Well, our sermon text is from Numbers 22 through 25, and a good summary of that is found in chapter 23, verse 19. This is Balaam prophesying, God 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? Behold, I received a command to bless, he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. May God add his blessing to the reading and preaching of his word. You may be seated. Let's pray. Almighty God, our sovereign, eternal and merciful God, your word is a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path. We pray, Lord, that you'd open and illuminate our minds so that we would be able to understand, and then also in understanding, we'd be able to apply it correctly so that all that our life is in our life would be pleasing to you. It is through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray, amen. If the Lord has decreed our blessing, we can be certain that no one can curse us. This is a message we need to hear, especially when life can seem somewhat chaotic. We have all sorts of pressure squeezing in upon us to the extent that we face these internal and then external struggles. The external is based on our circumstances and that we're looking around sometimes in our life and we see death, we see loss of job, we see unable to pay the bills, all things happening that don't look like what we imagined they were going to look like. And we have the internal struggle where we're wrestling with our emotions, our feelings, maybe it's grief, maybe it's depression, maybe it's anxiety just snuffing us out. What we need in those moments where we feel especially pressed and squeezed is the assurance that God is for us, that he means to bless us even if we cannot see it in the moment. As the hymn writer put it, Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blessed assurance control that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate and hath shed his own blood for my soul. This is a statement he's saying in the midst of struggle that through it all, he can know that God is for him because Christ has died for us. And he can go on to say, whatever my lot, though, God has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. This morning in a very interesting narrative from the book of Numbers, we will see this theme pressed in so certain that God is for his people, that he has blessed them and no one can curse them. If God is for his people, who can be against us? Well, we're gonna see this passage broken up in three ways. And this will be helpful pointers that will keep us immovable. That is faithfully trusting in God when things look dark. God's enemies are thwartable, God's blessings are irrevocable, and God's people are susceptible. So let's look at this first truth that keeps us immovable. Found in chapter 22, God's enemies are thwartable. And here we get the setting. Verse 1, then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. And Balak, the son of Zipporah, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. This picks up from last time we looked in chapter 21. Remember, they had defeated two powerful kings. that had then set this ripple effect into the nations where they're hearing again, okay, this is the God and the people who destroyed Egypt and now they're here destroying kings here and now they're on the plains, they're right at the border. Verse three, Moab was in great dread of the people because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. And Moab said to the elders of Midian, this horde will now lick up all that is around us as the ox licks up the grass of the field. We're next. And so he gets desperate. This is the king. He gets desperate. And look what he does. So Balak, the son of Zipporah, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor at Pithor, which is near the river in the land of the people of Emma, to call him. Balaam, a Mesopotamian pagan who practices divination. That is, you could call him a seer, or somehow he's looking for omens. He's using dark magic to somehow curse people and do bad things. And he's well known, and he offers his services for a price. We actually came up against Balaam when we studied 2 Peter together, remember? And Peter said, regarding false teachers, he said, they have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing. He happy to sell his services to the highest bidder. Look, in verse five. that people came, saying, Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, they cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed. Now, we're familiar with that language, because we hear the Abrahamic blessing that God had given, remember? He says, I will bless you to Abraham, this is in Genesis 12. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you, I will curse. Because we have direct language here, it's as if this promise that God has made is being on trial now. Can God actually fulfill what he said he would or can some other source bring about cursing on that people? We're supposed to ask, is that possible? Verse seven now, so the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand and they came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message. And he said to them, lodge here tonight and I will bring back word to you as the Lord speaks to me. So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. In verse 12, God said to Balaam, you shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people for they are blessed. Verse 15 then, once again, Balak sent princes because the answer was no. Once again, Balak sent princes more in number and more honorable than these. Okay, now he's gonna up the price, maybe we need to give him more money. And they came to Balaam and said to him, thus says Balak, the son of Zippor, let nothing hinder you from coming to me, for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me, I will do. Come, curse this people for me. Balaam in verse 18 answers and said to the servants of Balak, though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more. So you too, please stay here tonight that I may know what more the Lord will say to me. He already had the answer from the Lord before, but now he's like, hey, you guys stay here, I'm gonna go talk with God again. And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, if the men have come to call you, rise, go with them, but only do what I tell you. So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. But why does God let him go now? And this is where we understand, based on New Testament revelation and further scriptures, that God is testing Balaam, that something is wrong with Balaam's heart here, where he seems as if he's following God, but he still has this greed within him driving him. And so God allows him to go, but he is going to humble him. And we will see this as it goes, but this gives us all understanding of, helps us understand verse 22. Look, God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. So this all set up this scene, which is somewhat comical. It's a famous story between the donkey and Balaam. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. And this thing unfolds where three times the donkey sees this adversary, and so he's turning away, and there's this heightening, and Balaam is whipping him, whipping her, and he's just upset. But verse 27, Balaam's anger was kindled and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey and she said to Balaam, what have I done to you that you have struck me these three times? And Balaam said to the donkey, because you have made me a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you. And the donkey said to Balaam, am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way? And he said, no. Huh. This is fascinating because, you know, we're talking about a donkey that's talking. And it's in these moments where we have to say, do we believe the Bible? That there are miraculous things happening in the Bible? Some people have said, you know what, this is it. This is too much for me. I'm out. Not us. This is the word of God. inspired and true. Let's continue. Verse 31, Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed down and fell on his face. And the angel of the Lord said to him, Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. "'The donkey saw me and turned aside before me "'these three times. "'If she had not turned aside for me, "'surely just now I would have killed you "'and let her live.' "'Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "'I have sinned, for I did not know "'that you stood in the road against me. "'Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, "'I will turn back.' "'And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, "'Go with the men, but speak only the word "'that I tell you.' "'So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak, Balaam obviously had his own intentions for this whole thing. Maybe he was going to just say whatever he wanted, but God is purifying his heart. He's like, he's humbling him. And then he's going to say, you better do exactly what I said. And he's going to even use Balaam to bring about blessing. It's important to note that the way Peter describes this Balaam, this greed and this wanting to do his own thing, he says, Balaam was rebuked for his own transgression. A speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. That's just something to note, that this going against God and thinking you are sovereign and in control, can do whatever you want, you don't have to obey God, He calls it madness, unreasonable. May we have the same humble attitude that now he has where he will say, I will only do what God will have me do. So Balaam goes now to meet Balak, verse 38. It's almost like he's warning him, look, Balak, you have an idea of what's gonna happen here, but I will only say what God wants. And the king of Moab, Oh yeah, Nehemiah 13 we read earlier, okay. This is the commentary on this. He says, the king of Moab hired Balaam against them to curse them, yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. And we know from scripture that God has been pleased to do this sort of reversal on various occasions. You think of Job, Satan comes. What about your servant Job? And he seeks to destroy him and bring about shame upon God. And through that suffering, God ends up blessing Job and even bringing about praise to his name. We could go to Joseph and his brothers. You meant evil against me. God meant it for good. You can go on and on. But ultimately, we see this in the cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When all these people were arrayed against him, Judas, the high priests, the leaders. Pilate, Herod, Satan, all of it against him, but were merely pawns in God's hands to accomplish his very purpose of bringing blessing upon his people and salvation to the ends of the earth. God's enemies are thwartable and we need to know this. We need to know this because we look around sometimes and we tend to doubt based upon our circumstances. But we need to even know that our circumstances are underneath the sovereign hand of God. And he says very clearly in Romans 8. that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. We must trust that God works in strange and mysterious ways to bring about blessings for His people. Well, the second truth that keeps us immovable is that God's blessings are irrevocable, or irrevocable, if that will help you understand that term. Chapters 23 and 24 are made up of Balaam's four oracles. Remember, he's been sent now, commissioned by these this king to speak a curse. What will happen here? A good summary of those oracles we read earlier. I received a command to bless. He is blessed. I cannot revoke it. So in chapter 22, after a pagan ritual, which is this, he's just doing all that he knows. He offers like seven animals for sacrifice. It says, verse five, the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak." This putting a word in his mouth happened six different times. This is divine inspiration. And it says in verse 7, And Balaam took up his discourse and said, From Aram, Balak has brought me the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. Come, curse Jacob for me, and come denounce Israel. How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him. Behold a people dwelling alone and not counting itself among the nations. This is a set-apart nation. Verse 10, who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die to the death of the upright and let my end be like his. Now what we're going to see in these four oracles for Israel is actually, four fulfillments of the Abrahamic covenant. Let's take them one in turn. Verse 10 says, who can count the dust of Jacob? This is Genesis 13, 16. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. This is clearly what has happened as Balaam is looking about the people there. But look, verse 11, Balak said to Balaam, what have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them. And he answered and said, must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth? So that whole process is then repeated and we have the second oracle in verse 18. This is God's utter trustworthiness that is rooted in his very nature. He is not man, he's different. He's not changeable. He doesn't have parts. He doesn't have passions. He is the self-existent God who depends upon no one. And in that sense, having all knowledge, all wisdom, all power, he has no reason to change at all. And so his promises are irrevocable. Verse 20, This is the Abrahamic promise that God would be in the midst of his people. They would be his people, he would be their God, and he would be for them. Verse 22, God brings them out of Egypt, this is the exodus, and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, what has God wrought? God is for his people, nobody can curse. Behold a people as a lion as it rises up, and as a lion itself. lifts itself, it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain. God's people will be victorious because God as king is in their midst. Well, the third oracle now speaks to the fulfillment of the land promise that was given to Abraham. Remember the land promise, God will rule his people in a place with his blessing. Verse five, how lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel, like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters. This is imagery of the garden. And we know that the tabernacle was a garden type of picture, and also the promised land. God is bringing his people into a place where he would dwell with them. and they would be his people, a land. But notice here it says, in verse seven there, Israel's king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. The last oracle we saw that God is their king, but here, separate from that, we have an earthly king. And it says that his kingdom shall be higher than Agag, which we know was fulfilled in 1 Samuel 15, verse eight, with David. So we're getting some imagery like, okay, Balaam is prophesying that they are going to have a land and they are going to conquer these people. In verse eight, God brings him out of Egypt, and we're unclear if he's talking about Israel, or is this the king again? And is for him, like the horns of the wild ox, it's repeating, but now directing it towards a king. He shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces, and pierce them through with his arrows. He crouched, he lay down like a lion, and like a lioness, who will rouse him up? All this fulfills the promise that they would possess their enemies' cities in Genesis 22. And that's the Abrahamic covenant is fulfilled as it's talked about in verse nine here. Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you. Well, the fourth oracle now is even getting more specific. And this is what's particularly fitting for this Christmas Eve warning. This oracle promises a king in a distant future who will defeat all of Israel's enemies, but the world's. Verse 15, and he took up his discourse. and said to the oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eyes is open, the oracle of him who hears the words of God and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty falling down with his eyes uncovered. Now he says, I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near. A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. Star is used multiple times for the image of a king, a star. Scepter is also used as the image of a king. So a great king will come forth from Israel. It shall crush the forehead of Moab and shall break all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed. Seir, also his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of the cities. We know that this could very easily be describing King David. In fact, in 2 Samuel 8, these nations that are dispossessed or destroyed, King David actually defeats. But we also know that this has a greater fulfillment in the son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why Jesus Christ is spoken of as the morning star. We saw it in 2 Peter, but also in Revelation. And that is why we also see in Matthew 2, that his coming is marked by a star. And so we read in Matthew two, verse one. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. After listening to the king, they went on their way, and behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary's mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. Here we have this great picture of nations coming to the promised star from Jacob, the king who is worthy of worship. A fascinating image that Jesus would be the light to the nations that Israel failed to be. He is the king who would draw the nations to himself. But there's also a warning here, because in this in this chapter in Numbers, this oracle specifically, this king also crushes the heads of his enemies. So then we have Psalm 2 as a fulfillment. The scepter, that scepter which marks out the king of Israel is also described in Psalm 2 as being the rod of iron by which he dashes the nations. And so the message goes out, kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish along the way. You must be like these wise men from the other place who come and offer gifts of praise to the king in humility. Or you will perish. But all this is good news. This is what the Old Testament was all pushing towards and hoping for the messianic expectation of a son of David who would come and triumph over his enemies here. It says very clearly that he will crush Moab, but Moab is but a representation of satanic influence over the nations. So we're meant to hear Genesis 315, that he will crush his head. This is the fulfillment of it all. Jesus bringing the curse to its end. And it says even in this text, one from Jacob, shall exercise dominion, reminding us of Genesis 1, the purpose of Adam, a son of God, was to bring and have dominion underneath God to lead creation towards its appointed end of worshiping God, but he failed. But Christ, the priest-king, now comes as the promised son of Abraham, the son of David, to live a perfect life, die on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, raised from the dead, triumphantly seated at the right hand of God now as the promised king of which we await for the fulfillment of all things. So those people of old who were waiting for the coming king, He has come and now we await for his consummation, where he will lead his people into the promised land and exercise eternal dominion for all eternity. God's blessings are irrevocable. What does all this help Israel with, this prophecy they have? Well, this is future, this is what will happen. We have a Davidic kingdom, we have promises planned even beyond that. This is supposed to encourage the people that they will read about this later and say, wow, God is for us, who can be against us? Let's take this land. And we too are supposed to draw encouragement. This is what Paul does in Romans eight. If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? God's blessings are irrevocable. Ephesians 1, those blessings are articulated. Predestination to adoption of Son, chosen in Christ, redemption, sealing of the Holy Spirit, they're all ours. And we get to look upon this life and draw strength from that indeed His blessings cannot be revoked. Well, the third truth that keeps us immovable comes by way of warning. And that's what is fascinating about this. As we get into chapter 25, and it is a great fall. Verse one, while Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. So remember, Israel is not privy to what God was just saying to Balaam through Balaam. They did not just kind of like listen to all that and then act treacherously. Actually, this happens a lot where you see this great revelation in the Bible, and then like Israel's doing something crazy going on right after. We saw it with the golden calf incident. Moses on the mountain getting revelation, God's law, and they're engaging in idolatry and sexual immorality. We see it with David. Remember when he's given the covenant that he would have a son on the throne, and immediately following that is his sin of Bathsheba? We could talk about more and more of these, like, just, whoa, what is happening here? These people are engaging in idolatrous worship and sexual immorality, and this is The second generation? Oh, we're meant to see again. Okay. All this is going to come about because God is gracious. These people are going to take the land. They're going to have a king come from them. They're going to have the Messiah come from them. All of it is God's grace bringing this about. And this is what this conveys to us. But we must understand that we are susceptible to temptation. God's people are susceptible. And so this comes, and every time we read this, we're like, okay, 1 Corinthians 10, these are examples for us. Let me just, let me take stock. And it's good to mention, actually, that we saw Balaam, right? And we're wondering, what happened to Balaam? Man, he was really saying some awesome things. But the end of this book actually says that Balaam was involved in this treachery in that he obviously told Balak, you know, here's how you actually can get the Israelites. Send some ladies their way. Look, it says this. in chapter 31 verse 16 regarding Balaam. And earlier it says that Balaam was actually killed when Israel will later fight against the Moabites. He was fighting for the Moabites. So like, as we're talking about temptation and susceptibility, all of this makes us like, whew, we need to be alert. Okay? Now let's continue with the narrative because God will bring about discipline. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, verse three. And the Lord said to Moses, take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel. And Moses said to the judges of Israel, each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor. Baal's the God at this particular time, very popular. This reminds us This go out and kill these people reminds us of Exodus 32, that Levites are commissioned to go and kill all those who are involved. But the story zooms in on this one Phineas, the grandson of Eleazar, verse six. And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family in the side of Moses and in the side of the whole congregation, the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. When Phineas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them. The man of Israel and the woman threw her belly. Thus, the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were 24,000. Why was the plague stopped? Look at verse 11. Phineas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Here is a zealous priest acting on behalf of God for the express purpose of glorifying God and saving the people dealt a blow to God's enemies' sin so that the people would be spared. The wrath of God was averted. He made atonement for his people. And in that sense, we get somewhat of a picture of Christ who, as the great high priest, intercedes on our behalf, deals with our greatest enemy so that we would have the wrath of God removed from us so that we could enter the promised land. And that's exactly what happens here. Because of his work, they were then able, the second generation, were able to move into the promised land as he faithfully interceded for his people. The main takeaway, though, from this particular section is what Paul articulates in 1 Corinthians 10. He says, we must not indulge in sexual immorality, as some of it did, and 23,000 fell in a single day. These things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take his heed, lest he fall. And we're saying, wow, the heights of glory of the prophecies of Balaam to the lowest dredger. Oh, is there any hope for us? Yes, he says, going on, he says, hey, God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but he will provide a way of escape through it. And so God is for his people. Yes, we're warned by this, but we're not losing sight of the fact that God has blessed his people, and those blessings cannot be removed. So, today. Today would be a good day for you to take stock of your life. Are you seeing your circumstances through the lens of God's unfailing promise to bless you? or are you interpreting God's promise to bless through your circumstances which is causing you to doubt that those are true? We do the other way around. We take the rock solid word of God. He's not a man that he should change his mind. Has he not spoken, shall he not fulfill it? That is what we grab ahold of to face what we have today. We are not promised an easy earthly pilgrimage. On the other hand, we are promised that we will undergo various trials. And this word can encourage us that we would trust in God's abundant blessing now and forever. We end with William Cooper's God moves in a mysterious way. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for a word of encouragement. grounded in your steadfast love, your promise of blessing comes to fulfillment in Christ. And if you have done that, why should we not expect that you will get us to the end and provide for us the fulfillment of all that you have ever promised, which is a renewed A new heavens and a new earth where there will be no sin, no pain, no struggle, and we will dwell with you forever. Lord, may our eyes be fixated on that as we face the struggles of today. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.