<\/p>\n
Num 23:11-30<\/b>\u00a0<\/a><\/span>\u00a0And Balak said to Balaam, \u201cWhat have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.\u201d\u00a0And he answered and said, \u201cMust I not take care to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?\u201d\u00a0And Balak said to him, \u201cPlease come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.\u201d\u00a0And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.\u00a0Balaam said to Balak, \u201cStand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD over there.\u201d\u00a0And the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, \u201cReturn to Balak, and thus shall you speak.\u201d\u00a0And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, \u201cWhat has the LORD spoken?\u201d\u00a0And Balaam took up his discourse and said, \u201cRise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor:\u00a0God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?\u00a0Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.\u00a0He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.\u00a0God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.\u00a0For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, \u2018What has God wrought!Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.\u201d\u00a0And Balak said to Balaam, \u201cDo not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.\u201d\u00a0But Balaam answered Balak, \u201cDid I not tell you, \u2018All that the LORD says, that I must do\u2019?\u201d\u00a0And Balak said to Balaam, \u201cCome now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.\u201d \u00a0So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert.\u00a0And Balaam said to Balak, \u201cBuild for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.\u201d\u00a0And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.<\/p>\n \u00a0The king of Moab was understandably disturbed. He paid good money for a curse against Israel, and the prophet blessed them instead. Balaam spoke as a\u00a0true\u00a0prophet, but a\u00a0corrupt\u00a0prophet. We sense that he was disappointed that he couldn\u2019t please the king who promised him lots of money. Balaam had already told Balak that he could only speak what the LORD told him. Balak wanted to change the word Balaam spoke over Israel from a blessing to a curse. Balak hoped that by changing the\u00a0place\u00a0<\/b>where Balaam stood and changing the\u00a0perspective\u00a0he had as he looked out on Israel, then the prophecy would change. Because Balaam seemed so impressed by the size of Israel in the first oracle (Numbers 23:10<\/span><\/a>), Balak thought it was better to put him in a place where he could only see a portion of Israel for the second oracle.<\/p>\n Once again, Balaam could only speak the word that God put\u00a0in his mouth<\/b>. Balaam either could not or would not create his own message and claim it was from the LORD simply to please King Balak.<\/p>\n \u00a0God is\u00a0not a man<\/b>, and can\u2019t be bribed or impressed with riches.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>God does not\u00a0lie<\/b>, and He does not change His mind (that He should repent<\/b>) as man does.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>God always performs His word. If God has spoken, He will perform it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>God has all strength, and has the power to perform what He promises.<\/p>\n One important feature of the Mosaic covenant was its promise of blessing and cursing (as in\u00a0Leviticus 26<\/span><\/a>). God promised to bless a generally obedient Israel, and curse a generally or significantly disobedient Israel. When Balaam noted that God had\u00a0not observed iniquity in Jacob nor has He seen wickedness in Israel<\/b>, it was a way to say \u201cTherefore, under God\u2019s covenant with them, they will be blessed.\u201d For there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel<\/b>: This was a strong and direct way for God to say to Balak (and Balaam), \u201cYou can\u2019t curse Israel. Your sorcery can have no effect.\u201d Instead of being defeated by sorcery or divination, Israel was like the lion that will devour its prey.<\/p>\n \u00a0Balak was very frustrated and essentially said, \u201cIf you can\u2019t curse them, then at least don\u2019t go and bless them!\u201d<\/p>\n Balaam is again presented as corrupt, but not a false messenger or prophet. Balaam\u2019s greed and corruption were not a good example. Balaam simply could not shape God\u2019s message to please his audience. (Guzik)<\/p>\n A person can study Scripture for years and gain much knowledge about them. They can quote them, hang them on the walls in their homes, and even make some decisions about how they interact with others based on them. It is not about knowing scripture but rather knowing Jesus Christ the redeemer and savior of which scripture speaks. Without this godly wisdom, all of the knowledge of scripture is fruitless in a person’s redemption. A person may know of Jesus through scripture but they do not know Him. They may know He is the Son of God, Lamb of God, Redeemer, Savior, and coming again King but they do not know Him.\u00a0 <\/span>They have not seen the need for this savior. They have not seen their sin. They have lived in such a way that for all practical reasons, they are a great person void of vises others fall prey to. Yet their heart is void of Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Don\u2019t get me wrong, knowing God\u2019s Word, feeding on His Word, desiring to be taught by His Word so that you might live in such a way that continues to grow in a fuller understanding and knowledge of God\u2019s grace, mercy, and love so that you will honor and glorify Jesus Christ in thought, word, and deed – this is not only good but beneficial to our faithful walk to eternity in heaven.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Num 23:11-30\u00a0\u00a0And Balak said to Balaam, \u201cWhat have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.\u201d\u00a0And he answered and said, \u201cMust I not take care to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?\u201d\u00a0And Balak said to him, \u201cPlease come with me … Continue reading “48.e. “Wilderness” – 12.k. “Balaam’s Second Oracle””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17394,17395,11110,12494,3963,9455,4343,11859,4476,10785,1059,602,76,17391,4936,5118,1453,3303,17393,796,17389,5098,1413,17390,4036,17387,17392,17343,17388],"class_list":["post-176527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-prayers","tag-all-the-lord-says-that-must-i-do","tag-another-place","tag-balaam","tag-balak","tag-bless-them","tag-burnt-offering","tag-change-his-mind","tag-curse-them","tag-devoured","tag-divination","tag-egypt","tag-enemies","tag-god","tag-god-is-not-man","tag-israel","tag-jacob","tag-king","tag-lie","tag-lioness","tag-lord","tag-pisgah","tag-please-god","tag-return","tag-seven-altars","tag-spoken","tag-take-care-to-speak-what-the-lord-puts-in-my-mouth","tag-wild-ox","tag-zippor","tag-zophim"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176527"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176593,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176527\/revisions\/176593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}