WEDNESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2023
TEXT:
Numbers 22:41-23:26
41:
The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, and from there he could
see the outskirts of the Israelite camp.
1:
Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven
rams for me.”
2:
Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each
altar.
3:
Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I go aside.
Perhaps the Lord will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will
tell you.” Then he went off to a barren height.
4:
God met with him, and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each
altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”
5:
The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him
this word.”
6:
So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the
Moabite officials.
7:
Then Balaam spoke his message: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab
from the eastern mountains. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me; come,
denounce Israel.’
8:
How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom
the Lord has not denounced?
9:
From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people
who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations.
10:
Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die
the death of the righteous, and may my final end be like theirs!”
11:
Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my
enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”
12:
He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
13:
Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place where you can see them;
you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp. And from there,
curse them for me.”
14:
So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built
seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15:
Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him
over there.”
16:
The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Go back to
Balak and give him this word.”
17:
So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite
officials. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
18:
Then he spoke his message: “Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor.
19:
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change
his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
20:
I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
21:
“No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their
God is with them; the shout of the King is among them.
22:
God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.
23:
There is no divination against Jacob, no evil omens against Israel. It will now
be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
24:
The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not
rest till it devours its prey and drinks the blood of its victims.”
25:
Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
26:
Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?”
(New
International Version Holy Bible)
TOPIC:
SACRIFICE CANNOT REPLACE OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WORD
Today's
text shows us that the king of Moab desperately wanted to see if God would
change the blessing He had bestowed on the Israelites.
Balak
praised Balaam for the gift rather than recognizing God, the giver. However,
God had clearly told Balaam, "Do not go with them. You must not put a
curse on those people, because they are blessed" (vs.12). But Balaam
thought a lot of sacrifice (or prayers) would change God's character.
Balak
took Balaam to several mountains to offer sacrifices so that the Israelites
would be cursed but to no avail. If man trusts and obeys God, no threats or
curses can annul God's blessings upon him. Read verses 1 to 25 to see Balak's
attempts to bypass God's word and his eventual frustrations.
He
lamented before Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at
all!" God will frustrate the devil's schemes against your life as you
faithfully obey His Word.
QUESTION:
For how long would you keep praying and offering sacrifices with out obeying
God's Word?
PRAYER:
Let obedience to Your Word be my trade mark in this world, in Jesus name. Amen.
Remain
Blessed
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