A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 25, 31 (Part 1)

We will group Numbers 25 with Numbers 31, as they both tell of the sins of the people with the Midianites and the battle that followed. 

Numbers 25:1-3—1 Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. 2 They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel. The name Acacia Grove is rendered in many other translations as Shittim. And the words Shittim and Acacia are synonymous for a tree that grows in the Middle East. What Balaam was unable to do, the people did themselves. Balak wanted Balaam to curse the people, but they indeed cursed themselves by committing harlotry with the women of Moab and by playing part in the idolatry of Ba'al. And it is a great example of how we should not mingle with the ungodliness of the ungodly lest we get caught up in their ungodliness and turn from God to worshipping idols. Josephus writes of this incident in his “Antiquities of the Jews” (Book 4, chapter 6, paragraph 9):

 

Now the young men were induced by the fondness they had for these women to think they spake very well; so they gave themselves up to what they persuaded them, and transgressed their own laws, and supposing there were many gods, and resolving that they would sacrifice to them according to the laws of that country which ordained them, they both were delighted with their strange food, and went on to do every thing that the women would have them do, though in contradiction to their own laws; so far indeed that this transgression was already gone through the whole army of the young men, and they fell into a sedition that was much worse than the former, and into danger of the entire abolition of their own institutions; for when once the youth had tasted of these strange customs, they went with insatiable inclinations into them; and even where some of the principal men were illustrious on account of the virtues of their fathers, they also were corrupted together with the rest. 

This would become a common theme under the kings of Israel and Judah—that a king would arise who “did evil in the sight of the LORD”. Kings who were supposed to lead the people in righteousness and reserve worship for God and God alone, would turn from Him and worship Ba'al and Asherah, knowing full well that these types of idol worship would lead to ruin for their people. Solomon, the wisest man ever, was drawn away like this. 1st Kings 11:1-4—1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—2 from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." [Deuteronomy 7:3-4] Solomon clung to these in love. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David. “If Solomon was so wise, why did he turn away from the command of God and marry these women that God said not to marry?” That is the power of the flesh. Just as Delilah turned Samson away from God to be strong in his pride, so these women turned Solomon away from God. It is what the Apostle John refers to as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1st John 2:16). Ironically, Solomon would write, in Ecclesiastes 10:1—Dead flies putrefy the perfumer's ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odor; so does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor. For all of Solomon’s wisdom, his folly brought about the ruin of his kingdom. 

 A modern-day example of this would be a man I greatly admired, a wise expositor of Scripture, and a man who was even a Dean at John MacArthur’s seminary and a fellow at RC Sproul’s Ligonier Ministries. Steve Lawson confessed to having a five-year affair. In his words it was non-sexual (he referred to it as a “relationship” rather than an “affair”), and until proved otherwise we should believe him. That still does not excuse his behavior, as our Lord told us in Matthew 5:27-28—27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Even if he did not have sex with the woman, he had already committed adultery with her in his heart. Instead of getting away from the tent of Korah (Numbers 16:24) or plucking out his eye that was causing him to sin (Matthew 5:29), he allowed himself to be caught up in a sin that cost him dearly. He had written several books, had been preaching for several years, and had been teaching the word of God rather well. But he allowed himself to get too close with a woman, and for that weakness he has disqualified himself from being an elder. 

“Getting back to Solomon. He had all these wives and concubines. And he was used greatly by God. Doesn’t that mean that polygamy is okay?” No, it does not mean polygamy is okay. If you read on, you will see that God was definitely not pleased with him marrying all these foreign wives. For had they not turned his heart away from God, and turned him to worshipping idols? How does one think God is pleased with that? And we read of God’s displeasure with him the in verses following. 1st Kings 11:9-11—9 So the LORD became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the LORD had commanded. 11 Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.” The kingdom was indeed given to his servant Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin a grave sin, a sin so grievous that God would attach it to the name of Jeroboam thereafter. The “sin of Jeroboam” is mentioned in 22 verses in the Bible. It was the penalty God placed on the people because of Solomon’s sin. Now, do you see that God did not approve of his polygamy? It is as Job when he said it best. “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). In giving the kingdom to Solomon, God was glorified. In taking the kingdom away from Solomon, God was glorified. Blessed be the name of the LORD! Much of Solomon’s writing is ironic considering this. As he wrote in the verse from Ecclesiastes earlier, so he writes in Proverbs 6:23-29—23 For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light; reproofs of instruction are the way of life, 24 to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress. 25 Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids. 26 For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread; and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. 27 Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? 28 Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be seared? 29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; whoever touches her shall not be innocent.                                                             

Do not think we are immune from falling into the same snare that caught Solomon and that caught Steve Lawson. It is the reason that Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 6:14-16—14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people." We are human. We are fallen creatures. We can fall into sin just as easily as anybody. And it happens more frequently the closer we are to that sin. It is no trifling thing, even though there are many “pastors” these days who not only will not speak about sin (I’m talking to you, Joel Osteen), but will make excuses for sin and discount its harm. But sin IS harmful. Not only does it harm the person, it harms the name of God and the name of Christ. Look what it did to Solomon. Look what it did to Ahab. Look what it did to Steve Lawson. Do not think for a moment that sin is a harmless thing. And do not see how close you can get to it. Without going over the line because, trust me (no, rather, trust God) you will cross that line. And apart from God’s Holy Spirit, there is no going back. Sin is a terrible cliff to plunge over. John Bunyan wrote “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners” as an autobiography of his spiritual journey through his life. And in on place early on in the book he wrote:

 

Again, when as sometimes I have been about to preach upon some smart and scorching portion of the Word, I have found the tempter suggest, ‘What, will you preach this? this condemns yourself; of this your own soul is guilty; wherefore preach not of it at all; or if you do, yet so mince it as to make way for your own escape; lest instead of awakening others, you lay that guilt upon your own soul, as you will never get from under.’ But, I thank the Lord, I have been kept from consenting to these so horrid suggestions, and have rather, as Samson, bowed myself with all my might, to condemn sin and transgression wherever I found it, yea, though therein also I did bring guilt upon my own conscience!…It is far better that thou do judge thyself, even by preaching plainly to others, than that thou, to save thyself, imprison the truth in unrighteousness; blessed be God for his help also in this. 

This was a man greatly used by God, a man who eschewed sin, who thought of himself as “The Chief of Sinners”! May we all think of ourselves in like manner! 

“So what do I do if I do sin? Am I then cast off from Christ forever?” No, absolutely not! We have an advocate between God and us, and His name is Jesus Christ (1st Timothy 2:5; 1st John 2:1). How many times will God forgive us of our sins? It would not be wise to test His patience, but He will forgive us more times than there are sands in the sea. Are you in Christ? Then for the rest of your earthly life and for all eternity you shall be in Christ. Is Christ less than a perfect Savior? God forbid! Hebrews 10:14—For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Being perfected, can you make yourself unperfected? Can you undo what Christ has done? Can you uncomplete Christ’s complete sacrifice? He did not cry out “TETELESTAI!” for nothing.

 

Lifted up was He to die

“It is finished!” was His cry

Now in Heav’n exalted high

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

(“Man of Sorrows” by Philip P. Bliss) 

Do not think you are worse than the worst sinner. Do not think you are further away from the grace and mercy of God than the man who sought letters to go through Damascus delivering up the saints to their deaths! This same Savior who called that man to be His Apostle is also calling you to follow Him and be saved from your sins! Who can forgive the one who joined the worship of Ba'al in Peor, who bowed down to idols and who previously aroused the anger of God. 

But this mercy was not here shown, as God demanded He be worshipped exclusively. Numbers 25:4-5—4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the LORD, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel." 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor." The killing of those who joined themselves to Ba'al is reminiscent of the command to kill those who did not return to God after the episode with the Golden Calf in Exodus 32:27. God considered this episode so grievous and so heinous that He wanted the people to fully embrace the punishment thereof. Previously He had burned the outskirts of the camp, slain the people Himself while they were eating quail, opened up the earth to swallow Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and sent plagues among them. Now, He wants the people to understand His red hot hatred of sin by executing the punishment themselves. This was no mere complaining about the hot and dry desert and lack of water the people were guilty of. This was full on idolatry with pagans they were guilty of. And the people needed to understand the consequences. The leaders of this rebellion—not a rebellion against Moses as the mouthpiece of God, but against God Himself and His rule—were to be hung up “out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” This is a kind of an illustration of Hell. In the full face of the desert sun, they were to be hanged from a tree to show forth the fiery wrath of God for all to see. 

God expressed a similar sentiment when He told Josiah what He would do to the idolaters in Judah in 2nd Kings 22:17—"Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched."' The wrath of God is always described in terms which imply fire. God said of those who afflict the widows and orphans in Exodus 22:24—“My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.” Hell is the ultimate expression of God’s wrath, a fire which will burn continually and shall destroy all who work iniquity. Many claim that Hell is not real, and if it is that it is not the eternal burning that it is. Progressive “pastor” Rob Bell says

 

“At the heart of this perspective is the belief that, given enough time, everybody will turn to God and find themselves in the joy and peace of God’s presence. The love of God will melt every hard heart, and even the most ‘depraved sinners’ will eventually give up their resistance and turn to God.” (Love Wins, p. 107) 

This thinking goes against the Scriptures that speak of everlasting torment. It also makes Jesus a liar. Matthew 25:41, 46—41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels…46 These will go away into eternal punishment." Mark 9:43-48—43 "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, 44 [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] 45 "If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, 46 [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] 47 “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, 48  where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” 

Some say that Hell is a metaphor and that Gehenna (“hell” in verse 47) was simply taking about a place where garbage and waste were burned. Gehenna (Valley of Hinnom) was indeed a place where the fires were constantly burning because of all the waste dumped there. But how does a burning pile of garbage have power over men’s tongues? James 3:6—And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell [Greek, Gehenna]. James is here not talking of the physical organ, the thing that makes speech possible. He is talking of the desire of the tongue to say things that are not good. And that desire is inflamed by the fires of Gehenna, by Satan and his angels to defile us. And yes, the tongue defiles the entire body. Otherwise Jesus would not have said that it is what comes out of a man that defiles him (Matthew 15:11; Mark 7:20). We need to be careful for every word we speak, lest we defile ourselves and bring shame to Christ.

Part 2 next week

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen. 

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 22-24 (Part 3)

 Numbers 23:25-30—25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!" 26 So Balaam answered and said to Balak, "Did I not tell you, saying, 'All that the LORD speaks, that I must do'?" 27 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there." 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks the wasteland. 29 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." 30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.

Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!" Still not satisfied and still not convinced that God would not allow Balaam to curse Israel, Balak tells the prophet, in a way, to stay neutral and to not say anything against the people of God. How curious are those who hate the people of God, that they want the people of God to die, and when God does not cause that to pass, they are outraged that God would not destroy His people! Well did David write in Psalm 2:1-3—1 Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us." The proud boast in their heart that we who have humbled ourselves before the LORD are stupid and weak, that we do not know how to think for ourselves and we blindly follow some Sky Daddy (their term) because we are dumb sheep. Here are some of the things they say about us.

Carl Sagan

You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep-seated need to believe.

George Carlin

Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man -- living in the sky -- who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time! ..But He loves you... and HE NEEDS MONEY!

Richard Dawkins

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.

The nations rage! They claim that the people of God are delusional and that we worship nothing. Or that we worship a man in the sky who wants nothing more than to send us to eternal fiery torment because we wear a shirt made of a cotton/polyester blend. They do not want us to be blessed or cursed—they just want us to be quiet. But…

"Did I not tell you, saying, 'All that the LORD speaks, that I must do'?" What were the Apostles told in the Book of Acts? 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, 28 saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name?” (Acts 5:27-28) These Jews were acting more like the Gentiles who opposed God, seeing as how they set themselves up against His Christ. They did not want the Apostles to proclaim the name of Jesus, in direct opposition to the commands they had received from Christ. And what was Peter’s reply? Acts 5:29—But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” The council no longer spoke for God. The Sanhedrin, even before Christ’s death on the cross, believed they were speaking for God. They handed out judgments as if they were doing so in righteousness and for the glory of God. They held this belief even after it was apparent that God accepted Christ’s sacrifice and they were no longer in charge. But that did not stop them from usurping authority over the people in order to reap the financial rewards. Peter’s reply was a dagger in their heart, although they did not think so. He was telling them that they were merely men, and they were not to be obeyed above the obedience that God requires.

Martin Luther answered the Diet of Worms similarly. They had charged him with speaking against the church and the penalty for that was death. Was he speaking against the church? Only the Roman Catholic “church”. But he was not speaking against Christ’s church. He was not speaking against God or His Christ. He was speaking the truth from the Bible, demonstrating to Pope Leo X and Emperor Charles V that any power does not lay in the bosom of Popes and cardinals, but in the One True God. He did not start out to break away from Rome, but rather to correct their blatantly egregious teachings on Indulgences. But Rome didn’t appreciate someone coming between them and the people’s money, so they pushed and they pushed, and eventually they pushed too far and the Protestant Reformation was born. And in his last statement at the Diet he said these famous words:

Since your most serene majesty and your lordships require of me a simple, clear and direct answer, I will give one, and it is this: Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures and by clear reason—for I do not trust in the pope or councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves—I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted. My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.

Who is responsible for the Protestant Reformation? No one but the Roman Catholic system itself! Peter, Martin Luther, Stephen, Jan Hus, and so many others whose blood has become the seed of the church, lived and died by one simple credo: “All that the LORD speaks, that I must do.”

 

28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks the wasteland. 29 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." 30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar. Peor is slightly north-northwest of Pisgah, east of the northern end of the Dead Sea. It is better known by the name Ba'al Peor. It is the place where the people will commit a grievous sin in Numbers 25, but we will look at that when we get there. So Balak builds Balaam seven altars (again) and sacrifices on these altars (again), hoping that this time, his wish will come true. Didn’t happen the first time, didn’t happen the second time. But by golly, this will be the one time it happens! But he couldn’t get it through his head that no matter how many times he tries to get Balaam to curse the people of Israel, God will not let him. Just like when your kids keep asking you for something that will do them harm—and you know it will do them harm, but they don’t know that; they think you are just trying to keep them from having a good time. Balak did not understand that if, instead of trying to curse the people of God, he had simply given then permission to pass through the land, things would have been okay. The only reason the people fought and defeated Sihon king of the Amorites and Og of Bashan was because the people were attacked first. Whenever they came to the border of an area, they sent messengers to ask permission and that they would not turn to the right hand or the left. But, alas, Balak kept at it and kept at it and kept at it. But…

Numbers 24:1-9—1 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times, to seek to use sorcery, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. 3 Then he took up his oracle and said: "The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened, 4 the utterance of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, with eyes wide open: 5 How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel! 6 Like valleys that stretch out, like gardens by the riverside, like aloes planted by the LORD, like cedars beside the waters. 7 He shall pour water from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters. His king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. 8 God brings him out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox; He shall consume the nations, his enemies; He shall break their bones and pierce them with his arrows. 9 He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him? Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you."

This song from Balaam almost reads like one of David’s Psalms or the Song of Solomon. Balaam, too, saw that any effort to curse the people of Israel would not succeed, so instead he speaks this beautiful song. He sees that this is not just a great gathering of people; this is a great gathering of God’s people. And when God’s people are gathered together, it is indeed a great thing! When Christians are gathered together, we are celebrating and giving to God what is due to Him. It is as the first of the Old Testament sacrifices ascending up to Heaven, a sweet aroma to God! Songs and hymns are sung, prayers are lifted up, the Word is preached, and the love of the saints toward God is poured forth, downtrodden ones are lifted up. What could be more blessed! Hebrews 10:24—And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. Galatians 6:2—Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Romans 10:15 (quoting Isaiah 52:7)—How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things! And our gathering together here on Earth is but a shadow of our eternal gathering in the New Jerusalem! We will be gathered with not only those we know, but those we read about who, through the millennia, have put their trust in God and worship Him as God! We will see Abraham and Jacob; Moses and Aaron; David and Solomon; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; Peter and Paul; Polycarp and Anselm; Martin Luther and Jan Hus; John Calvin and Theodore Beza; Jonathan Edwards and Charles Spurgeon; John Wesley and George Whitefield; and so many others! And best of all, we will be in the presence of God Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Even those we disagree with on certain matters will be there. George Whitefield and John Wesley were diametrically opposed concerning the issue of predestination versus free will in terms of salvation. When asked if he would see Mr. Wesley in Heaven, Whitefield is quoted as saying (something to the effect of), “No, I won’t. I believe his mansion shall be so close to the throne of God I will not be able to approach it.” May we all be as charitable to those with whom we disagree!

Numbers 24:10-11—10 Then Balak's anger was aroused against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have bountifully blessed them these three times! 11 Now therefore, flee to your place. I said I would greatly honor you, but in fact, the LORD has kept you back from honor." Again, the thinking of the world, that if one follows God and does not have an abundance of the world’s riches that his life is somehow less than ideal. That is the thinking of all the hucksters on TBN who fleece the people for their money, promising them health and wealth and prosperity if they will send these charlatans their money. It also teaches that if there is sickness in your life or your family’s life, or if you are not wealthy (by the world’s standards), your faith is lacking. That’s right. They teach that if your mother gets cancer, it is your fault. This heresy has been promulgated by men (and women) like Oral Roberts, Kenneth Hagin, Paul and Jan Crouch. And what do these also have in common? They’re all dead. Must be they didn’t have enough faith!

Paul’s teachings are directly opposed to this kind of thinking. 2nd Timothy 3:12—Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Philippians 4:12—I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 1st Timothy 6:6-10—6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. What should we do instead? 1st Timothy 6:11— But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Jesus warned us that as Christians we will not have an easy life. John 16:33—“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation.” When you see Kenneth Copeland or Jesse Duplantis on your TV smiling about how rich they are, remember that it is not God who made them wealthy, but rather the devil. They are rich because they have twisted the word of God to get people to send them the money that has bought their mansions and jet planes.

Numbers 24:12-19—12 So Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not also speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying, 13 'If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD, to do good or bad of my own will. What the LORD says, that I must speak'? 14 And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days." 15 So he took up his oracle and said: " The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, and the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened; 16 the utterance of him who hears the words of God, and has the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, with eyes wide open: 17 ‘I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult. 18 And Edom shall be a possession; Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession, while Israel does valiantly. 19 Out of Jacob One shall have dominion, and destroy the remains of the city.’" We have spoken of the fates of the Edomites and Moabites HERE and HERE, so let’s move on.

Numbers 24:20-24—20 Then he looked on Amalek, and he took up his oracle and said: "Amalek was first among the nations, but shall be last until he perishes." 21 Then he looked on the Kenites, and he took up his oracle and said: " Firm is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock; 22 nevertheless Kain shall be burned. How long until Asshur carries you away captive?" 23 Then he took up his oracle and said: "Alas! Who shall live when God does this? 24 But ships shall come from the coasts of Cyprus, and they shall afflict Asshur and afflict Eber, and so shall Amalek, until he perishes."

Amalek. The first we read about the Amalekites is in Genesis 36:12, where he is listed as a grandson of Esau by his son Eliphaz through his concubine Timna. Which shows that it is not always a good idea to skip the genealogies in the Bible. The Amalekites were the first peoples that the Israelites fought after leaving Egypt. We see them the second time in Exodus 17:8—Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. This was the battle where Joshua and Caleb held up Moses’ arms so that God would give them the victory. God tells the people of Israel to wipe them out completely in Deuteronomy 25:19—Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget. We read that this is going to happen in 1^st Samuel 15, when Saul defeats them once and for all. Unfortunately, Saul makes a bit of a boo-boo in doing so. 1st Samuel 15:1-3—1 Samuel also said to Saul, "The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the LORD. 2 Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" Samuel had anointed Saul as king over Israel. The people have what they were clamoring for—a king, just like the Gentile nations (1st Samuel 8:5). And for this kingly duty he is to wipe out the Amalekites, man woman and child, for their attack against the people of Israel in Exodus 17. Kill all the people, kill all the cattle and all the sheep and all the goats, everything. And most of all kill their king. Wipe them all out for their attack on the people. But…

1st Samuel 15:7-9—7 And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. There is an old saying, that “partial obedience is disobedience”. But Saul didn’t see it that way. He thought he did good by keeping the choice stuff and the king alive, that they could be sacrificed to God. 1st Samuel 15:20-21—20 And Saul said to Samuel, "But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal." “I obeyed, it was these people that didn’t!” Sounds familiar, doesn't it? "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate" (Genesis 3:12). “They said to me, 'Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him'” (Exodus 32:23). It’s always somebody else’s fault, isn’t it. We can’t take accountability for our own sins, we have to blame someone else.  And that is what Saul does here. It is his own fault and disobedience that the commands of God were not carried out to the fullest, but he blames others, showing that he was a weak-willed and people-pleasing king, instead of the king devoted to God that the people wanted and heeded. John Darby says:

Our excuses, even when true, only condemn us. Saul, not having faith, not looking to God, fears the people more than God. What a slave is the unbeliever! If not the slave of the enemy, he is that of the people whom he appears to govern. Saul, unfaithful to God in the midst of the people, and surrounded by blessings from Jehovah, is at length deprived of the kingdom. No humiliation, no brokenness of heart-he confesses his sin, hoping to avoid its punishment; but, unable to escape it, he entreats Samuel to honour him in spite of it. Samuel does so and then forsakes him. Everything changes now, and David appears on the scene.

And just as Moses was denied entrance into the Promised Land for his disobedience in striking the rock at Meribah-Kadesh (Numbers 20:11-12), so Saul would be removed as king over Israel because of his disobedience here. Obedience to God is no trifling thing. We should not be looking for loopholes when it comes to the things of God, for He is not as one who simply sees the outward things, but sees inside us. Yes it is true, as George Carlin said, that we believe in a God who “who watches everything you do, every minute of every day.” And he would have done well to believe in Him too, for he is now learning that that God is real, that He is not just some “man in the sky” who gives us a wink and a pat on the back when we disbelieve and think of Him as less than who He is. He is finding out that yes, that “man in the sky” will indeed “send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time.” If one does not show Him the reverence He is due, that person will also learn that hard lesson.

Numbers 24:25—So Balaam rose and departed and returned to his place; Balak also went his way. This is not the last we read of Balaam.  In the next chapter we will see that although he did not pronounce a curse upon Israel, the people were their own worst enemy and fell into idolatry themselves. He did not need to curse them—they could do that themselves, thank you very much. When it says that Balaam rose and departed and returned to his place  it does not mean that Balaam went home. This is better rendered in the International Standard version as Then Balaam got up, returned to his country. For as we will see in Numbers 31, he took some of the Midianites and caused the people of Israel to commit idolatry against God. Keil and Delitzsch say:

It is possible, however, as Hengstenberg imagines, that after Balaam's departure from Balak, he took his way into the camp of the Israelites, and there made known his prophecies to Moses or to the elders of Israel, in the hope of obtaining from them the reward which Balak had withheld, and that it was not till after his failure to obtain full satisfaction to his ambition and covetousness here, that he went to the Midianites, to avenge himself upon the Israelites, by the proposals that he made to them. The objections made by Kurtz to this conjecture are not strong enough to prove that it is inadmissible, though the possibility of the thing does not involve either its probability or its certainty.

We will read more about that when we get there.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 22-24 (Part 2)

Numbers 22:36-41—36 Now when Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the border at the Arnon, the boundary of the territory. 37 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not earnestly send to you, calling for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?" 38 And Balaam said to Balak, "Look, I have come to you! Now, have I any power at all to say anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak." 39 So Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kirjath Huzoth. 40 Then Balak offered oxen and sheep, and he sent some to Balaam and to the princes who were with him. 41 So it was, the next day, that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, that from there he might observe the extent of the people. Balaam was indeed a prophet, one through whom God spoke. And Balak thought Balaam was coming to him to bring him good news that he had cursed the Israelites. So he made a great sacrifice, while at the same time being miffed that Balaam had not come sooner. But what does Balaam tell Balak? "Look, I have come to you! Now, have I any power at all to say anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak." Even this pagan spoke only what YHVH put in his mouth. He knew that YHVH was the Almighty God over all creation, and despite living in the pagan land of Moab, he knew that Chemosh could not work the wonders that YHVH could do. Could Chemosh put a message in a prophet’s mouth? Could Chemosh cause a messenger to stand before a donkey and turn him to the side? Could Chemosh cause that donkey to talk? No, he could do none of these things. And Balaam knew this. But YHVH could do these things, and Balaam also knew this. 

This was one of the problems the people of Israel faced in the land where they were. They were beset on every side by nations who worshipped idols. Edom with Qos, and Egypt with its pantheon, to the south. The Amorites to the east with their pantheon. The Hittites with their pantheon and the Ammonites with Molech to the north. The Moabites with Chemosh. The Jebusites with Sedeq and Salem. Then you had the Ba'al worship going on in Canaan, the land they were to settle in. And you can see they were surrounded by pagan worship. And it continued until the days of the early church. The Greeks had their gods, the Romans had theirs (which were just Greek gods co-opted by Rome). Paul would tell the men of Athens, who had built an altar to “An Unknown God”, that they worshipped Him even though they did not know Him (Acts 17:23). It was better, to the Athenian mind, to set up shrines to gods they didn’t know than to offend them by leaving them out of their pantheon.

So it was, the next day, that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, that from there he might observe the extent of the people. Much like Satan took Jesus high upon a hill that he may show the Son of God all the kingdoms he would give Him, if only He would worship the serpent of old. Well did our Lord call him “a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). And here, Balak shows that he too is a liar, showing this man who spoke the truth from God all the land that Balak would rule over if only Balaam would curse the people of Israel. A thought that would be echoed by our Adversary in Matthew 4:9—“All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Satan is indeed the god of this world (2nd Corinthians 4:4), the Prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2), the Accuser of the Brethren (Revelation 12:10). But that is the limit of his power—this world. He wanted Jesus to lay claim to this world and all its limitations, rather than the Kingdom of His Father, and all the precious souls with it. He wanted Jesus to worship him instead of His Father. Which is what Balak was telling Balaam here. “Don’t listen to what YHVH says. Curse these people and look at all the land we will possess!”

Numbers 23:1-10—1 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." 2 And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you." So he went to a desolate height. 4 And God met Balaam, and he said to Him, "I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram." 5 Then the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak." 6 So he returned to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. 7 And he took up his oracle and said: "Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east. 'Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!' 8 How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? 9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him; there! A people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations. 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!" No matter how many times Balaam went to God to receive a word, it always came back the same. “You shall not curse Israel”. One cannot undo what God has done. We do not have that much power or authority. If God says something is done, it is done. If He says something is going to happen, it is going to happen. We obey kings and presidents because of their position. We yield to law enforcement officers because of the power they hold. If any of these says “so let it be done”, it should be done. How much more should we listen to and obey the Creator of everything! And not only that, should we also not believe Him? He told Abram in Genesis 12:3—“I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you.” What we see Balaam speak to Balak may not be the extent of everything God said to Balaam. He may very well have included these words He spoke to Abram. 

And God met Balaam, and he [Balaam] said to Him [God], "I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram." So Balaam asked Balak to prepare seven altars. Balak most likely thought they were to be altars to Chemosh, but Balaam meant them for sacrifice to YHVH. Doesn't that so often happen? What the ungodly mean for bad, God turns it around and uses it to fulfill His own plans? Jacob snatching the blessing from Esau. Joseph’s brothers selling him to the Midianites. In fact, after Joseph and his brothers bury Jacob and his brothers think the worst is about to happen and that Joseph will exact revenge, he tells them “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). And here, what Balak means for evil, God means it for good. 

9 “A people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations. 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number one-fourth of Israel?” The Apostolic Bible Polyglot renders verse 9: “For from the top of mountains I shall see him; and from hills I shall pay attention to him. Behold, a people alone shall dwell, and among nations they shall not be reckoned together.” The Jewish Publication Society translation says: “For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” Different translations render this verse differently than others, and the divide is about 50/50. This last rendering is closes to the original intent. Balaam had to be on the top of the highest rocky jut to see the vastness of the nearly one million people. Yet this people would live “alone”, as they would be a self-contained group. And they would not be “reckoned among the nations”; they would not be as the other nations, worshipping false gods and being part of their rituals (for the time being, anyway)—they would be holy, set apart to God for His purposes.

“Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number one-fourth of Israel?” “Just one quarter of their population has to be a quarter of a million people! Who can fathom such a great nation!” What was considered to be one of the surest signs of blessing from a deity in the Middle East at this time? Children. So obviously the people of Israel, as the thought went, must have been highly blessed to have had so many children that their numbers would swell, even in the desert. The same could be said of national Israel today. Is there a nation of Hittites? Of Moabites? Of Jebusites or Edomites? All these nations have gone under and exist only in books and in studies of archaeology. Yes, Egypt remains, but the Amorites and Canaanites are gone, save for a few pockets here and there. Yet “Who can count the dust of Jacob?” Did not God tell Abram that his descendants would be “as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered” (Genesis 13:16). Next time you go to the beach, pick up a handful of sand. Then count the number of grains of sand, if you are able. That is how numerous the descendants of Abram have been, are, and will be. As I said before, if God says something is going to happen, it’s going to happen.

Numbers 23:11-24—11 Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!" 12 So he answered and said, "Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD has put in my mouth?" 13 Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there." 14 So he brought 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. 15 And he said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there." 16 Then the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, "Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak." 17 So he came to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?" 18 Then he took up his oracle and said: "Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, son of Zippor! 19 God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? 20 Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 21 He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them. 22 God brings them out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox. 23 For there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'Oh, what God has done!' 24 Look, a people rises like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion; it shall not lie down until it devours the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain." 

"Please come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there." Balak thought that by seeing their entire number, Balaam was afraid to curse Israel for their vast numbers. He thought that if he saw just a tiny fraction of them, he would be more inclined to lay a curse on them. So he takes the prophet to the top of Mt. Pisgah, also known as Mt. Nebo. From here, Balaam could see a small sliver of the people, and Balak thought that here his wishes would come to fruition. But, alas…

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.” So many skeptics and liberals and progressives try to use this verse to say that Jesus was not God. “It says in Numbers that God is not a son of man! How can Jesus be God if He is called ‘The Son of Man’?” The fact that this question even needs to be answered is frustrating. Balaam is not talking here about Jesus. This is not the Book of Mormon where things were written into the text in 1820 in order to fit in with biblical history. Balaam here is talking about the only One the Jews knew as God, that being the Father. Jesus had not been born yet, and would not be for another 1400 or so years. So no, when Balaam said this, Jesus, even though He did exist (John 17:5), had not yet become incarnate and was not, yet, Son of Man. (There is debate about if He was Son of God at this time, but we will leave that to the philosophers). What Balaam is saying here is this: That God is not a man (sorry not sorry, Mormons), and He was not born of a man, but that He has existed forever (Psalm 92:1), that He is dependent upon nobody for His existence, that He does not change His mind 100 times in a day as man does.

“But doesn’t it say in some places, like before the flood and after the repentance of the people of Nineveh, that God repented (Genesis 6:6 (KJV); Jonah 3:10)?” And here we go again. Answering questions from people who have never read or studied the Bible and who do not want anything to do with reading or studying the Bible. Does God know the end from the beginning? Absolutely. Isaiah 46:9-10—“9 Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure'” So why would God change His mind? “Then why do we pray?” EM Bounds said in his book “The Reality of Prayer”, 

The law of prayer, the right to pray, rests on sonship. “Our Father” brings us into the closest relationship to God. Prayer is the child’s approach, the child’s plea, the child’s right. It is the law of prayer that looks up, that lifts up the eye to “Our Father, Who art in Heaven.” Our Father’s house is our home in Heaven. Heavenly citizenship and heavenly homesickness are in prayer; Prayer is an appeal from the lowness, from the emptiness, from the need of earth, to the highness, the fullness and to the all-sufficiency of Heaven. Prayer turns the eye and the heart heavenward with a child’s longings, a child’s trust and a child’s expectancy. To hallow God’s Name, to speak it with bated breath, to hold it sacredly, this also belongs to prayer.

Prayer is how we conform our will to God’s will. It is how we seek God for how to live our lives according to the way He wants us to live. It is not so we can get great riches and fame; it is not so we can make a happy life for ourselves according to how the worlds views happiness. True happiness and joy come from being accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6)—not by health, wealth or prosperity.

“God is not a man, that He should lie.” And of course we know that God cannot—not merely that He does not—lie. He cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2). That should be to us the most comforting of all of God’s attributes—that He is faithful and just, even when we are not faithful. We lie, we cheat, we defraud our neighbor. And He knows this. And yet He is patient with us. Oh, the eternal patience of God! We get angry and yell at our children when they misbehave. We get angry when someone cuts us off in traffic. We talk ill of others when they do us wrong. Yet God—they very God to whom we owe our lives—does not cast us aside when we do those things that grieve His heart. In his song “Unchanging One”, Todd Agnew sings:

You know when I wake, when I rise

When I pray, when I curse You

And You love me the same

And You know when I stumble and fall

And You're there through it all

The only Unchanging One

And let’s clear up one more fallacy: The “Ransom Theory” of the Atonement. This is the mistaken belief that God gave up His Son as a payment to Satan to let His people free. This theory says that Adam and Eve’s sin caused all of humanity to belong to Satan, which is far from the truth. According to this theory Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was a trick played out by God, knowing that Jesus would rise from the dead. God said to Satan that He would give him a sacrifice for our sins, but then He yanked that sacrifice away with the Resurrection. Robin Collins describes it thusly:

“Essentially, this theory claimed that Adam and Eve sold humanity over to the Devil at the time of the Fall; hence, it required that God pay the Devil a ransom to free us from the Devil's clutches. God, however, tricked the Devil into accepting Christ's death as a ransom, for the Devil did not realize that Christ could not be held in the bonds of death. Once the Devil accepted Christ's death as a ransom, this theory concluded, justice was satisfied and God was able to free us from Satan's grip.”

First of all, this theory makes God a liar and deceiver, and He is neither of those things. Second, God owed Satan nothing.  This theory was espoused by Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, St. Basil the Great, and even such great theologians as Athanasius and Augustine. You even see it played out in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” by CS Lewis. Here are some quotes from the early proponents of this theory.

Origen:

“But to whom did He give His soul as a ransom for many? Surely not to God. Could it, then, be to the Evil One? For he had us in his power, until the ransom for us should be given to him, even the life (or soul) of Jesus, since he (the Evil One) had been deceived, and led to suppose that he was capable of mastering that soul, and he did not see that to hold Him involved a trial of strength greater than he was equal to.”...“It is clearly shown that a certain spirit, from his own (free) will and choice, elected to deceive, and to work a lie, in order that the Lord might mislead the king to his death, for he deserved to suffer.”

Gregory of Nyssa:

“In order to secure that the ransom in our behalf might be easily accepted by him who required it, the Deity was hidden under the veil of our nature, that so, as with ravenous fish, the hook of the Deity might be gulped down along with the bait of flesh.”

However, William Lane Craig rebuffs this theory (as did the church as of the writings of Anselm in about 1000AD):

“As Origen’s statement revealed, the fathers typically thought of this arrangement between God and Satan as a very clever ruse on God’s part. He tricked Satan into making this exchange. You see, as the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God could not possibly have been held captive by Satan. But by his incarnation – by becoming a man – Christ appeared to be just as weak and vulnerable as other human beings who were under Satan’s control, and it was only after the captives had been freed by Satan that the Son of God manifested his full divine power by rising from the dead and breaking the bonds of death and hell and thus escaping from Satan's power.”

God did not use deceit to buy us out of Hell. His Son came as a substitute for us, paid the penalty we owed, bore the punishment we deserved, and God laid His hands on Him and transferred our sins to Him, and gave us His righteousness. 1st Peter 2:24—Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. Hebrews 9:28—Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. He bore our sins with His one sacrifice, took His blood into the Holy of Holies in the Heavens, made propitiation for us and cleansed us from all unrighteousness!

Drooping souls no longer mourn/Jesus still is precious;

If to Him you now return/Heaven will be propitious;

Jesus now is passing by/Calling wanderers near Him;

Drooping souls, you need not die/Go to Him and hear Him!

He has pardons full and free/Drooping souls to gladden;

Still He cries—“Come unto me/Weary, heavy-laden!”

Though your sins, like mountains high/Rise, and reach to heaven,

Soon as you on Him rely/All shall be forgiven.

Precious is the Saviour’s name/Dear to all that love Him;

He to save the dying came/Go to Him and prove Him;

Wandering sinners, now return/Contrite souls believe Him!

Jesus calls you, cease to mourn/Worship Him; receive Him.

(“Heaven is Propitious” by Thomas Hastings)

“He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel.” “Whoa! What about all the times Israel grumbled in the wilderness and incurred His anger?” Yes, this is a difficult passage on first glance. That is why we do not simply do a cursory reading of Scripture, but exposit it so we can better understand it. This is not talking about individuals, since we have seen in Leviticus all the things that needed to be done to expiate sins and the Day of Atonement. Here Balaam is talking about Israel as a nation—the nation has not turned to other gods, the nation has not cried out to Ba'al or Chemosh. As a nation, Israel is righteous before God, and they belong to Him. Have individuals in the nation sinned? Yes. Have individuals in Israel complained when things didn’t go their way? Yes. Has the nation of Israel ceased to be a nation before Him; has Israel as a nation turned to worship other gods or commit other abominations that the surrounding nations have done? No. That is an important distinction. That of the difference between the nation of Israel and individuals in the nation. So what does this mean for us as Christians? The key phrase we need to remember is “in Christ”. If we are saved, we are in Christ. Romans 8:1—There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. 1st Corinthians 1:30—But of Him you are in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28—There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:13—But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. John 17:21—“That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us.” “So we are in Christ; what does this have to do with this passage in Numbers?” Only everything!

God saw no iniquity in the nation of Israel. Does God see any iniquity in Christ? So if we are in Christ, will God see iniquity in us? Were not our sins forgiven as Jesus hung on the tree? Was He not offered up as a substitute for us? Galatians 3:13—Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. 2nd Corinthians 5:17, 21—Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new…He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to Earth, took our sins upon Himself, gave His life and His righteousness to us, and took upon Himself the curse and the sin that was ours. He was not a ransom paid to Satan then snatched away by a deceitful God. He was our Substitute.

Part 3 next week

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.