Topic: Blessed. Category: Love of God>
Bible Scriptures: Numbers 22:2-3, Jude 1:11, 2 Peter 2:15-17, Numbers 22:12, Genesis 12:1-3, Deuteronomy 23:5, Numbers 22:28-35.
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The evil powers use fear to deceive and control. Fear makes people act out of selfish ambition and traps them in a web of lies. It is not of God. When fear comes, we can look to Jesus and His love for us. As a result fear has no place in our life. We need not fear satan or the evil spirits. They have no power over us. Even before the cross where Jesus defeated satan and all the evil powers, what God had blessed no one could curse.
Numbers 22:2-3 Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel.
Moab was a tribe that lived in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho. They were ‘exceedingly afraid’ and ‘sick with dread’. That is serious fear. Balak the king of Moab feared the children of Israel because of their numbers and what God had done by delivering them from the most powerful nation at that time, Egypt. Accordingly the king of Moab thought Israel would take his kingdom. He believed that a ‘seer into the spirit world’ or a ‘magic man’ had the power to bless and curse. For this reason he commissions a ‘seer’ named Balaam to curse the children of Israel.
Today we know much about the ‘seer’ Balaam. He was what Jesus warned his disciples against, a false prophet of God. Jesus said the false prophets would come even in His name.
cursed
Balaam is not a prophet of God. Both the Old and New Testament testify of this, yet God reveals Himself to Balaam and the evil king. Unfortunately Balaam did not choose God’s path because he loved the path independent of God. In fact He loved the darkness and chose to be one with it.
Jude 1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
2 Peter 2:15-17 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
This darkness is for all who have chosen to reject God’s right to rule and reign. In fact in rejecting Jesus the divine spiritual light and His kingdom of light, they choose eternal darkness. Balaam was a false prophet who loved and chose the darkness.
blessed
Numbers 22:12 And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
why are the children of israel blessed?
Many generations before Balaam, God made a promise to the one who is considered the father of the children of Israel. His name was Abram.
Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God chose the tribe of Israel to reveal Himself to them and through them reveal Himself to the world. God was with them and He was their God. Through Israel and one of their tribes, the tribe of Judah, God the Son would become flesh and blood, walk the earth as a man and become the eternal sacrifice.
why did God do all this?
Deuteronomy 23:5 Nevertheless 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.
God so loves that He turns curses into blessings.
To fulfil God’s purpose, He used the spiritual seer Balaam. Ironically he was spiritually blind to God’s work and could not see the Angel of Lord even when the Angel of the Lord appeared right in front of him. Yet God opened Balaam’s spiritual eyes through the eyes of a donkey. A dumb animal that not only saw the Angel of the Lord, but spoke and testified of Him!
seeing the unseen
Numbers 22:28-35 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times? And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!” So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.”
Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.”
And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.” Then the Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
As a result the presence of the living God brought Balaam to his knees. In the strongest manner, the Angel of the Lord instructed him to speak only what God spoke to him.
God turns curses into blessings
Numbers 24:1-9 ‘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 their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
Then he took up his oracle and said: “The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, The utterance of the 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; He has strength like a wild ox; and shall consume the nations, his enemies; break their bones And pierce them with his arrows. ‘He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?’ “Blessed is he who blesses you, And cursed is he who curses you.”’
Therefore we are blessed because God fulfils all His promises.
blessed
In Christ Jesus we are blessed. God chose us before the foundation of the world to reveal Himself to us and through us reveal Himself to the world. God is with us. He is our God. God is in us and goes before us.
What God has blessed no one can curse.
in Christ Jesus we are:
- seated in heavenly places with His spiritual power and authority
- holy and without blame before Him in love
- adopted as sons of God the Father, in the beloved and most loved
- redeemed through His blood and eternally forgiven
- in close relationship with the Living God who makes His will known
- passed from judgement having obtained an inheritance of eternal life
- given His name and His presence within
- each day surrendered to Him growing in His love, truth and power
- as He is now, so are we in this world
Finally in Christ Jesus the revelation of His perfect love for us and in us, defeats any fear, satan and our flesh. Together let us take hold of the power and authority He has given us over satan, over the evil spirits and over our own flesh. By His Spirit let us advance His Kingdom here on earth in His name to the glory of our Father.
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Sermon categories: son of man> love of God> hope and healing> know God> truth> power> end times> experience God> life> success in life> kingdom>
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