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Advent Productions

Wilderness Wandering

Benjamin Ng

Water From A Rock

Jethro and Moses

The Law and the Covenant

Sanctuary

Nadab and Abihu

The Golden Calf Apostasy

The Seventy Elders

Family Dissensions

The 12 Spies

The Rebellion of Korah

In The Wilderness

When Talking Is Enough

Fiery Serpents

The Fear of God

Balaam the Prophet

Sinning Against Ourselves

Moses and the Israelites

Into Canaan

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this time that we have to study once more.

Lord, thank you for bringing us together and Lord, as we open your word, please open our hearts and minds to discern the truth that you have in there for us.

Guide and lead us with your Holy Spirit and please, teach us from your word we pray in Jesus' name.

Well, good evening to everybody out there.

Wishing all of you a blessed Sabbath and so glad that you can come and join us once more for our study in the wilderness wandering.

Our study for this evening is entitled Balaam the Prophet.

Quite a famous character in the Bible or I should say infamous character And where we are picking up is really where we left off last week.

The children of Israel, they've been getting closer and closer to the borders of Canaan already.

We're coming to the end of the wilderness wanderings.

We are close to the end of our series of these studies.

And they are now right there, ready for an attack against the Canaanites.

The Bible says, And the children of Israel set forward and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side, Jordan, by Jericho.

They are camping right near Jericho which was 1 of the strongholds of that country, which was heavily fortified.

It would be the first conquest of the Israelites as soon as they passed over.

However, we read there that they set up their camp in the plains of Moab.

God had told them, you remember, to pass through where?

Moabites, the Edomites, and the Ammonites, but don't touch them.

He was not going to give their land to the children of Israel.

However, the favor had not been repaid in kind." What do the Moabites do?

We read in Numbers 22 verses 2-6, And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many.

And Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.

And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that around about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field.

And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.

He sent messages therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt.

Behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me.

Come now, therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people for they are too mighty for me.

Peradventure I shall prevail that we may smite them and that I may drive them out of the land for I what that he whom thou blessest is blessed and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

So Balak, he is the king of Moab, and he's afraid of the Israelites.

He knows that a supernatural power guards them, and so he tries to fight fire with fire.

He goes to Balaam and he calls him and asks him to come and curse the children of Israel.

Somehow Balaam, he's famous for possessing some sort of supernatural power and so he tries to hire him for help.

He wants them to curse him, curse them and so that their defenses would depart from them and so that he could come in and attack them and overcome the children of Israel.

You know, Balak, he doesn't just send anybody.

He sends the elders from Moab and also the elders from Midian and they come with much rewards in their hands to tempt him to come and help him.

They want to reward him for his quote unquote efforts, right?

And upon seeing them at his door, he tells them that he will inquire of God and ask Him what He wants him to do.

And so Balaam, he's not just some sort of wizard, he's not some sort of pagan person, he is actually a prophet of God.

A prophet of God, the God whom the Israelites themselves worship as well.

And at this point, God still communicates with him.

Although, you know, he's infamous, we know that he's a bad prophet, but at this point in time, God still is communicating with him.

And how do we know that he's a prophet of the creator God?

When you look at how he calls God, that word God, he calls him Lord.

And that word in the Hebrew is Yahweh, which is the personal name of God, Jehovah.

So we know that he is a worshipper of the true God.

He is what we would call today a Christian.

And so how does God respond when Balaam comes to him and to seek him for an answer.

And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them.

Thou shalt not curse the people, for they are blessed.

Because the people whom he, well Balak, is trying to hire him to curse, they are blessed.

And so the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian, they return back to King Balak without Balaam.

He's playing tough ball, hard ball, pardon me.

So this time, Balak sends a different contingent back to Balaam.

He knows, or he doesn't know because God had told him, hey, don't touch Moab, right?

But he thinks that the Israelites are going to attack him.

But now we read in Numbers 22 verses 15 to 17 And they came to Balaam and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me, For I will promote thee unto very great honour, And I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me.

Come, therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.

Numbers 22, 18-19 And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.

Now therefore I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more.

Balaam answers as if God's reply to him the first time was not clear enough.

I mean, was he hoping that God would change his mind?

They were blessed and their situation was not going to change.

So, when Balaam comes the second time, does God communicate with him?

God says that if the people would come and call him the next morning, then go with them.

Verse 21 of Numbers 22, We don't see anywhere here where the princes came and called them or called him to go with them.

The Bible just says that Balaam rises up and goes.

Balaam just gets up and as if God had given him the permission, but no, God said what?

But obviously, the opposite is, if they don't call you, then I'm telling you, do not go with them.

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Series

Wilderness Wandering

Balaam the Prophet

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

The Atheist Who Found God

1h 25m

Balaam’s Stumblingblock

48m

Encounters With Jesus

Jesus’ Encounter with the Disciples in the Storm

43m

"Tell It Again"

What We Must Know: Prophecy Update

1h 6m

Wilderness Wandering

The Fear of God

37m

Don’t Kick the Donkey!

42m

Bryan Choi Weekend

01 The Two Sieges

40m

Living in Sin

1h 3m

Encounters With Jesus

Jesus’ Encounter with Pilate

38m

Now Converted: Lessons from the Life of Peter

Lessons from the Life of Peter 1

52m

Understanding Difficult Topics

5. The United States in Bible Prophecy

1h 14m

God’s Perspective of Trials: Why You’ll Want More

1h 9m

Sound Doctrine