The children of Israel are now close and ready for an attack on the Canaanites.

Numbers 22:1
And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.

• They are camping right near Jericho, which was one of the strongholds of the country that was heavily fortified. It would be the first conquest of the Israelites as soon as they pass over.

However, they have set up camp in the plains of Moab. God had told them to pass through the land of the Edomites, Moabites and Ammonites and not to touch them as the land had been given to them. However, that courtesy would not be returned in kind.

• Numbers 22:2-6
  2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. 4 And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 5 He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, 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 cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me: 6 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.
• Balak, the king of Moab, is afraid of the Israelites. He knows that a supernatural power guards them and so he tries to fight fire with fire.
• He goes to Balaam and asks him to come and curse the people. Somehow he is famous for possessing some sort of supernatural power also and so he tries to hire him for help.
• Numbers 22:7-8
  7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak. 8 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 Balaam.
• Balak doesn’t send just anyone. He sends the elders from Moab and also elders from Midian and they come with much rewards in their hands to tempt him to come and help them.
• Upon seeing them at his door, he tells them that he will enquire of God what He wants him to do.
• So Balaam isn’t just any sort of wizard of some sort, he is a prophet of God. He knows the true God! And at this point God still communicates with him.
• How do we know that he is a prophet of the Creator God?
  • Look at how he calls God. He calls him LORD. That word in Hebrew is “YHWH” which is the personal name of God – Jehovah.

So how does God respond when Balaam enquires of Him?

• Numbers 22:12
  And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.
• God tells him not to go because the Israelites are blessed.
• So the elders of Midian and Moab return back to king Balak without Balaam.

However, Balak thinks that Balaam wants more money, so this time he comes back again to him.

• Numbers 22:15-17
  15 And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they. 16 And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: 17 For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
  • He promises rich rewards! He promises great honour!
• How does Balaam respond?
• Numbers 22:18-19
  18 And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak 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. 19 Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more.
  • Balaam answers as if God’s reply to him the first time was not clear enough. Was he hoping that God had changed His mind? They were blessed and their situation was not going to change. God was the One that had blessed them!
• God does still communicate with him though. What does He say this time?
• Numbers 22:20
  And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.
  • God says that if the people come and call him in the morning then he was to go with them.
• Let’s look at the very next verse. What happens?
• Numbers 22:21
  And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
  • We don’t see anywhere where the people come and call him. Balaam just rises up and goes with them as if God had given him the permission to go already!
• Of course his heart was set to go already. He wanted the riches and honour that King Balak was offering to him.
• 2 Peter 2:15
  Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.
  • Balaam was chasing after money, he was chasing after riches regardless of what the Lord had told him.
• So many of us, like Balaam, have chased after riches at the expense of our own lives and our faith in God.
• 1 Timothy 6:10
  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
• This was the beginning of Balaam’s downfall.
• God often permits us to follow our own desires and also to duffer the result because He sees our heart. Why?
  • Psalms 81:11-12
    11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. 12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
• God knows our hearts. He knows our desires. And often we go to Him in prayer, not really to listen and with willingness to obey God, but rather we try to influence and persuade God to let us continue in the path that we ourselves wish to walk. So He gives in and let’s us go according to the wicked desires of our hearts.

However, God confronts him along the way.

• Numbers 22:22-23
  22 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 his two servants were with him. 23 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 Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
• The donkey actually sees the angel that is standing in Balaam’s way but Balaam is blind to it! His desire for gain has blinded him to the spiritual battle that is taking place around him. He manages to get the donkey to keep moving forward but is confronted again 2 more times.
• Numbers 22:24-27
  24 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. 25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again. 26 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. 27 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.
• Two more times the donkey sees the angels. And unbeknown to Balaam, the donkey is actually trying to save his life while he is almost ready to kill it!
• So what does God do?
• Numbers 22:28-30
  28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? 29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. 30 And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.
• Balaam has a conversation with the donkey! He is so consumed with getting his reward that he doesn’t even realise that he is speaking to an animal!

Finally, what does God do?

• Numbers 22:31-33
  31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, 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. 32 And 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: 33 And 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.
• God opens the eyes of Balaam and he finally sees the angel with the sword drawn ready to kill him.
• The very thing that Balaam was angry at and was ready to kill was the very means of his salvation. If not for the donkey, Balaam would have been a dead man already.
• Could it be that God has sent some circumstances in your life, or maybe God has sent a person into your life, to save you from trouble or trials or destruction and we come to end up despising that person or that situation we are in? This was the case with Balaam.
• Maybe we have been blinded by the world and so caught up with our own lives that we don’t see that we are headed for perdition and a certain end. So God sends someone to warn us, to help us, to try and save us and change our course.
• Let’s pause for a second to make sure that we have not made God’s tools for our salvation our enemies or despised His leading.

However, God finally gives Balaam permission to go ahead to king Balak. But there was one stipulation.

• Numbers 22:35
  And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
• The words that Balaam would speak would only be the words that God allows him to speak. God would put the words in his mouth.
• Even when he met king Balak, Balaam was careful to repeat what God had told him to the king.
  • Numbers 22:38
    And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.

So the next day Balaam and Balak go up to the mountain where they can see the children of Israel and curse them. But God comes along as well.

• Numbers 23:5
  And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
• This is the instruction of the Lord and Balaam is helpless to go against God’s word.
• And so he blesses them! Let’s read part of the blessing he pronounces on them.
• Numbers 23:8-9
  8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied? 9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
• At hearing this, Balak is shocked!
• Numbers 23:11-12
  11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. 12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?
• Balak confronts Balaam and asks why he blessed them. Balaam simply replies, “I told you that whatever God told me to say, I have to say it!”

Not believing that he was being controlled by God, Balak tries to do something else.

• Numbers 23:13
  And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
• He moves Balaam to another location where he can’t see the whole camp, just only part of the camp.
• Maybe he’s thinking that because he can see the whole nation of Israel spread out below him that he’s become overwhelmed by the sight of them and so he blessed them by accident.
• So now he can only see a part of then. So what happens?
• Numbers 23:16
  And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
• God puts the words into Balaam’s mouth and blesses them all over again!
• And once again Balak is in shock and horror that Balaam is blessing the very people he wishes to curse!

So this time, what does Balak do?

• Numbers 23:27-28
  27 And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence. 28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.
• Balak moves Balaam again this time looking to Jeshimon which was a desert. They were not able to see the camp of Israel at all. Maybe this would then make it easier for Balaam to curse them this third time around.
• Numbers 24:1
  And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
• Balaam even does his very best to not speak God’s word. He doesn’t even go and take counsel with God and just tries to speak a curse on the children of Israel.
• But what happens?
  • Numbers 24:2
    And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.
• Balaam sees them in vision and God Spirit comes upon him and he ends up blessing them again a third time!

Upon hearing the blessing, how does Balak react?

• Numbers 24:10-11
  10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. 11 Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honour.
• He sends Balaam away in anger and does not give him any of the reward that he had promised him.

However, before Balaam departs, God speaks through him one more time. But this time it is to Balak, the king of Moab.

• Numbers 24:17
  I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
• God gives a message to the king of Moab that his kingdom would be destroyed by the Israelites one day.
• The curse that he wished to pour on his enemies ended up becoming a message of doom to himself.
• Balaam also would leave empty handed, unsuccessful of the mission he wished to enter upon to get his hands on the gold and the silver and honour of Moab.

Three times Balaam tried to curse God’s people and every time he was unsuccessful. God would take control of his mouth. Why would God do that though?

• You see, it’s because the children of Israel were right with God. They were being faithful to God and so God would protect them from unseen dangers, even this curse.
• Numbers 23:20-21
  20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. 21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
• God was with them and so God would overturn the events in their favour. He would fight for them and He would protect them. But it was because He found no iniquity or sin or perverseness in their lives.
• No enemy can harm as so long as we are right with God. Which means whatever trial or tribulation that comes upon us, we must first pause to assess and ask ourselves this question.
  • Is the trouble coming upon me because I have walked outside of God’s will and have been unfaithful? If so, then we must quickly come back to God. We must quickly repent and ask for forgiveness to make things right with God and even with the situation that took place.
• However, if the trouble is coming upon us and we have taken time to think and pray and have not seen where we were unfaithful or wrong, then we must ask God for patience to bear it and strength to go through it.
• God led the children of Israel to many trials. Not just THROUGH trials, but intentionally TO trials so that they could grow.
  • The dead end at the Red Sea, bitter water, no food. So many different trials when they were faithful to Him. He had a reason for it.
• And when God does that to us, let us ask for patience and trust and faith and endurance to go through those trials.

So we read of Balaam:

• Numbers 24:25
  And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way.
• Balaam would go home. But this is not all we hear about him.

You see, we’re not sure if it was when he got home or when he was on the way home that he came up with a scheme as to how Balak could curse the children of Israel.

• He knew that God was their defense and that He would defend them as long as they were faithful to Him. So all Balaam had to do was devise a way to make them unfaithful. To lead them into sin.

So what happened?

• Numbers 25:1-3
  1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.
• It wasn’t by chance that women from Moab came out and enticed the Israelites into sin. God Himself would destroy them. Balaam must have been behind this evil and wicked plan.
• Thousands would perish at the very borders of the land of Canaan because they lusted after the flesh of women and committed whoredom – fornication and adultery.
• We also read of Balaam:
  • Joshua 13:22
    Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them.
• Balaam would also eventually be slain by the children of Israel. God held him accountable for his actions.

Today we also are at the borders of the heavenly Canaan. But Satan is busy trying to ensnare people into wicked vices. Lusts of the flesh. The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah. He knows that if he can get us to sin, then God will remove His protecting care over us and we will be at his mercy.

Let us pray to ask God to help us to resist temptation. To give us strength to run away like Joseph did when he was tempted. The weakness of the flesh is the same today as it was 3000 years ago. It is no different except that we are much weaker.

2 Timothy 2:22
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

We need to flee these youthful lusts. Let us call out on God when in trial. He will help. He will strengthen us. It is through Christ that we can become more than conquerors. May God give each and every one of us that victory today!