No wonder we read in 1 Chronicles 9:20 that “the Lord was with him.” Here is a leader who truly stood before his people. That person goes on at great lengths about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. Balaam appears to “change God’s mind” with respect to his going to meet with Balak, but as he lea… This must be why God could command Moses to publicly execute all the leaders in verse 4. Israel is to be careful not to practice the abominations of Egypt, from which they have been delivered, or of Canaan, which they are about to possess: 1 The LORD spoke to Moses saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the LORD your God. sundown December 10 - sundown December 18. Balak was very distressed and angry. Instead, he bestowed on the Jews four tremendous … [])), +((!+[]+(!![])+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+[])+(+!![])+(!+[]+(!![])+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![])+(!+[]+(!![])+!![]+!![]+!![])+(!+[]-(!![]))+(!+[]+(!![])+!![]+!![])+(!+[]+(!![])-[])+(!+[]+(!![])+!![]+!![]+!![])+(!+[]+(!![])+!![]))/+((+!![]+[])+(!+[]+(!![])+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![])+(!+[]+(!![])+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![])+(!+[]+(!![])+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![])+(!+[]+(!![])+!![]+!![])+(!+[]+(!![])+!![]+!![]+!![])+(!+[]-(!![]))+(!+[]+(!![])+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![])+(!+[]+(!! There is a blessing here, for the plague on Israel is terminated, and a blessing is pronounced upon Phinehas and his descendants. He punished Balaam. The next day, Balak went up with Balaam to a high mountain from where they could see the camp of the people of Israel. Let us remember that being a disciple of our Lord means bringing our bodies under discipline; it means crucifying the flesh daily (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5). It would appear that by the time he reached the tent they were already engaged in sexual sin, and so with one thrust of his spear he put both the man and the woman to death. How quickly and easily Israel fell. God therefore commanded Moses to see to it that the Midianites were destroyed for their treachery. There is surely a lesson here for us concerning what we might call “sin in the camp.” There certainly appears to be great reluctance to deal with sin decisively. 34 The NIV translates Shittim “Acacia Grove,” which is literally what the word means. Corruption often flows from the top down. 41 The rendering of verse 4 by the NKJV is quite amazing: “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the LORD, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD continued…may turn away from Israel.’” The original KJV does not render it this way, nor does the NIV, the NRS, or the NASB. And we know: if Jesus begins to fight against His church, that church will perish as certainly as the Israelites of Numbers 25 perished through the plague. He now sees that while God cannot be changed, the Israelites are a fickle people, whose hearts can easily be turned from God. In the end, Balak dismisses Balaam, sending him home without pay. 45 One can quickly see that when Paul refers to this plague in 1 Corinthians 10:8, he speaks of the death of 23,000. To break that blessing, Balaam the sorcerer had first tried to manipulate God, to convince God to change His approach to Israel and so curse this people. After all is said and done, Balaam was not able to curse Israel and collect the reward for doing so, but this is not the last we hear of him. 11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh—who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed in the body by hands—12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it from you. Required fields are marked *. Here we have our responsibility: it is for us to be alert to the doctrine of Balaam, ever to ask whether we’ve fallen for that counsel, whether in fact we are bringing God’s wrath upon ourselves. No wonder Paul places so much emphasis on the character of those who lead in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. The consequence to Israel of Balaam’s advice was seen in a very short time: As if trying to mollify his employer, Balaam adds, "Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days" (verse 14), but his words are hardly comforting to the Moabite king. But the minute Balaam chose to deliberately oppose Israel and bring the nation under God’s wrath, Balaam disappears. Did he look at himself as the one through whom God would speak and act? He did not need a special revelation from God—God’s will was clear. Initially, the man acknowledges his sin and guilt, and agrees that he must cease from his sinful behavior. It would appear that the leaders did little or nothing to deal with the idolatry and immorality of the people. Moses then concludes: 24 “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations, which I am about to drive out before you, have been defiled with all these things. There is a strange irony to all of this: 3 An Ammonite or Moabite may not enter the assembly of the LORD; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall do so, forever, 4 for they did not meet you with food and beverage on the way as you came from Egypt and, furthermore, they hired against you Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. He did not desire to see a large-scale execution. Balak offered Balaam a lucrative fee for his services if he could persuade God not to bless Israel, but to curse them. Verse 6 informs us that “the whole community of the Israelites” were assembled near the entrance to the tent of meeting (verse 6). 16 When I thought how to understand this, It was too painful for me—17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. We may very well be in greater danger from those who would befriend us than from those who would attack us. This text does have much to teach us about leadership. Make no mistake on the point, beloved! 22 Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. Moses said Balaam gave evil counsel that brought a plague on Israel (Numbers 31:14-16). Balaam seeks to persuade God to forsake His promise to bless Israel, and to curse them instead. Balaam now seems to realize that he has been foolishly seeking to change God, which cannot be done. Suddenly, Balaam stops in his tracks. When we move from Numbers 24 to Numbers 25, we might suppose that we have left Balaam behind. 17 You will not make molten gods for you” (Exodus 34:11-17, emphasis mine). It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. This is far different from standing behind, and ordering others to march on ahead of you. 4 He must manage his own household well and keep his children in control without losing his dignity. But cousin Edom gave no permission; there was no friendship, only rejection (Num 20:14ff). Thanks to the zealous action of one man—Phinehas—the nation was spared. 4 For every creation of God is good and no food is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. Surely the wicked vanish; their days of disobedience and of fleshly indulgence are few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s Phinehas acted in his zeal for the Lord by putting this couple to death, our Lord revealed His zeal by cleansing the temple (John 2:17). The Lord instructs Moses to publicly execute all the leaders of the nation Israel publicly. If he can’t manipulate God so that He curses His people, maybe he can manipulate the people so that they attract God’s curse upon themselves! Yet here was an offer of friendship. The NKJV is not a translation at this point, but an interpretation, and I fear that it is not a good one. Phinehas was a leader because he was willing to stand alone, and to act alone, when no one else was willing to do what was right. The one with this gift “stands behind,” so to speak, helping, facilitating, and coordinating ministry. Israel prevailed over the Midianites in the war. Balak: The Counsel of Balaam. Verses 17 and 18 set the scene for the rest of the Book of Numbers. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:11-18, emphasis mine). Its leaders were not doing their job, part of which was to remove evil from the nation. The Torah records how, after being thoroughly humiliated by his talking donkey, Balaam, the non-Jewish sorcerer and prophet commissioned by Balak King of Moab to curse the Jews, found himself incapable of cursing them. Show Your Friends! Israel’s waywardness throughout their time in the wilderness gave Balaam confidence his plan would work. It must have been quite an adjustment for Balaam to finally encounter the One True God, Yahweh, the God of Israel. Further instructions concerning the priests and sacrifices were set down in Numbers 18 and 19. God told Balaam, in a vision, that he should not go with Balak’s emissaries; but after further urging from the messengers, God allowed him to go. These leaders were guilty, and worthy of death for knowing about sin and doing nothing about it. For a brief period of time, it looked as though Balaam had succeeded. The seduction of the Israelites and the death of 24,000 is, at its roots, the result of one man’s counsel. The whole nation seems to have been affected. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5, NIV). Yeshua (Jesus) teaches us this same lesson: “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart you from Me, you who practice lawlessness'” (Matthew 7:22-23).

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