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Israel fought several wars on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land.\u00a0 God gave them victory in all their wars including the war with the Amalekites, Exodus 17:8-16, the Amorites, Numbers 21:21-32 and several other nations.\u00a0 Therefore, when the children of Israel camped in the plains of Moab, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab became afraid because the Israelites were many and he had seen how they had utterly destroyed other nations.\u00a0 In a desperate bid to avert the impending danger, Balak invited Balaam to curse the Israelites so that he could defeat them.\u00a0 Some have argued that Balaam was a soothsayer but used by God temporarily.\u00a0 Others believed that Balaam seemed to have known God considering that he inquired from God who in turn spoke to him on several occasions; he declared God\u2019s message faithfully, made sacrifices to Him but later went into error for a reward and became a soothsayer, Joshua 13:22; Jude11; Revelation 2:14; 2 Peter 2:14-16.<\/p>\n
Whatever the position, the episode that followed the invitation extended to Balaam by Balak to curse Israel is full of diverse lessons which are the focus of this study.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Balaam was the son of Beor, a king of Edom, Genesis 36:1-32, who settled in Pethor, beyond the river Euphrates in Mesopotamia.\u00a0 He was not an Israelite but an internationally known priest\/diviner who had a widespread reputation of having the ability to prophesy and pronounce a curse or blessing upon people.<\/p>\n Israel defeated Sihon, King of the Amorites who refused them passage through his land and took possession of all the land north of the river Armon which is the northern border of Moab, as they moved north, they defeated King Og of Babhan who ruled over sixty cities at Edrei, Deuteronomy 3:1-12.\u00a0 These exploits together with the numerical strength of Israel kept Balak the king of Moab jittering.\u00a0 He confessed that Israel who was coming out of Egypt has covered the face of the earth and a people too powerful for him to handle.\u00a0 The people of Israel were a great multitude, and their mere presence in the plains of Moab put fear into Balak, the king of the Moabites.\u00a0 He therefore schemed to get the nation of Israel cursed by Balaam with the hope that divination and incantations against Israel will cause their defeat.\u00a0 Balak then sent a powerful delegate with the rewards of divination in their hands requesting Blaam to come immediately to place a curse on Israel to enable Balak and his men prevail against them.<\/span><\/p>\n As long as sin and perverseness was not found in Israel, God\u2019s presence, blessings and hands of protection was with them.\u00a0 Thus Balaam got it right when he asked, \u2018But how can I curse those whom God has not curse? How can I condemn those whom the Lord has not condemned\u201d, Numbers 23:8.\u00a0 Balaam was so overwhelmed by what he saw that he exclaimed \u2018let me die like the righteous; let my life end like theirs (Israel)\u2019, Numbers 23:10.<\/p>\n A man that is in right standing with God is unconquerable.\u00a0 The devil knows that there is power in righteousness hence he would stop at nothing to see if a Christian will fall into sin and thus lure him out of the shadow of the Almighty.\u00a0 Holiness guarantees God\u2019s presence which automatically renders the devil and his agents powerless.\u00a0 When God has blessed a man, there is no divination, no enchantment that will work against such a one.\u00a0 Proverbs 26:2 also says, \u2018Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, so a curse without cause does not alight.\u2019<\/p>\n Another important truth is that God is not a man that He should lie.\u00a0 Man can make a promise and later change his mind but not God.\u00a0 What God says He will do, He will do.\u00a0 He is a covenant keeping God.\u00a0 His integrity cannot be compromised, God\u2019s word can be depended upon; His promises are sure, as He has all it takes to fulfill them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Balaam was the one that revealed the secret whey Israel could not be conquered.\u00a0 He posited that God was with His children because He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob.\u00a0 He suggested to Balak to introduce iniquity in the midst of God\u2019s people.\u00a0 He specifically recommended that Balak should sponsor some beautiful girls into the camp of Israel so that their men will fall into fornication and encourage them to worship idols.<\/p>\n Balaam was a greedy man.\u00a0 He obeyed God up to a point, before he fell into error because of his greed of money.\u00a0 He used religion for personal advancement, a sin which god does not take lightly.\u00a0 He loved gain even when it meant to go against the will of God.\u00a0 An offer of money by Balak made him a willing tool in the hand of this heathen king.<\/p>\n God\u2019s clear instructions to Balaam, was not to go with the delegates.\u00a0 He was not to curse these people for they have been blessed by God.\u00a0 God\u2019s stand on the matter was unambiguous and unequivocal.\u00a0 The second inquiry made by Balaam was to see whether God had changed His mind.\u00a0 The fact that despite God\u2019s reply he inquired of Him the second time portrays his inner desire to follow them and to curse Israel.\u00a0 His outward confession suggests that he was unyielding, but he was undoubtedly enticed by this second offer and the Lord noticed it.\u00a0 God, having realized that Balaam was not able to resist the tempting bulk of money before him, permitted him to go with them.\u00a0 But God was angry that Balaam was going with them, Numbers 22:10-22.<\/p>\n There are dangers in attempting to \u2018change God\u2019s mind\u2019 to fit in with our personal desire.\u00a0 When the choice becomes ours, God\u2019s presence is not guaranteed.<\/p>\n Many today display similar attitude. We want God\u2019s approval to carry out an action.\u00a0 Even when God makes it clear to us that it is not His will for us to go ahead with such action we are not satisfied, we then device another method to get His approval or the semblance of it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Balaam asked how he can curse those whom God has blessed.\u00a0 By his confession he was admitting that God\u2019s power is more potent than whatever magical power he paraded.\u00a0 All such magical powers were weak and ineffective before God and the children of God are safe and out of the reach of their enemies.\u00a0 Balaam ended up blessing the people of God instead of cursing them. God\u2019s blessing remained with the Israelites, as long as they stayed true to His word.<\/p>\n The privileges that the children of Israel had also apply to us today.\u00a0 All children of God are blessed people.\u00a0 It is futile for anyone to curse us because we have been blessed by the Lord.\u00a0 If God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:3; Proverbs 26:2)?<\/p>\n A Christian should not be afraid of any curse.\u00a0 There is no divination, no enchantment against us that will prosper because \u2018Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world\u2019.\u00a0 Our God is all powerful.\u00a0 No power of darkness can withstand God\u2019s power.\u00a0 Our lives are hid with Christ in God, Colossians 3:3.<\/p>\n Let us not be afraid of the terrors of the night nor the arrow that flies by day, Psalm 91:4, for God has promised to rescue those who love Him and protect those that trust in His name, Psalm 91:14.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Israelites compromised by their men having sexual relations with the women of Moab which led them to sharing in the worship of idols as well.\u00a0 Initially, these men were just interested in sexual immorality.\u00a0 Not long, the women started inviting them to their local feasts that involved idol worship.\u00a0 For this reason, God\u2019s anger was against them, which resulted in twenty-four thousand souls perishing in a day and their leaders hanged to avert God\u2019s anger.\u00a0 Sin kills; Balak did not shoot a single gun, but only sponsored girls into the midst of the children of Israel.\u00a0 What machine gun could do, sin did in a few hours.\u00a0 Witches and wizards may not be able to kill a man of god but iniquity will.\u00a0 When a church begins to be weak, check the rank and file, you will see sin.<\/p>\n Sin slaughtered the powerful Samson.\u00a0 The anointing that took so many years to grow in the head of Sampson was erased in hours because of his relations with the prostitute Delilah, Judges 16:1-21.\u00a0 Therefore watch out when sin comes knocking at your door.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Never follow the way of Balaam, who loved the gains of unrighteousness that are temporal.\u00a0 He compromised his relationship with God for riches and earthy honor.\u00a0 To obey God is better than riches and honor.<\/p>\n A man who is having a right standing with God can never be conquered by anybody.\u00a0 Balaam recognized and confessed the futility of any sorcery against the people of God.<\/p>\n Compromise drives away the presence of God, makes a man a piece of bread, and gives the enemy occasion to strike.\u00a0 Therefore, take heed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Numbers 23:19 \u2013 \u201cGod is not man, that He should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent; hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Balaam, Balak and the Plan to Curse Israel, February 23, 2014 Central Thought: Whom God has blessed no one can curse. Text: Numbers 23:1-30 Introduction: Israel fought several wars on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land.\u00a0 God gave them victory in all their wars including the war with the Amalekites, Exodus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sundayschool"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=385"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":392,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions\/392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/h3>\n
Questions and Answers<\/h3>\n
1. Who was Balaam and why did Balak send for him?\u00a0 Joshua 13:22; Numbers 22:2-6, 24:2-4; 2 Peter 2:15-16<\/h5>\n
2. What truths can we learn from the prophecies of Balaam?\u00a0 Numbers 23:7-10, 19-23, 24:9<\/h5>\n
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3. Read the following scriptures and identify Balaam\u2019s errors.\u00a0 Numbers 31:16, 2 Peter 2:15-16; Jude 11; Revelation 2:14<\/h5>\n
4. Should Christians be afraid of curses? Numbers 23:8, 20<\/h5>\n
5. What lessons can we derive from the compromise of the Israelites when they were enticed by the Moabites? Numbers 25:1-9; Proverbs 1:10; Ephesians 4:27<\/h5>\n
Daily Living Application:<\/h3>\n
Memory Verse:<\/h3>\n