Num. 24:13
If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak?"
Balak took Balaam to three separate locations where he offered sacrifices and waited for Balaam to curse Israel, but the outcome was always the same. Balaam could not! He knew that he must take care to speak what the Lord had put in His mouth.
In his first oracle, Balaam said that he saw God from the top of the crags and from the hills. His sovereign creator's power surrounded him, consequently, death at the hand of Balak was preferable to countering his God in any way.
On the second oracle, God's answer revealed more of His nature in dealing with man. "God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?"
By the third oracle, Balaam did not even need to examine the omens, instead the spirit of God overtook him. His words: "The oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered." What a distance Balaam had come! His experience had grown him as God's servant. Speaking for God must first come from a life that is in tune with God. His conclusion: "Blessed are those who bless you [Israel] and cursed are those who curse you."
Balaam's life was changed drastically. His rocky start progressed into a union with His sovereign God. Not only was he able to see life from God's point of view, he had exposed the folly of man's effort to change the mind of God or even understand the mind of God. Unafraid of what Balak could do to him, he rested securely in the Word of God!
Father,
Keep my eyes focused on You so that I can be secure in Your words. Help me to resist the ploys of the world that pull me from Your presence.
In Jesus name,
Amen
In his first oracle, Balaam said that he saw God from the top of the crags and from the hills. His sovereign creator's power surrounded him, consequently, death at the hand of Balak was preferable to countering his God in any way.
On the second oracle, God's answer revealed more of His nature in dealing with man. "God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?"
By the third oracle, Balaam did not even need to examine the omens, instead the spirit of God overtook him. His words: "The oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered." What a distance Balaam had come! His experience had grown him as God's servant. Speaking for God must first come from a life that is in tune with God. His conclusion: "Blessed are those who bless you [Israel] and cursed are those who curse you."
Balaam's life was changed drastically. His rocky start progressed into a union with His sovereign God. Not only was he able to see life from God's point of view, he had exposed the folly of man's effort to change the mind of God or even understand the mind of God. Unafraid of what Balak could do to him, he rested securely in the Word of God!
Father,
Keep my eyes focused on You so that I can be secure in Your words. Help me to resist the ploys of the world that pull me from Your presence.
In Jesus name,
Amen
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