Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.
If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.
Thank you for joining us today.
We're going to be reading in Numbers 23 and 24. The title of the message is Irreversible Blessing.
I hope that made sense in the reverse UNO card when you saw that come through. You know, I tried
to change it up. My dad has all those hand-drawn ancient Jewish pictures and they're great and
all, but I thought that would be kind of funny. John Krat, he did a great job setting up Baloch,
Balaam, the story, the people behind it. It's a crazy passage. Honestly, these two chapters to
the one before are such an interesting passage in the Old Testament. I love it. He's talking
to his donkey like it's no big deal. Like what is happening? So maybe they talked more often back
then. We didn't know. I don't know. But yeah, so it's just a it's a fun passage and I love
just the power of God's Word. It seems like Balaam when you read it is like the main character,
you know, he's like with the kings, he's calling the shots, he's saying he has the knowledge of
almighty God. And when you read it, you actually realize that God's the main character
and the fact that his Word is true and his blessing can't be removed. That's the main point.
Balaam is just like a pawn in that whole storyline. So I'm excited to get into it. But
one thing I just want to share, it's a more modern story of like a curse and the power of
God over it. It's one pastor I like, he said back in his early days in ministry, he went out to
a Native American like, what do they call that? Native American reservation to preach the gospel.
And I've been to one, we played a concert at one back when we were doing music and
such a weird concert, but it's like a pretty dark environment. And it was in New Mexico and they
say land of the enchantment or something. It's all like really spiritual. So he was at this
Native American reservation preaching the gospel and it was going well. And then this guy walked
in and he could just feel the darkness on this guy. And as soon as he walked in, like suddenly
people kind of stopped paying attention. They're just kind of talking and there's this like
kind of confusion and a bit of chaos going on. And he just felt in his spirit like this guy is,
you know, there's something on this guy. It's dark. It's spiritual. And him being in this
room is causing everybody to just like move on and not listen to the gospel. And so out of
nowhere, I love this. I hope I would have the courage to do this. Out of nowhere, like he
walks up and kind of like looks at him and he feels the darkness. And out of nowhere,
this pastor just screams as loud as he can into the mic. He's like, Jesus. And then they're
in like, you know, those metal buildings that are like real loud. It's not even a rainy day.
And there's a thunderbolt that just shakes the building one time and the guy runs out and the
fear of God was in that place. And afterwards he found out that was the local witch doctor
that walked into the service. So what God means, I mean, what Satan and what man means for bad,
you know, God always turns around that person coming in to bring confusion. God turned right
around to the fear of the Lord in that place. And the gospel had even more power. Amen.
So before we jump into it, I also want to point out this guy Balaam, if he can hear the voice of God,
like how much more can we, right? If he, if God confronts him with, you know, the angel,
the Lord and sword and saying, your ways are perverse to me. And then he speaks to him
these four times. How much more should we as believers filled with the spirit of God
and sealed by the Holy Spirit be able to hear him speak. Amen. Like we need to expect to hear God.
If we feel like we can't hear him on things in our life, we don't hear him when we read his word.
We just need to like step back, get rid of distraction, get into a quiet place like Jesus
says, you know, go into the secret place where your heavenly father waits, where he meets you.
He's in the secret place. So he will speak to you. You just need to give him some time.
Go into the secret place to talk to him. So I hope that's an encouragement. If anyone is feeling like
I just don't feel close to God, like you are, just give him some time and get into the secret place.
All right. So there is a curse or they, Balak wants Balaam to curse the Israelites, right?
He brings them out and all this way and, you know, says he'll give them all this money,
all this fame and everything. And it's a little kind of confusing because it seems
like Balak's a good guy. He's like, I will do nothing. Pass what the Lord says.
But in reality, we see all through the Bible and the Old Testament and the new
that that's not really his heart. Like he was using magic during this to try and hopefully
conjure up a different result from God to actually curse them. So he could get all this.
And it even says that he was responsible. He gave counsel to Moab to then bring all these
women in and all these idols so that Israel would stumble, so they would fall into sin.
So like he looks like a good guy. He's not. And so we're going to walk through that a bit.
But while they're trying to get a curse twice a day, Aaron is giving this blessing.
And I love it. It says, the Lord said to Moses, tell Aaron and his sons,
this is how you should bless the Israelites. Say to them, the Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
So while all this is going on, which they're completely unaware of, right? Israel didn't
even know that there was these big powers at play trying to curse them so they'd be killed off
by Moab. And they had no idea, but the blessing of the Lord stayed true that he blessed them,
he kept them. That means to keep safe, keep close to them.
And he had so much love for them. We also read in Nehemiah. Oh, in Deuteronomy, it says,
the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a
blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you. He decided he wanted to turn this curse
into a blessing because he loves you. And that's what that blessing from Aaron is saying.
The Lord make his face shine upon you, be gracious. The Lord turn his face toward
you and give you peace. So there's blessing, protection, delight of the Lord, love,
grace, presence, peace. All this is being spoken over them twice a day and they're believing it.
And the curses of the enemy have zero power over them. And I love what Matthew Henry,
he has a commentary. I've talked about it before. He's from the 1600s. So if you want to take a step
back from some woke cultures influence on the Bible, go back to this guy and he says,
neither Moses nor the elders of Israel know anything of the matter, nor are in a capacity
to break the snare. But God who keeps Israel and neither slumbers nor sleeps baffles the attempt
without any intercession or effort of theirs. Isn't that awesome? That's the God that we serve.
So let's jump in. We're kind of going to, I'll give a little commentary between them, but we're going to
focus more on the prophecies themselves. There's four of them. The last one kind of is a few at
the same time. So let's start chapter 23 verse one. Then Balaam said to Balak, build seven
altars for me here and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams. And Balaam did just
as Balaam had spoken and Balak and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Then Balaam said to Balak, stand by your burnt offerings 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 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. Then the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth and said,
and this is what he said, I'm going to pause that right there. I love that God doesn't respond.
Like he doesn't say good job with those seven. You know my number and I love the bull and the
ram and the way you put those things together is pretty nice. Like this is really kind of like
an abomination to the Lord because the verse later we'll see is he's also doing like magic
and stuff and he's hopefully trying to get God to curse Israel so he can get the wealth.
And the only people who are supposed to be offering these types of offerings to the Lord
is the priests that are the priests that should be doing that and it's on the one altar with the
one fire in the tabernacle of the Lord. So this is mercy that God didn't just wipe him out right
then and he doesn't even speak to him and say like good job or anything. I just love that
he is silent. He's like, I'm not going to address that. Let's get right to the point.
Your curse isn't going to work. So this is what he said. So he took up his oracle, verse seven,
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. How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?
And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? From the top of the rocks I see him
and from the hills behold him. There a people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the
nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob or number one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of
their righteous and let my end be like his. So here he's saying these people are approved by
God. These people can never be denounced by God. It's his own special people and he's saying too
that these curses won't work. How could he do that? It's not going to do anything. And it goes on to say
he's acknowledging their holiness. They're separate. They are not accounting or reckoning
themselves with the nations. They're completely separate and there's so many of them. Like they
are strong and powerful. And all of this is such a fulfillment of promises over these people,
think back to Abraham, more than the stars of the sky, more than the dust of the sand of the
shores, the sand of the sea. They won't be able to be numbered. And here he is thousands of years
later saying exactly the same thing. They are a great nation. They are blessed by God.
They are chosen and these curses will have no effect. And the Bible says that we are grafted
into the true Israel, right? These promises are for us. That we are a holy separate people.
That we are chosen by God if we trust in Jesus. And no one can denounce us. Like there is no,
we can't commit sin to fall from grace, right? The Bible talks about falling from grace when
we choose not to believe in Jesus and his grace and we think it's by works we get into heaven.
So there is such a profound promise to us that, hey, you can't be cursed by the enemy
because God's blessing is on you. And then we're going to jump to the second prophecy.
And I love how Baloch, he tries to take him to another spot where the people might look a
little worse. He's like, let's go where you just see part of them because they were pretty
impressive. Let's go around to this side and maybe you'll have something different to say.
So he took up his oracle verse 18 and says, he said to the king, rise up Baloch and hear,
listen to me son of Zippor. God is not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should
repent. Has he said and he will not do or has he spoken and he will not make it good? Behold,
I've received the command to bless. He is blessed and I cannot reverse it. 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. God brings them out of Egypt. He has strength like a wild ox
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. 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. There is a lot here. You have heard some of these nuggets being used, right? God is
not a man that he should lie nor a son of man that he should repent. This is coming from
Baloch. I mean, Balaam, isn't that crazy? Like this is, you know, this guy who because of what
the word that put in him, we are still saying these things. And it's really inspired by the
Holy Spirit. And I think it's amazing that God used him in this way. But it shows the character
of God. He's not ever going to change his mind about us. He's not going to say, actually, you
know what, you know, he messed up. She messed up like, oh, this is a little bit too much forgiveness
for them. Yeah, I'm repenting and I'm going to change my mind on them. Like he does not lie
if he says you're accepted into the beloved, into his family, you are. And he would never
repent because he's not a man. He's perfect and he's God. And if what he's spoken over you
will come to pass, right? We know that he is the author and finisher of our faith.
He goes before us. He makes a way for us to walk in holiness. There's just so much greatness
in the promises of God. And I also see too, like already, this is a picture of the gospel,
right? It says, he has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen wickedness in Israel.
If you've been here for the last few months, I mean, come on, right? Like every other chapter is
iniquity and sin and wickedness and all this rebellion. And here he's saying, like God does
not see their wickedness or their iniquity. He doesn't see it. And why? Well, we know that one,
the sacrificial system was giving them, you know, the sins are being atoned for, but we also know
that their faith in the word of God, the sacrificial system, was setting them up to ultimately be
completely wiped clean by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So their sins
would be ultimately 100% forgiven. That's why God says he didn't even see their sin.
He doesn't see their iniquity. There is no wickedness that he perceives in the Israelites.
And how much more for us, right? Like now living in Christ, his death and his resurrection has
already happened. We need to have boldness in the power of Jesus's blood. We need to realize,
one, hey, like I don't want to conform to this world. I don't want to sin. But if I step into
temptation a little too far and I do something I regret and I sin in some way, I need to go
right back to God. Like, do you remember that switchfoot song? Maybe forgiveness is right
where you fell. I love that line. Because right when you fall, all it takes is to just look to
Jesus again and find forgiveness. Because he doesn't perceive iniquity and wickedness in you.
He doesn't. He sees you the way he sees his son, Jesus Christ, because we have his righteousness.
Let's jump to prophecy number three.
Verse 27. Then Balak said to Balaam, please come. I will have, sorry, actually let's go to chapter
24 verse one. 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. And Balaam raised
his eyes and saw Israel encamped according to the tribes and the Spirit of God came upon him.
Then he took up his oracle and the utterance of Balaam, the son of Beor, the utterance of a man
whose eyes are opened, the utterance of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of
the Almighty, who falls down with eyes wide open. How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings
O Israel, like valleys that stretch out, like gardens by the riverside, like aloes planted by
the Lord, like cedars beside the waters. 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.
God brings him out of Egypt and has strength like a wild ox. He shall consume the nations,
his enemies. He shall break their bones and pierce them with his arrows. He bows down, he lies down
as a lion, and as a lion he shall, who shall rouse him. Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he
who curses you. So we see here verse one of that chapter. Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the
Lord to bless Israel, he realized how powerful that really is right there. That it's not that he
had to bless Israel because he made a promise he had to stick with it, but it pleased him to bless
Israel. And God loves to bless us, and this isn't some prosperity gospel because I'm not even
talking about money, right? There's so much more blessing spiritually in God. Like what we have inside
and what we have as the as the bride of Christ, what we have to look forward to in heaven,
is of so much more value than anything we can get on this side of eternity.
And it pleases him to bless us. In Ephesians 2 it says, verse 7, in the ages to come he might show
the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. And you know sometimes
if you've been raised in more of a legalistic background, I remember there was someone who
came and preached at our Christian schools like Wednesday morning thing they'd have,
I forget what they call that, chapel. And his message was from that book,
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Now I didn't read that book, and maybe it's like got a real good
ending, but the you know the title doesn't sound too good. And his message felt like just the title
the whole time. And so it was, and also in Bible class we had to write every week an essay called
a cringe essay, and we had to say something we did that week that made God cringe. Oh isn't that
bad? And so like yeah I love the school, there's a lot of good things, but those things miss the
mark. And you know it's easy to fall into that legalism because we can just kind of be drawn
to the negative things of the word when we see what he calls sin, how he feels about things,
or the way of the world, what he talks about. And we just forget that hey it pleases the Lord
to bless me. It pleases the Lord for him to show kindness towards us, exceeding riches of his mercy
and his grace. So we need to like pull back the curtain of thinking everything's always about sin
all the time, and thinking that he's disappointed in us in some way, or thinking that he you know
just regrets you know whatever. We need to like rip that curtain down and let the true light of
the gospel into our lives and realize realize that he is so pleased to bless us and to show his love
and his mercy to us. And I see too here like he talks all about a lot of things that are like in
psalms that about like the water of the Lord coming upon them. And what a great picture of like what
it's like spiritually like his blessing that we grow strong. Like there's a vitality, there's so much
abundant life when we are in God and we are receiving his blessings for us. That you know
all these pictures you know are true inside of us. That we feel strong, we feel blessed, there's
so much life. There's no depression or anxiety or insecurity or all these things that plague
mankind really can be solved just by receiving the blessings of God, by believing what he said,
trusting him, getting into that secret place with him, and just letting him wash that stuff away like
this water talks about and strengthen us from the inside. And to go even further I just love how
Balaam had that verse that was spoken to Abraham that blessed is he who blesses you and curses
he who curses you. We are protected in this life. Like curses have no strength over us
at all just like that guy who came in and tried to mess up the the gospel being preached and he
runs out and everyone wants to give their lives to Jesus right. The curses have no power over us
and God looks out for us. Like when people of the world bless us I do believe God blesses them
so they can see the love of God and when they curse us God deals with them. Like he will. Like
he avenges. He doesn't just allow justice to never happen. He brings justice and he protects
his children. And I totally missed an awesome point from the previous one that I just want
to talk about real quick. And that was where it says that there's a shout of a king among them.
My Bible has K capitalized king. There's a shout of a king among his people. And Israel had no king
but the prophecy that is so rich in that is that he realizes Balaam realized by the spirit of God
that the king of kings and the Lord of Lords was inside the people. The presence of God
was dwelling among them right inside that tabernacle. That the pillar of cloud by day,
the pillar of fire by night, his very presence was there and he is the king of kings and the Lord
of Lords. There is nobody over him. There is nobody over him. And I just love that because even like
it speaks of Jesus coming like he was an Israelite but like he is the king of kings that
now in the new covenant he actually is inside of us. He's not just in the tabernacle but he's
inside the tabernacle of our hearts. So let's jump to the fourth one, verse 15.
So he took up his oracle and said, the utterance of Balaam, the son of Beor,
the utterance of a man whose eyes are opened, and the utterance of a man who hears the words of
God and has the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty and falls down
with eyes wide open. You can tell he really liked that line. You know he wanted to use it a second
time. And in the commentaries I read on this, it's pointing out actually his ambition and pride here
that he like you read the true prophets and they're like who am I? And they are just humble
falling down before the Lord and he's saying hey I fell down my eyes open and I have the knowledge
of the Most High. So honestly I don't think that part maybe God said to him, he's prefacing what God
said with look at me. So just wanted to call that out. Verse 17, this is powerful guys, I see him but
not now. Capital H him. 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. That's why they believe the wise men were searching for a star. That verse right there.
Right there they read that and said hey a star is going to rise and it's the Messiah. And we see
capital H him. Years and years and years in the future declaring Jesus was coming. A star, the
bright morning light the word calls him. And a scepter showing royalty, strength, power, dominion,
and just rule over the nations. And it says he's battering the brow of Moab, this very nation who
is evil and wanting to curse Israel. He's going to wipe them out. And it speaks of all, it goes
through all the next set of verses of all the kingdoms that would be wiped out by Israel but
also in the future that Jesus is coming back guys. He's coming back. And all the enemy and
opposition and all this evil stuff, God has compassion on sinners and wants to save them from
it. But the powers of darkness of this age, these nations that they represent, he's going to
completely wipe them out. They don't stand a chance. Right? Every knee will bow, every tongue will
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And I just want to say like there is no curse. There is no curse
that could reverse God's blessing on you. We see the power in this passage. The main point
is nothing can come against the blessing of God on your life. That he calls you forgiven, he calls
you loved, he calls you accepted, cleansed. Like everything that he says in the word is true.
And I just want to run through a few verses that just bring this to light. We know in Genesis 50,
what you meant for evil against me, God meant for good. In Romans 8.28, we know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8.38, I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the
present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation
will be able to separate us from the love of God. That is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Isaiah 54, no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Every tongue which rises against you
in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
and their righteousness is from me, says the Lord. And finally, first Corinthians 1.20,
for all the promises of God in him are yes and in him are amen to the glory of God through us.
Nothing formed against you. You know, there's external things in life that can feel like they
were formed against you by the enemy. There's so many things and there can even be things like we
see that we talked about how after this Balaam devised a way for Israel to fall into sin.
That is a plan of the enemy. Nothing formed no weapon like that on the external against you
or devised for you to fall into temptation. Nothing will prosper in Jesus name.
All you need to do is surrender and walk with him. That is it. And you know, I can't think of
a better example than Joseph, right? He was hated by his brothers so they're going to kill him and
they threw him into a pit. And then instead of killing him, they randomly had the idea
probably by God to sell him into slavery. And then he's in slavery at Potiphar's house
and he's doing great. He's rising to the ranks and then Potiphar's wife accuses him of sexual
assault thrown in prison for, we don't know how many years, some people say it was 12 years.
While in prison, he's doing a great job. He's rising to the ranks. And then you have the
cup bear and you know, the baker, I think it was, and he tells their dreams and the cup bear is
hey, I will remember you and you'll come out of here. Goes and forgets about him. Still in
prison for a few more years. And then finally he's remembered and then he becomes the second
rank in Egypt. And then finally the promises of God that he would be the chosen son and all
these blessings would flow through him and his brothers would bow down to him. Like that all
happened. So about to be killed, sold into slavery, accused of some awful stuff, forgotten
about for years and years and years in prison. And then finally it happens. Like no weapon formed
against you shall stand. And I haven't experienced anything that bad, you know? Like this knee
kind of stinks, but it's not slavery and about to be murdered level, you know? So like nothing is
outside of God's control and victory over it. He is victory over everything. And the one thing
that we can mess up, right? The one thing we can do is to not receive all the blessings of God
is to step away from him out of his will and into sin. And like I said, Numbers 31,
look these women caused the children of Israel through the council of Balaam to trespass against
the Lord in the incident of Peor, which happens next week. And there was a plague among the
congregation of the Lord. Israel so many times walked away from the Lord, had bad kings. All this
bad stuff was happening. They didn't take the full promise land. They missed that blessing.
And they were sent away to exile and they squandered so many blessings of the Lord.
But there's still the promise for them. He doesn't give up. Isaiah 54 says,
the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from you,
nor shall my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
Even when we might squander a blessing, we might step out of his will, we might sin, like these
things that are so common in the world that we just start to accept and walk in. Even in that,
his covenant of peace does not come away from us. Like his blessing and his love does not leave us
if we hold fast our confession, if we believe him. But he wants all of us. That's not a license to
just be like, okay, I get to do what I want now. This is really a door opened, right? And that's why
Jesus, he says in Revelation, here I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice
and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me. We all have a will.
We all have a door to our heart. And we can't leave it open to the enemy. We can't leave it
open to temptation and sin. We need to have that door only ever opened by Jesus, the knocking
of the Messiah, right? If we open to him, he will come in, dwell with us, and have a meal
with us. Isn't that amazing? So we all have that door and we need to keep it firmly shut
for the ways of the enemy and wide open for Jesus. Amen. So in closing, I just want to encourage
myself too, you know, we need to trust in his promises. We need to know his promises first
and foremost, right? And we need to trust. We need to believe his word. We need to stand
against the devil, which we're going to read here in a moment. We need to walk in his spirit
to lay hold and take a hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of us.
So I'm going to run through some blessings here. I did this before and I liked it,
so I'm doing it again. I want you to say amen. We can get a little bit louder in here. I don't
kind of loud after each one of these blessings and promises that we have in Jesus. Amen?
All right. So we have forgiveness of sins and we have eternal life. We have mercy and grace.
We have his constant presence, his indwelling Holy Spirit. We have guidance and wisdom,
comfort and help. We have his provision, his empowerment, his peace and joy, answered prayers,
heavenly home, and adoption as sons and daughters of God. Amen? That's what we have in it.
And that can't be cursed. There is no curse that can trump the blessings of God in your life.
Amen. So let's pray, and I have some questions we'll throw up, but Jesus, we just thank you God
for your blessings over us, Lord, that what the enemy meant for evil, Lord, you always turn around
for good. And I thank you God that there is no power of hell, Lord, no scheme of man that can
take us from your hand, God. There is nothing that can remove us from your love, God. And I thank you
for your power, Lord. It is all you. There is nothing in us, Lord, that makes us deserve this,
God, but we eagerly and happily and joyfully receive it. And I pray, God, that you would just
bless us, that we would be able to get away into the secret place with you, Lord, this week,
and we would be able to truly experience what this means for us, that we would walk in the
power of your word and your Holy Spirit. And I pray that the discussion time would just be such a
great time to really lift you up, God, and be there for each other. So we love you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Cool.
Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church as we praise God and discuss His word. Don't forget
to join us for Worship Live Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube.
Be blessed and have a great day!