NUMBERS 23:1-12 TEXT: v8
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
On paper the whole thing looked so easy
Balaak (King/Moab) wanted to hire someone to curse the nation of Israel
who were (in his worthless opinion) straying on to his land
Balaam was a soothsayer who was found of the folding stuff - the dollar
signs were already flashing in his eyes when Balaak sent his men to
book a few sessions
But there is nothing easy!
Balaam (speaker/these words) felt compelled again/again to seek counsel of the Lord
No record that he ever did so before - Indeed it is unlikely that he ever did so before - because he was not even an Israelite
He was a pagan soothsayer - He loved the wages of unrighteousness (True Religion and money seldom mix well)
Yet here, he constantly did something which even true saints of God have omitted to do i.e. seek counsel of God
Joshua forgot to do it (9:14) and accepted the Gibeonites
COI: considered "rebellious" for omitting this duty (Isaiah 30:1-2)
And yet here is wicked Balaam - described as a foolish prophet - engaging in this very act continually!
And against the very inclination of his heart which encouraged him to curse Israel and take the money
But he can't. Whatever the state/heart, his grasp of Biblical doctrine
here would get him through any theological exam, all summed up in those
words he could not go beyond the word/the Lord (22:18/24:13)
He says things about Israel which are so true/glorious that it is a big
pity he could not rejoice in them as a true believer/Jehovah God
In/text: He has just been asked by an increasingly frustrated Balaak to curse/defy Israel
But again (amazingly, as far as his natural disposition is concerned) he declines saying (text)
3 main thoughts
1) THE DEFIANCE/CURSING BY GOD IS AN ESTABLISHED TRUTH:
A/ Balaam's answer here does not rule out, but rather implies, the thought that God can and has defied and cursed others
Balaam will later indicate: there are things which God cannot do
He is not a man that he can lie nor need he repent (v19)
We might add our own things which we know God is incapable of: Cannot lie (Titus 1:2) Cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13)
But there is no denial here and there cannot be
B/ Question: How can a God of love defy or curse?
Answer: How can He not?
True love cannot love all things equally
In our world there are opposing principles battling for the mastery
Wickedness/darkness and impurity Vs righteousness/light and holiness
One called the only true God Vs an usurper called the "god/this world"
To love them all is to love none
To love those hate the only true God is to side with them/hatred
In the day that thou stoodest on the other side…even thou [wast] as one of them. (Obadiah 1:11)
Jesus said:He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. (Luke 11:23)
Therefore, we are compelled to take sides… stand with one/other
Again: We are to cease to do evil and learn/do well (Isaiah 1:16-17)
We are to hate that which is evil and cleave to that which is good
We cannot be double minded on this matter with mixed or no loyalties
C/ Neither can God. Therefore there are things and ultimately people which/whom He must curse/defy
To put it beyond any dispute:
God defies the wicked every day
[i] Defies them verbally. Challenges them to produce their causes against Him (Isaiah 41:21)
When/if they do…He defies their illogical reasoning (Ezekiel 18:25/29)
He boldly asks for the wise, the scribe and the disputer of this world (1 Corinthians 1:20)
He says that there is coming a day when every mouth will be stopped and
the whole world burn in shame and silence as it stands before Him.
[ii] He defies them in the sense of actively opposing them
Classic case: When He fought Pharaoh who had defied Him
When Pharaoh was in the middle of the Red Sea that God caused the
chariots wheels to come off and then the Red Sea to return to its
natural position and drown them
We might go on and add:
[ii] Canaan was cursed by God (Genesis 9:25)
The man that makes the flesh his arm is cursed (Jeremiah 17:5)
He who does the work/God deceitfully likewise (Jeremiah 48:10)
He who brings a corrupt offering to God (Malachi 1:14)
He who continues not in doing keeping all the law (Galatians 3:10)
And this last one especially, indicates to us the basis on which in a
day yet future, God will say to many (perhaps the vast majority)
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
(Matthew 25:41)
D/ This truth is therefore firmly established
It all flows from the righteous burning anger/Holy God who can never look upon or tolerate any sin or defiance against Him
True: He may delay judgement, but He cannot let sin go unpunished
2) GOD, IN SOVEREIGN GRACE, DOES NOT CURSE OR DEFY ALL:
A/ Our text makes clear too
Balaak wanted Balaam to defy/curse Israel
(Who really thinks such a thing would actually lead to anything?)
But Balaam says: I can't do it if God hasn't done it
God had not cursed Israel nor defied them
God rather had blessed them in so many ways and so there are people who are not cursed of God
B/ This is on the basis of sheer grace alone
Israel deserved to be cursed because of their sin like everyone else
They were born with Adam's guilt reckoned to their account
They added to that guilt by their own brazen sin
They sinned individually and as a nation and often provoked God
This Book/Numbers is full of their many rebellions
Any time, God could have cursed/defied them and damned them all in to
the deepest hell…as He did with some (Numbers 16:32-33)
C/ Here is the gospel: God has mercy on whom He will have mercy
Every time Balaam is asked to curse Israel…he can only (at the Lord's leading) pronounce them blessed
How blessed they were!
[i] God said so (22:12) They are blessed - No doubt in the matter
[ii] They were a distinct people and not reckoned among/nations and would greatly prosper (23:9-10)
[iii] They would die deaths worth dying (23:10)
[iv] Their sins had all been forgiven and removed (23:21)
And on and on Balaam pours forth his list
Accumulating in this great Messianic promise: 24:17 (Quote)
These promises only come to their own in the gospel
Only last for eternity in the gospel
There is a people today, of whom these words can be truly spoken
Christians are blessed with all spiritual blessings/Christ (Ephesians 1:3)
D/ Is this of man's doings? Not at all!
Balaam's note/praise is Biblical: "What hath God wrought!" (23:23)
Another way of saying: "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9) Or:
"By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast" (Ephesians
2:8-9)
E/ Where would we be if grace had not so wonderfully intervened?
Under the righteous curse of a holy God and fuel for hell
3) NO MAN CAN RIGHTLY CURSE OR DEFY WHAT GOD HAS NOT CURSE OR DEFIED:
This is the whole thrust of continued Balaam's reply to Balaak
Question: Why did Balaam then keep pursuing Balaak's requests?
Answer: Why indeed? Bible talks about the madness of the prophet
If our 3rd observation be right (and it is) then we learn the following:
A/ God's will cannot be reversed. Balaam saw this himself (23:19-20)
There are no circumstances which will induce God to curse His people
Not to say that the erring child/God gets away with anything
Will feel the heavy end of God's chastening hand (Hebrews 12:5-9)
But this is not a curse…but a blessing and the child/God will say:
It was good for me that I have been afflicted (Psalm 119:71)
B/ Man's attempts to overthrow either God or His work is so futile
Gamaliel's observations/based on these words: Acts 5:38-39
What an encouragement to persevere for the child/God!
[i] In the faith in the sense of holiness
[ii] In the work/evangelism - Matthew 16:18/Acts 2:47
Verse like these ought to steel us for everything Hell will throw at us
Of course, man can defy God in the sense that he can try
Passage here shows two old sinners at it - Balaam should know better - but they don't succeed in cursing Israel nor cursing him
All they do is succeed in gathering more wrath to themselves
To fight against God is no small charge to be laid to any account
Salvation is by surrendering to the claims/gospel (Proverbs 23:26)
C/ How grateful Christians should be that God will not curse us
[i] Grateful to the Father who chose that we should not be the targets of His righteous anger, but of His great Redemptive love
This saving grace is sovereign in its basis. Consider Israel/passage
Why are they the privileged people rather than (say) the Moabites?
Were Israel more numerous/faithful etc.,? Did God reward them with these things over the responses of any the other peoples?
No! Read Deuteronomy 7:6-8 Answer: Special due to sovereign grace
God moved first and had everything else fall into place accordingly
There is a difference/NT era. No one race/people can consider themselves alone to be the elect people/God
Today, God is calling His people out of every people/tongue and nation
We can go into community after community with this message that Whosoever will may come (Revelation 22:17)
Yes…God still has His elect people
It's not something left to chance or hypothetical
[ii] Grateful to the Son who died to purchase our salvation with a
salvation that is effectual and the fruits of which cannot be denied
What a debt we owe Him who suffered so for our sins
Can we not, in gratitude, be prepared to bear any burden or face any enemy for him, especially seeing we cannot lose?
[iii] Grateful to the Holy Spirit who brought us into the practical enjoyment/experience of these things
May God help us so to do
THE END