Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Berean's Corner, the podcast where we go
through books of the Biblechapter by chapter and verse by
verse, Wherever you are in theworld.
Thank you for joining.
Grab a glass of water, a cup ofcoffee or tea and let's get
into today's lesson.
All right, welcome back people.
(00:32):
It has been a while since Ihave heard from you all and
since you have heard from me myapologies.
Between work and being out oftown a couple of weeks, I have
been absent since we were lastin the book of Numbers, where we
did chapter 21,.
But we are back.
I hope that you have beenpraying for me, as I have been
doing the same for you, buttoday we are in Numbers 22.
(00:54):
So open up your Bible there.
And the title of today's lessonis Balak Sins for Balaam,
numbers 22, and let's readNumbers 22,.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
And let's read Numbers 22.
Then the Israelites traveled tothe plains of Moab and camped
along the Jordan across fromJericho.
Now Balak, son of Zippor, sawall that Israel had done to the
Amorites and Moab was terrifiedbecause there were so many
people.
Indeed, moab was filled withdread because of the Israelites.
The Moabites said to the eldersof Midian this horde is going
(01:32):
to lick up everything around usas an ox licks up the grass of
the field.
So Balak, son of Zippor, whowas king of Moab at the time,
sent messengers to summon Balaam, son of Beor, who was at Pithor
near the river in his nativeland.
Balak said A people has comeout of Egypt.
They cover the face of the landand have settled next to me.
Now come, put a curse on thesepeople, because they are too
(01:53):
powerful for me.
Perhaps then I will be able todefeat them and drive them out
of the country, for I know thatthose you bless are blessed and
those you curse are cursed.
The elders of Moab and Midianleft, taking with them the fee
for divination.
When they came to Balaam, theytold him what Balak had said.
Spend the night here, balaam,said to them, and I will bring
(02:16):
you back the answer the Lordgives me.
So the Moabite princess stayedwith him.
God came to Balaam and askedwho are these men with you?
Balaam said to God, balak, sonof Zippor, king of Moab, sent me
this message A people that hascome out of Egypt covers the
face of the land.
Now come and put a curse onthem for me.
(02:37):
Perhaps then I will be able tofight them and drive them away.
But God said to Balaam Do notgo with them.
You must not put a curse onthose people because they are
blessed.
The next morning Balaam got upand said to Balak's princes Go
back to your own country, forthe Lord has refused to let me
go with you.
So the Moabite princes returnedto Balak and said Balaam
(03:00):
refused to come with us.
Then Balak sent other princes,more numerous and more
distinguished than the first.
They came to Balaam and saidthis is what Balak, son of
Zippor, says Do not let anythingkeep you from coming to me,
because I will reward youhandsomely and do whatever you
say.
Come and put a curse on thesepeople for me.
But Balaam answered them.
(03:21):
Even if Balak gave me hispalace filled with silver and
gold, I could not do anything,great or small to go beyond the
command of the Lord.
My God, now stay here tonight,as the others did, and I will
find out what else the Lord willtell me.
That night God came to Balaamand said Since these men have
come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.
(03:44):
Balaam got up in the morning,settled his donkey and went with
the princes of Moab, but Godwas very angry when he went and
the angel of the Lord stood inthe road to oppose him.
Balaam was riding on his donkeyand his two servants were with
him.
When the donkey saw the angelof the Lord standing in the road
with a drawn sword in his hand,she turned off the road into a
(04:07):
field.
Balaam beat her to get her backon the road.
Then the angel of the Lordstood in a narrow path between
two vineyards with walls on bothsides.
When the donkey saw the angelof the Lord, she pressed close
to the wall, crushing Balaam'sfoot against it.
So he beat her again.
Then the angel of the Lordmoved on ahead and stood in a
(04:31):
narrow place where there was noroom to turn either to the right
or to the left.
When the donkey saw the angel ofthe Lord.
She laid down under Balaam andhe was angry and beat her with
his staff.
Then the Lord opened thedonkey's mouth and she said to
Balaam what have I done to youto make you beat me these three
times?
Balaam answered the donkey, youhave made a fool of me.
(04:54):
If I had a sword in my hand, Iwould kill you right now.
The donkey said to Balaam Am Inot your own donkey, which you
have always ridden to this day?
Have I been in the habit ofdoing this to you?
No, he said.
Then the Lord opened Balaam'seyes and he saw the angel of the
Lord standing in the road withhis sword drawn.
(05:16):
So he bowed low and fell facedown.
The angel of the Lord asked himwhy have you beaten your donkey
these three times?
I have come here to oppose youbecause your path is a reckless
one before me.
The donkey saw me and turnedaway from me these three times.
If she had not turned away, Iwould certainly have killed you
(05:39):
by now, but I would have sparedher.
Balaam said to the angel of theLord I have sinned.
I did not realize you werestanding in the road to oppose
me.
Now, if you are displeased, Iwill go back.
The angel of the Lord said toBalaam Go with the men, but
speak only what I tell you.
(05:59):
So Balaam went with the princesof Balak.
When Balak heard that Balaamwas coming, he went out to meet
him at the Moabite town on theArnon border, at the edge of his
territory.
Balak said to Balaam Did I notsend you an urgent summons?
Why didn't you come to me?
Am I really not able to rewardyou?
(06:19):
Well, I have come to you now.
Balaam replied, but can I sayjust anything?
I must speak only what God putsin my mouth.
Then Balaam went with Balak toKiriath-Huzoth.
Balak sacrificed cattle andsheep and gave some to Balaam
and the princes who were withhim.
The next morning Balak tookBalaam up to Bamath Baal and
(06:44):
from there he saw part of thepeople alright now.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
The last time we were together we looked at the
Israelites and they conqueredArab, the bronze serpent and the
two victories over the Amoritesand Bashan.
Today we are looking at one ofthe most famous chapters in the
Old Testament in thisinteraction between Balak and
Balaam.
Now I'm going to let you knowthat this is one of my favorite
(07:14):
sections of Scripture.
It is one of the mostintriguing stories.
There is a lot in theseinteractions between these two
men that we will be looking atin the next coming chapters.
Now what we have done is wehave broken this chapter down
into five parts.
The first part, the israelitescamp in moab.
(07:35):
We see this in verse one.
Then the sons of israeljourneyed and camped in the
plains of moab beyond the jordan, opposite jericho, and camped
in the plains of Moab beyond theJordan, opposite Jericho.
This verse starts out with then, which points us to the fact
that something happened beforethis.
So let's see what that is.
So hold your finger right hereand I'm going to go back to
(08:01):
Numbers 21, the previous chapter.
I'm going to start at verse 33and go back through 22, 1 to put
it together.
Then they turned and went up bythe way of Bashan and Og.
The king of Bashan went outwith all his people for battle
at Adrai.
But the Lord said to Moses donot fear him, for I have given
him into your hand and all hispeople and his land, and you
(08:23):
shall do to him as you did toshahan, king of the amorites,
who lived in his bond.
So they killed him and his sonsand all his people until there
was no remnant left him and theypossessed his land.
Then the sons of israeljourneyed and camped in the
(08:43):
plains of Moab, beyond theJordan, opposite Jericho.
It's always good to get thecontext and for us to remember
that when these scriptures werewritten, and written on scrolls,
there were no chapters, therewere no books, there were no
periods, there were no verses.
These things were written andthey rolled on.
(09:06):
So sometimes I like to go backto show what happened before, to
kind of show you how it rollsinto the next thing.
Now we will move to part two.
The first invitation from Balakis sent to Balaam and is
rejected.
We see this in verses 2 through14.
Now Balak of Peor excuse me,the son of Zippor saw all that
(09:28):
Israel had done to the Amorites.
So Moab was in great fearbecause of the people, for they
were numerous.
And Moab was in dread for thesons of Israel.
And Moab said to the elders ofMidian now this horde will lick
up all that is around us and theox, excuse me, as the ox licks
(09:48):
up the grass of the field.
And Balak, the son of Zippor,was king of Moab at that time.
So he sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor, at Patar,
which is near the river, in theland of the sons of his people,
to call him, saying behold, apeople came out of egypt.
Behold, they covet the surfaceof the land and they are living
(10:10):
opposite me.
Now, therefore, please comecurse this people for me, since
they are too mighty for me.
Perhaps I may be able to defeatthem and drive them out of the
land, for I know that he whomyou bless is blessed and he whom
you curse is cursed.
So the elders of Moab and theelders of Midian departed with
the fees for divination in theirhand and they came to Balaam
(10:33):
and repeated Balak's words tohim.
And he said to them spend thenight here and I will bring word
back to you as the Lord mayspeak to me.
And the leaders of Moab stayedwith Balaam.
Then God came to Balaam andsaid who are these men with you?
And Balaam said to God, balak,the son of Zippor, king of Moab,
(10:53):
has sent word to me.
Behold, there is a people whocame out of Egypt and they
covered the surface of the land.
Now come curse them for me,perhaps I may be able to fight
against them and drive them out.
God said to Balaam do not gowith them.
You shall not curse the people,for they are blessed.
So Balaam arose in the morningand said to Balak's leaders go
(11:19):
back to your land, for the Lordhas refused to.
Let me go with you.
And the leaders of Moab aroseand went back to Balak and said
Balaam refused to come with us.
Now, balaam was a prophet forhire.
He lived in a town called Petar, which was on the west bank of
the Euphrates.
Now, that's a key thing toremember.
Right there, he's a prophet forhire, which means that he is
(11:39):
not truly a prophet of the Lord.
He is not doing what the saidthe Lord.
He is a prophet of the Lord.
He is not doing what the saidthe Lord.
He is a prophet for hire, whichis the reason why Balak sent
for him part three.
Balak tries again with anotherinvitation to Balaam, and it is
accepted.
We see this in verses 15 to 21.
(12:01):
Then Balak again sent leadersmore numerous and more
distinguished than the former,and they came to Balaam and said
to him thus says Balak, the sonof Zippor let nothing, I beg
you, hinder you from coming tome, for I will indeed honor you
richly and I will do whateveryou say to me.
Please come then curse thispeople for me.
(12:23):
And Balaam answered and said tothe servants of Balak though
Balak were to give me his housefull of silver and gold, I could
not do anything, either smallor great, contrary, contrary to
the command of the Lord, my God.
And now, please, you also stayhere tonight, and I will find
(12:44):
out what else the Lord willspeak to me.
God came to Balaam at night andsaid to him if the men have
come to call you, rise up and gowith them, but only the word
which I speak to you shall youdo so?
Balaam rose, arose in themorning and settled his donkey
and went with the leaders ofMoab.
Now listen, balaam is playinggames here.
(13:07):
Let's look at verse 18 again.
Let's look at verse 18 again.
Balaam answered and said to theservants of Balak.
Though Balak were to give mehis house full of silver and
gold, I could not do anything,either small or great, contrary
to the command of the Lord.
My God, why does he mentionsilver and gold?
(13:28):
Because that's what's on hismind.
You see, this guy has his mindmade up.
I want to go and read a storythat J Vernon McGee told in his
commentary.
That kind of was very similarto.
It's about another man, butit's similar to what Balaam is
doing right now.
(13:49):
So he talks about this preacher.
He says there was a preacherand, uh, the story goes like
this the preacher comes home andsays honey, I had a call to the
church over in the next town.
Now you know, it's a biggertown, richer town, bigger church
, more members and fine folkover there.
(14:09):
I've been called to go overthere as pastor and I'm up and
I'm going upstairs to pray aboutit and find out what the Lord's
will is for us.
His wife answered.
She said I'll go upstairs topray with you.
Oh no, he said you stay downhere and pack.
See, just like Balaam, thispastor already had his mind made
(14:31):
up.
Now listen, that pastor came inthe house, told his wife I've
been called by the Lord to go tothis next town over to be the
pastor at this new church.
It's a bigger church, it's aricher church, it's a it's the
people are more distinguished,right.
And what did he say?
He said I'm going to goupstairs and pray and ask the
Lord what is his will.
When his wife said okay, honey,I'll come upstairs and pray
(14:55):
with you, he said oh, no, no, no, you stand downstairs and pack.
I'll go upstairs and pray.
See that man didn't hear fromthe lord.
That man heard from his ownheart.
He heard the dollar signsclinging and that's what he
wanted to do.
He listened.
He already had his mind made up.
The same thing is happeninghere to balaam.
Balaam has his mind made up, healready knows he's going to go.
Pretty much probably the momenthe heard the words silver and
(15:16):
gold, he already knew he wasgoing to go.
But what he's doing is he'splaying games to make it seem
like he's waiting to hear fromthe Lord.
And there's something else hesaid too.
That was very interesting.
At the end of verse 18 he saiduh, I do not.
I mean, I could not do anything, either small or great.
Contrary, contrary to thecommand of the Lord, my God.
Isn't it interesting that hesays the Lord, my God, when this
(15:38):
man isn't loyal to anybody.
You're gonna learn right hereand in these following chapters
that Balaam is loyal to Balaamand was going to enrich Balaam.
All right, let's move on to partfour.
Balaam is opposed by the Lord.
We see this in verses 22 to 35.
But God was angry because hewas going.
(16:01):
You heard that right.
God is angry with Balaambecause he's going, and the
angel of the Lord took his standin the way as an adversary
against him.
Now he was riding his donkeyand his two servants were with
him.
When the donkey saw the angelof the Lord standing in the way
with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off from the
way and went into the field,but Balaam struck the donkey to
(16:23):
turn her back into the way.
Then the angel of the Lordstood in a narrow path to the
vineyards with a wall on thethis side and the wall on that.
When the donkey saw the angelof the Lord, she pressed herself
to the wall and pressedBalaam's foot against the wall.
So he struck her again andangel of the Lord went further
and stood in a narrow placewhere there was no way to turn
(16:45):
to the right or to the left.
When the donkey saw the angelof the Lord, she laid down under
Balaam.
So Balaam was angry and struckthe donkey with his stick.
I want to pause right there fora minute.
Animals have instincts thatsometimes we don't have notice
that Balaam doesn't see theangel of the Lord, but the
donkey does.
The donkey sees something thatfrightens.
(17:06):
That frightens her, and shereally is doing her best to try
to save her master, even thoughhe doesn't know this.
Pick it back up at verse 28.
The Lord opened the mouth of thedonkey and she said to Balaam
what have I done to you that youhave struck me these three
times?
Then Balaam said to the donkeythat was always interesting to
(17:27):
me Like it sounds like Balaamwasn't surprised at all.
He wasn't pressed at all.
He wasn't shocked at all.
He wasn't pressed at all.
He, he wasn't shocked at all.
The donkey speaks to him and hejust speaks back to the donkey
because you have made a mockeryof me.
If there had been a sword in myhand, I would have killed you
by now.
And the donkey said to Balaamam I not your donkey, on which
you have ridden all your life tothis day.
(17:49):
Have I ever been accustomed todo so to you?
And he said no, he's having aconversation with the donkey.
Then the lord opened the eyes ofbalaam and he saw the angel of
the lord standing in the waywith his drawn sword in his hand
and he bowed all the way to theground.
And the angel of the lord saidto him why have you struck your
(18:10):
donkey these three times?
You know?
He said, why are you abusingyour animal?
Behold, I have come out as anadversary because your way was
contrary to me, remember?
Balaam said a little bit ago Ican't do anything contrary to
the Lord.
But the Lord is telling himyou're doing exactly what's
contrary to me.
Back to verse 33.
But the donkey saw me andturned aside from me these three
(18:31):
times.
If she had not turned asidefrom me, I would surely have
killed you just now and let herlive.
Balaam said to the angel of theLord I have sinned, for I did
not know that you were standingin the way against me.
Now then, if it is thispleasing to you, I will turn
back.
But the angel of the Lord saidto Balaam go with the men, but
(18:53):
you shall speak only the wordwhich I shall tell you.
So Balaam went along with theleaders of Balak.
Now, I have always beeninterested to know, if Balak's
uh, what did Balak's men think?
Because I must, I would it'ssafe to assume that they also
didn't see the angel of the Lord.
And what did they think whenthey saw Balaam talking to this
donkey?
Did they actually hear thedonkey talk?
(19:15):
Or are they looking at Balaamand thinking like, what's wrong
with this dude?
I mean, he's talking to thisdonkey as if this donkey is
talking back to him.
Now, balaam knew that thedonkey was talking, but I'm
assuming, and I'm pretty sure,that these men didn't.
And for anyone who comes acrossthis and says, wow, you know,
(19:38):
uh, you know, and I and I'm nottalking to you all, I'm really
more talking to to unbelieversand they will come back and say,
wow, you know, uh, you know, doyou really believe that a
donkey talked?
Do you really believe that thisman was talking to a donkey?
You know?
Yes, I do believe, and if youhave been with me for a while,
all these years, that we havebeen going through the Bible, if
you remember what I said inGenesis 1,.
(19:59):
I'm going to go back and say itagain, genesis 1, chapter 1,
verse 1.
In the beginning God createdthe heavens and the earth.
I have always said that.
That one verse right there.
If you can read that verse andyou can believe that verse,
nothing else in the Bible isimpossible.
Everything in the Bible,everything else in the Bible is
(20:20):
easy to understand and easy tobelieve.
That's where I am.
Everything in the Bible is easyfor me to believe.
I believe it.
I some things I don'tunderstand, but I still believe
it.
I believe that they happenbecause I believe that every
word of the scripture was Godbreathed, as Peter said.
I believe that everything waswritten down by me and that God,
(20:40):
that the Holy Spirit, chosehimself to write down and that,
if you can believe that firstverse, that God created the
heavens and earth, if you lookat this, go out, just go outside
one night and just look at thesky, especially on a clear night
, and you just look at all ofthose, those billions and
millions of billions, howevermany stars up there, when you
really think about it and youcan look at that and you can
(21:02):
believe that the Lord put thosethings in the sky in the
beginning that he set thesethings in order that way.
The rest of the Bible is nothard to believe.
All of the miracles that happen, they're not hard to to believe
, and that's just my opinion.
If you believe that one verseright there that god created the
heavens and the earth, whatdoes that?
(21:22):
What am I saying?
I'm saying that nothing isimpossible with god.
So, yes, I believe that thelord opened the donkey's mouth.
I believe that balaam heard thedonkey, the donkey heard Balaam
as they talked back and forth.
Now I'm not so sure thatBalak's men did.
That may not have beensomething that the Lord wanted
for them.
Okay, let's move on to partfive.
(21:42):
Balak and Balaam meet verses 36to 41.
When Balak heard that Balaamwas coming, he went out to meet
him at the city of Moab, whichis on the Arnon border, at the
extreme end of the border.
Then Balak said to Balaam did Inot urgently send to you to
call you?
(22:02):
Why did you not come to me?
Am I really unable to honor you?
So Balaam said to Balak behold,I have come down to you.
Am I able to speak anything atall?
The word that god puts in mymouth, that I shall speak.
And balaam went with balak andthey came to kiriath, huzak and
(22:24):
balak sacrificed oxen and sheepand sent some of excuse me and
sent some to balaam and theleaders who were with him.
Then it came about in themorning that Balak took Balaam
and brought him up to the highplaces of Baal and he saw from
there a portion of the people.
Now there are a couple of thingsto note here, you know.
(22:47):
First, uh, balak is upset withBalaam.
Go back to verse 37.
Balak said to Balaam did I noturgently send to you to call you
?
Why did you not come to me?
Am I not able to honor you?
Because you got to remember, ittook him two times to get
(23:07):
Balaam to come.
Now, for my research, I foundout that this was actually a
long trip, I think I.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry everybody.
I didn't put it in my notes,but I believe that this was like
a pretty much like a coupleweeks journey to get to where
Balaam was.
You got to remember.
You know these people traveledby animal, by foot, and
(23:29):
sometimes about five miles isthe most that they got.
So I want to say that I lookedup somewhere that said that from
where Balaam was to where tofrom where?
From Balak to Balaam wasseveral weeks.
So remember, balak sent hispeople the first time.
Balaam rejected, which meansthat they had to travel there.
Let's just, let's just call ituh, let's call it four weeks.
(23:52):
It took them four weeks to getto Balaam.
Balak's men get there, balaamturns him down.
It's gonna take them anothermonth to get back.
So now it's now been two months.
He sends them back again, sothat's three months.
Balaam accepts and comes back.
So now it's four months.
So it's been months now.
So Balak is upset with Balaambecause he's like look, you know
who I am, you know what I have,the possessions I have I can
(24:14):
give you.
Why did you not come to me thefirst time?
Next is they went to sacrifice,which was interesting to me.
At the end of chapter 22 itsays that Balaam sacrificed oxen
and sheep and sent some toBalaam and the leaders who were
(24:35):
with him.
Now it's interesting that Balakis trying to act like he is of
the Lord and he is doing asacrifice, you know, trying to
make himself appear to be holy.
Now they went to a place that'sabout two and a half miles
south of Mount Nebo calledBaymoth Baal.
This is where they went uh, tolook down on the Israelites.
As you look at verse 41 again.
(24:57):
Then it came, uh, to excuse me.
Then it came about in themorning that Balak took Balaam
and brought him up to the highplaces of Baal and he saw from
there a portion of the people,and that's where they were.
They were, they were at MountNebo.
So this is where he took him tosee a portion of the people.
All right, everyone.
That brings us to the end ofNumbers, chapter 22.
(25:17):
As always, I hope that you gotsomething from this message.
I hope you enjoyed it.
I hope it was educational andnourishing to you.
As always, pray for me.
Pray that I stay strong inthese scriptures and that we
continue the race, the journeyto get through all 66 books, and
I am praying for you as well.
I appreciate you all a greatdeal.
(25:38):
I appreciate you for comingback and listen to me teach the
word of the Lord.
You are all my brothers andsisters in Christ.
I hope that all is well withyou and until next time when we
get into numbers 23, becausethis uh, this uh, you know, back
and forth between thisrelationship, I should say
between balak and balaam is notover with, so join us next time
(26:01):
when we pick it back up atnumbers 23 that is all for now,
god bless.
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(29:13):
thank you, ¶¶.
You.
Welcome to Berean's Corner, the podcast where we go
through books of the Biblechapter by chapter and verse by
verse, Wherever you are in theworld.
Thank you for joining.
Grab a glass of water, a cup ofcoffee or tea and let's get
into today's lesson.
All right, welcome back people.
(00:32):
It has been a while since Ihave heard from you all and
since you have heard from me myapologies.
Between work and being out oftown a couple of weeks, I have
been absent since we were lastin the book of Numbers, where we
did chapter 21,.
But we are back.
I hope that you have beenpraying for me, as I have been
doing the same for you, buttoday we are in Numbers 22.
(00:54):
So open up your Bible there.
And the title of today's lessonis Balak Sins for Balaam,
numbers 22, and let's readNumbers 22,.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
And let's read Numbers 22.
Then the Israelites traveled tothe plains of Moab and camped
along the Jordan across fromJericho.
Now Balak, son of Zippor, sawall that Israel had done to the
Amorites and Moab was terrifiedbecause there were so many
people.
Indeed, moab was filled withdread because of the Israelites.
The Moabites said to the eldersof Midian this horde is going
(01:32):
to lick up everything around usas an ox licks up the grass of
the field.
So Balak, son of Zippor, whowas king of Moab at the time,
sent messengers to summon Balaam, son of Beor, who was at Pithor
near the river in his nativeland.
Balak said A people has comeout of Egypt.
They cover the face of the landand have settled next to me.
Now come, put a curse on thesepeople, because they are too
(01:53):
powerful for me.
Perhaps then I will be able todefeat them and drive them out
of the country, for I know thatthose you bless are blessed and
those you curse are cursed.
The elders of Moab and Midianleft, taking with them the fee
for divination.
When they came to Balaam, theytold him what Balak had said.
Spend the night here, balaam,said to them, and I will bring
(02:16):
you back the answer the Lordgives me.
So the Moabite princess stayedwith him.
God came to Balaam and askedwho are these men with you?
Balaam said to God, balak, sonof Zippor, king of Moab, sent me
this message A people that hascome out of Egypt covers the
face of the land.
Now come and put a curse onthem for me.
(02:37):
Perhaps then I will be able tofight them and drive them away.
But God said to Balaam Do notgo with them.
You must not put a curse onthose people because they are
blessed.
The next morning Balaam got upand said to Balak's princes Go
back to your own country, forthe Lord has refused to let me
go with you.
So the Moabite princes returnedto Balak and said Balaam
(03:00):
refused to come with us.
Then Balak sent other princes,more numerous and more
distinguished than the first.
They came to Balaam and saidthis is what Balak, son of
Zippor, says Do not let anythingkeep you from coming to me,
because I will reward youhandsomely and do whatever you
say.
Come and put a curse on thesepeople for me.
But Balaam answered them.
(03:21):
Even if Balak gave me hispalace filled with silver and
gold, I could not do anything,great or small to go beyond the
command of the Lord.
My God, now stay here tonight,as the others did, and I will
find out what else the Lord willtell me.
That night God came to Balaamand said Since these men have
come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.
(03:44):
Balaam got up in the morning,settled his donkey and went with
the princes of Moab, but Godwas very angry when he went and
the angel of the Lord stood inthe road to oppose him.
Balaam was riding on his donkeyand his two servants were with
him.
When the donkey saw the angelof the Lord standing in the road
with a drawn sword in his hand,she turned off the road into a
(04:07):
field.
Balaam beat her to get her backon the road.
Then the angel of the Lordstood in a narrow path between
two vineyards with walls on bothsides.
When the donkey saw the angelof the Lord, she pressed close
to the wall, crushing Balaam'sfoot against it.
So he beat her again.
Then the angel of the Lordmoved on ahead and stood in a
(04:31):
narrow place where there was noroom to turn either to the right
or to the left.
When the donkey saw the angel ofthe Lord.
She laid down under Balaam andhe was angry and beat her with
his staff.
Then the Lord opened thedonkey's mouth and she said to
Balaam what have I done to youto make you beat me these three
times?
Balaam answered the donkey, youhave made a fool of me.
(04:54):
If I had a sword in my hand, Iwould kill you right now.
The donkey said to Balaam Am Inot your own donkey, which you
have always ridden to this day?
Have I been in the habit ofdoing this to you?
No, he said.
Then the Lord opened Balaam'seyes and he saw the angel of the
Lord standing in the road withhis sword drawn.
(05:16):
So he bowed low and fell facedown.
The angel of the Lord asked himwhy have you beaten your donkey
these three times?
I have come here to oppose youbecause your path is a reckless
one before me.
The donkey saw me and turnedaway from me these three times.
If she had not turned away, Iwould certainly have killed you
(05:39):
by now, but I would have sparedher.
Balaam said to the angel of theLord I have sinned.
I did not realize you werestanding in the road to oppose
me.
Now, if you are displeased, Iwill go back.
The angel of the Lord said toBalaam Go with the men, but
speak only what I tell you.
(05:59):
So Balaam went with the princesof Balak.
When Balak heard that Balaamwas coming, he went out to meet
him at the Moabite town on theArnon border, at the edge of his
territory.
Balak said to Balaam Did I notsend you an urgent summons?
Why didn't you come to me?
Am I really not able to rewardyou?
(06:19):
Well, I have come to you now.
Balaam replied, but can I sayjust anything?
I must speak only what God putsin my mouth.
Then Balaam went with Balak toKiriath-Huzoth.
Balak sacrificed cattle andsheep and gave some to Balaam
and the princes who were withhim.
The next morning Balak tookBalaam up to Bamath Baal and
(06:44):
from there he saw part of thepeople alright now.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
The last time we were together we looked at the
Israelites and they conqueredArab, the bronze serpent and the
two victories over the Amoritesand Bashan.
Today we are looking at one ofthe most famous chapters in the
Old Testament in thisinteraction between Balak and
Balaam.
Now I'm going to let you knowthat this is one of my favorite
(07:14):
sections of Scripture.
It is one of the mostintriguing stories.
There is a lot in theseinteractions between these two
men that we will be looking atin the next coming chapters.
Now what we have done is wehave broken this chapter down
into five parts.
The first part, the israelitescamp in moab.
(07:35):
We see this in verse one.
Then the sons of israeljourneyed and camped in the
plains of moab beyond the jordan, opposite jericho, and camped
in the plains of Moab beyond theJordan, opposite Jericho.
This verse starts out with then, which points us to the fact
that something happened beforethis.
So let's see what that is.
So hold your finger right hereand I'm going to go back to
(08:01):
Numbers 21, the previous chapter.
I'm going to start at verse 33and go back through 22, 1 to put
it together.
Then they turned and went up bythe way of Bashan and Og.
The king of Bashan went outwith all his people for battle
at Adrai.
But the Lord said to Moses donot fear him, for I have given
him into your hand and all hispeople and his land, and you
(08:23):
shall do to him as you did toshahan, king of the amorites,
who lived in his bond.
So they killed him and his sonsand all his people until there
was no remnant left him and theypossessed his land.
Then the sons of israeljourneyed and camped in the
(08:43):
plains of Moab, beyond theJordan, opposite Jericho.
It's always good to get thecontext and for us to remember
that when these scriptures werewritten, and written on scrolls,
there were no chapters, therewere no books, there were no
periods, there were no verses.
These things were written andthey rolled on.
(09:06):
So sometimes I like to go backto show what happened before, to
kind of show you how it rollsinto the next thing.
Now we will move to part two.
The first invitation from Balakis sent to Balaam and is
rejected.
We see this in verses 2 through14.
Now Balak of Peor excuse me,the son of Zippor saw all that
(09:28):
Israel had done to the Amorites.
So Moab was in great fearbecause of the people, for they
were numerous.
And Moab was in dread for thesons of Israel.
And Moab said to the elders ofMidian now this horde will lick
up all that is around us and theox, excuse me, as the ox licks
(09:48):
up the grass of the field.
And Balak, the son of Zippor,was king of Moab at that time.
So he sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor, at Patar,
which is near the river, in theland of the sons of his people,
to call him, saying behold, apeople came out of egypt.
Behold, they covet the surfaceof the land and they are living
(10:10):
opposite me.
Now, therefore, please comecurse this people for me, since
they are too mighty for me.
Perhaps I may be able to defeatthem and drive them out of the
land, for I know that he whomyou bless is blessed and he whom
you curse is cursed.
So the elders of Moab and theelders of Midian departed with
the fees for divination in theirhand and they came to Balaam
(10:33):
and repeated Balak's words tohim.
And he said to them spend thenight here and I will bring word
back to you as the Lord mayspeak to me.
And the leaders of Moab stayedwith Balaam.
Then God came to Balaam andsaid who are these men with you?
And Balaam said to God, balak,the son of Zippor, king of Moab,
(10:53):
has sent word to me.
Behold, there is a people whocame out of Egypt and they
covered the surface of the land.
Now come curse them for me,perhaps I may be able to fight
against them and drive them out.
God said to Balaam do not gowith them.
You shall not curse the people,for they are blessed.
So Balaam arose in the morningand said to Balak's leaders go
(11:19):
back to your land, for the Lordhas refused to.
Let me go with you.
And the leaders of Moab aroseand went back to Balak and said
Balaam refused to come with us.
Now, balaam was a prophet forhire.
He lived in a town called Petar, which was on the west bank of
the Euphrates.
Now, that's a key thing toremember.
Right there, he's a prophet forhire, which means that he is
(11:39):
not truly a prophet of the Lord.
He is not doing what the saidthe Lord.
He is a prophet of the Lord.
He is not doing what the saidthe Lord.
He is a prophet for hire, whichis the reason why Balak sent
for him part three.
Balak tries again with anotherinvitation to Balaam, and it is
accepted.
We see this in verses 15 to 21.
(12:01):
Then Balak again sent leadersmore numerous and more
distinguished than the former,and they came to Balaam and said
to him thus says Balak, the sonof Zippor let nothing, I beg
you, hinder you from coming tome, for I will indeed honor you
richly and I will do whateveryou say to me.
Please come then curse thispeople for me.
(12:23):
And Balaam answered and said tothe servants of Balak though
Balak were to give me his housefull of silver and gold, I could
not do anything, either smallor great, contrary, contrary to
the command of the Lord, my God.
And now, please, you also stayhere tonight, and I will find
(12:44):
out what else the Lord willspeak to me.
God came to Balaam at night andsaid to him if the men have
come to call you, rise up and gowith them, but only the word
which I speak to you shall youdo so?
Balaam rose, arose in themorning and settled his donkey
and went with the leaders ofMoab.
Now listen, balaam is playinggames here.
(13:07):
Let's look at verse 18 again.
Let's look at verse 18 again.
Balaam answered and said to theservants of Balak.
Though Balak were to give mehis house full of silver and
gold, I could not do anything,either small or great, contrary
to the command of the Lord.
My God, why does he mentionsilver and gold?
(13:28):
Because that's what's on hismind.
You see, this guy has his mindmade up.
I want to go and read a storythat J Vernon McGee told in his
commentary.
That kind of was very similarto.
It's about another man, butit's similar to what Balaam is
doing right now.
(13:49):
So he talks about this preacher.
He says there was a preacherand, uh, the story goes like
this the preacher comes home andsays honey, I had a call to the
church over in the next town.
Now you know, it's a biggertown, richer town, bigger church
, more members and fine folkover there.
(14:09):
I've been called to go overthere as pastor and I'm up and
I'm going upstairs to pray aboutit and find out what the Lord's
will is for us.
His wife answered.
She said I'll go upstairs topray with you.
Oh no, he said you stay downhere and pack.
See, just like Balaam, thispastor already had his mind made
(14:31):
up.
Now listen, that pastor came inthe house, told his wife I've
been called by the Lord to go tothis next town over to be the
pastor at this new church.
It's a bigger church, it's aricher church, it's a it's the
people are more distinguished,right.
And what did he say?
He said I'm going to goupstairs and pray and ask the
Lord what is his will.
When his wife said okay, honey,I'll come upstairs and pray
(14:55):
with you, he said oh, no, no, no, you stand downstairs and pack.
I'll go upstairs and pray.
See that man didn't hear fromthe lord.
That man heard from his ownheart.
He heard the dollar signsclinging and that's what he
wanted to do.
He listened.
He already had his mind made up.
The same thing is happeninghere to balaam.
Balaam has his mind made up, healready knows he's going to go.
Pretty much probably the momenthe heard the words silver and
(15:16):
gold, he already knew he wasgoing to go.
But what he's doing is he'splaying games to make it seem
like he's waiting to hear fromthe Lord.
And there's something else hesaid too.
That was very interesting.
At the end of verse 18 he saiduh, I do not.
I mean, I could not do anything, either small or great.
Contrary, contrary to thecommand of the Lord, my God.
Isn't it interesting that hesays the Lord, my God, when this
(15:38):
man isn't loyal to anybody.
You're gonna learn right hereand in these following chapters
that Balaam is loyal to Balaamand was going to enrich Balaam.
All right, let's move on to partfour.
Balaam is opposed by the Lord.
We see this in verses 22 to 35.
But God was angry because hewas going.
(16:01):
You heard that right.
God is angry with Balaambecause he's going, and the
angel of the Lord took his standin the way as an adversary
against him.
Now he was riding his donkeyand his two servants were with
him.
When the donkey saw the angelof the Lord standing in the way
with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off from the
way and went into the field,but Balaam struck the donkey to
(16:23):
turn her back into the way.
Then the angel of the Lordstood in a narrow path to the
vineyards with a wall on thethis side and the wall on that.
When the donkey saw the angelof the Lord, she pressed herself
to the wall and pressedBalaam's foot against the wall.
So he struck her again andangel of the Lord went further
and stood in a narrow placewhere there was no way to turn
(16:45):
to the right or to the left.
When the donkey saw the angelof the Lord, she laid down under
Balaam.
So Balaam was angry and struckthe donkey with his stick.
I want to pause right there fora minute.
Animals have instincts thatsometimes we don't have notice
that Balaam doesn't see theangel of the Lord, but the
donkey does.
The donkey sees something thatfrightens.
(17:06):
That frightens her, and shereally is doing her best to try
to save her master, even thoughhe doesn't know this.
Pick it back up at verse 28.
The Lord opened the mouth of thedonkey and she said to Balaam
what have I done to you that youhave struck me these three
times?
Then Balaam said to the donkeythat was always interesting to
(17:27):
me Like it sounds like Balaamwasn't surprised at all.
He wasn't pressed at all.
He wasn't shocked at all.
He wasn't pressed at all.
He, he wasn't shocked at all.
The donkey speaks to him and hejust speaks back to the donkey
because you have made a mockeryof me.
If there had been a sword in myhand, I would have killed you
by now.
And the donkey said to Balaamam I not your donkey, on which
you have ridden all your life tothis day.
(17:49):
Have I ever been accustomed todo so to you?
And he said no, he's having aconversation with the donkey.
Then the lord opened the eyes ofbalaam and he saw the angel of
the lord standing in the waywith his drawn sword in his hand
and he bowed all the way to theground.
And the angel of the lord saidto him why have you struck your
(18:10):
donkey these three times?
You know?
He said, why are you abusingyour animal?
Behold, I have come out as anadversary because your way was
contrary to me, remember?
Balaam said a little bit ago Ican't do anything contrary to
the Lord.
But the Lord is telling himyou're doing exactly what's
contrary to me.
Back to verse 33.
But the donkey saw me andturned aside from me these three
(18:31):
times.
If she had not turned asidefrom me, I would surely have
killed you just now and let herlive.
Balaam said to the angel of theLord I have sinned, for I did
not know that you were standingin the way against me.
Now then, if it is thispleasing to you, I will turn
back.
But the angel of the Lord saidto Balaam go with the men, but
(18:53):
you shall speak only the wordwhich I shall tell you.
So Balaam went along with theleaders of Balak.
Now, I have always beeninterested to know, if Balak's
uh, what did Balak's men think?
Because I must, I would it'ssafe to assume that they also
didn't see the angel of the Lord.
And what did they think whenthey saw Balaam talking to this
donkey?
Did they actually hear thedonkey talk?
(19:15):
Or are they looking at Balaamand thinking like, what's wrong
with this dude?
I mean, he's talking to thisdonkey as if this donkey is
talking back to him.
Now, balaam knew that thedonkey was talking, but I'm
assuming, and I'm pretty sure,that these men didn't.
And for anyone who comes acrossthis and says, wow, you know,
(19:38):
uh, you know, and I and I'm nottalking to you all, I'm really
more talking to to unbelieversand they will come back and say,
wow, you know, uh, you know, doyou really believe that a
donkey talked?
Do you really believe that thisman was talking to a donkey?
You know?
Yes, I do believe, and if youhave been with me for a while,
all these years, that we havebeen going through the Bible, if
you remember what I said inGenesis 1,.
(19:59):
I'm going to go back and say itagain, genesis 1, chapter 1,
verse 1.
In the beginning God createdthe heavens and the earth.
I have always said that.
That one verse right there.
If you can read that verse andyou can believe that verse,
nothing else in the Bible isimpossible.
Everything in the Bible,everything else in the Bible is
(20:20):
easy to understand and easy tobelieve.
That's where I am.
Everything in the Bible is easyfor me to believe.
I believe it.
I some things I don'tunderstand, but I still believe
it.
I believe that they happenbecause I believe that every
word of the scripture was Godbreathed, as Peter said.
I believe that everything waswritten down by me and that God,
(20:40):
that the Holy Spirit, chosehimself to write down and that,
if you can believe that firstverse, that God created the
heavens and earth, if you lookat this, go out, just go outside
one night and just look at thesky, especially on a clear night
, and you just look at all ofthose, those billions and
millions of billions, howevermany stars up there, when you
really think about it and youcan look at that and you can
(21:02):
believe that the Lord put thosethings in the sky in the
beginning that he set thesethings in order that way.
The rest of the Bible is nothard to believe.
All of the miracles that happen, they're not hard to to believe
, and that's just my opinion.
If you believe that one verseright there that god created the
heavens and the earth, whatdoes that?
(21:22):
What am I saying?
I'm saying that nothing isimpossible with god.
So, yes, I believe that thelord opened the donkey's mouth.
I believe that balaam heard thedonkey, the donkey heard Balaam
as they talked back and forth.
Now I'm not so sure thatBalak's men did.
That may not have beensomething that the Lord wanted
for them.
Okay, let's move on to partfive.
(21:42):
Balak and Balaam meet verses 36to 41.
When Balak heard that Balaamwas coming, he went out to meet
him at the city of Moab, whichis on the Arnon border, at the
extreme end of the border.
Then Balak said to Balaam did Inot urgently send to you to
call you?
(22:02):
Why did you not come to me?
Am I really unable to honor you?
So Balaam said to Balak behold,I have come down to you.
Am I able to speak anything atall?
The word that god puts in mymouth, that I shall speak.
And balaam went with balak andthey came to kiriath, huzak and
(22:24):
balak sacrificed oxen and sheepand sent some of excuse me and
sent some to balaam and theleaders who were with him.
Then it came about in themorning that Balak took Balaam
and brought him up to the highplaces of Baal and he saw from
there a portion of the people.
Now there are a couple of thingsto note here, you know.
(22:47):
First, uh, balak is upset withBalaam.
Go back to verse 37.
Balak said to Balaam did I noturgently send to you to call you
?
Why did you not come to me?
Am I not able to honor you?
Because you got to remember, ittook him two times to get
(23:07):
Balaam to come.
Now, for my research, I foundout that this was actually a
long trip, I think I.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry everybody.
I didn't put it in my notes,but I believe that this was like
a pretty much like a coupleweeks journey to get to where
Balaam was.
You got to remember.
You know these people traveledby animal, by foot, and
(23:29):
sometimes about five miles isthe most that they got.
So I want to say that I lookedup somewhere that said that from
where Balaam was to where tofrom where?
From Balak to Balaam wasseveral weeks.
So remember, balak sent hispeople the first time.
Balaam rejected, which meansthat they had to travel there.
Let's just, let's just call ituh, let's call it four weeks.
(23:52):
It took them four weeks to getto Balaam.
Balak's men get there, balaamturns him down.
It's gonna take them anothermonth to get back.
So now it's now been two months.
He sends them back again, sothat's three months.
Balaam accepts and comes back.
So now it's four months.
So it's been months now.
So Balak is upset with Balaambecause he's like look, you know
who I am, you know what I have,the possessions I have I can
(24:14):
give you.
Why did you not come to me thefirst time?
Next is they went to sacrifice,which was interesting to me.
At the end of chapter 22 itsays that Balaam sacrificed oxen
and sheep and sent some toBalaam and the leaders who were
(24:35):
with him.
Now it's interesting that Balakis trying to act like he is of
the Lord and he is doing asacrifice, you know, trying to
make himself appear to be holy.
Now they went to a place that'sabout two and a half miles
south of Mount Nebo calledBaymoth Baal.
This is where they went uh, tolook down on the Israelites.
As you look at verse 41 again.
(24:57):
Then it came, uh, to excuse me.
Then it came about in themorning that Balak took Balaam
and brought him up to the highplaces of Baal and he saw from
there a portion of the people,and that's where they were.
They were, they were at MountNebo.
So this is where he took him tosee a portion of the people.
All right, everyone.
That brings us to the end ofNumbers, chapter 22.
(25:17):
As always, I hope that you gotsomething from this message.
I hope you enjoyed it.
I hope it was educational andnourishing to you.
As always, pray for me.
Pray that I stay strong inthese scriptures and that we
continue the race, the journeyto get through all 66 books, and
I am praying for you as well.
I appreciate you all a greatdeal.
(25:38):
I appreciate you for comingback and listen to me teach the
word of the Lord.
You are all my brothers andsisters in Christ.
I hope that all is well withyou and until next time when we
get into numbers 23, becausethis uh, this uh, you know, back
and forth between thisrelationship, I should say
between balak and balaam is notover with, so join us next time
(26:01):
when we pick it back up atnumbers 23 that is all for now,
god bless.
Thank you for listening toBerean's Corner.
We appreciate you joining us aswe dive into God's word and
seek biblical truth together.
If this episode encouraged orchallenged you, be sure to
subscribe, share and leave areview on your favorite podcast
platform.
You can find Berean's Corner onBuzzsprout, apple Podcasts,
(26:23):
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Let's stay connected.
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to us atBereansCornerBuzzsproutcom,
where you can follow, along withshow transcripts, and leave a
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(26:44):
We'd love to hear from you.
Until next time, keep searchingthe scriptures like a Berean,
stay discerning, stay faithfuland God bless ¶¶, thank you,
(29:13):
thank you, ¶¶.
You.
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