The First Oracle (Num 22:36-23:12)

2/2/2009 10:13 PM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  The first oracle

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Numbers 22:36-23:12

            Message of the verses:  “36 ¶ When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the Arnon border, at the extreme end of the border.  37 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not urgently send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really unable to honor you?"

38 So Balaam said to Balak, "Behold, I have come now to you! Am I able to speak anything at all? The word that God puts in my mouth that I shall speak."  39 And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.  40 Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.  41 Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, and he saw from there a portion of the people.

            1 ¶ Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here."  2 Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.  3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you." So he went to a bare hill.  4 Now God met Balaam, and he said to Him, "I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar."  5 Then the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus."

6 So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab.  7 He took up his discourse and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, Moab’s king from the mountains of the East, ‘Come curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!’  8 “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?  9 “As I see him from the top of the rocks, And I look at him from the hills; Behold, a people who dwells apart, And will not be reckoned among the nations.  10 “Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, And let my end be like his!"  11 Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!"  12 He replied, "Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?’”

            In verses 36-39 Balaam and Balak speak about why it took Balaam so long to come to him and to curse Israel.  Balaam tells Balak that he can only speak the words that God has put into his mouth and so Balak takes Balaam to look at the nation of Israel, but only a portion of them can he see from this vantage point.  Balak takes Balaam to a high place of Baal and they begin to offer sacrifices of which Balak gives Balaam some of the portions of the sacrifices, and Dr. Wiersbe thinks he gave him some of the internals of the sacrifices to help in his divination.

            In verses 1-12 of chapter twenty-three the oracles that God gives Balaam to tell to Balak are found.  First God blesses Israel and so Balaam cannot curse them.  This is true that God has blessed Israel and will continue to do so.  Every nation that has tried to destroy Israel has been destroyed as God had told Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3.  The second point God tells Balaam to say to Balak is that it was God who chose Israel and therefore the nation was set a part for God.  The third emphasis was on the vastness of Israel’s camp and Balaam only saw a small portion of it.  God has promised to bless Israel with many people and He is still doing that.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God’s promises are always true and God can even use this evil man to tell others of His promises.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1. Trust the Lord to forgive my sins.
2. Trust the Lord to teach me contentment.
3. Trust the Lord to teach me more and more about Him.
4. Trust the Lord to always guide my path.

2/2/2009 10:31 PM