Numbers chapter 22. Now this
message tonight is going to cover three chapters. It's going to
cover chapter 22, 23, and 24. When you go home sometime this
week, read these three chapters after hearing this message. The
title of the message is, The Blessing Cannot Be Changed. The Blessing Cannot Be Changed.
If you look in verse 12 of chapter 22, And God said unto Balaam, Thou
shalt not go with them, thou shalt not curse the people, talking
about Israel, for they are blessed. Now turn over to chapter 23 and
look in verse 8. How, this is Balaam speaking,
How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy
whom the Lord hath not defied? What three chapters we have here
on the mercy of God to His people, and the blessing cannot be changed. Now it says in verse 1 of chapter
22, And the children of Israel set forward and pitched in the
plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho. Now who are the Moabites? Well, they are the descendants
of Lot. They are his descendants. They
had no need to fear Israel, not at all. God told Israel through
Moses not to contend with the Moabites. You can read that over
in Deuteronomy 2, chapter 2, verse 9, where God said, don't
bother the Moabites. They are the descendants of Lot.
He's going to give their land to, I believe it's Ar, A-R. And He said, you leave them alone.
But the king of Moab was afraid because Israel had just defeated
the Amorites, which were a stronger people than they were. And so
he thought, well, if the Amorites cannot stand before them, they
are going to just tromp right over us. We will be like a bug. And here's a lesson. How often,
how often do we get things on our minds that's just not so? This king got it into his mind
that Israel was going to take them over when God had told Israel,
you don't bother the Moabites, you leave the Moabites alone.
But he got this into his mind, and I thought, so often our fears
are unfounded. They're just unfounded, not necessary. But Balak, king of the Moabites,
he sends for Balaam, this wicked prophet. Who is Balaam? Well, John Gill said, It's not
easy to say who he really was. It's never easy to find out Balaam.
It's never easy to say who a Balaam is. Matthew Henry said he was
a famous conjurer. He was a soothsayer. He said Balaam, according to
some of the Jewish writers, think he was a great prophet at one
time, but grew proud and covetous and God departed from him. And
to support his sinking credit, he took up the art of soothsaying,
fortune-telling, and got into all that mess. I don't know. I do know this about Balaam.
He was a hireling. Balaam was a hireling. Let me
show you three different scriptures, then we'll go into this. Look
over in 2 Peter 2. This will show us, in the Word
of God, who Balaam is. Over here in 2 Peter chapter
2, look in verse 15. Well, let's go to verse 14. Having
eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable
souls, in heart they have exercised with covetous practices, cursed
children which have forsaken the right way and are gone astray
following the way of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the
wages of unrighteousness, but was rebuked for his iniquity,
the dumbass speaking with man's voice, forbade the madness of
the prophet. Now turn to Jude, in the book
of Jude. In the book of Jude, in verse
11, Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, and
ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished
in the gainsaying of Korah. He was a hireling. He was a hireling. Now look over in Revelations
chapter 2. In Revelations chapter 2, we know, we find out here
in the Word of God who he was. In Revelations chapter 2, in
verse 14, He says, But I have a few things against thee, because
thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught
Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel,
to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. That's who Balaam, that's who
he was. Now through verses 8 through
12, I'm sure I'm sure that Balaam knew who
these people were. He knew who they were that came
out of Egypt. And he knew that they were a blessed people. He
knew that. So he takes a night to inquire
of God concerning this matter of cursing Israel. And God spoke
to him. And God asked him, he said, who
are these men? God knows who they are. He knows
who they are. He knows our enemies. He knows
every one of them. He knows their thoughts. He knows
the thoughts of every heart. But he wanted Balaam to acknowledge
who he was dealing with. He was making Balaam confess
this crowd he was hanging with and what they were up to. And
God told Balaam he was not to go with them, that it would be
a useless journey for these people, this people here of Israel, They
cannot be cursed. They cannot be cursed. They are
a blessed people. And Balaam sends the party away
because God would not let him go and curse Israel. Balaam shouldn't
have even had to pray about this, should he? He shouldn't have
even had to pray about this. He should have sent them away
as soon as he found out their purpose. When he found out their
purpose was to curse Israel, he should have said, you guys
get out of here. But he didn't. He wanted that money. You'll
see as we go through here. He was trying to figure a way
out of cursing them and getting paid for it. But God wouldn't
let him do it. He wouldn't let him do it. But
old Balak, he's persistent. His king's persistent. He sends
more money. You see there in verse 17. He
sends more money and he sends more honorable men. More than
the first time. He knows. He knows that Balaam
has a selling price. He knows this man has a... He's
a hireling. He knows it. He knows he has
a selling price. He just ups the ante. That's
what he does. And Balaam tells the men, I cannot say more than
what God will allow me to say. He won't do it. God sovereignly
constrained him. That's what's going on here.
God's controlling this whole thing. for our learning. This
is for us. This is for us to learn from.
And God is sovereignly controlling, constraining Balaam. That's what
is going on. But he says here in verse 19,
this is how wicked this man is. Let me go ask one more time.
Let me go, let me go one more time and ask and maybe God will
change his mind. Maybe God will change his mind
and let me go and curse them. He wanted so bad to go and curse
Israel. If he were a true prophet, he'd
know better. He wouldn't put up with this, not at all. And
God said to him, if the men come, there in verse 20, if the men
come and they call thee, then rise up and go, but you can only
say what I give you. and nothing more, nothing more,
nothing less. You can only say it. So old Balaam,
there in verse 21, he rose up, he rose up what? Early. He didn't
wait till they came and asked him, he rose up early. He was
ready to go. He was ready to go. He didn't
wait for anyone to call on him. He's eager to go because this
has potential for a big payday. And so he goes with them. And
God was angry with him. You'll see that in verses 22
through 31 when you read that. God was angry with him for going
to curse Israel. And the angel of the Lord stood
in the way. And Balaam's ass saw the angel with his sword
drawn and he turned out of the way. He did this three times. And Balaam was so mad that he
beat that donkey. He started to beat that donkey.
And that donkey spoke to him. And you know what happened? He
spoke right back to him as if it was common. He didn't act
a bit surprised. I bet he saw some really strange
things in his line of work. And when that donkey spoke to
him, he just spoke right back to him. He had messed up in some pretty
bad stuff. But the angel of the Lord, it says, stood as an adversary
to him. Angels are adversaries to our
enemies. We are not in this thing alone. He gives His angels charge over
them. And note the Lord here is making
it very plain. He is making it very plain to
Balaam that Israel shall not be cursed. My people shall not
be cursed. They cannot be cursed. We will
see this as we go along. You notice the providence of
God here. They are looking down on Israel, down in that valley.
They don't even know that a plot is being planned against them.
They don't know. They're down there dwelling in
tents and going about their business. And they don't know that Balak
is trying to get Balaam to put a curse on them. But God knows. It doesn't matter if I know or
not, does it? God knows. He knows the thoughts of every
one of our enemies. He knows. He knows, and that's
what I rest in. I don't rest in our government. I don't rest in policies. I rest in Christ. He knows. He holds tomorrow in His hand.
It'll be all right. Now you may ask, why does God
allow or even speak to such a prophet as Balaam? Why does God even
speak to such a person? Well, first of all is this, God
will use whom He will. God Almighty will use whom He
will and He gives no answer to any of His matters to us. All
are His servants. The wrath of man shall praise
Him and the rest He'll what? Restrain. He'll use that wrath
that's in man to accomplish His purpose and the rest of it He'll
restrain. And here, for whatever purpose,
he's using this crooked prophet, this Balaam. And then here's
another reason. God exposes bad prophets through
their error. Sometimes he allows them to get
to a prominent position to expose their error. But I believe this. I believe
that God allowed this to go on for our learning. For our learning. These things were written It
says, for our learning. And I'm thankful. Here's what
I'm thankful for. The message. The message that's
coming out of this. I'm thankful for this message
that this people cannot be cursed. They are a blessed people. I'm
not worried about whether you bail them or not. I enjoy the
message that's coming out of it. This people cannot be cursed. And old Balak there in verses
36 through 41, old King Balak, he wines and dines the prophet.
He is encouraged in his madness because the prophet came to him. And that encouraged old Balak
because that prophet came to him. We need to be careful who
we lend our company to. Then in chapter 23, we'll notice
how far these Moabites fell from true worship. Balaam told Balak,
he said, build seven altars. This was not of God. God established
one altar. God established one sacrifice.
But if God is impressed with one altar, if God is impressed
with one sacrifice, just think what seven will do. We're really
impressed with seven. We'll build seven altars. And
we'll offer all these bullocks and rams upon these altars. We'll
really impress God. We'll really... I'll get God
on my... I'll buy Him. That's what he's trying to do.
He's trying to buy God. That's what he's doing. I'm going
to impress Him. And Balaam goes for it. And he
goes to speak with God. And God, listen, listen. God
put a word in Balaam's mouth, not his heart. God didn't put
the word in his heart. God put the word in your heart.
Because you believe God, he put the word in your heart. He just
put the word in Balaam's mouth, telling him, Balaam, this is
what you're going to say. Balaam wanted to say something else.
Believe me, it was choking him. He wanted to say something else.
But he said, this is what you're going to say. You're going to
say what I tell you to say. God put a word in his mouth and he
turned the curse, God turned the curse into a blessing. Boy, is that not what happened?
Adam, he fell, God cursed the ground, he cursed, but he's turned
that into a blessing. It's yet to be seen what we are
going to experience in Christ and in glory. Look over in Deuteronomy
chapter 23. Deuteronomy 23. It says in verse 3 of Deuteronomy
23, An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation
of the Lord, even to their tenth generation shall they not enter
into the congregation of the Lord forever, because they met
you not with bread and with water in the way. No, they tried to
meet you with a curse. That's what they were trying
to do. when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired
against thee Balaam, the son of Bethor of Mesopotamia, to
curse thee. Nevertheless, the Lord thy God
would not hearken unto Balaam, but the Lord thy God turned the
curse into a blessing unto thee. Why? Because the Lord thy God
loved thee. The Word of God is so beautiful,
isn't it? There in verse 7 of 23, he says
to Balak, you brought me here to curse Jacob and defy Israel. How shall I curse whom God hath
not cursed? Or how shall I defy whom the
Lord hath not defied? How can anyone curse those whom
God has not cursed? How can any curse fall upon them
whom God has blessed? Can't do it. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Oh, there's a lot who may charge
us. We even charge ourselves. But He doesn't charge us. And
that's the important part. He doesn't charge us. God has
redeemed His elect from the curse by making His Son a curse for
them. He didn't just lay the curse
on Him. It says He was made a curse for us. Just as it says He was
made to be sin for us. He was made to be a curse for
us. And God is a just God. And He will by no means clear
the guilty or condemn the innocent. He'll not do that. Not at all.
And in Christ, In the Lord Jesus Christ, we are holy, we are justified,
cleared of all charges, and we cannot be cursed. Cannot do it. You might cuss me, but you can't
curse me. It won't stick. It will not stick. If the blood of Christ cleanses
us from all sin, then what sin can you charge me with? Or can
anyone charge me with? Let Satan, the accuser of the
brethren, Let Him bring all the charges He will. None of them
will stick. Because they've all been dealt with and put away
through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He says here
in verse 9, this people here that you want me to curse. The
people shall dwell alone and not be reckoned among the nations.
They are a separated people. God separated them. He made it
evident that they were a separated people. He separated them from
Egypt and when they came out they were not to mix and mingle
with any of the other nations. They were a separated people.
Called out people. Chosen of God and for God. as Peter says, a royal generation. They are a peculiar people, as
Peter says, and that means purchased. Balak, you're looking at a purchased
people. I can't curse them. Wished I
could. That was his heart. I wished
I could, but I can't. He said, I can't do it. When
God condemns the nations of the world, his nation, which is made
up of the spiritual Israel of God, won't be in that life. They
won't be in that life. He says in verse 10, Who can
count the dust of Jacob? Who can count God's elect? There are more than we can number. God is going to save A multitude
of sinners, that's what he's saying. God's going to save,
who can count them? God's going to save a multitude of sinners.
Not even a bad, I'll tell you this, old Balaam, as bad as he
was, he had no sense to say, let me die the death of the righteous. You know how they die? They die
in peace with God. That's how they die. They die
never to die again. Second death has nothing on them. And they die to this world and
immediately wake up in paradise. Would you bring anybody back?
Would you bring anyone back whom the Lord has taken home? I know
we miss their company and their presence, but my soul. You wouldn't want to do that.
Not where they are. He said, let my end be like His.
How's that? Victorious. God's Israel, God's elect has
a glorious end. We have a good end. The journey
may be tough getting there, but we have a good end. We're going
to suffer some things on the way home, but we have a good
end. A good end. And old Balak in
verse 11, he says, what are you doing? He says, what, Balaam,
what are you doing? I'm paying you to curse, not
bless. What are you doing? And old Balaam
said, I can't help it. You can see these two guys standing
on the hill. I can just see them standing up there arguing. The
king is saying, what are you doing? I'm paying you to curse
these. And each senator said, I can't help it. If I could,
I would. But when I open my mouth, a blessing comes out. I have
no control over this. God's controlling this. God is
the one who put a word in his mouth. If it had anything to
do with him, he'd be cursing. I can just see these two standing
on a hill slapping each other. The King Balak, he says, well,
I tell you what, come with me. We'll look at him from another
point. Over there in verse 13. We'll look at him from another
standpoint, from another position. Didn't Satan try that with our
Lord? He tempted Him into wilderness. Then He said, then took Him up
on a pinnacle. And He said, I offer you all these kingdoms of the
world. And you know what our Lord said?
Get thee behind Me, Satan. You know what Balaam said? Okay,
let's go. Let's try it again. Let's see
if it works this time. Oh, the enemies of Christ never
cease. Well, in verse 14, he tries again. He builds seven
more altars. And he offers a bullock and a
ram on every altar, trying to impress God. You can't impress God with something
He didn't assign, something He didn't give. You know, I have
learned that there's one that impresses God. This is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. He's impressed with Him. He's
not impressed with me or anyone else. He's impressed with Him. But they try to impress Him.
They build seven more altars and they go through all these
offerings. You know, the Scripture says obedience is better than
sacrifice. Obedience would have been a lot
better here than sacrifice. But He goes again and the Lord
meets Him. And it gives him the same answer. The same answer. You know why? Because the message of grace
to God's elect never changes. The blessing never changes. You
can't change it. And he says in verse 19, God
is not a man that he should lie. He will not alter the word that's
gone out of his mouth. Men change their minds, they
change their attitudes, but God changes not. Aren't you glad
of that? I am the Lord, I change not. That's why you sons of Jacob,
you sons of election, are not consumed. That's why you're not
consumed. It's not because I don't change. I change like the weather. But
God doesn't change. He doesn't change. There's no
shadow of turning with God. He never changes His promises
and He never changes His purpose. If God loves me, it's because
He always loved me. I can't explain that, but it's
so. He's always loved me. You know what? That will never
change. I can't change that. A Balaam can't change that. Sam
didn't change that. He sent his son because he so
loved us. And he says here, and neither
the son of man that he should repent. And man repents. He repents of the things that
he has done wrong. He's made bad decisions. He says,
oh, I wish I hadn't have done that. I've made that and said
that. I wish I hadn't have done that.
I wish I hadn't have said that. But God cannot sin. God cannot
sin. Therefore, he has nothing to
repent of. He has nothing to repent of. And since He's perfect in wisdom,
He can make no mistakes. He makes no mistakes. The blessing
on God's people are not mistakes. His children are not mistakes.
Someone I've known for years, they had a child in there, older
years, they were in their late thirties, and they said, well,
this wasn't planned. God has no unplanned children.
God has no unplanned. Every one of them. Every one
of them. Born on purpose. Every one of
them. And He says, Here hath He said,
and shall He not do it? Oh, that should be encouraging
words to us. Hath God not said, and shall He not do it? When
we look at the promises of God, we take them out of the Word
of God and read them. And remember this when you do
it. Hath He not said, and shall He not do it? He'll do it. God's faithful to do just as
He said He would. If God has pronounced you blessed,
If God has pronounced you justified, if God has pronounced you glorified,
count on it, you are. You may not feel like it, but
we're not saved by what we feel. Our feelings come and go. God is faithful to His Word,
He's faithful to His Son, He's faithful to His covenant, and
He's faithful to His people. God will do just as he said he
would. All the promises of God in Christ
are yea and amen. And he said, and shall he not
make it good? Did he not say, whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved? Have you called
on the name of the Lord? Have I called on the name of
the Lord? Well, shall he not make it good? Come unto me all
you that labor and heavy laden, I will give you rest. Shall he
not make it good to those who come? He will. He will. And then verse 21 tells
us why the curse cannot happen. In verse 21 it says, listen now,
this is good. He hath not beheld iniquity in
Jacob. Neither hath he seen perverseness
in Israel. You cannot be charged with a
crime you did not commit. Can you? Not in God's court. Christ has so thoroughly and
so throughly cleansed us from our sins that not one spot, not
one spot can be found, not one blemish can be found in Him,
in His people, in Christ. Can't do it. He's going to present
that myriad of sinners that He redeemed. You know how He's going
to present them? Scripture says without fault and without blemish. That's beyond understanding,
isn't it? Because I got a lot of them. But God doesn't, they've
been put away. Did you hear what Jesus said
to me? They're all taken away. They're all gone. Therefore not
one charge can be laid to the account of God's elect. And when
God sees His Israel, you know what He sees? A holy people. That's what he says. And then
he says here, the Lord, his God, is with him. If God be for us,
who can be against us? Who can be against us? And no
one can turn him against us. And the shout of a king, he says,
is among them. Oh, and what a king! And what
a king! The king of kings and the Lord
of lords is among us. This is our King. This is our
God. David said, God has become my salvation. We are so assured
of success because God is with us that we can shout the victory
before we ever enter the battle because He's already won. It's
already been taken care of. He said the gates of hell shall
not prevail against you. And the prophet there in verse
22 takes note of what God has done for His people. God, He
said, brought them out of Egypt, out of cruel bondage. He parted
the Red Sea for them. Now, you think they're afraid
of you, Belak? You think that God cannot deliver
them out of your hand? Look where God has brought us
from. The kingdom of darkness into
the kingdom of His dear Son. He's brought us from the power
of sin to liberty. He's brought us from the hand
of Satan to His hand. He's brought us from hell to
heaven, from the curse of the law to blessings forevermore.
That's where He's brought us from. And if we will but look
at what God has delivered us from, it will calm our fears
and strengthen our faith, if we'll just look to Him and consider
what great things He's done for us. When God's people consider
where they have been brought from, They cannot be defeated. Can't. And he says here in verse
23, there's no enchantments. He says, I haven't had anything
in my bag of tricks here that I can do. There's nothing that
I can do. There's no enchantment against
Jacob or divination against Israel. The scripture says in Romans
8, 28, all things work together for good to them that love God. If I throw rocks at them, they'll
turn into bread. No matter what I do, it's not going to hurt
him. It's not going to do damage to
him. You can't curse him. You cannot do it. God makes all
things to serve our eternal good. Everything. Satan thinks he's
going to break you. He said, let me have at Job.
He said, let me have at him. Just let me have at him and I'll
turn him. I'll show you what Job's made
of. I'll show you how much he loves you. Just let me at him.
Okay, go ahead. And at the end of it, God said,
Is there any servant like Job? The Lord giveth and the Lord
taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He says in verse 23, It shall
be said concerning Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought? When they look at his people,
they're going to say, My, what hath God done for this people?
What a work of God His people are. They are the cheapest of
His creation. And note what God's done for
us here. Now listen. Here's what the Lord God has
done for us in Christ, for His people. He chose us in Christ. He loved us in Christ. He made
a covenant with Christ concerning us. Christ came into this world,
fulfilled this covenant. He became bone of our bone, flesh
of our flesh. This is what He did. He lived
for us a perfect life of righteousness. He died in our place. He rose
again for our justification. And He now intercedes for us
in glory. He calls us by His grace. He regenerates us by His
Spirit. He sets us free from the dominion
of sin and from Satan and from the curse of the law to inherit
a new heaven and a new earth. That's what He's done for us. Oh, what God has done for them. They shall be a strong people.
Oh, they shall be a strong people. He shall divide the what? The
spoiled with the strong. Now, left alone, in and of ourselves,
we're not strong. We're not. We're frail. We're
frail. But in Christ we're strong. David
said, through Him, I can run through a troop and leap over
a wall. Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens
me. that frail man Paul. If you'd have looked at Paul,
you would have been so unimpressed. He was such a frail man. But
this frail man said, I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me. We can. The church is not weak
but strong in her Lord. So he says here in verse 25,
old Balak says to Balaam, in chapter 23, well don't curse,
Or blast, just shut up. That's what he's saying, just
shut up. He didn't like what he was hearing, just shut up.
Old Balaam says, I told you I couldn't curse them. I told you. And then in verse 27, you know
what he says? Well, let's go try another place. Let's go try
another place. And Balaam goes with him. And
Balaam saw there in chapter 24, and I'll wind this down. Balaam
saw that his enchantments were not working. He sees a blessed
people. He sees a people there in verse
2 abiding in their tents and by their tribes. You know what
he sees when he looks at God's people? He sees harmony and he
sees obedience. That's what he sees. How godly,
he says in verse 5, how goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy
tabernacles, O Israel. Listen, if God dwells with you
in a tent, it's a good place to be, isn't it? And I suggest
this to you. If God dwells with you in a tent,
don't leave the tent. Don't leave the tent for something bigger
and better. Stay with it. And old Balak gets mad and he
says, get out of here. He said, Balaam, just get out
of here. And Balaam says, I cannot do good or bad of my own mind. There in verse 13. Don't blame
me. Don't get mad at me. Blame their
God. It's not my fault they're blessed.
If it was up to me, they'd be cursed, but they're blessed."
He said, blame their God. And then he gives another prophecy
here. In verse 17, I shall see him, but not now. God gave him
a vision of the coming Messiah. But it'd be 1,500 years before
he would come. But I thank God he's come. And
we know who he is now. Jesus Christ. That's who He is. And I shall behold Him, but not
nigh. There are many who see with their
eyes and hear with their natural ears, but their hearts are far
from Him. Old Balaam said, I'll behold
Him, but not nigh. He won't be close to me. There
shall come out of Jacob a star, called a star because of his
brightness, called a star because of his unchangeableness. He's
called the bright and morning star. And a scepter, a scepter
shall rise out of Israel and shall smite the corners of Moab
and destroy all the children of Seth. A scepter. Christ is
a sovereign ruler. He says the sovereign ruler is
coming out of this people. The Messiah is coming out of
this people. You want me to curse? The Messiah
is coming out of them. And He's coming out of this people
and He's going to rule and reign over all. None shall deliver
out of his hand. He's ruling right now. He's not
going to rule. He is ruling right now. Everything
is working out perfectly according to his purpose. And he says in
verse 19, Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion.
Out of Jacob. Out of his elect. Shall come
he that shall have dominion. And he shall reign He shall reign and His people shall be blessed. And that blessing cannot be changed. It cannot be changed.