ANOTHER INTERESTING SPOKESMAN

Image result for CLIP ART OF A MOUTH SPEAKINGOK, so yesterday it was a donkey who spoke, which is MOST unusual.  I reminded you that God can and will use anyone or anything in order to accomplish HIS plan and purpose for His own.  Today, it is Balaam, the sorcerer/fortune-teller who will speak.  I will only focus on two  of his oracles to the king of Moab, Balak, about God and the Israelites.  

Balaam has been hired for strategy information.  King Balak also wants him to "curse" the Israelites in the process.  As the king takes Balaam to several locations to view the hordes of Israelites encamped in the distance, Balaam keeps speaking a blessing over the Israelites.  Please keep in mind that God is Sovereign and is in total control, regardless of what a situation looks like or feels like!  Hear the crux of Balaam's oracle in Numbers 23:19-20, "God is not a man, that He should lie, not a son of man, that He should change His mind.  Does He speak and not fulfill?  I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it."  King Balak is paying for the oracles and is in hopes of a curse for the Israelites, but alas, God who is able to control the mouth even of one who is not a worshiper of Jehovah alone, is in control!  He speaks a TRUTH about the character/attribute of God.

What is richer than that?  It is his fourth oracle in Numbers 24: 17-19, "I see him, not now;  I behold him, but not near.  A star will come out of Jacob, a scepter will rise out of Israel.  He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth; Edom will be conquered; Seir, his enemy, will be conquered, but Israel will grow strong.  A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city."  Do you catch the reference?  A star out of Jacob? A scepter will rise out of Israel?  The Lord Christ, Immanuel, our Savior!  God is not approving sorcery, but HE is showing His ultimate Sovereignty and will accomplish that which concerns His plans and purposes.  This incident is also not teaching that Balaam always spoke Truth or was always under the control of the Spirit of God. 

 As Christ followers, we are to frisk the words that we hear.  The Holy Spirit has given discernment to us that we may be able to know truth and to know when it can be error.  TRUTH will always align with the infallible Word of God. "For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow;  it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12. How gracious of God to give us a standard to use against any spoken or written word.  Oh, yes, we have the Truth-Speaker, the Holy Spirit who will confirm truth and call it to our remembrance.  Speak Lord, we desire to hear and obey.  #IHAVETHREESONS

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THOSE SEEING CAN BECOME BLIND

Image
John 9 is the story of the healing of the blind beggar.  Not only is it a marvelous story of the miraculous healing of the man as he is given his sight, but a sad story of the religious of whom Jesus said, "For judgment, I have come into this world, so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind ." The religious have seen the miracle, even though it has taken place on a Sabbath, and they interview the man and his parents for their stories and understanding. I find it so thrilling that the healed man speaks so articulately and logically with the religious in their "interview" with him.  His statement, " Now that is remarkable!  You don't know where HE comes from, yet HE opened my eyes.  We know that God does not listen to sinners.  He listens to the godly man who does His will.  Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing." What truth he has spoken to the religious wh...
Read more

REHEARSALS

Image
  I wonder how much time do I give to rehearsing God's goodness and how He has intervened in my life to "save" me from myself?  How alike the Israelites I can be, complaining about what goes wrong, how it affects me, and what I lack.  As a Christ follower, I have the Indwelling Holy Spirit to give me remembrance NOT of my complaining and grumbling, but of a recall of God's faithfulness to me.  It is recorded in Psalms 78 and 106 that " They forgot what He had done, the wonder He had shown them", "They did not remember His power--the day He redeemed them from the oppressor...", "They did not remember Your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.", "But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel.", and "They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt...". Contrast with me, God's remembrance: Ps. 106:44-46, "But He took note of their distress...
Read more

A DONKEY SPEAKS!

Image
    Numbers has been full of repetitive accounts of the Israelites and their disobedience.  They have now made several laps around Mt. Sinai, many of the original people have died off, or been killed for their arrogant and presumptuous actions against the LORD, Moses, and Aaron. The overriding truth of the accounts is the merciful grace of the LORD! Moses is in his last days of leadership.  The forty years are coming to an end and they are moving toward a second attempt to enter the Promise Land.  They have been victorious in taking land, and they are moving further into the interior of the land of Moab.  The king and the residents of Moab are "filled with dread because of the Israelites.  The king of Moab, Balak, sends messages to Balaam, who is a sorcerer and is able to to place curses or blessings on others.  King Balak wants to know how to defeat "this horde" that is licking up everything around them.  Of course, he is desirous th...
Read more