“The LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, ‘“Go back to Balak and give him this message.”
– Numbers 23:16
Hi James and Ellen,
Where do you think that God is at this moment? What do you think that God is doing at this moment? Do you think that God is doing hands-on unveiling and implementing His unending cosmic blueprint at this moment? If you have unconditionally internalized that God’s fixed immutability cannot be challenged – which is what your grandpaa believes, you are believing definitively that God is unambiguously in control of all beliefs, all thoughts, all feelings, all actions, all sounds, all movements, all tastes, all smells, all colors, all gases, all . . . in each nanosecond, each microbe, each molecule, each protein, each atom, each . . . do you think that God ever becomes bored? Why do you think that God would want what is in Numbers 23 to ultimately become a chapter in the Book of Books – the Bible? Your grandpaa thinks that God may be in this chapter using a couple of bumbling nitwits as foils to make a point that He wants to drive home into the minds of his specially chosen guys and gals that a guy whose mind is being driven by evil wishes or unethical desires will constantly shift, prevaricate, equivocate, change, etc. while the mind of a guy who pursues His unfolding, already completed will will be constant, decisive, ordered, secure, etc.
The timeframe is about 3400 years ago. The site is the east side of the Jordon River. The players are God’s specially chosen guys and gals, the area’s people group’s king and a nomadic sorcerer. God’s specially chosen guys and gals are the Israelite people group guys and gals that are made up of twelve tribal clans. The guys and gals in the area’s people group are Moabites. A descendent of Lot – through an incestuous liaison that his oldest daughter coerced him to have with her so that she could have a kid – who she named Moab, is the patriarch of the Moabite people group guys and gals. The Moabite people group’s land area is located on the east side of the Jordon River. Balak is ruling as king over Moabite people group guys and gals. The nomadic sorcerer is from the Midianite people group people group guys and gals. The Midianite people group’s land area is from the Sinai desert into Arabia. A descendent of Abraham – who Abraham had with his wife Keturah – who is named Midian, is the patriarch of the Midianite people group guys and gals. Moses’ wife – who is Zipporah, is a Midianite people group gal. Balaam is the nomadic sorcerer. The scene begins with Balak building seven altars for Balaam so that Balaam can sacrifice seven bulls and seven rams in his curse ritual. Balak has asked Balaam to put a curse on the Israelite people group guys and gals who have set up camp in his land area near the River Jordon. Balak knows that the Israelite people group guys have already done a number on two of his neighbor people groups guys and gals – the Ammonite and Edomite people group guys and gal. Balak does not want what happened to his neighbors happen to him. Balaam seems to be only looking for a paycheck. Balaam is supposedly a proven sorcerer or curse caster. Balaam knows that doing animal sacrifices is how the Israelite people group guys and gals relate with their God. Balaam – by this time, already has had God speak to him through a talking donkey. Balaam should have gotten the hint then that he is way over his head doing curse casting for Balak – even if Balak is a king and that Balak probably has money to burn. Balaam does his same ritual sacrifice three times. Each time that Balaam offers offerings of a bull and a ram on each one of the seven altars, God tells Balaam what to say to Balak. Verse 16 says, “The LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, ‘“Go back to Balak and give him this message.”’ God has Balaam each time pass on a message to Balak that is a blessing to His specially chosen guys and gals instead of a message that would be curse on His specially chosen guys and gals. Even though Balak is not okay with God’s messages that Balaam passes on to him, Balak will ask Balaam again to try to get a curse message through his sacrifices to . . .
Have you ever felt that there is a curse on you? A friend of your grandmaa once told your grandmaa about an incident that is somewhat similar to Balak asking Balaam to curse God’s specially chosen guys and gals. While your grandmaa’s friend was eating one day in a restaurant, she saw some guys praying. Your grandmaa’s friend – being a Christ-follower, decided that she would go to where the guys were sitting to commend the guys for their corporate, shared prayers. After your grandmaa’s friend told the guys that she very much applauded their desire to get together to pray, one of the guys told your grandmaa’s friend that they had not been praying to Who she thought they had been praying to but that they had been specifically praying to Satan – expressly asking Satan to lead Christ-follower church leaders into moral failures. These guys were praying curses through Satan’s name on Christ-followers. How do you think that God feels about the guys, gals and kids who He especially elected to be adopted into His universal family through the sacrificial death of His Son – Jesus Christ, on a cross having curses put on them by guys who were Satan-followers? Your grandpaa believes that because God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent – which means that God is all powerful, all knowing and in all places, that God is never fazed by what Satan might throw at Him through whatever and through whoever. God is always doing what He did when He used a Satan planet Earth bound imp – Balaam, to unintentionally bless His specially chosen guys and gals. How has God been blessing you?
Numbers 23 (1046)