Okay, let's begin with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for the privilege of gathering together. We thank you for the body that you have formed here at Blaine, and for what you've done in our midst, what you are doing, what you will do, Father, and for your word that you have given to us. Father, we pray that we might glean what you would have us to glean this morning from the truth that we look at, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. We're looking at the angel of the Lord, who is Jesus Christ. And that's a little misleading in that he's not Jesus until he's born of Mary, thou shalt call his name Jesus, but he's the son of God and he manifested himself in the Old Testament as the angel of the Lord. And we started last time to look at his confrontation, I guess I should say, with the false prophet Balaam. And I don't know if you could tell, but I've been really taken by what occurred in all of this. But isn't it remarkable that The angel of the Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down and personally stood in opposition to a man named Balaam, who was a, I'm gonna call him a religious false prophet, okay, who was a tremendous adversary of Jesus Christ and of God. And so I want to remind you, let's start in Revelation chapter two. Last time I went through, I don't know how many, one, two, three, four, five, ten or 12 passages where this Balaam is mentioned in scripture. So I want to remind you of a couple of those. Go back to Revelation chapter two, where the Lord is speaking to the church in Pergamum, and he says, I'll read from verse 12, and to the angel of the church in Pergamum write, the one who has the sharp two-edged sword says this, I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, and you hold fast my name and did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you. because you have there, in other words, in your midst, some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak, that's the man who hired him or tried to hire him, king of Moab, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel. to eat things, sacrifice to idols, and to commit acts of immorality as part of the worship of Baal. Okay, from there, let's go to Numbers 25 and see how this happened. Numbers 25, now maybe you don't remember, but chapter 24 is the end of the attempt of Balaam to curse Israel. And the angel of the Lord has so interfered with his plan and so withstood him that In every case, he gave a blessing instead of a curse. But when it was time for him to leave, he did not quit. in his opposition to Israel and to God and to the plan of God and to all that is righteous because this is what he instigated. We just read about it in Revelation 2. While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot, be unfaithful to God, with the daughters of Moab. for they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor and the Lord was angry against Israel and the great plague came about that God brought about. as a result of that. So let us go to Matthew chapter seven. And in Matthew seven, there's a warning here in verse 15. Beware of, this is Jesus Christ speaking, beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing. Let me say again, Balaam was a very religious man. He was very much in tune with the religion of his day. He wasn't a godly man, he wasn't a righteous man, he was a man who was motivated by money, but he would have been thought of in that day to be a very religious man. That kind of run contrary to your... He was into sacrifices, he was into small G gods, He was into worship. He was into all these things. And it's amazing that, okay, let's go next to, let's go back to chapter 22 of Numbers. Now remember the background. I'll read it, Numbers 22, verse one. Then the sons of Israel journeyed and camped in the plains of Moab. They're right there in Moab's territory, beyond the Jordan, opposite Jericho. Now Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. They had defeated the Amorites on their way up here. So Moab was in great fear of the people, for they were numerous, and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel. And Moab said to the elders of Midian, now this horde will lick up all that is around us as the ox licks up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at the time. Now notice, so what'd he do? So, he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pether, which is near the river, that's the Euphrates River. We're possibly talking about a trip of 200 or more miles. Not by jet and not by car, but by camel or mule a long ways. I just want you to think for a minute. How does Balak even know about Balaam? He's a man hundreds of miles away. Why is his thought, I know what I'll do? And I've come to believe that this Balaam was a powerful emissary of Satan. It was a man who was known in this religious world to be able to curse and have those, I can't believe that he spent his whole life cursing people and nothing happened. You know what I mean? I believe in this evil dominion that he was in, he cursed people and it was effective. because there's this man, like I said, so many miles away, and he's a king, and he knows about this guy, and he's gonna hire him. And I think when we put all that together, we start to see why Jesus Christ, the Son of God, manifested in the Old Testament, came down and directly confronted Balaam, okay? powerful, powerful thing. Can you imagine the potential that Balaam had being in the presence of the Son of God in the Old Testament? You ever thought of it that way? I mean, what if he just, he says the light came on, so to speak. What if he just said, you're my God. I've been wrong all these years. I repent. I fall down before you. I worship you. But we don't find that. Okay. This man Balak, the king, is a very wealthy man. And he offers Balaam, we don't know how much. My guess, speculation, would be millions of dollars to come and curse Israel. Let's go to verse nine. So Balaam's been contacted. The people make the trip all the way, now you got it? They go all the way from the plains of Moab, across from where the Jews are gonna go into the promised land, and they come all the way up into Syria, where Balaam is, and they bring word, we need you to come all the way from where you are, all the way back to this area, and purse for us, okay? And so, they've arrived where, Balaam is, and verse nine. Then God came to Balaam and said, who are these men with you? And Balaam said to God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me. Behold, This is the word that he got. Behold, there's a people who came out of Egypt and they cover the surface of the land. Now come, all the way on that trip, curse them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them out. Hold your finger there and go back to Genesis 15. God's plan, God's purpose. for Israel through Abraham. Genesis 15, and we'll look at it in verse 13. This is the Lord speaking with Abraham. And the Lord says this, and God said, to Abraham, know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years. Remember, went down, followed Joseph down into Egypt, were there as slaves after Joseph died 400 years. But I will also, God says, I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. Okay. As for you, Abraham, you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation, they shall come, they shall return here. Israel shall. into this land where Abraham is right now, that's the promised land, but they're gonna take it over because the Lord says, then in the fourth generation, they shall return here for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete. What is he saying? There's gonna be a level of wickedness. coming in this promised land, and it will be at that time that I will force them out and destroy them through Israel. I can't read that without wondering if God's gonna do that with us. I mean, in the sense of the wickedness that is rampant, and the hatred of God being displayed all the time. That's just an aside. Okay, then, back to Numbers 22, verse 12. And God said to Balaam, do not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed. Looked at that last time. Like I said last time, isn't that the end of his mission? I mean, how could you be more definite than those words from the Lord? And God said, do not go with them, stay home, okay? You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed. And we have that blessing, we don't need to go there, but in Genesis chapter 12, verse three, where the Lord said to Abraham and his offspring, blessed are those who bless you, I will bless those who curse you, I will curse. So, Verse 13, so Balaam rose early in the morning and said to Balak's leaders, go back to your land. Remember, maybe a couple hundred miles. Okay, go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you. And like I said last time, I mean, Balaam sounds pretty good here so far, okay? But we know what the rest of the scripture says. He's a wicked, wicked man. A lamb, so to speak, in sheep's clothing. All right. And the leaders of Moab arose, verse 14, went to Balak and said, Balaam, refuse to come with us. And Balak again sent leaders, more numerous and more distinguished than the former. And they came to Balaam and said to him, thus says Balak, the son of Zippor, let nothing, I beg you, hinder you from coming to me. shows how intensely he believes he needs this cursing. For I will indeed honor you richly, which certainly would appeal to Balaam, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, though Balak were to give me his house full of silver, He's thinking along these lines, and gold, I could not do anything either small or great contrary to the command of the Lord my God. The Lord my God. And now please, here we go. And now please, you stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the Lord will speak to me. What's the problem with that? What did the Lord already say? Don't go, don't curse them, they're blessed. But now this is Balaam starting to show himself. He's been offered even evidently more money. I'll richly bless you, is what this Balak says. So now he says, and now please you also stay here tonight I think he should have said what? Back up and go home. It's over, it's not gonna happen. And I will find out what else the Lord will speak to me. Okay. God came to Balaam at night and said to him, if the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them. Hard for us to grapple with this. But only the word which I speak to you Shall you do? So Balaam arose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab. Now we see the truth of what's going on. But God was angry because he was going. And the angel of the Lord, the son of God, Jesus Christ in the New Testament. And the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as an adversary. Doesn't that make clear whose side Balaam is on? I mean, there's parts of this that would say, I don't get that. Why is the Lord letting him go? Well, we find out why when we get through this. God says very clearly, this Balaam is my adversary. And I just shudder at the truth that Almighty God in the person of the angel of the Lord has come out against one man. And he has a sword drawn, okay. Now, last part of verse 22, now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. And before we go on, I want to add, remember who the Lord is. He's omniscient. He knows every thought. that is in the mind of Balaam and Balak. He knows what Satan's doing. It reminds me of, hold your finger there and go to 2 Kings chapter 19. 2 Kings 19 and verse 27. where the Lord is addressing Sennacherib, the godless, ungodly king of Assyria, and he says, I know you're sitting down, and you're going out, and you're coming in, and you're raging against me. knows his heart, knows what he's been saying. Because of your raging against me and because your arrogance has come up to my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips and I will turn you back by the way which you came. I just give you that passage. The Lord knows everything that's going on in Balaam's thinking. It says, now I'm back to Numbers 22. Last part of verse 22. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants with him. When the donkey saw the angel of 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. You can picture this. But Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back into the way. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path of the vineyards with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed herself to the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall. So he struck her again. And the angel of the Lord went further and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down. She had no other way to go. She lay down under Balaam. So Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his stick. And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey. If it wasn't so serious, it would be humorous. And 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? Balaam said to the donkey, because you have made a mockery of me, if there'd been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now. Isn't it interesting that Balaam isn't even, wouldn't you expect, you'd say, What is a donkey talking to me? And the donkey can count, he says, three times. Okay. And the donkey said to Balaam, am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you? They're in a discussion. And he said, no. Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword. With his drawn sword in his hand and he bowed all the way to the ground. You know, remember what David David was affected for the rest of his life by seeing the angel of the Lord. Remember, we studied that with his sword drawn. He wouldn't go to that other place to worship anymore. And he was terrified of what he saw. And I don't see it having that impact on Balaam. But here we go again. And the angel of the Lord said to him, Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary because your way was contrary to me, which tells us that Balaam was wrong to say, I'll find out what the Lord has to say. I think we have to be really careful. When we know the word of God says, don't do this. And oftentimes, what do we think? Well, my situation is a little bit different. And we wiggle it around. And basically what we're saying is, I'm gonna find out what the Lord has to say, and it's clear that the Lord let this thing progress under his own sovereign will because he wanted to bless Israel and not curse them. Okay, but this didn't turn out well for Balaam. You realize that? When the Jews came into his land, Balaam was killed. And not only Balaam, but Balak and the whole group of them. All right. The Lord goes on, he says, but the donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, I would surely have killed you just now. and let her live. And Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back. Sounds good again, okay? But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, go with the men. Here we go. but you shall speak only the word which I shall tell you. So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak. This fierce encounter, I believe, was so important in God's dealing with Balaam that he perfectly gave Word for word, the blessing that God gave him. He didn't deviate from that. Now, I'm not saying that that's what he wanted to do, but that's what he did. Okay, so, Bala comes out to meet him when they arrive from up there in Syria all the way down to the plains of Moab. and verse 39, and Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-hazath, and Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, here's this religious stuff again, and sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam, of course, to feast on, and the leaders who were with him. Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to, where did he want to take him? And brought him up to the high places of Baal. So that tells us that Balak and his people are Baal worshipers, and they sacrifice two foreign gods, in other words, gods that aren't gods, gods that are demons, and he's into idolatry. And it says, and he saw from there a portion of the people. All right, now. Let's come down to the supposed cursing that is a blessing. Verse five of chapter 23. Then the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth. and said, return to Balak and you shall speak thus. So he returned to him and behold, as he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the other leaders of Moab, and he took up his discourse and said, from Aram, up there in Syria, Balak has brought me, Moab's king, from the mountains of the east. Brought me all the way down here. Come, curse Jacob for me. These are God's words that, Balak's words are what he wants. And come, denounce Israel. Isn't it interesting that Balak calls Israel Jacob? Okay. Verse eight, how shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom God has not denounced? As I see him from the top of the rocks and I look at him from the hills, I love this, behold a people who are set apart and shall not be reckoned among the nations, they're God's people. Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright and let my end be like his. Quite a blessing. Then Balak said to Balaam, what have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them. And he answered and said, must I not be careful to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth? And Balak said to him, please, come with me to another place. Very interesting. There's an emphasis in idolatry of a specific demon or God being in a specific area. So I think that's why this man is saying, well, let's move over on this ridge, and then we'll try to do it from here. Okay, he does this multiple times. Now it's interesting. So verse 14. So 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. Offering to whom? To Baal, okay? That's what he's doing. These are not offerings to God. All right. But he took them to the top of Pisgah. Remember the hymn? When from Mount Pisgah's lofty height, I view my home and take my flight. Go to Deuteronomy 3, verse 23. Deuteronomy 3, 23. Moses here is talking about his not being able to go in the land. And he says, I also pleaded with the Lord at that time saying, oh Lord God, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness and thy strong hand for what God is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as thine. Let me, I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country in Lebanon. But the Lord was angry with me and remember Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it. The rock was a picture of Christ being struck, going to the cross for our sins and being raised from the dead. And he was supposed to talk to the rock because he had already struck it. And so now he was to speak to it. Instead, he looks like he lost his temper and struck the rock. At any rate, here was the Lord's answer. Enough. Speak to me no more of this matter. Don't. Don't pray about this. You're not going to go into the land. Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east and see it with your eyes for you shall not cross over this Jordan. Balak takes Balaam up on Pisgah, which later on is gonna be the place that God sends Moses to look into the land. He's looking at this land of blessing, where the Jews are gonna be, and Balak calls Balaam up there to curse him. Get the contrast there, okay. All right, now, let's come over to the next discourse. Verse 18 of chapter 23. Then he took up his discourse and said, Arise, O Balak, and hear. Give ear to me, O son of Zippor. God is not a man that he should lie. You get the difference here? God is not a man that he should lie. In other words, You're still trying to get God through Balaam, so to speak, to curse Israel, and God says, no, no, they're gonna be blessed. All right, so wonderful. Arise, O Balak, and hear, give ear to me, O son of Zippor. God is not a man that he should lie. He's not gonna change his mind, nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good? Behold, Balaam says, I have received a command to bless. When he is blessed, then I cannot revoke it. He is not, what a statement concerning God. He has not observed misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king I believe that's the angel of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And the shout of a king is among them, because they weren't even close to having a king other than God at that point. God brings him out of Egypt. He is for them like the horns of the wild ox. How's this for a promise? For there is no omen against Jacob. Can't be done. nor is there any divination against Israel. That's what Balaam's trying to do. At the proper time, I love this, at the proper time it shall be said to Jacob and to Israel what God has done. And the great thing here is what? All this is going on totally unknown by Israel. You get, this whole thing, they don't know this is going on. Okay, we're reading it in the context, but they don't know. The people, Moses I don't think knows. Okay, I mean he's gonna know when God reveals it. So then, let me read the rest of this. Verse 24, behold, a people rises like a lioness, and as a lion lifts itself, it shall not lie down until it devours the prey, and in the context, what do you think the prey is? Moab, the Midianites, Balak, okay, Israel's gonna devour them, and drinks the blood of the slain, so notice, Then Balak said to Balaam, do not curse them at all, nor bless them at all. He says, let's just stop. Let's not do that, okay? All right, then. Come down to the next one, chapter 24. And he took up his discourse and said, the oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened. Sounds good, doesn't it? The oracle of him who hears the words of God. I was reminded of, just go to 2 Peter chapter two. 2nd Peter chapter 2, verse 21. Remember what we just read. Balak lifted up his eyes and he said, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty falling down yet having his eyes uncovered. All right, then we go to 1st Peter chapter 2. Seeing what Balaam saw, was he ever saved? Didn't do them any good. My eyes opened, I hear the words of God. And then, so I'm reminded, verse 21 of 2 Peter, chapter two. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, faith in Christ as a Savior, not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. And we know Balaam turned away, because what did he do? After the times of the supposed cursing that was turned to blessing, he talked them into being part of the worship of Balaam. So we know that he never, he wasn't ever on the Lord's side. for it was better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. It has happened to them, according to the true proverb, a dog returns to its own vomit and a sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire. Who created the dog and who created the pig? I just love it. Does a dog need to eat its vomit? I don't know of any scientific studies that say he does. So why did God create him to do that? I think it's so it would be a lesson to us about the person, and I think it was J. Verna McGee I heard talking about, in some ways when you give an unbeliever the gospel you're either giving them a tremendous blessing or you're giving them what this says, that it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. And the gospel is a commandment. You know, sometimes we don't get that. You know, everybody is commanded to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and we're just delivering the commandment that God has given us to share with them. Okay, so, all right, we'll stop there. Father, we thank you for your grace to us, and we thank you for the tremendous work of the Spirit in us as believers in Jesus Christ, that you will never leave us nor forsake us, and that it is God who has begun a good work in us and will complete that work. Father, we just shudder for those who have heard the word, heard the gospel and turned away from it. it's worse than if they hadn't heard it. And so, may we be faithful in presenting the word, Father, and may you use us as you desire to use us, in Jesus' name, amen.