's people would be anxious for a deliverer but the response to Moses after he killed the Egyptian made it clear that they were not ready yet. We will see later that their opposition to Moses leadership will never go away completely, they will stand up against him over and over again and they will even beg to return to these miserable conditions.

The future leader of God's people had to be prepared for God's work by stepping into the classroom that God uses quite often. Many times the wilderness is the place that God takes his people so that they can spend time alone with him free of distractions.

Back in the book of Genesis we saw that Jacob ran to the wilderness to get away from his brother and he ran into God. The wilderness is the place where God shaped Jacob's character and brought him into a closer relationship with him. (Genesis 28:12-13, 32:22-32)

Now it is Moses turn in the wilderness classroom, as soon as he gets to the wilderness we can see his desire for justice in his successful rescue of some shepherd girls, consequently Moses gets married to one of these ladies. Moses has gone from riches and luxury to one of God's preferred occupations as a poor shepherd with a family to feed. (Exodus 2:15-22)

At the beginning of Exodus chapter two, Moses was know as a Hebrew by Pharaoh's daughter and now at the end of the chapter he is known as an Egyptian by the daughters of Reuel, that's how quickly Moses became alienated from both worlds. (compare Exodus 2:6,19)

Moses spent his first forty years thinking he was somebody. He spent his second forty years learning he was a nobody. He spent his third forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody.

-D. L. Moody

Imagine having a God given desire to rescue people but God doesn't allow you to use your gifts and training to help. Moses will be 80 years old before God lets him begin his ministry of leading his people back to their promised land. 

Moses must have spent a lot of time alone with the sheep thinking that he had ruined his life with that one impulsive decision but God will show up in a big way that should have given him a lot of courage.

God Is Ready, Moses Thinks He Knows Better

Exodus 3:1-3 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush.

Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. 3 “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”

When God is ready he comes in a big way to make it clear, but the burning bush that wasn't being burned up and the voice of God wasn't enough to convince Moses that God had the right man. Moses should have already realized that his own wisdom failed him when he killed the Egyptian but here he is standing on holy ground before God using his own wisdom again. This time he is making excuses about why God's wisdom is wrong.

Man's wisdom says that Moses has missed the opportunity to use his talents and influence forty years ago before he ran to the desert but God's wisdom says that this is exactly when he is ready to use us. Moses doesn't realize that the only strength that be needs is strong faith that the same powerful God of his ancestors was on his side.

Sometimes the most difficult times in ministry is in the waiting, we may feel like God is wrong for not using our ability and passion to serve. Most of the time we can't understand why he gives us a passion to serve and the ability but he doesn't give us the opportunity. 

When Moses was perfect for the job by the world's standards, God wasn't ready to use him, sometimes God's delay is being used to help us realize that we need to rely on him for his strength and his timing.

Thank you Lord for giving me a passion to serve you. Help me to wait for your blessing and your timing so that I will be in your will.

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