22 "Not Left Guessing About God’s Blessing" Numbers 22:1-35 | Thursday, March 5, 2026

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Numbers 22 · chapter mention

Numbers 22.

We are entering a unique account.

Um you know the story of Balum. Balam's

talking donkey.

This is not a rendition of Shrek.

This is a real Bible story

and it's very significant and I hope

that you'll see that over these next few

weeks. Um, the account itself doesn't

deal with Israel. That's what makes it

unique. This deals with a pagan

soothsayer

and a pagan king and two different pagan

people groups, the Moabites and the

Midionites.

And there's no interaction with Israel

at all. And yet, this is perhaps what

we'll see to be the highlight of the

book of Numbers.

Um, what God is doing here is he is

affirming

to Israel. Let's I just want to make a

couple comments here before we read the

text so you understand how to look at

this. This is not a story that we draw

biblical truth from a pagan prophet

himself

nor from a pagan king in Balac or pagan

people in Moab or Midian. This account

is given for its first readers which are

the children of Israel and that is as

they enter into the promised land. When

we come to verse one, it says that they

are pitched in the plains of Moab on

this side Jordan by Jericho.

Jericho tells you they're about to go

in. That's the first city to be

conquered in the conquest of Canaan.

They are just on the eastern side of the

Jordan River and they are in this this

valley area called the plains of Moab.

And so that's where Israel is. So now

from this point until the end of the

book of Deuteronomy,

Israel is in the same place. The

wandering is done. There's these final

chapters in the book of Numbers. And

then you have Moses' final sermon to

Israel, which is the entire book of

Deuteronomy until he dies. And then

Joshua leads the people in.

And so before Israel moves forward with

the new generation and before they go to

Moses's final preparation work for their

nation, God gives this threechapter

narrative to them. and it's intended to

affirm them of God's blessing on them.

That's what it's all about. We'll make a

few more comments about that in the

introduction, but let's read. I want you

to get that setting. This this entire

narrative covers chapter 22 through 24.

We're going to take it pretty much a

chapter at a time, not necessarily

following the chapter divisions, but

we'll cover it in three messages. So,

let's begin reading in Numbers 22:1, and

Numbers 22:1

our text will go through verse 35.

The Bible says, "And the children of

Israel set forward and pitched in the

plains of Moab on this side Jordan by

Jericho. And Bao, the son of Zippor, saw

all that Israel had done to the

Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of

the people, because they were many." And

Moab was distressed because of the

children of Israel. And Moab said unto

the elders of Midian, "Now shall this

company lick up all that are around

about us, as the ox lickth up the grass

of the field." And Balo the son of

Zippor, was the king of Moab at that

time. He sent messengers therefore unto

Balam the son of Bor to Por which is by

the river of the land of the children of

his people to call him saying behold

there is a people come out from Egypt.

Behold they are they cover the face of

the earth and they abide over against

me. Come now, therefore, I pray thee,

curse me, this people, for they are too

mighty for me. For adventure I shall

prevail, that we may smite them, and

that I may drive them out of the land.

For I want that he whom thou blessest is

blessed, and he whom thou cursest is

cursed. Now, that should ring in your

ears back to Genesis when God told

Abraham, "I will bless him that blessth

thee, and I will curse him that

cursseeth thee." And I want you to

listen as we read through these accounts

for that blessing language going back to

Genesis.

And so it says in verse 7, "And the

elders of Moab and the elders of Midian

departed with the rewards of divination

in their hand. They came unto Balam and

spake unto him the words of Bailac. And

he said unto them, lodge here this

night, and I will bring you word again,

as the Lord shall speak unto me. And the

princes of Moab abode with Balam. And

God came unto Balam, and said, What men

are these with thee? And Balam said unto

God, Bailac, the son of Zippor, king of

Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, Behold,

there is come a people come out of

Egypt, which coverth the face of the

earth. Come now, curse me them. Per

adventure I shall be able to overcome

them and drive them out. And God said

unto Balum, Thou shalt not go with them.

Thou shalt not curse the people, for

they are blessed. And Balam rose up in

the morning and said unto the princes of

Bailac, "Get you into your land, for the

Lord refuseth to give me leave to go

with you." And the princes of Moab rose

up. And they went unto Bailac, and said,

Balam refuseth to come with us. And

Balac sent again princes more and more

honorable than they. And they came to

Balam, and said to him, Thus sayaith

Bailac the son of Zippor, let nothing, I

pray thee, hinder thee, from coming unto

me, for I will promote thee unto very

great honor, and I will do whatsoever

thou sayest unto me. Come, therefore, I

pray thee, curse me this people. And

Balam answered and said unto the

servants of Bailac, "If Bailac would

give me his house full of silver and

gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the

Lord my God to do less or more. Now

therefore, I pray you, Terry ye hear

this night, that I may know what the

Lord will say unto me more." And God

came to Bao at at night and said unto

them, If the men come call come to call

thee, rise up and go with them. But yet

the word which I shall say unto thee,

thou shalt that shalt thou do. And Balam

arose up in the morning and saddled his

ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

And God's anger was kindled because he

went. And the angel of the Lord stood in

the way for an adversary against him.

Now he was riding upon his ass, and he

sent uh his two servants were with him.

And the ass saw the angel of the Lord

standing in the way, and his sword drawn

in his hand, and the ass turned aside

out of the way, and went into the field.

And Balam smoked the ass to turn her

into the way. But the angel of the Lord

stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall

being on this side and a wall on that

side. And when the ass saw the angel of

the Lord, she thrust herself under the

wall and crushed Balam's foot against

the wall. And he smoked her again. And

the angel of the Lord went further and

stood in a narrow place where was no way

to turn either to the right hand or to

the left. He's trapped. Verse 27. And

when the ass saw the angel of the Lord,

she fell down under Balam. And Balam's

anger was kindled, and he smoked the ass

with a staff. And the Lord opened the

mouth of the ass. And she said unto

Balam, "What have I done unto thee that

thou hast smitten me these three times?"

And Balam said unto the ass, "Because

thou hast mocked me, I would there were

a sword in mine hand. For now would I

kill thee." And the ass said unto Balam,

"Am not I thine ass, upon which thou has

written ever since I was thine unto this

day? Was I ever want to do so unto

thee?" And he said, "They?" Then the

Lord opened the eyes of Balum. And he

saw the angel of the Lord standing in

the way, and his sword drawn in his

hand, and he bowed down his head, and

fell flat on his face. The angel of the

Lord said unto him,"Wherefore hast thou

smitten thine ass these three times?

Behold, I went out to withstand thee,

because thy way is perverse before me."

When the ass saw me and turned from me

these three times, unless she had turned

from me, surely now also I had slain

thee, and saved her alive." And Balam

said unto the angel of the Lord, I have

sinned, for I knew not that thou

stoodest in the way against me. Now

therefore, if it displeased thee, I will

get me back again. And the angel of the

Lord said unto Balam, go with the men,

but only the word that I shall speak

unto thee, that shalt thou speak. So

Balam went with the princes of Bailac.

We'll stop our reading there for

tonight. The title of tonight's message

is not left guessing about God's

blessing. Not left guessing about God's

blessing.

So we'll give some attention to this

tonight.

When my wife and I were friends, just

friends in college,

sometimes she left me guessing about how

she really felt about me. I didn't know

that we were getting to know each other

for probably about four months by this

time and didn't have each other's

numbers. We just met in public and

talked with each other and uh there

there was a campus event. And so I asked

her, "Hey, you want to sit with me at

this?" And she said, "Yeah, that would

be great." And I I thought I knew what

that meant. And so I was excited. I was

at work and I was on cloud nine looking

forward to this. I was like, "This kind

of feels like it's it's moving toward a

date. That's where it feels like it's

going." And then we get there and we go

to sit in the chapel and she sat two

chairs away from me instead of right

next to me. Now, how am I supposed to

take that? I don't I don't know. And so

now I'm just thinking through this whole

thing. Man, did I get a weird read on

this? And so, uh, then we're we're done.

And and we had talked about going put

our stuff back in our dorms. And then,

uh, talked about meeting up in front of

the cafeteria. And so, we did that and

and I come down to the cafeteria.

There's some picnic tables there. And

and she was talking with some friends

over at this picnic table. I had some

friends at this picnic table. And I

don't want to go up to her and and make

things awkward uh for her cuz that's how

it was at this Bible college, you know,

and anytime a guy and a girl's talking

and it gets weird, really weird. Bunch

of homeschoolers, right? And so that's

that's how that goes. So I didn't want

to make it awkward. So I'm talking to my

friends over here and I'm like, "Okay,

well, and I see her walk away, then I'll

go and I'll I'll talk to her." Well, uh,

I'm I'm kind of waiting and then next

thing I know, she leaves and she goes

back to her dorm. And I'm sitting there

and I'm like,

man, I think I got this bad wrong, you

know? So, I'm I go back up to my dorm

and I was left guessing about how she

felt about me. Now, obviously

eventually, uh, it it comes down to the

fact I was her first boyfriend, first

guy that she was ever really interested

in and just inexperienced and not

wanting to be awkward or weird and and

so it it just left me guessing, right?

But I want to take say to you tonight

that God doesn't leave his people

guessing about how he feels about them.

God wants his people to know that they

are blessed.

That is really what this this account is

about. God is making it clear in this

narrative account, rather lengthy, very

strange account. Nonetheless, he is

making it clear to them that they are

still blessed. Israel is now at the

plains of Moab near Jericho. They are

soon to enter the promised land. They

just experienced in chapter 21 these

great victories over Sihon the king of

Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan. And

these were these were mighty powerful

men with powerful armies. And and Sihon

the king of Heshbon had conquered Moab

and taken these cities from Moab. And we

talked about this this song that the

people sang that well if I if Sihon took

this from Moab then woe unto Moab

because somebody else has conquered

Sihon. And so you've got this this

narrative building the intent the intent

here to 22 where it talks about now they

are in the plains of Moab near Jericho

and Baleo the king of Moab

fears Israel. is deeply distressed

because of them. And so the Moabites and

the Midionites conspire to hire Balum to

curse Israel because they know we don't

stand a chance against them. And so

that's what they are doing in this

narrative as we'll notice is very

littered with the covenant language of

God's blessing to Abraham. And now it

tells us that what's really at stake in

this account and the primary focal point

of the account is the uh the the

covenant blessing of Abraham.

And so the question really is this, can

the most powerful

soothsayer in the world at that time,

can he override

God's blessing of Israel?

Can this and and like I said, there's a

lot of covenant language here.

Can this satanically

driven man who represents the seed of

the serpent from the Garden of Eden who

will fight against the seed of the

woman, the children of Seth and Shem and

Abraham all the way to Jesus? Can the

seed of the serpent override God's

blessing that is to come to all mankind

through Abraham and his family? That's

really the the question. And so the the

big idea of the entire narrative from

chapter 2 through chapter 24, I believe,

is is really this is what it's intended

to get across to Israel, that their

victory is guaranteed because God's

blessing is irrevocable.

that when they go into the promised

land, they can rest assured that God is

going to drive out their enemies, that

they are going to experience victory.

They are going to conquer and claim the

land because God is not going to revoke

his blessing. That's really what we see

through Balam's oracles against Israel

as well that we'll cover here in the

next couple of weeks to come. And it's

really too much to take on in one

message. And so we'll we'll uncover this

idea over the course of the next three

weeks. But tonight, I want to show you

that God does not leave his people

guessing about his blessing.

He wants Israel to know that they are

blessed and what that means for their

conquest of Canaan.

But what does a text like that have to

say to us today? I would simply ask you

this question. Are you blessed?

Are you blessed?

Are you under God's covenant blessing?

When this evil world and your enemy

rises up against you, can you say with

confidence that God is on your side

because you are under his blessing? Can

you say that?

Well, God doesn't leave you guessing

either.

He wants each of us to know for sure

that we are blessed. And he wants us to

understand what that blessing means for

our conquest. But our conquest is not

against walls and giants and cities. Our

conquest is against this evil, sinful

world. It is against the sin nature that

battles within us that we call our

flesh. It is against our adversary in

Satan. It is against the greatest

enemies of death and hell and suffering.

We're in a battle and God wants us to

know as we face every battle that we are

blessed. That he is on our side.

And so as we see today what God's

blessing meant for Israel, then we'll

see what God's blessing means for us

today. And so let's start with Israel.

What we find here in verses 1-8 is that

Israel's enemies stood together against

them. Bailac, the king of Moab, is

struck with fear because of Israel. It

says particularly in verse number two

that he saw all that Israel had done to

the Amorites. Just like that song said,

"Woe unto Moab." Moab felt the woe. The

one who had conquered them has been

conquered by this great and mighty

people. And so he sees what they've done

to these Amorite kings. But then it

says, notice in verse three, and Moab

was so afraid of the people because they

were many. They were many. At this

point, their army exceeded 640,000

and their whole nation would have been

in the millions. And so Bailac speaks to

Midian in verse 4, and he says that this

company is going to lick us up like the

ox licks up the grass of the field. that

we don't we don't stand a chance against

these people. And so Moab conspires then

with Midian. And Bale sends messengers

to this pagan soothsayer named Balum. We

find that he is worldrenowned.

He's like a witch doctor of some sorts.

Joshua later calls him a soothsayer.

uh he is he is known in chapter 24:1

that the first two oracles that he went

by enchantments to figure out what the

Lord wanted. So you really get the

picture through all of scripture because

Balum is mentioned multiple times in the

Old Testament. He's mentioned multiple

times in the New Testament as well. And

he is painted in scripture as an enemy

of God's people. a false prophet who

seeks to pervert God's people mostly

because the counsel he gives Bailo in

chapter 25 after this account. And so

when we talk about Balam, it's important

to understand that he's he's not a

prophet of God. He is a pagan soothsayer

who tells the future what's called

divination by means of enchantments and

stars and cloud formations as well as

the intros of of sacrificial animals.

Remember we were going through Leviticus

and we were talking about how they were

to offer up the intros the liver and the

kidney and and the fat thereof upon the

altar. And the reason they did that was

because divers, pagan divers, would look

at the liver of a sacrificial animal to

try to tell the future. And God was

saying, "No, you're going to leave the

future in my hands, and you're going to

trust me." And so, that's the kind of

man that Balam is. And I want to draw

our attention to Bailo's stated reasons

for hiring uh Balam. If you'll look

first uh with me in verse uh number

five, it says, "And he sent messengers

before unto Balam the son of Bor to

Pithor, which is by the river of the

land of the children of his people to

call him." And now notice what he says.

"Behold,

there is a people come out of Egypt.

Behold, they cover the face of the earth

and they abide over against me."

And what I want to draw our attention to

is that his stated reasons for wanting

Balam to curse Israel

is because of the fulfillment of God's

blessing to Israel. See, because what we

see here is that they echo back to God's

blessing promise to Abraham that God

brought Israel out of Egypt just like he

promised Abraham in Genesis 15. He he

multiplied them as the dust of the earth

just as he promised uh Abraham and in

and Jacob in Genesis 13 and then Genesis

28. He makes them a mighty nation as he

promised Abraham in Genesis 18. And so

Bailo here is unknowingly declaring that

God is fulfilling his promises to

Israel. The the idea here that they have

come out out of Egypt, they cover the

face of the earth. They are like the

dust of the face of the earth. And now

they abide over against me. God's given

them land right next door to me. And so

what you can see is that this this

centers around the way that God is

working to fulfill his blessing to

Israel up until this point. This is

going to stick out like a sore thumb to

Israel when they read it. Understanding,

hey, that's all stuff God promised to

our fathers. He's already done it by the

time that we've arrived here where we

are. He has made us like the dust of the

earth. He did bring us out of Egypt. He

has made us mighty. He has given us

land.

And so, Israel remains under God's

blessing. And the only hope that Baal

and Moab have is if Israel comes under a

curse. And that's why he calls for

Balum. If you notice in verse six, he

says, "Come now, therefore, I pray thee,

curse me this people, for they are too

mighty for thee, per for me, per

adventure." or it just might be that I

shall prevail that we may smite them and

drive them out of the land. And so what

the this language here as well is what

God has told Israel that he will do. He

will smite the nations and drive them

out of the land before them. And so this

is what I mean. You can see all of this

covenant language here. And it's drawing

Israel's attention to God's promised

blessing to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But notice why he calls Balum. It says,

"For I w that he whom thou blessest is

blessed, and he whom thou curses is

cursed." This is the reputation that

Balum has developed. That when he seeks

enchantments and he divines the future

and he bestows a blessing and he bestows

a cursing, it all comes to pass. It sets

Balum up as the most renowned pagan

soothsayer and witch doctor in all the

region. And the question of the text is

this. Can Balam's curse override God's

blessing?

But I want you to see that God does not

leave us guessing about this blessing.

The elders of Moab and Midian, they're

sent to Balum with the rewards of

divination, the fee that he would

typically charge. And they come to him,

they give him Balo's message. And Balam

tells him, I want you to spend the night

and I'll bring word what the Lord says.

And God reveals to to Balam that Israel

is blessed, that they are blessed.

It it says that he that that uh God

appears to Balam and he asks him who

these men are that are with him and he

gives him Balo's exact message that he

said that there's a people that's come

up out of Egypt and they cover the face

of the earth and and I want you to curse

them for me. And notice God's response

in verse number 12. And God said unto

Balam, "Thou shalt not go with them.

Thou shalt not curse the people, for

they are blessed.

That sounds pretty clear to me. I don't

see a lot of room for gray area in there

as to whether or not God is going to

allow Balam to go with them, whether or

not God is going to allow Balam to curse

them, and whether or not Israel is

cursed or blessed. No, God lays it all

out plain and clear. Thou shalt not go

with them. Thou shalt not curse them for

they are blessed.

Why is God giving this clear statement

not just to Balum

but to Israel who is reading this?

Well, after this rough

40year journey of rebellion and death,

I wonder if Israel had some doubts in

their mind

even after these victories over Sion and

Og.

Is God really going to bring us in?

Is God going to go with us or are we

going in on our own?

Have we done too much to betray him?

Have we complained too much against him?

Have we resisted Moses? Are we far too

gone?

And God,

meanwhile, behind the scenes, Israel,

get this picture.

Israel is sleeping peacefully in the

plains of Moab in these cities. They're

not intense anymore. Most of them are

dwelling in homes in these cities,

fast asleep,

without knowing at all that miles away,

the people right next door to them, who

are relatives to them, the Moabites are

the children of Lot, which is Abraham's

nephew, and the Midianites are the

children of Abraham by his other wife

Coutura.

These these relatives are conspiring

miles away for this man to come and

curse them. And God is there telling

him, "No,

you will not curse them. You will not go

with with them. They are blessed." God

wants Israel to know that he still calls

them blessed. And he has no intention of

going back on his blessing. nor will he

allow this powerful uh soothsayer to

reverse his blessing. They are blessed.

So Balam rose up in the morning. He goes

to Bailo's men and he tells them to go

back to their own land because the Lord

refuses to give him leave to go with

him. And they return and go back to Bao.

So where are we at so far? Israel's

enemies have risen up against them to

conspire against them. But God has given

a strong response.

Israel can't be cursed because they are

blessed.

Well, then why do we have this most

famous account that follows this about

Balum and his donkey? It seems like

Balam's doing the right thing. He sends

him away. And yet what we find is that

Balo,

he sweetens the deal.

He sends more honorable princes and he

sends more princes to him and he tells

them, "I will promote you to great honor

and I will give you whatever you ask of

me. You say it and it will be done if

you'll curse them."

Balum,

well, he seems to say all the right

things and yet he doesn't respect God's

answer. Because what we find is that

Balam says, if you look at verse 18, it

says, "And Balam answered and said unto

the servants of Bailac, if Bailac would

give me his house full of silver and

gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the

Lord my God to do less or more." to

this, we would say, "Good job, Balum.

Way to say it. There's no amount of

money that you could give me to say

something that God won't let me say. My

God." Notice he says that, "My God."

Well, the reality is is whatever God

Balam was appealing to was his God. In

those moments,

he seems to say the right things.

But then look at verse 19. Now

therefore, I pray you carry ye also here

this night. What did God tell him to do?

Don't go with them. Don't curse them.

They are blessed. That's black and

white. But Balam doesn't see it so black

and white. He thinks, "Well, why don't

you stay here tonight and I'll talk to

the Lord again?" And it says here, I'll

see what he will say unto me more. The

idea is maybe he'll add to it. Maybe

he'll let me do a a little bit of

cursing. Maybe he'll let me do what I

want to do, even just a little bit, so

that I can get my my promotion and so I

can get my payday. That's what that's

what's really going on here. Verse 20

says, "And God came to Balam at night

and said unto him, if the men come to

call thee, rise up and go with them. But

yet the word that which I shall say unto

thee, that shalt thou do." Okay. Well,

now the Lord hasn't said, "Don't go with

them." Now the Lord has said, "Go with

them, but only speak what I tell you to

speak."

But then it says in verse 21, Balam rose

up in the morning and saddled his ass

and went with the princes of Moab. But

now look at verse 22. And God's anger

was kindled because he went. Hold on a

second. Why is God angry at Balum for

doing what God told him to do?

Does that cause question to you?

Well, here's the reality. God is not

bipolar.

God does not change his mind. God does

everything with perfect fornowledge and

perfect sovereignty for a perfect

purpose. What God recognizes here is

that because Balam still wants to go

with them even though God made it clear

he's not to

God recognizes that what he made clear

is not so clear in Balam's mind. And so

God's going to give him a very vivid

visual

to show him where he stands regarding

Balam and Bale and the people of Israel.

And so the saga goes on. He goes with

the princes. He brings two servants with

him. He's riding this female donkey. And

it says that the angel of the Lord stood

in his way as an adversary.

It's interesting. The word adversary is

the Hebrew word Satan, Satan. And so

when you talk about this, the adversary,

the seed of the serpent, the adversary

is rising up against the seed of the

woman, the seed of Abraham here. And yet

God is standing in their way as an

adversary against them. God is opposing

him. And so as they're making their way,

the angel of the Lord is standing there

with a sword drawn in his hand. You know

what that means? He's about to take

action.

And the donkey

sees him. But Balam, this all-wise, all

knowing, soothsaying

seer, can't see the angel of the Lord.

Well, the the donkey gallops off into

the field, takes a hard right over into

the field, and Bam is like, "Man, what

is going on? Let's go. Get over back

into the road." And so, it says they get

into the road, and they go a little

further, and the they were coming

through this path where there's a wall

on this side and a wall on this side,

and the donkey uh uh sees the angel of

the Lord again, and she freaks out and

goes into the wall, and it crushes

Balam's foot. And now he's getting angry

about it and he strikes it again and

they keep on going. Then they come to

another place, a narrow place, a tight

spot. I imagine like when you're hiking

Long's peak and it's got that little

ledge that's about this big and maybe

Balam is walking with his donkey on this

tight spot. It says it can't go to the

left, it can't go to the right. And so

the donkey just plops down in the middle

of the road. And now Balam sitting here

sitting on his donkey that's sitting on

the ground and and he gets up and he

takes his staff and he starts beating on

his donkey.

And then it turns and the Lord opens the

mouth of the donkey

and the donkey says, "Hey,

what are you hitting me for these three

times?"

And he says, "You have mocked me." Now,

it seems weird to us. You would think

that Balam would be freaking out about

this donkey talking to him, but I would

imagine as a pagan witch doctor

soothsayer who has had these

conversations with dead people and

demonic spirits and all that, he's

probably seen some weird stuff in his

life. And this is probably not out of

the ordinary for him. And so he starts

arguing with the donkey.

You've because you have mocked me.

You're lucky I don't have a sword in my

hand. Cuz if I had a sword in my hand, I

would kill you right now. And that

donkey says, "Can I ask you a question?

I've been your donkey my whole life.

Have I ever been known to do this

before?"

And Balam says,

"No, I guess not."

And then it says the Lord opened his

eyes

and he sees the angel of the Lord with a

sword drawn in his hand

and he knows that's not good.

This is kind of a echo back to Genesis 3

as well. After Adam and Eve were

expelled from the garden, the angel of

the Lord, a a cherubim was there with a

sword drawn in his hand guarding the way

into the tree of life.

This angel is standing there protecting

this way, opposing him, getting in

Balam's way. And it says that Balam bows

his head and falls flat on his face

before the Lord.

And the angel of the Lord says, "Why

have you smitten your donkey these three

times?"

He said, "I if it wasn't for that

donkey, I'd have killed you and kept her

alive. That donkey saved your life. Why

have you struck it?"

Again, he seems to say the right things.

I have sinned.

I had no idea that you were standing in

my way. The angel of the Lord says,

"Your way is perverse before me." What

that literally means is, "Your way is

against me."

Well, where's he going? He's going to

join affinity with Bailac to issue a

curse against Israel.

He is standing against Israel.

And the angel of God is now standing

against him.

And he recognizes, I've gone the wrong

way here. I'm I've messed up. But then

he says this.

If it displeased thee,

I'll go back again.

If

if it displeased thee, I think God said,

"Thou shalt not go with them." I think

God said, "Thou shalt not curse them." I

think God said, "They are blessed." And

now the angel is standing right there in

his way as an adversary opposing him and

saying, "Do not come this way." And he

has the gall to say, "If

See, here's the wickedness of Balum.

He wanted the reward

so badly

that he didn't care what God had said.

And that becomes the picture of false

prophecy and hierlings in the New

Testament. That's why Peter and Jude and

Jesus at the church at Pergamus

calls these false prophets Balum. That

they they don't care about what God

says. They care about the money and the

promotion and honor that they can get.

That is the way that Balam has gone. God

once again says, "Well, we'll we'll play

along here. Go ahead and go with them,

but you'll only say what I tell you to

say."

And what transpires

is God gives Balum four different

oracles that are all blessings on

Israel. They reaffirm and they

strengthen the blessing of God upon

Israel. And Balam goes away dishonored

and Bailo goes away disappointed. And

Israel goes away still blessed. Still

blessed. What I want to point out to you

is the position

of each person in the narrative.

Bailac stands against Israel.

Moab and Midian stand against Israel.

Balam stands with Bailac and Moab and

Midian against Israel. And God stands

against them.

I think that this this portion of the

narrative is intended for Israel and for

us to draw this conclusion

because Israel is blessed.

God stands against those who stand

against them.

Because Israel is blessed, God stands

against those who stand against them.

Now, what does a text like this have to

say to us as believers today?

Let me ask you this question again. Are

you blessed?

Are you blessed?

And you say amen.

But are you sure?

And how do you know for sure?

Because it could be that times in your

life you have messed up. Times in your

life maybe you rebelled against God.

Times in your life maybe when you were

struck by fear because of the enemy.

Times when you panicked because you

didn't have food to eat or because your

finances were running out. Times when

maybe you rose up against God because

your health was failing. So, can I ask

you, are you sure in spite of all those

things that you are still blessed?

I want you to know this. God does not

leave you guessing

about his blessing. Would you turn to

Galatians chapter 3? I want you to see

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

this. Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

Would you look with me at verse number

six?

Even as Abraham believed God, and it was

accounted to him for righteousness.

Know ye therefore, who is Paul talking

to here? The churches of Galatia.

Those churches that we've talked about

in Acts in Antioch of Pacidia and

Lististra and Derby and Iconium. Those

are the churches he's talking to, made

up of Jews and Gentiles.

Notice what he says in verse 7. Know ye

therefore that they which are of faith,

the same are the children of Abraham.

And the scripture for seeing that God

would justify the heathen through faith

preached before the gospel unto Abraham,

saying, In thee shall all nations be

blessed. So then they which be of faith

are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Let me ask you this question.

Have you trusted Jesus Christ as your

savior?

Have you believed on him?

Have you come to him by faith as Abraham

did?

Then has it been credited to you for

righteousness?

According to the gospel,

God credits righteousness for faith. And

so if you have trusted Jesus Christ as

your savior, he has given you his

righteousness just like he did to

Abraham by faith. And it says there in

verse number nine, so then they which be

of faith are blessed with faithful

Abraham.

So if you have trusted Christ as your

savior, you are blessed with faithful

Abraham. That is what God has declared.

Continue reading in verse 13.

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse

of the law being made a curse for us.

For it is written, cursed is everyone

that hangeth on a tree. Why was ge Why

did Jesus become a curse? By hanging on

the cross. Verse 14. That the blessing

of Abraham might come on the Gentiles

through Jesus Christ that we might

receive the promise of the spirit

through faith. So Paul's first statement

there is that if you have trusted Jesus

as your savior, then you are blessed

with faithful Abraham. He says now that

Christ took the curse so you could have

the blessing there. And so if you've

trusted Christ, the blessing of Abraham

has come upon you even though you are

Gentile. Now look back at verse number

28 at the end of the chapter.

There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is

neither bond nor free. There is neither

male nor female. For ye are all one in

Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ, then

are ye Abraham's seed and hes according

to the promise.

See, the blessing of God through Abraham

has come to the nations in Christ. Paul

identifies him in chapter 3 that Christ

is the seed of Abraham when he said, "In

thy seed shall all the nations of the

earth and all the families of the earth

be blessed." According to Romans 11,

some Israelites were cut off because of

unbelief so that the Gentiles through

faith might be grafted in to the

blessings of God. You have been grafted

in by faith in Jesus Christ. So let me

ask you again believers, are you

blessed?

God has declared it so.

And so if you are in Christ, you do not

have to guess about whether or not you

are blessed because just as God did with

Israel, he has declared you blessed in

Christ. That means that your sins have

been atoned for. That you have been

redeemed and brought out of the bondage

of sin. You have been given the Holy

Spirit of God. He Jesus shed his atoning

blood on the cross and after his

resurrection he ascended into heaven and

offered it as the final sacrifice for

sin. That is what Christ accomplished.

And now everyone who believes on Jesus

Christ are blessed with faithful

Abraham.

You don't have to guess about whether or

not you're blessed.

See, you have been saved. You have been

adopted into God's family. You have been

a maiden, an an heir with Christ of all

the promises of God. You have access to

him. You have a place in his kingdom to

live in his presence for all of

eternity. And once that blessing is

given, it cannot be taken away. You can

never be cursed. And no human or cosmic

power can reverse the blessing that God

has declared over your life in Jesus

Christ. Believers, you're blessed. And

because you are blessed, you can have

confidence that God stands with you. God

stands with you.

And so as you face a world that rises up

against your faith, you don't need to

fear because God is on your side, when

evil tempts you, it's and it seems

insurmountable. Christ is working behind

the scenes to fend off evil from your

life. When Satan accuses you of being

too sinful, too broken, too rebellious,

when he accuses you of being too big of

a failure before God and he tries to

cause you to doubt God's love and God's

power and God's blessing on your life.

Listen, you can remember that because of

Jesus, you are blessed. And because you

are blessed, God stands with you. He

stands with you when it seems like the

world is against you. When everything

seems to be falling apart, when your

health is failing, when you're suffering

loss and grief, you can rest assured

that those moments of pain and suffering

are not because God is against you.

The trials you face in this life

are not because God is against you. If

you are under his blessing,

you don't have to fear that. And even if

suffering and persecution and death come

your way because of your faith, it only

serves to bring you to lay hold on the

promised inheritance of eternal life

through Jesus Christ.

It's it's not because God is against

you. God is for you. God stands with

you. And then that brings us to this

final conclusion that because God stands

with you, nothing and no one can stand

against you. No one can stand against

you. All your foes will be conquered

because while you are resting peacefully

in the valley, the Lord is on the

mountain or in the road standing against

those who stand against you.

Friends, we face trials and struggles

and tribulations in this life. And

sometimes those things that we face can

bring us to question God, to doubt his

love, to doubt his blessings on our

lives. But it's in those times we need

to reflect theologically

on all that God is withholding

from coming against us.

the things that we can't see, the

protection that goes unnoticed by us. We

don't know what's going on in the road

outside the city. We don't know what's

going on in the mountain when the enemy

is trying to attack you and bring curses

against you and trying to cause you to

doubt God's love and blessing in your

life. We don't know how Christ is

fending them off. We don't know how

Christ is chaining up and suppressing

the demons that would seek to lay hold

on you and violently oppress you. We

can't see all of those things, but I

want you to understand that whatever the

foes may be that rise up against you,

God stands against them. He stands

against them. Romans 8:31, Paul said

Romans 8:31

this, "If God be for us, who can be

against us?" He goes on to say, "Who

shall separate us from the love of

Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or

persecution or famine or nakedness or

peril or sword? Hey, in all of these

things we are more than conquerors

through him that loved us. And he sums

it up by saying, "Nothing shall be able

to separate us from the love of God

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Because God calls you blessed. You don't

have to fear being cursed. You don't

have to fear the things in this life

claiming victory over you or driving you

out or smiting you as Bailo wanted to do

with Israel. No, Satan will fall. Sin

will end. Death and hell will be

finished and this present evil world

will be destroyed because you have a

conquering king in Jesus Christ who

stands against everything that stands

against you.

because you are blessed.

God stands against those who stand

against you. So, can I ask one more

time? Are you blessed?

The only hope you have to stand in the

day of the judgment that comes against

you is to be classified among those who

are blessed. And the only way to be

classified among those who are blessed

is by faith in Jesus Christ.

He is the mediator of the new covenant

blessing of God. He is the one who

became cursed with death so you could be

blessed with life. When you put your

faith in him, God classifies you with

faithful Abraham and God's blessing

falls on you. Would you trust Christ

today?

If you have trusted Christ, then you are

blessed. And here's what that means for

your conquest against sin and evil and

death. When the enemy rises up against

you, God stands against them. So don't

fear

what they can do. Trust what God can do.

He doesn't leave you guessing about his

blessing. So trust in him. Our heavenly

father, we come to you tonight grateful

for the clear truth of your word

that you call us blessed in Christ. and

you made that clear and you wanted us to

know it

so that we could know that you are for

us and that you stand against those who

stand against us.

I pray if there's anyone who has not yet

trusted Christ that they would trust him

today and be grouped among the blessed.

I pray for those who are blessed

but are struggling with doubt

and fear,

maybe even some rebellion because of the

troubles they faced.

I pray they would recognize how blessed

they are in Christ

and that you stand with them. I pray

that rather than fearing, rather than

panicking, they trust in you. Oh Lord,

we are prone to panic.

We are prone to trust in ourselves. We

are prone to doubt you.

I pray your word would fill us with the

confidence of who you are and what

you've done for us that we may trust who

only in you in Jesus name. Amen.