God Has the Final Word (Numbers 23:1-12) [2025-5-25]

All right, good morning church family.

As you guys find your seat, if you would open your Bible, type

in your device the Book of Numbers, chapter 23, Numbers 23.

Numbers 23 · chapter mention

This morning we're going to be in verses one through 12.

We've been going through the book of Numbers for several

months now and we've been doing a series on the, the prophet

Balaam and we've, I think I've preached 2 sermons so far, the

three. And so now we're going to

actually get to his prophecy and we're going to be in his

prophecies, his oracles over the next several weeks because he

gives four of them. And so this morning we're going

to get to the first one title. The sermon this morning is this.

God has the final word. So let's read the text, open us

in a word of prayer, and then we'll jump into the sermon this

morning. Numbers chapter 23, beginning in

Numbers 23 · chapter mention

verse one. And Balaam said to Balak, build

for me here 7 altars, and prepare for me here 7 bulls and

seven Rams. Balak did as Balaam had said.

And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram.

And Balaam said to Balak, stand beside your burnt offering, and

I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to

meet me, and whatever he shows me, I will tell you.

And he went to a bear height, and God met Balaam, And Balaam

said to him, I have arranged the seven altars, and I have offered

on each altar a bull and a ram. And the Lord put a word in

Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall

speak. And he returned to him.

And behold, he and all the Princess of Moab were standing

beside his burnt offering. And Balaam took up his discourse

and said, From a ROM Balak has brought me the king of Moab.

From the eastern mountains Come curse Jacob for me, and come

denounce Israel. How can I curse whom God is not

cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord

has not denounced? For from the top of the crags I

see him, from the hills I behold him.

Behold a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among

the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob,

or number the 4th part of Israel?

Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like

his. And Balak said to Balaam, What

have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies,

and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.

And he answered and said, Must I not take care to speak what the

Lord puts in my mouth? And we'll stop there.

If you will pray with me, Father, I pray as we look at

this first Oracle of Balaam that you would help us to to see this

morning that Balaam does not have a final word.

Balak does not have a final word.

Moab does not have a final word. Even Israel does not have a

final word on who your people are.

You, O Lord, have the final word.

You decide who your people are. I pray this morning, God, You

would help us to see that the same is true for us.

You have the final word on our life.

Help us to see that this morning God, I pray in Jesus name, Amen.

If you go to a courtroom, the attorney for the plaintiff and

the attorney for the defendant will both make their arguments

to the court. They will state their case.

They will call their witnesses. They will give their opening and

statements, but at the end of the day, the jury or possibly

the judge has the final word. In sports, people will debate

about who is the best team all throughout the season.

For months and months, sports analyst and commentators will

make their arguments. Fans will get on social media

vehemently defending their team, but at the end of the day, the

team that wins the championship has the final word.

If a movie is being made, there are always extra scenes that are

filmed. Writers or actors may make their

case to leave this scene in or cut this scene out, but at the

end of the day, the director or possibly the producer has the

final word. Even in my own family, my boys

may argue with each other. They may argue with mom, mom may

argue with them, but they know that at the end of the day, dad

has the final word. Who has the final word on your

life? By the time that you get to be

6070 eighty years old, people will have things about you.

Some good, some bad, some glorious, some humiliating.

But who has the final word on your life?

God does. God has the final word.

That's what the sermon is about this morning.

I want to give the context if you have not been with us for

the past few weeks. We started a series.

We started a series on numbers, and more specifically, we

started a series on Balaam a few weeks ago.

And so let me give the context because we're jumping right into

this story this morning. Here's the context.

Balak is the king of Moab, and he fears that the Israelite

people are going to attack him. So he decides to summon Balaam,

a Pagan divider for hire, to come and curse Israel in an

attempt to weaken them so that he can win in battle.

The Lord initially tells Balaam not to go, but since Balak won't

take no for an answer, God allows Balaam to, but with one

stipulation. He says you shall only do or say

what I tell you. Now on his way to meet Balak,

Balaam runs into a roadblock. He runs into the Angel of the

Lord. Now Balaam doesn't see the Angel

of the Lord, but his donkey does, after striking his donkey

three times, thinking that his donkey was simply being

stubborn. Finally, the Lord opens Balaam's

eyes, and he sees the Angel of the Lord in the road opposing

him. The Angel rebukes Balaam's

perverse way, and he reiterates to him God's instructions.

You shall only speak the word that I tell you.

So Balaam finally meets with Balaic, and Balaic begins to

honor Balaam's feast. And that's where we pick up this

morning. So let's start looking at verses

one and two of Numbers 23. Balaam said to Balak, Build for

me here 7 altars, and prepare for me here 7 bulls and seven

Rams. Balak did as Balaam had said,

and Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram.

Now before the prophecy can begin, Balaam has a task for

Balak. He tells him to build for him 7

altars and to offer on each altar 1 bull and 1 ram.

Now you may be wondering, why does Balaam tell Balak to do

this? Why?

Why do they do this? Why do they go through this

charade, if you can call it that?

It appears that Balaam and Balak, they build these altars

and they offer these 14 animals because they think it will

somehow make God give them a favorable answer.

I think that's what they're doing here.

They are using a Pagan practice that was common among the

nations to sacrifices were not just an Israelite thing.

It was very common among all nations to make sacrifices to

the gods, thinking that it would make the gods give them a

favourable answer. Now what's interesting to me is

that Balak is willing to pay this cost.

Notice he doesn't question Balaam's instructions.

He doesn't say why do I need to do this?

Why do I have to build 7 altars and give up 14 of my animals?

Balak is willing to pay an extraordinary cost.

First, he had the cost of sending 2 envoys.

Remember, Balaam is 400 miles away and he sends them all.

These elders make 2 trips, so they have to go 400 miles.

They come back, and then they go back and then they come back.

That's expensive. In those days, he's willing to

pay that cost. Then he has the cost of the

initial sacrificial feast when he honored Balaam.

Then he has the cost to build 7 altars.

Then he has the cost of seven bulls and seven Rams.

Now we we not think about, but remember a a bull is like a

Tesla, like a matter if I told you like give me your Tesla,

give me 7 Teslas, seven bulls and seven Rams.

These are costly sacrificial animals.

Balak spares no expense because he is trying to buy the favour

of God. Brothers and sisters, God's

favour is not for sale. It is already been purchased by

Jesus Christ. God has already bought His own

favour. He bought His own favor for us

and He didn't pay a costly price.

He paid an infinite 1. He built 1 altar and sacrificed

one man, His beloved Son. Do not try to buy or secure or

earn God's favor. If we are in Christ, we already

have it. We always look at verse 3 to 4

and Balaam said to Balak, stand beside your burnt offering and I

will go. Perhaps the Lord will come and

whatever He shows me I will tell you.

And he went to a bear height, and God met Balaam, and Balaam

said to him, I have arranged the seven altars, and I have offered

on each altar a bull and a ram. So Balaam tells Balak to stand

beside his offering. And Balaam says, I'm going to go

in an attempt to meet with the Lord.

Notice how Balaam words this. When he says this, he says

perhaps did you catch that? Perhaps the Lord will come to

meet me. Now remember, Balaam is not a

true prophet of God. Balaam is a Pagan diviner.

So he is totally dependent on whether God is going to be with

him or not. This is why I think he probably

says perhaps doesn't know if God's going to meet him.

What does that mean for us church family?

There is no perhaps when we meet with the Lord, there is no

perhaps. Recently my starter in my car

went out It started to go bad several months ago.

One day I my car didn't start. I tried to start it and it

didn't start and I was like oh man, why is this not starting?

So I, I messed around with it for a little while and it

started and I was like OK, thank you.

And then it ran and it ran fine and then it went out again and I

messed around with it for a little while and it started

again. It did this for months.

It would like sometimes it wouldn't start sometimes it

would. I knew something was wrong, but

I was like, maybe, maybe not, you know?

And every time I would start my car during the season, I before

I would start, I'd be like, please work, please work, please

work, please work. Yes.

Or please work. Oh, no.

Even after I got a new starter, I finally, it finally went out

totally. I had to buy a new starter and

get it installed. And, you know, I got a new

starter. I had grown so accustomed to

hoping it would start that for the first week or two after

getting the new starter, before I would start it, I would think,

please work, please work, please work.

And I'd grown so kind of. And then we could tell I was

like, wait, why am I? It's going to start every time I

have a new starter. Like it's, I think sometimes

that's how we might view prayer with God.

I hope it works this time. Perhaps, perhaps it'll work this

time. We should never say or think.

Perhaps the Lord will meet with me.

Perhaps the Lord will speak to me, God says to his people, You

will seek me, and you will find me.

When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you.

Jeremiah 2914. There is no perhaps now, Balaam

tells Balak. Whatever he shows me, I will

tell you. Whatever he shows me, I would

tell you. Now here's what's interesting.

Balaam doesn't know if God's going to meet with him, but he

assumes that if God does meet with him, God's going to show

him something. You see that he says whatever he

shows me, I will tell you. She's like, I don't know if

God's going to meet with me, but if God does meet with me, he

assumes God is going to show him something.

Do you expect God to show you something?

Do you expect that when you meet with God tonight, tomorrow

morning, do you expect God to show you something?

When you came to church this morning, did you come expecting

God to show you something? Because God's normal pattern is

to show something, even to a Pagan prophet, we should always

expect God to show us something. Sometimes we just have to be

patient. We have to wait for it.

You know those pictures where there's like a 3D image?

They used to be popular years ago.

They're not popular anymore. But remember those pictures with

a 3D image, you stare at it for a while and after standing for a

while, all of a sudden you see it, right?

And if, if you don't see it, you're like, you're looking at,

you're looking at, you're like, I don't see it, right?

Like just keep looking. Or, you know, those pictures

where somebody does a painting and it's two different images.

Like you can see like a lamp or a woman.

And it's like depends on how you look at it.

You know, there's like the dark and the light contrast.

And if you look at it one way, you see this, you look at it,

right? And a lot of people look at it

like, I don't see it. There's a woman.

Where's the woman? I see a lamp, right?

Like keep looking, keep looking it.

That's kind of how it is with God.

You see, if we meet with God while we're in a hurry, if we

meet with Him while we're on the fly, if we only meet with God

when we're driving or while we're distracted or while we're

multitasking, if that's the only time that we ever meet with God

is when we're doing something else, I suspect much at all.

But if we slow down, focus, meditate, give God our undivided

attention and wait and be patient, I think God will show

us what he wants us to see. I think he will.

That's that's his, his normal mode.

Now I wonder what Balak is thinking here.

What is he thinking does does he think the Israelite God is going

to let Balaam curse his own people?

Like does does he honestly think that this is going to work?

Like, like he's like, you're calling on their God to curse

them. Does he think that's going to

work? Apparently he does.

Apparently he does. Balaam goes to a bare height and

God met Balaam. Notice Balaam didn't meet God.

God met Balaam. God initiated to Balaam.

Balaam tells God that he has arranged 7 altars and he's

offered a bull and a ram on each of them.

Look at verse 5. Or put a word in Balaam's mouth

and said, return to Balak and thus you shall speak.

And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the Princess

of Moab were standing beside his burnt off.

I like how this is worded. The Lord put a word in Balaam's

mouth. Last week we looked at that verb

put there. That verb put can be translated,

arrange, fix, mount, install, established, right?

It's in other words, it's not just the idea that God is

inspiring Balaam. That's true, but it's more than

that. It's almost as if God is taking

control of Balaam's mouth. I don't think he's puppeting it,

but it's, it's, it's, it's closer to that than it is just

inspiration. God is putting a word in his

mouth. Now.

We see God doing this all throughout the Old Testament

with the Old Testament prophets. Let me show you a few examples.

Deuteronomy 1818 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from

among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth.

Isaiah 5116 And I have put my words in your mouth.

Isaiah 5921 My spirit that is upon you, word that I have put

in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth.

Jeremiah 19 Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

My favorite is an Ezekiel. It's very graphic and I love it.

Ezekiel 3 one to two Son of man, eat whatever you find here.

Eat this scroll and go speak to the House of Israel.

So I open my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat.

God put a word in a donkey's mouth.

Why not a Pagan prophet? Brother, sister, what word has

God put in your mouth? The question is not as God put a

word in your mouth. The question is, what word has

God put in your mouth? Has God-given you an

encouragement, A rebuke, an exhortation, A prophecy, a

teaching, a revelation, A counsel, a correction, sympathy?

What word has God put in your mouth?

Now, if you're sitting there saying, I have no idea, pastor,

let me encourage you to ask God to put a word in your mouth or

to God to show you what word he's put in your mouth.

I submit to you that a great deal of change in the Christian

life has come through the spoken word.

I imagine if I were to take a survey of all of you and I were

to ask this question because somebody actually asked me this

question for Ask the pastor, If I were to ask it to you, what

things have changed you the most in your Christian life?

I imagine a large percentage of your answers would be some

version of the spoken word things that people have said to

you. Ask God to put a word in your

mouth to give to others. God told Balaam, return to Balak

and thus you shall speak. Now we aren't told the content

yet. We have to wait.

But God's going to make it clear what He said.

In verses 7 to 10, when Balaam gets back to Balak after meeting

with the Lord, the narrator says hold.

Why does he say behold? Because something is surprising

here. What is surprising?

Not just Balak is there, all the Moabite Princess are there as

well. So Balak while Balaam's meeting

with the Lord, he summons all the Moabite Princess to come and

stand beside him. Now why does he do this?

It appears that Balak wants an audience for what is about to

happen or what he thinks is about to happen.

Look at verses 7 to 8. And Balaam took up his discourse

and said From a ROM Balak has brought me.

From a ROM Balak has brought me the king of Moab from the Easter

mountains. Come curse Jacob for me, and

come denounce Israel. How can I curse whom God is not

cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord

has not denounced? So the narrator tells us that

Balaam took up his discourse. That word discourse there can be

translated probably by word taunt, parable, song.

This that word discourse is actually the same word as

proverb in the book of Proverbs. That's that's the usual word

that's used in the book of Proverbs.

The discourse that takes up begins by him contrasting these

two kings. Balaam is going to start by

contrasting these two kings. King A, the Moabite King Balak

has summoned me for a purpose. As he stands there, he says from

a ROM, this king has summoned me to this people, to people.

But there's another king. This king, the sovereign King of

the universe, the Lord God Almighty has not cursed these

people. He has not denounced these

people. What's he getting out there?

Balaam is testifying that this king, Balak, does not have the

final word on his people. He may be king, he may have

riches to hire me, but this king does not have the final word on

the people of Israel. This king does.

God has the final word on who these people are.

Brother, sister, God has the final word on your life.

Not your parents. I don't care what your parents

have said about you. Not your parents, not your

friends, not your siblings, not your boss, not your teachers,

not your spouse, not your girlfriend, not your boy, not

your coach, not your counselor, not your pastor, not your fellow

church members, not society at large.

God has the final word on your life.

And that's important because throughout your life, throughout

my life, people have probably called us things have let us

things. You all know it.

I all I know it because sticks and stones may break bones, but

words will hurt. Throughout our life, people may

have called us and labeled us failures, but then unsuccessful,

dumb, the ugly, fat, liar, loser, trash, racial slurs,

insignificant, crazy, weak. But they don't have the final

word. God does the cross of Jesus

Christ has the final word, Amen. The day of judgement there will

be only one person speaking. You will only hear one statement

if you are in Christ and it will be this well done, good and

faithful servant. God has the final word.

Look at verse 9. For from the top of the crags I

see him, from the hills I behold him.

Behold a people dwelling alone and not counting itself among

the nations. I love verse 9 because they may

be the one who is saying these words I don't know about.

I'm behind him. Can you?

Don't you hear the voice of God speaking through Balaam here?

From the top of the crags I see him.

From the hills I behold him. God sees his people.

God sees his people. One of the most helpful things

that I have heard in several years.

I mean this, this is like probably the most one of those

helpful things I've heard in several years.

I was by a man named Paul Washer.

I've listened to him for many years.

He, he's been a tremendous blessing.

He's a preacher. He was at this conference called

the Shepherd's Conference. He was preaching there at the

conference and before he gave his message, he gave this

introduction. It wasn't even part of his

message. It was just something on the

spot the Lord gave him. It was about 5 minutes and it

was honestly one of the most helpful things I've heard.

I've listened to it like 10 * I cry almost every time I listen

to it. He tells a story about how he

used to go to conferences just like this many many years ago,

and every time he went he felt lost, he felt small, he felt

unseen. Can relate to that?

He asked a philosophical question.

Why would God plant the most beautiful rose he ever created

in a forest through which neither man nor Angel would ever

walk? How does God get glory from that

rose? He gets glory from that rose

because he sees it. He goes on to say we live in a

Christendom where we believe that a person only has

importance, that they have a church size or that size, they

author a book, they have a podcast, or they share a stage.

Brother and sister, God gets glory from your life because He

sees you. Even if nobody else does.

Even if nobody else ever recognizes anything good in your

life, God sees you, Balaam continues.

Behold a people dwelling alone, not counting it among the

nations. It was not so much that they

dwelled alone as a part. I think that's probably a better

translation that they dwell apart, set apart at this point.

Israel was not a nation. Remember, They're not a nation.

They're Wanderers in the desert. What made them distinct was not

their land. It was not their citizenship,

but their God. As I look at these people, Moab

is established people. They have a king, they have a

land, they have citizenship. And here are these people who

are just Wanderers in the desert.

But what makes them distinct is not the fact that they land or a

citizenship, but that who their God is.

And the same is true for us, brother, sisters, what what

makes us distinct is not our citizenship.

What makes us distinct is not whether we're homeowners.

I'm 43 and I've never owned a home in my life.

I may never. What makes us distinct is not

that we have a six figure salary, or that we have a

spouse, or that we have a family, or that we have a

platform. What makes us distinct is our

God. He makes us distinct.

I am set apart for Him. You are set apart for Him.

Look at verse 10. Who can count the dust of Jacob

or number the 4th part of Israel?

Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like

his. Balaam ask a question, he says.

Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the 4th part of what

is the 4th part of Israel? I think this probably means who

can count even 1/4 of this people?

I think that's probably what it means there.

Who can count even 1/4 of them? Remember what God told Abram and

his promise to him. He said I will make your

offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could

count the dust of the earth, your offspring will could be

counted. Throughout 400 years of slavery

and then 40 years in the desert, God has fulfilled His promise.

They are now like the dust of the earth and now even more so.

Today, 2000 years after Christ, through Jesus Christ, we have

all become sons of Abraham. That promise given to Abraham is

given to us because God has made us sons of Abraham.

And this dust is now scattered throughout all, almost all the

nations, the earth. We're getting there, but most

nations on the earth. And then Balaam makes a request

of the Lord. He says Let me die the death of

the upright, let my end be like his.

What a great statement. He is a false prophet.

But what a great statement. Let me die the death of the

upright, and let my end be like his.

Now this is an ironic request, because if you read the story of

Balaam, he does not die the death of the upright.

He dies the death of the wicked. But his point is taken.

His point is true for the upright death is gain.

Remember what Paul said, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

John heard a voice from heaven saying, Blessed are the dead who

die in the Lord from now on. Revelation 1413.

Brothers and sisters, do you look to death?

Not a morbid way, but in a glorious way.

This, I don't really have this in the sermon, but I, I was

talking to a pastor this a few weeks ago who's not part of our

church. And, and, and he was telling me

he, he, he was like, these are his words.

So please don't be offended. He was like, yeah, don't talk to

Cantonese people about death. They don't like talking about

death. Why don't we look forward to

death? Don't we want to be with the

Lord?