Num 32-36, Can we wait on God or must we rush headlong into life?

Review applications from the previous chapters of Numbers:

Num 1-6	God is a God of order, not chaos Planning is an important attribute for the believer
Num 7-10	Life is not equal or fair Wisdom comes through the doing of the Word
Num 11-12	When you dabble with sin, you will get burned Who you hang with (rabble) will affect you spiritually
Num 13-14	God does answer prayer, but we cannot demand the response God's Word trumps the world's opinions and views Certain decisions are irrevocable!
Num 15-16	Be very careful when you challenge spiritual leadership A wise man heeds rebuke Not every bad thing is from God, but God can use it for good
Num 17-21	Do we give God our best or our leftovers? Do we have faith that God cares for us? Do we fight with God when we don't like his direction for our life?
Num 22-25	We are to seek God in our decisions through prayer Sexual immorality destroys families and countries
Num 26-27	Where you hang out seriously affects your fruitfulness Humility is a powerful trait that protects us from corruption
Num 28-31	Just before a major undertaking, God reminds the people of how to maintain a relationship with Him Husband's role is as an advocate and protector of his wife, not a ruler Dealing with sin in half measures is ineffective



Num 32:1-24 (NIV) The Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock. 2 So they came to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the community, and said, 3 "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon —  4 the land the Lord subdued before the people of Israel — are suitable for livestock, and your servants have livestock. 5 If we have found favor in your eyes," they said, "let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan."


6 Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, "Shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here? 7 Why do you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land the Lord has given them? 8 This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land. 9 After they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and viewed the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them. 10 The Lord's anger was aroused that day and he swore this oath: 11 'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob —  12 not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.' 13 The Lord's anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the desert forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.

14 "And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel. 15 If you turn away from following him, he will again leave all this people in the desert, and you will be the cause of their destruction."


16 Then they came up to him and said, "We would like to build pens here for our livestock and cities for our women and children. 17 But we are ready to arm ourselves and go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has received his inheritance. 19 We will not receive any inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan."


20 Then Moses said to them, "If you will do this — if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for battle, 21 and if all of you will go armed over the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven his enemies out before him —  22 then when the land is subdued before the Lord, you may return and be free from your obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will be your possession before the Lord.


23 "But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out. 24 Build cities for your women and children, and pens for your flocks, but do what you have promised."


• Why do the Reubenites and Gadites (and I believe that half of tribe of Manasseh) make their suggestion to Moses?
• First thing they saw, they jump on it
• Possibly it was better (it was good land for pasture -- to this day it is used by Bedouin shepherds)
• APPLICATION:
• Spiritually, these tribes chose to live on the outside of the promised land rather than in the promised land
• Spiritually, they were separated  by a river from fellowship with their brothers
• Spiritually, they are a little like Lot who looked east and saw a better place than the promised land (to his ruin). They chose to walk by sight rather than faith
• Why does Moses assume the worst in their request?
• He does not want to repeat the sin of Kadesh
• They really bring up the suggestion poorly (the request could have been phrased differently)
• He recognizes man's sinful nature
• Even after their response to his objections, Moses has one last admonition, what is it?
• Your sin find you out
• APPLICATION: in the end, sin usually comes to the surface in embarrassing fashion


Num 33:1-2 (NIV) Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 At the Lord's command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages: . . .


• NOTE: Forty two locations are mentioned and apparently four, interestingly enough, are not mentioned (Constable, 2010)
• The locations are most likely synonymous with significant events that served as a reminder to Israel
• Since a number of the moves occur in the first two or last two years, it would appear that the bulk of the forty years were spent with little movement, quite possibly a year or two at a single place before moving again
• What do you think were some of the main lessons people learned during all  the moving around?
• Probably lessons of contentment and lessons of complacency
• Too much movement is wearing and too little movement is boring, yet often life is exactly that
• God knew what he was doing and he was preparing a people for a future work
• Sometimes, we don't realize that the chaos in our lives is something God can use to teach us new things
• While God is not always the cause, we do know that he is always working to bring good out of a situation, whatever the reason for the event (Rom 11:28)


Nu 35:16-25 (NIV)“ ‘If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. 17 Or if anyone has a stone in his hand that could kill, and he strikes someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. 18 Or if anyone has a wooden object in his hand that could kill, and he hits someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies 21 or if in hostility he hits him with his fist so that he dies, that person shall be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22 “ ‘But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally 23 or, without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him, 24 the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations. 25 The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.


• So what are the basic rules here?
• If you have a weapon or you have intention, you are guilty of murder
• If the act unintentional, then you are not guilty
• In any case, you must make it to a city of refuge for a trial
• And if you are found not guilty, you must stay in the city of refuge until the high priest dies
• So, there is a cost even when you are not at fault. And that makes sense, since to some degree, carelessness cost someone their life
• Nowadays, we would call that manslaughter. But manslaughter does not cost when it is purely accidental and no negligence is shown
• In Jewish society, this differentiation would not matter -- most accidents can be prevented by careful attention
• APPLICATION: I wonder if people were more careful with their actions when they realized the penalty for even mistakes. And maybe we would be better off if we owned our mistakes rather than blamed them on other things -- I suppose we used to call this, responsibility.

Num 28-31, The necessity of a relationship and seriousness in walking with God

Num 28:3, 9, 11, 16, 26, 29:1, 7, 12 (NIV) Say to them: 'This is the offering made by fire that you are to present to the Lord: two lambs a year old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each day.

. . .

9 "'On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil.

. . .

11 "'On the first of every month, present to the Lord a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

. . .

16 "'On the fourteenth day of the first month the Lord's Passover is to be held.

. . .
26 "'On the day of firstfruits, when you present to the Lord an offering of new grain during the Feast of Weeks, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.

. . .
29:1 "'On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets.

. . .
7 "'On the tenth day of this seventh month hold a sacred assembly. You must deny yourselves and do no work.

. . .
12 "'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Celebrate a festival to the Lord for seven days.

• As the people prepare to enter the land, why does God remind them of their obligations to him?
• It is easy to forget God when life seems to be coming together
• It is easy to forget the importance of the relationship

• God reiterates the sacrificial and feast requirements. How is the list organized?
• By frequency and date
• The first requirements are daily, then weekly, then monthly, and then each of the seven main feasts that occur once per year in the order of their appearance
• The unleavened bread feast is not shown above but is recorded in verses 17-25
• Later on, the Jews will add two more festivals, the day of Purim (added during the time of Esther) and Hanukah (added during the period of the Maccabees)
• The seven feasts have eschatological significance with Jesus death and Pentecost fulfilling the first four. The final three feasts all occur in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar (October / November of ours)

• Still, the real importance of the list was the protection of the people so that they could maintain a relationship with God

• In the New Covenant, Jesus satisfies all of these sacrificial demands. But the importance of relationship is still key. The children of the Exodus are not about to enter the land, and their success in life will depend upon them seeking God

• So too, our success in life (as witnesses for Christ) is dependent upon our relationship with God. If we seek Him regularly, He will use us for His name's sake and glory. If we ignore him, we lose our salt and are best thrown onto the garbage pile of life.

Num 30:1-5 (NIV) Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: "This is what the Lord commands: 2 When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.

3 "When a young woman still living in her father's house makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge 4 and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand. 5 But if her father forbids her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her. . . .

• How do these verse strike you, especially in modern society?

• There is one verse for a man concerning a vow or oath, and then 13 verses follow for a woman concerning a vow or oath. What are the consequences of a rash vow for a man and for a woman?
• The man is given freedom to take a vow or oath without any second guessing or review
• Except for the case of a widow or divorced woman (vs. 9), the woman's vow or oath can be nullified by various persons depending upon her situation (Father or husband)

• So is that unfair?
• Actually it would seem that the woman is given a better deal. She is protected from a rash vow or oath. Also, the husband bears the guilt if he waits too long before nullify a vow or oath of his wife
• On the other hand, the man must be very careful with his words because he has no one to protect him from rashness. Nor does he have an advocate to release him from his words

• One principle that comes out of this section is the role of a Husband as the protector an advocate of his wife (I did not say ruler)
• He protects her from rashness and he bears her guilt of rash statements that he is slow to nullify
• The husband's wife is not a servant to be abused. She is a precious gem to be protected and loved. The husband is to be interested in all aspects of her life and he is to seek to present her to God in the radiant beauty that God designed her to be.

Num 31:1-6, 13-15 (NIV ) The Lord said to Moses, 2 "Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people."

3 So Moses said to the people, "Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites and to carry out the Lord's vengeance on them. 4 Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel." 5 So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. 6 Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

. . .

13 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. 14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army — the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds — who returned from the battle.

15 "Have you allowed all the women to live?" he asked them. 16 "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the Lord in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the Lord's people. 17 Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, 18 but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

• What do we know of the Midianites?
• They are a nomadic tribe occupying the Arabian desert and the area south of Israel
• They participated with Moab in seducing Israel to worship Baal, and to engage in sexual immorality
• Additionally, Balaam is a Midianite, and he does not escape God's judgment for his participation in the plan to seduce Israel
• Surprisingly, Moab is not judged here and will continue for many centuries, which also says that Moab's fear of Israel was unjustified
• The Midianites are not large and it takes only 12,000 men to destroy the 5 clans. Balaam is killed in this battle. 

• Why does God require the women and boys to be killed, it seems unfair to kill the women and boys?
• I think our definition of fairness is a misunderstanding of holiness. No one can stand before God without faith, we are all undeserving. If he is merciful to some, who are we to judge the creator? He has the right to do as he pleases with his creation
• But God also understands what we do not, and that is, half-measures toward sin inevitably fail. We need to be serious with sin in our life and not play at the edges, because in the end, we will be burned
• At this point, Israel does not understand the danger of half measures and  spares the women and children

Num 26-27, We need to be careful of our company

Num 26:1-4, 63-65 (NIV) After the plague the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, 2 "Take a census of the whole Israelite community by families — all those twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army of Israel." 3 So on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them and said, 4 "Take a census of the men twenty years old or more, as the Lord commanded Moses."


These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt:


63 These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. 64 Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai. 65 For the Lord had told those Israelites they would surely die in the desert, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.


• Compare beginning and end



Tribe	Beginning (1:26-40)	End (26:5-62)	Change	Remark
Reuben	46,500	43,730	-6%	Part of Korah rebellion (Dathan and Abiram) where 15,000 die
Simeon	59,300	22,200	-63%	Balaam strategy (sexual immorality; worship of Baal of Peor)
Gad	45,650	40,500	-11%	Near Simeon
Judah	74,600	76,500	+3%
Issachar	54,400	64,300	+18%
Zebulun	57,400	60,500	+5%
Ephraim	40,500	32,500	-20%	? Not sure--possibly near south
Manasseh	32,200	52,700	+64%
Benjamin	35,400	45,600	+29%
Dan	62,700	64,400	+3%
Asher	41,500	53,400	+29%
Naphtali	53,400	45,400	-15%	? Not sure



• Why did every tribe in the South lose people?
• 1 Cor 15:33-34 (NIV) Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." 34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God — I say this to your shame.
• This particular quote is not a proverb but is taken from a Greek lost comedy by Menander (a pagan writer)
• Closest proverb: Prov 13:20 (NIV) He who walks with the wise grows wise, // but a companion of fools suffers harm.
• Another possibility: Heb 12:15 (NIV) See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
• Bitter people can spoil just about anything
• Why did every tribe in the East gain people?
• Possibly their proximity to the entrance to the temple
• Possibly their proximity to the priests and Moses who camped on the east side at the entrance
• APPLICATION:
• Where do you camp? Where do you hang out? Where do you spend your time?
• Does your lifestyle and choices help you to grow or do they cause you to lose your salt? (What did Jesus say about salt that had lost it saltiness?)
• Why the census?
• Makes a point, as we have discussed
• It is for the purpose of distributing the inheritance
• Num 26:52-56 (NIV) The Lord said to Moses, 53 "The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names. 54 To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one; each is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those listed. 55 Be sure that the land is distributed by lot. What each group inherits will be according to the names for its ancestral tribe. 56 Each inheritance is to be distributed by lot among the larger and smaller groups."
• This goes back to the original chapters where there is order and not chaos as God directs our plans


Num 27:12-23 (NIV) Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go up this mountain in the Abarim range and see the land I have given the Israelites. 13 After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14 for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes." (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)


15 Moses said to the Lord, 16 "May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community 17 to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord's people will not be like sheep without a shepherd."


18 So the Lord said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him. 19 Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. 20 Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. 21 He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in."


22 Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. 23 Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses.


• What does God do differently in this section?
• He does not give Joshua all of Moses authority but splits it between Eleazar and Joshua
• Moses and Aaron shared authority together, with Moses the primary head, now rulership is separated from priestly functions
• Why does God change things, or what was so different about Moses that God allowed all the authority to rest in him?
• Power corrupts
• Moses was exceedingly humble and less susceptible to power
• Moses had grown up in power but shed his former life
• Heb 11:24-27 (NIV) By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.
• Since humility is such a positive trait, how does one develop humility? (Read Andrew Murray quotes from Humility)
• humility is simply acknowledging the truth of his position as creature, and yielding to God His place
• And further, that this humility is not a thing that will come of itself, but that it must be made the object of special desire and prayer and faith and practice.
• Believer! study the humility of Jesus. This is the secret, the hidden root of thy redemption.
• This life of entire self-abnegation, of absolute submission and dependence upon the Father's will, Christ found to be one of perfect peace and joy. He lost nothing by giving all to God.
• Men sometimes speak as if humility and meekness would rob us of what is noble and bold and manlike. Oh that all would believe that this is the nobility of the kingdom of heaven, that this is the royal spirit that the King of heaven displayed, that this is Godlike, to humble oneself, to become the servant of all! This is the path to the gladness and the glory of Christ's presence ever in us, His power ever resting on us
• The lesson is one of deep import: the only humility that is really ours is not that which we try to show before God in prayer, but that which we carry with us, and carry out, in our ordinary conduct; the insignificance of daily life are the importance and the tests of eternity, because they prove what really is the spirit that possesses us. It is in our most unguarded moments that we really show and see what we are.
• The humble man feels no jealousy--or envy. He can praise God when others are preferred and blessed before him. He can bear to hear others praised and himself forgotten, because in God's presence he has learnt to say with Paul, "I am nothing."
• In striving after the higher experiences of the Christian life, the believer is often in danger of aiming at and rejoicing in what one might call the more human, the manly, virtues, such as boldness, joy, contempt of the world, zeal, self-sacrifice,--even the old Stoics taught and practiced these,--while the deeper and gentler, the diviner and more heavenly graces, those which Jesus first taught upon earth, because He brought them from heaven; those which are more distinctly connected with His cross and the death of self,--poverty of spirit, meekness, humility, lowliness,-are scarcely thought of or valued.
• The point which I wish to emphasize is this--that the very fact of the absence of such confession of sinning only gives the more force to the truth that it is . . . in the habitual, never for a moment to be forgotten position, which just the more abundant grace will keep more distinctly alive, that our only place,, the only place of blessing, our one abiding position before God, must be that of those whose highest joy it is to confess that they are sinners saved by grace.
• How can I die to self? The death to self is not your work, it is God's work. In Christ you are dead to sin. The life there is in you has gone through the process of death and resurrection; you may be sure you are indeed dead to sin. But the full manifestation of the power of this death in your disposition and conduct depends upon the measure in which the Holy Spirit imparts the power of the death of Christ And here it is that the teaching is needed: if you would enter into full fellowship with Christ in His death, and know the full deliverance from self, humble yourself. This is your one duty. Place yourself before God in your utter helplessness; consent heartily to the fact of your impotence to slay or make alive yourself; sink down into your own nothingness, in the spirit of meek and patient and trustful surrender to God. Accept every humiliation, look upon every fellow-man who tries or vexes you, as a means of grace to humble you. Use every opportunity of humbling yourself before your fellow-men as a help to abide humble before God.

Num 22-25, The danger of greed

Num 22:1-3, 7-8, 12-13 (NIV) Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho.


2 Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, 3 and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.
. . .
7 The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination. When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balak had said.


8 "Spend the night here," Balaam said to them, "and I will bring you back the answer the Lord gives me." So the Moabite princes stayed with him.
. . .
12 But God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed."


13 The next morning Balaam got up and said to Balak's princes, "Go back to your own country, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you."


• Who is Balak?
• King of the Moabites
• He withheld from attacking until after the Amorites were destroyed (review course on map)
• Who is Balaam?
• Apparently a believer in the one true God. He knows God to some degree and God speaks to him in some way
• He is an unknowledgeable believer, because he uses divination to access God
• Faith is more important than doctrine, but bad doctrine can lead you astray
• What is the plan?
• Balak will pay Balaam to curse the Israelites (poor doctrine on both parts)
• How does Balaam respond?
• He goes to God first suggesting he is unaware of Israel
• He refuses the king and his money (good start)
• What does God specifically say to Balaam? "Do not go with them"


Num 22:14-22 (NIV) So the Moabite princes returned to Balak and said, "Balaam refused to come with us."


15 Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first. 16 They came to Balaam and said:


"This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Do not let anything keep you from coming to me, 17 because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me."


18 But Balaam answered them, "Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God. 19 Now stay here tonight as the others did, and I will find out what else the Lord will tell me."


20 That night God came to Balaam and said, "Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you."


21 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. 22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.


• What is Balak's new strategy?
• More pomp
• More money
• What is Balaam's answer? No, but … let me check with God first
• Why does Balaam return to God?
• Second thoughts
• Possibly a desire for the money
• Why is God angry with him even though God gave him permission to go?
• It would appear Balaam's motives were not right. He was going to figure out a way to curse Israel and get the gold from Balak


Num 22:23-35 (NIV) When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.


24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam's foot against it. So he beat her again.


26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"


29 Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."


30 The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?"


"No," he said.


31 Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.


32 The angel of the Lord asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.  33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her."


34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back."


35 The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.


• The donkey can see the spiritual world, but Balaam can not
• Why is Balaam so angry?
• Because it made him look foolish in front of the distinguished visitors
• His desires are clearly from a worldly perspective
• Why does God say he opposed Balaam?
• He calls Balaam's path reckless (vs 32)
• God gives credit to the donkey for saving Balaam
• How does Balaam respond to God?
• He admits to sin (vs 34)
• His willingness to go back suggest that part of the sin was going with them. Clearly the temptation to wealth is still the issue
• 2 Peter 2:15-16 (NIV) They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey — a beast without speech — who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
• Surprisingly, God lets him continue -- but it does not appear as if Balaam lets go of the gold completely as we shall see later


Num 23:3-12 (NIV) Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you." Then he went off to a barren height.


4 God met with him, and Balaam said, "I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram."


5 The Lord put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this message."


6 So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the princes of Moab. 7 Then Balaam uttered his oracle:


"Balak brought me from Aram,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.
'Come,' he said, 'curse Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.'
8 How can I curse
those whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce
those whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 From the rocky peaks I see them,
from the heights I view them.
I see a people who live apart
and do not consider themselves one of the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
and may my end be like theirs!"


11 Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!"


12 He answered, "Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?"


• Of course Balak is very angry, because the curse is not a curse but closer to a blessing
• Balaam rightly says that he can only says what God tells him to say
• Why doesn't this stop right here and now? Why do the next verses suggest that Balak still though Balaam could be useful?
• I'm not sure Balaam was completely convincing
• In fact, Balaam himself may have led him on … but the text is not clear


Num 23:13-17, 25-26 (NIV) Then Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will see only a part but not all of them. And from there, curse them for me." 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.


15 Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there."


16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this message."


17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the princes of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the Lord say?"
. . .
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!"


26 Balaam answered, "Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?"


• Balak makes it very clear that he would prefer neither cursing or blessing if there is any blessing at all
• And yet, again Balak travels to still another spot


Num 23:27-24:2 (NIV) Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there." 28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.


29 Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." 30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.


24 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not resort to sorcery as at other times, but turned his face toward the desert. 2 When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him


• Again same story. Why are they even bothering?
• What is Balaam's role in all of this?


Num 24:10-11, 25 (NIV) Then Balak's anger burned against Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to him, "I summoned you to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them these three times. 11 Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded."
. . .
25 Then Balaam got up and returned home and Balak went his own way.


• Balak is very angry. In not one of the three places did he get anything resembling a curse
• Balak tells him that he will go home empty although he might have been rewarded
• Balaam has one more prophecy, and then Balaam and Balak split, …, or do they?


Num 24:25-25:9 (NIV) Then Balaam got up and returned home and Balak went his own way.


25 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the Lord's anger burned against them.


4 The Lord said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the Lord's fierce anger may turn away from Israel."


5 So Moses said to Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death those of your men who have joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor."


6 Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand 8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them — through the Israelite and into the woman's body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; 9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.


• This is a very serious situation. It primarily occurs along Israel's southern side among the tribe of Simeon
• What was the man who in broad daylight flaunts his sin? (See vs 14-15)
• Both were essentially a prince and princess of their country
• This marriage is the start of a diplomatic / political tie between Israel and Moab
• Another plague results, and we will see next week, that this plague appears to have mainly hit Simeon
• But there is more to the story:
• Num 31:15-16 (NIV) "Have you allowed all the women to live?" he asked them. 16 "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the Lord in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the Lord's people.
• 2 Peter 2:17-18 (NIV) These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.
• Rev 2:14 (NIV) Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.
• It appears Balaam never stopped in his desire to get the gold. He can't curse Israel, but he suggests and even better solution to destroy a nation, what is that?
• Worship of a different God
• Blatant sexual immorality
• APPLICATION: Sexual immorality is destroying families across the United States. It is a terrible sin that leaves a deep stain upon the moral fabric of our lives. It is so important that we consider what it means to be holy , while we are single, and before we are ready for marriage