Numbers 22. Remember as you read through the Bible, you're seeing an entire story unfold. You see strategy. You see God's, as one man used to say, God has a plan, Satan has a plot. And you see it all the way from cover to cover. And this, no doubt, the story of Balaam was put in here to give us light on that subject as we watch God's plan unfold with his covenant people and Satan's desire to thwart that plan. He's been sentenced to the lake of fire according to Matthew 25, 41. And therefore, he's going to try to stop the seed. He's going to try to destroy the coming of Messiah. He's going to try to destroy the nation. And you can see this go all the way to the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. So, read the story of Balaam with that in mind. And also, We need to remember that there are four oracles in this section and some of them are going to deal directly with the coming Messiah. which we won't see any of those today. That will probably be next week, just kind of depending on how it goes. But let's open in prayer and then we'll pick up back in chapter 22. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity to gather and to again come back to this narrative with Balaam. And Lord, we just pray that we'll be spiritually edified as we work through the text. And so we pray that the Spirit of God will enlighten our hearts to this. In Jesus' name, Amen. Let's pick up in verse 13. We've already been here, but let's find a place to start reading and then get to our The spot where we left off last week, verse 13, So Balaam arose in the morning and said to Balak's leaders, Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you. The leaders of Moab arose and went to Balak and said, Balaam refuses to come with us. And Balak again sent leaders, more numerous and more distinguished than the former. We know from the text that Balak's trying to entice Balaam to curse Israel, so he's bribing him. They came to Balaam in verse 16, and thus says Balak, the son of Zippor, let nothing I beg you hinder from coming to me, for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Please come then, curse this people for me. So Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could do nothing. Either small or great, contrary to the command of the Lord my God. Now please, you also stay here tonight and I'll find out what else the Lord will speak to me. So God came to Balaam at night and said to him, If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them. But only the word which I speak to you, you shall do. So Balaam arose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab. But God was angry because he was going. And the angel of the Lord, Malak Yahweh, which we studied most of the hour last time, which I think is the Lord himself, stood in his way as an adversary against him, and now he was riding on his donkey and two of his servants were with him. Then in verse 23, 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, but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back into the way, and the angel of the Lord, there's the Lord again appearing, stood in the narrow path of the vineyards with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. And 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. So the donkey can see the Lord, Balaam doesn't at this point. The angel of the Lord went further and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right or the left. And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she laid down under Balaam. So Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his stick. And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey. So now the Lord is going to, I would call this a miracle, is going to supernaturally speak through the donkey. And she said to Balaam, What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times? Then Balaam said to the donkey, Because you have made a mockery of me. If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now. 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? 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 in his hand. So now Balaam can physically see this. And he bowed all the way to the ground, which is a common posture in the Old Testament describing worship. But he bows down, 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. Remember, we looked earlier where that was the word Satan, Satan, and here it is again, the same word Satan, which the word for the devil, the title Satan, really just means an adversary, an appropriate title for Satan himself. But here God is called an adversary against Balaam because his way was contrary to the Lord. So I would argue God tells him to go and then he gets angry when he goes because the motive was wrong. Verse 33, The donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, I surely would have killed you just now and let her live. So the Lord had given Balaam permission to go back to Balak in verse 20. So the Lord's opposition was not that Balaam was actually going but because his motive was not lining up with the will of God. So in verse 34, Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, But you shall speak only the word which I tell you. So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak. So Balaam finally realizes that the donkey's behavior was divine direction and therefore confesses his sin before the Lord. He even asks if God wants him to go back and God disagrees and tells him to continue, but only speak the word that He gives him and nothing else. And that's what the prophets were always to do. They were to just say, so saith the Lord. They weren't to change the message, make up their own message, add or take away. So verse 36, when Balak heard that Balaam was coming, He went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the Arnon border, at the extreme end of the border. Then Balak said to Balaam, Did I not urgently send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really unable to honor you? So Balaam said to Balaak, Behold, I have now come to you. Am I able to speak anything at all? But the words that God puts in my mouth, that I shall speak. So Balaam went with Balaak and they came to Kiriath Huzoth. Balaak sacrificed oxen and sheep and sent some to Balaam and the leaders who were with him. Then in verse 41, we'll pause here for a second. Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him to the high places of Baal. And he saw from there a portion of the people. Remember the people are quite numerous and now he's at a high level where he can see a portion of the people. A real quick look at something. In verse 41 you have the Bemot Baal which is translated the high places of Baal. Some call it Baal. The Hebrew does stutter, you've got two different vowels. Do you have something like that in your translation, the high places of Baal? At least where you can see where I'm referencing. So this word high place, Bama, refers to a high place, a ridge, even an elevated area. These high places were, this one at least here, is a high place overlooking the plains of Moab. But it's also a technical term where idolatrous worship took place. Let's look at a few of these. I don't know if I have any slides for this. Let's see. No, I don't. Let me just read these to you if you want to take them down. A few places where high places are referring to places of idolatry. Not simply an elevation idea, but these are places where they would worship false gods. Why do you think they might be high up? Yeah, get closer to the gods. They build the Tower of Babel to get to God. So Leviticus 26.30 in the cycles of discipline and Leviticus 26 that we somewhat recently studied. God says this in the disciplinary section, I will then destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols, for my soul shall abhor you. And so clearly God did not want them. Remember, have no other gods before me? Anything else, any worship of any other god would have been called spiritual adultery. Which is also in the Ten Commandments, thou shall not commit adultery. That also applied to the nation with their relationship with their Lord. So God tells the Jews to destroy these places of false worship when they enter the promised land. In our book Numbers chapter 33 verse 52, we'll get there later. But Numbers 33 verse 52 it says, Then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you. Those would be those in the land of Canaan. and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places. Obviously these are the places of false worship. He's not saying just destroy stone itself, but just be vandals. He's not saying that. He's saying these are the things that they worship. These are their high places. This is where they commit idolatry. So he says you've got to remove those. Deuteronomy 12.2 Sermon wouldn't be complete without Deuteronomy somewhere, right? Deuteronomy 12.2, you shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. So there are these places they're going to have to destroy because they're places of false worship. By the way, what happens in the time of the kings? They go to these high places, worship false gods. Sometimes a king will destroy all these things because of what God had told him to do. And then what do they do? They rebuild them. And then the son of that king will continue on in the pattern of his father and so forth. So these places were to be destroyed. Not that there's anything in and of itself of a carved statue, but it's what you do there. Remember he says never make anything in the image of any likeness on heaven or earth or in the sea and worship them. And that's what they were doing. So now you have also the high places, Bamoth, Baal. Baal was a false Canaanite god. Judges 2.11, a good passage because after they go into the land under Deuteronomy, Moses instructs them what to do when they get in the land in Deuteronomy, but then they go in the book of Joshua, they conquer the land. Right after that, what happens? The book of Judges. They don't listen to what the Lord had said. So Judges 2.11, Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. How? They served the Baals. There's that Canaanite deity again, mentioned in Judges 2.11. Yeah, and then it does end with the, everyone did what was right in his own eyes, in the last verse of Judges. So, they failed to remember what God had said and apply it. And they may have known the truth, but they didn't do the truth. What does James say? Don't just be a hearer, be a doer. And I don't think by the time of Judges they didn't know, they just didn't apply. So, one commentator said this about Baal, I think it was based on the Judges 2.11 text. He says, the word Baal, which can mean Lord or husband, corresponds with the analogy of idolatry as spiritual adultery. Again, interesting, the word Baal can be translated Lord with a small l or husband. But in the negative sense, he says it corresponds to spiritual adultery. You're committed to the wrong god in Judges 2. Baal was the Canaanite name for the Syrian god Hadad, the god of storms and wars. The plural, Baals, suggest the many local varieties of the worship of Baal. So that's our situation here in numbers. They go to the high places. So now, chapter 23. Again, chapter breaks are sometimes unfortunate. They have one here, but the text just moves on. The story continues in verse 1. So if you want to turn to chapter 23 of Numbers. Then Balaam said to Balak, Build seven altars for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here. Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. Then Balaam said to Balak, Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go up. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me and whatever he shows me I'll tell you." So he went to a bare hill and now God met Balaam and he said to him, I have set up the seven altars and I've offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. Then the Lord, in verse 5, put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, return to Balak and you shall speak in this manner. So he returned to him and behold he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. So now, we come to the first oracle. We finally got to an oracle here. Remember, there's four oracles in this section of numbers 22 through 24. I gave you these when we started this section. I'll just do it again. The first oracle is numbers 23, 7 through 10. Oracle number 2, numbers 23, 18 through 24. The third oracle's numbers 24, 3 through 9. And then the fourth numbers 24, 15 through 24. And these are going to be very important. The mesianic ones are really neat. We'll get to that later. If you need me to put these back up at the end, just flag me down and I'll scroll back. So let's look at the oracle. Let's read through it and then pull some things apart. And I'll do my best with that. So verse 7 through 10. So he took up his discourse and said, From Aram-Balak has brought me Moab's king from the mountains of the east. Come curse Jacob for me, and come denounce Israel. You see the Hebrew parallelism? Jacob is parallel to what? Israel. So remember, Jacob was a man, a singular man, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, a son of Isaac. Jacob has the 12 sons, which form the 12 tribes of Israel. After Jacob wrestles with God, in what chapter? Genesis 32. What was his name now? Israel. So the name Jacob is often just used as a title for the whole nation, which is used here. So come curse Jacob for me, also parallel. Come denounce Israel. So that'd be like synonymous parallelism. They're saying basically the same thing with the word change. But here's verse 8. How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? And I see him from the top of the rocks, and I look at him from the hills. Behold, a people who dwells apart, or separate, and will not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Again, the parallelism, the nation Israel is parallel to Jacob. Then he says, let me die the death of the upright and let my end be like his. That last phrase in verse 10 is interesting. That one made me pause for a while over the course of this study. We'll get to that in a minute. So let's look at a few things. Verse 8, it says, How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? So Balaam clearly realizes that he's unable to curse the blessed nation of Israel whom God has not cursed. Remember, I think it was last week, all the passages we went through, how Israel, the nation, is a blessed people. Could we learn something from this verse alone in our political application today? Absolutely, as if the Bible has nothing to say about every area of life from education to political theory. If this is God's chosen people, it would still apply to us. We sure would not want to curse somebody God said not to curse. So here, there's a recognition of that. is I see him from the top of the rocks and I look at him from the hills. In other words, as Balaam looks at the nation, behold, a people who dwell apart or distinct, separate, and will not be reckoned among the nations. So interesting, is Israel in their land? No. So whether they're in or out of the land, they're still God's set-apart covenant people. They're still His chosen people. As a matter of fact, a Jew is one who's Jew by physical descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's not a religious affiliation, even though obviously they had doctrine. But I'm not Jewish, even though I believe in the scriptures that God gave the Jews. But to be a Jew is one physically. A true Israelite, as Paul said, would be one who believes in Messiah. So here, this is still God's covenant people in or out of the land. So Balaam clearly sees Israel as a nation distinct from all nations in this oracle, right? He says they dwell alone or apart. They're clearly a distinct people. Let me read you Exodus 19 5 and 6 again. And you shall be to me, speaking about Israel, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Remember holy in Hebrew means what? Set apart in just the root meaning of the word, so in this context Israel is the distinct people of God. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. So God was speaking to Moses and then he was to tell Israel about this. A very important scripture, Exodus 19, 5 and 6, on Israel's identity, which tells me by application all of God's people need what? They need knowledge of what? An identity. You've got to know who you are. I'm convinced so many people don't believe in eternal security because they don't know who they are in Christ. You say, give me five things about your position in Him. And sometimes a guy will go, well I'm saved. Good, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, Titus 3, 5. You have been saved. So you're a child of God saved from the penalty of sin. You're redeemed. You're raised with Him, seated with Him, made alive with Him. You're forgiven. You're a new creature in Christ. You're the possessor of imputed righteousness. You're justified. And the more you learn about those things, you go, wow, these aren't reversible. And so I think every Christian, as soon as they become a believer in Christ, their identity needs to be made very clear to them. Because if you walk around in this world as a saved person without a clear identity, you're going to get messed up. And I noticed going into the jails, why do you think some of these guys join gangs? They want an identity. They have no family. They have really nothing, at least a family of value. A lot of them will tell me that. I don't have a dad. Never did. And so they're looking for someone to identify with. And I said, well, you're a child of God. Identify with the Lord Jesus. There's your greatest identity. And that's why a lot of them are listening to me. They want something different. And they want to develop a good relationship with their Lord, which is going to come through an identity. So God lays out the identity of Israel. And then basically says, now be who you are. Isn't that what Ephesians 5.8 says? You were once darkness, now you're light in the Lord, position, that's who you are. What does it say? Walk as a child of light. So this is who you were, this is who you are, now be who you are. And so I don't think you can really be who you are without knowing who you are. So verse 10 of this oracle. 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, Balaam says. So, we'll get to that second half of verse 10 in a moment, but let me ask you, when you read who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel, what comes into your mind from scripture? There you go. You're following it. You've read, you have previous Torah, right? And you're going, well this is just repetition, right? Let me give you a few verses if you want to just write them down at this point. Genesis 13, 16. This is to Abraham and then he'll say it to the other one I'll give you is to Jacob. Genesis 13, 16. I will make your seed or descendants as the dust of the earth. Well, that's Israel as the dust of the earth. What does Balaam say? Who can count the dust of Jacob? So what does that tell you about God? He does exactly what he says. I mean, this is Abraham way back. And now here, Israel's come out of Egypt, and are they a numerous people? If there were three of them, you could say, God, where's the seashore sand thing you said? Well, you're looking at it. There's, what, two million that came out of Egypt, they say? It's hard to know how many are alive by this time after God's killing them left and right. But they are repopulating as that goes on, so I don't have those figures. Go to Genesis 28. I haven't heard Bible pages turned this morning, so we better... There's three verses there. And this is the famous Jacob's Ladder revelation that God gives him. which I think Jesus picks up on in John 1.51. Genesis 28.12, where Jacob had a dream and behold a ladder was set on earth with its top reaching to heaven. You already see a theology of mediation between heaven and earth. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. So by the way, who is really the ultimate mediator between heaven and earth? Christ. Who is the mediator that came in behalf of the Lord in heaven that came to Abraham, Abraham representing the nation Israel? Genesis 14. Melchizedek, a king priest. So he mediates blessing between Yahweh and Abraham the nation. Isn't he a picture of Jesus? Doesn't it say Jesus was in the order of Melchizedek? So a mediator. The Jews knew a mediator was coming. I think they knew so much about Messiah. about His coming. So Jesus comes to earth and in John 1.51 you'll see greater things than these when you see descending and ascending on the Son of Man, the angels. Really? Where did He just come from? The mediator passage of Genesis 28. He's like, I'm the mediator. I'm the messenger of the covenant of Malachi 3.1. I've come to establish the kingdom with Israel. You need to look no further. I think when they heard Jesus say that in John 1.51, they should have gone, By the way, what did Nathanael call him when he said, you saw me under the fig tree? He said, you're the king of Israel. How do you know that from that comment? Because the kingdom was pictured as a fig tree. And I'm sure Nathanael was under one of those when he was thinking about the coming kingdom and Jesus said, I saw you under the fig tree. You're the king. And we think these guys had no Old Testament theology to respond the way they did. I think they did. So where was I? Genesis 28, 13. And behold, the Lord stood above it, on the top of the ladder, and said, I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. So he's speaking to Jacob. So he didn't say Jacob there, because he's speaking to Jacob. And now watch the land on which you lie. Remember he had the rock pillow. You know, that commercial, my pillow, the most comfortable pillow you'll ever own? Well, Jacob had a rock pillow. I'm just kidding. Don't use a rock pillow. You'll have a neck like mine, probably. He says, the land on which you lie, I'll give to you and to your seed. So who gets the land? Is it a promise to the covenant people of the United States? No, it is real. No one's replaced them. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth. So there's that dust of the earth motif again. And you will spread out to the west, to the east, to the north and the south. And in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Which is Genesis 12, 3. continues to reiterate and build on these previous promises. So there's the, Balaam says, who can count the dust of Jacob in verse 10? Or number the fourth part of Israel. So God has multiplied his people and he's recognizing that. Then he says this, and I'll do my best on it. Let me die the death of the upright and let my end be like his. Who is the upright and who is his? Yeah, in the Hebrew, some Bibles will have theirs, it's a singular pronoun. Does anyone have theirs with a footnote, his? No footnote. But who would that refer to, the upright and the his, or theirs? Or is it Israel? Speaking of Israel, let me tell you where, now you say, but is Israel always upright? No, the one who comes from Israel, Jesus, is perfectly upright. But, in Deuteronomy 32.15, this same root in Hebrew, Yashar, for upright, is used in the nation Israel, God's chosen people. Ever heard of Jeshurun? Some of y'all have heard of that word Jeshurun. Yeshurun in the Hebrew Bible. So Deuteronomy 32.15 says, talking about God's blessing of Israel, Jeshurun grew fat and kicked. You are grown fat, thick, and sleek. What would that indicate if you're fat, thick, and sleek? You're blessed. Remember the fat and skinny cows of the famine dream with Joseph? So they're a blessed people, right? But then he says, then he, Yashurun, referring to Israel, forsook God who made him and scorned the rock of his salvation. So it talks in Deuteronomy 32, the blessing that God put on his people, but then how they turned against him. So I would argue Israel is a chosen nation with an eternal destiny of people who are blessed in life, death, and for all eternity. I mean, isn't it an eternal covenant God has with these people? So a couple of things about blessing. Remember Abraham in Genesis 25.8, Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life, and he was gathered to his people. So here the father of Israel died the death of a righteous man. Psalm 116 verse 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his holy ones. So Balaam, I think when he makes this statement in the oracle again which says, let me die the death of the upright and let my end be like his. I think he wants to be blessed like Israel rather than cursed. By the way, I think he's going back to the Genesis 12 free motif. God says, I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. What does Balaam say he can't do? I can't curse this people. And I think Balaam is showing his desire to be blessed rather than cursed. So, the Net Bible said this, they said here in this passage, the seer, referring to Balaam, the seer's words link with the promise of Genesis 12-3, that whoever blessed Israel would be blessed. since the blessing belongs to them, the upright, not Balak. Balaam would like his lot to be with them. So again, God says, I'll bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. And I think that lines up with Balaam's words here. So remember, also God put these words in Balaam's mouth which he speaks. Who is listening to this? Balak. What should he now do? Should he think twice about saying, curse this people? It's the mercy and grace of God extended to this king. Are you sure you want to ride this train? I'm giving you another opportunity. Do not curse this people. And through the words of this prophet. So, let me see something. Yeah, I got a few minutes. So verse 11, what does Balak say? Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them. He replied, Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth? Now what should every prophet of Israel Shouldn't they read this one carefully? Only say what God has told you to say. Never, well, God said this, but... Just speak what He speaks. So Balak is correct. Balaam's words were a blessing concerning Israel. So Balak needs to listen to the Word of God and bless Israel instead of seeking a curse against them. I guess I'll close with a principle in the few minutes we have. Attempts to curse Israel or any of God's people will receive opposition from God Himself. Now obviously God allowed Israel under certain times in their disobedience to be overrun by the enemy, but did He ever allow them to be eternally removed or completely wiped out? Never. And what did God do to the nations He used as an instrument of judgment? They turn around and judge them. So attempts to curse Israel or any of God's people receives opposition from the Lord. A few passages, one in, remember in the book of Acts where they're persecuting the apostles? And now they're trying to figure out what to do with them? Remember Gamaliel? A man stands up and warns them. He says this in Acts 5.38 and 39. As he's discussing what to do with these men, he says, in this present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or action is of men, it'll be overthrown. In other words, if these apostles are not of God, it'll all disperse. But he says, but if it is of God, You will not be able to overthrow them or else you may find yourself fighting against God. Smart man. You fight against God's people who you're really fighting. God and you will never win that battle. So as we've seen recently who in all of the scripture is seeking to destroy Israel who will never succeed. Satan is behind all of it. He's a singular angel with demons who follow him. He is the ruler behind the nations. The kingdoms of man, you can see this in Daniel 2, Daniel 7 with the four parts of the statue in Daniel 2 and the four beasts of Daniel 7. These are the kingdoms of man ruled by him that will be replaced by the kingdom of Messiah. Remember, you can turn to Revelation 12. Satan's attempts to destroy Israel and the Messiah will always fail. I'll be brief since I think we read this whole chapter maybe a month ago. Now the way the Bible reads, sometimes it will cover a lot of ground in a few verses. In the first five verses of this chapter 12, you see Satan's historical attack on Israel and the attack on the Messianic line leading up to the first coming of the Messiah. Even describing as exaltation, resurrection and ascension. So again, I think this is the first five verses are referring to the history of Satan's attack up to the first advent. Look at verse 1. A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and on her head was a crown of twelve stars. So who does that refer to? Who's the woman? Israel. What chapter did we note? You got to hit a little harder. Yeah, Genesis 37 with the story of Joseph and his brothers. And Israel, I think, is being described with this same imagery from Genesis 37. And she was with child and she cried out being in labor and in pain to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his head were seven diadems. And his tail swept a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up to God, to his throne. So you see, I think the one-third of the stars swept would refer to the one-third of the angels that followed Satan and the rebellion. Satan has been a persecutor of Israel. Israel would be the nation for whom the child would come. Mary would actually give birth to Jesus. By the way, she was a Jew. And so the Messiah was born. Satan's been trying to destroy Israel and the seed. And then we even see the child was delivered, called a ruler in verse 5. He's going to be a king. He's going to rule with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up to God and up to his throne. I don't think he's on David's throne. I think he's on the Father's throne waiting to take David's throne at the second advent. And then you have the persecution of Israel in the tribulation. Remember Daniel's 70th week, seven years before Jesus returns. You have the persecution of Israel in that time period from Revelation 12, 6 through the end of the chapter. And I would argue that it would be the second half of the Tribulation. So we're running a little low on time, but let's drop down to verse 17. Yeah, Revelation 12. Let's stop at one spot. Where was I going to do this? Just to show Satan's persecution, look at verse 6. Then I'll drop you down here in a second. The woman fled in the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God so that she would be nourished for how many days? 1,260 days. How many months is that? 42. How many years? Three and a half. So there's the second half of Daniel's 70th week. So remember Jesus said when you see the idol of desolation raised in the temple, flee. That's all in Matthew 24. So I think they do that and now they're taken care of by God for that three and a half year period. And then there's the war in heaven, Michael and his angels warring with the dragon or Satan. The dragon and his angels waged war back and they were not strong enough and there was no longer a place found for them. And the dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan. There's that word Satan again, the adversary who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him. So Satan has angels or followers. And then if you look down to that one verse I was going to show you, the last one, verse 17. So the dragon was enraged with the woman. So Satan is attacking or persecuting Israel and went off to make war with the rest of her. You may have children. It's really the Greek word sperma, which is the word seed. And so you keep seeing the seed all the way through Genesis. I'll multiply your seed and then now the seed is the nation. So Satan is going to make war with the rest of the seed, the Jews, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. So are these Jews who have believed in Messiah? Yeah. How can you deny that? So a lot of theologies say that the nation Israel doesn't convert until the second advent. What's the problem with that? Aren't they already saved before the second advent? Aren't there some Jews that have already made the decision? What will they need to do, though, to get the deliverance into the land? They have to be saved to be in the kingdom. God isn't going to allow subjects who are unsaved. What do they have to do, though, to get the Lord to come back and then bring in the physical deliverance? call on his name. I don't think that's conversion. I think that's calling on him for deliverance. He's coming back to rule, he comes back on a white horse, the victor's horse, and look at the destruction of the Antichrist and the false prophet. I saw in Revelation 19.19 again, I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse, Christ, and against his army. The beast was seized, there's the Antichrist, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence. by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were thrown alive in the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And then if you want to see Satan's defeat, Revelation 20.10, and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also and they will be tormented. Notice the Marism day and night forever and ever so it's eternal. Remember Jesus said in Matthew 25 41 the lake of fire was prepared for who? the devil and his angels. And you can see that connection there. But do humans occupy that place too that reject Christ? Matthew 25.41 it's the humans that are going into that location to the same place that was prepared for the devil and his angels. So again you read Genesis, the Balaam oracles, Satan's trying to curse Israel through a prophet and the prophet refuses. And if you trace this attack on the seed by Satan, it goes all the way to the book of Revelation and it will fail. So the rule is never go against God's plan, always line up with God's word, whether you're a believer or not. And we're on the right side, right? We know who wins this deal. We're in great hands. It's just a matter of time before we get to the other side. We'll close in prayer here. Next week we'll get into that second oracle of Balaam. I'm not sure when we're going to get to the third one. I haven't checked. Maybe next week as well. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for our text today. And Lord, we clearly see an age in a broad sense. This age is passing away. And Christ will return and establish an eternal kingdom. And Lord, I think most of us in this room are prepared for that. We've put our faith in Christ and have had this sin penalty removed from us and are now qualified to enter your presence forever because of the absolute perfect imputation of Christ's righteousness to our account. But Lord, if there's anyone here who has not made that decision to trust Christ as Savior and be safe from the penalty of sin, may I make this clear, that Jesus Christ, eternal God, came from heaven. And He came to this earth and took on true humanity. And at the end of His public ministry, He went to a cross. And on that cross, Lord, we know He did something that though thousands and thousands did on a cross by physically dying, He did something no man ever could do or was ever qualified to do. He as eternal God in the flesh bore our sins in his own body on the cross. As your word says, Jesus himself bore our sins in his own body on the cross, and that you demonstrated your love for us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died as a substitute for us. And Lord, we know from the text of John 19.30 that the work was finished, He died for every man, every woman, every person, and for every sin. Because He says it is finished. And it stands finished. He's completed the work and was accepted by you. We know because of His bodily resurrection, you had accepted His payment on behalf of our sin. It was a fragrant aroma coming up to your nostrils. So now that that has been accepted, the one thing that man has to do is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and he will be saved. John 3.16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. So Lord, that's our invitation to anyone here who has possibly not made that decision. And we thank you for the security we have. As Jesus says, you are my sheep, I give you eternal life, you will never perish forever, and no one can pluck you out of my hand. So Father, we thank you for the security we have in Christ as we wait for his imminent return. And we praise you today in his name. Amen.