Balak

This week's Sabbath reading is titled, Balak, and refers to the name of an enemy king of Israel. His name in Hebrew means "devastator, empty, void, to lay waste, annihilate, make empty". These meanings make me think of the character and identity of Satan immediately, and I also think of the condition of the earth before the creation as described in Gen. 1:2: "The earth was without form and void...". God alleviated this condition of devastation by speaking to it as we read the account of creation. In our Sabbath reading from Numbers 22, Balak is the name of the king of Moab who sought a man, Balaam (bal/am - foreigner, not of the people; nothing, not, else, become old, wear out like a garment, to fall away; grow dark; not of the people, not of the flock) to speak a curse against the vast number of the children of Israel, who were encamped by his land. King Balak sent messengers from the elders of Moab (meaning seed, progeny of a father) and Midian (meaning strife, contention, quarrel, brawling, discord), to bring this request to Balaam: "Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." (Num. 22:6). We can see that King Balak, who represents the qualities of Satan, needs someone to speak the words of cursing over Israel. He can't do it himself. He has to find a man who is gifted in this prophetic speech. Both nations of Moab and Midian are familiar with God. Moab is descended, through an act of incest, from Abraham's nephew, Lot. Moses' father-in-law, who provided him with godly counsel, came from Midian. He was a priest of Midian, in fact (see Ex. 2:15-21, Ex. 18:6-24). So both of these nations had a relationship by blood or marriage to the Israelites, and had been at least familiar with God. Now both nations sought to have a curse spoken over the Israelites. Balaam, whom King Balak sought to hire in order to speak the curse, had a known skill in divination (Num. 22:7), and was paid with the rewards of divination. Divination here is the Hebrew word qesem, meaning "witchcraft, false prophet, to determine by using a magical scroll"). He also operated in sorcery (Num. 24:1). In addition, Balaam lived in Pethor meaning "soothsayer". Although Balaam used divination and sorcery, he was also familiar with the God of Israel, and understood that the Word of Israel's God was greater than any words of witchcraft, and His Words would prevail in any situation. So Balaam answered King Balak's request saying: "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less, or more." (Num. 22:18). However, God had already told Balaam: "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." (v. 12). As King Balak continued to send more impressive messengers to Balaam, the soothsayer finally told them: "Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me." (v. 19). Balaam already knew what the LORD had commanded him, but he intended to press the LORD into saying something "more". As Balaam agreed to go to King Balak against the command of the LORD, the LORD even sent the Angel of the LORD to stand in the narrow path in order to obstruct Balaam (v. 24-27). Balaam had to strike his donkey to try to force the animal to continue. Again we see the will of a man trying to force its way past God. The capitalization of the words "Angel of the LORD" in my version of the Bible would indicate that the Angel is a pre-incarnate form of Christ, especially as the Angel confronted Balaam on an increasingly narrowing path (see Mt. 7:13-15). As Balaam accompanied King Balak to three different locations from which to try to curse God's people, he was shown, instead, the prophetic presence of the Messiah to be born among them: "The LORD his God is with him (Jacob), and the shout of a King is among them...a people rises like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion..." (Num. 23:20-24), and "...his King shall be higher than Agag (meaning "I will overtop", and future king of the Amalekites), and His Kingdom shall be exalted...he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who shall rouse him?" (Num. 24:7-9). Balaam also prophesied concerning the latter days and the Messiah saying: "I see Him. but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel...Out of Jacob, One shall have dominion..." (Num. 24:14-19). As Balaam looked upon the Israelites camped by tribes, the Spirit of God came upon him, rather than the usual spirit of sorcery, he pronounced the third blessing of God over Israel. Seeing Israel camped by tribes around the tabernacle in the order commanded by God, Balaam would have seen the shape of a cross formed by the encampment. Balaam was not able to curse the Israelites as King Balak had requested, and said: "God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Num. 23:19-20). Later, the Apostle Peter wrote of those who are like Balaam: "...those who walk according to the flesh...have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness." (2 Pet. 2:15). Balaam got involved and tried to force the Word of God to change, because there would be great rewards to him from King Balak for doing so. This also applies today. There is still, like King Balak, a "devastator, waster, and annihilator" among men, Satan, who is looking for someone to curse God's people for him, because, although he can lie and accuse, he cannot curse the people of God himself. Where better to find such a Balaam to do it than among those of whom Jesus said: "Assuredly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, will be loosed in heaven" (Mt. 18:18), and "...whoever...believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says...whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them..." (Mk. 11:23-24). Because we are part of Him, Jesus gave this authority to believers. It is a great blessing in the earth, but has it been misused as a cursing by those who name themselves after Jesus? Jesus also said this: "...I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you." (Lk. 6:27-28). The Apostle Paul wrote: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." (Rom. 12:14). The Apostle James wrote that this was a serious problem among believers: "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity...it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell...every kind of beast...has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude (likeness) of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so." (James 3:6-10). Perhaps if King Balak were alive today, he would not have to look too far or too long to find his willing Balaam. If you would like to know more about speaking by the Spirit of God, rather than by the soul of man, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, forgive me when I have spoken in an unrighteous manner towards anyone. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit who will teach me how to correctly use the authority that Jesus has put in my mouth and prayers. Teach me how to bless and not curse, so that I may be trusted with the Words and thoughts of God. Isaiah said that he was a man of unclean lips, and that the lived among a people of unclean lips. I ask in Jesus' name that my lips, and the heart from which they speak, would be cleansed. AMEN."

Soothsayers

This Sabbath reading is about a persistent attempt to curse and destroy the people of God, specifically in this case, Israel. We can also see this same determined attitude against Israel, and all of the people of God, today. Jesus told His disciples: "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you...If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you...But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me...that the word might be fulfilled..."they hated Me without cause." (Jn. 15:18-25). Concerning the end times, Jesus prophesied a similar persecution: "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake." (Mt. 24:9). Jesus told us that HE and His Father, are the Ones against whom all of this irrational and murderous hatred is directed. Scripture tells us that because of this hatred, a particular false messiah, the antichrist, and a false prophet will come doing great signs and wonders because they have been empowered by Satan. From this week's Sabbath reading entitled "Balak", in Numbers 22-24, I think we can get a deeper understanding, not only of something that occurred thousands of years ago, but the root of what is prophesied to happen in these last days before the return of Jesus. Let's look at the beginning and root cause of this account: "Now Balak (meaning "devastator, to lay waste, to annihilate") the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was exceedingly afraid ("excite oneself, to dread, fear, to gather for hostility because of fear") of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread ("to loathe, abhor, sickening dread, to make disgusted or anxious") because of ("face, countenance, presence which causes to turn toward and approach or to turn away") the children of Israel...And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at the time." (Num. 22:2-4). We could state it this way: as the king and people of Moab looked at the great company of Israel, they had an irrational, sickening dread and loathing to such an extent that it stirred up violence, particularly in the one whose name means "devastator". This fear and loathing is the result of that "face, countenance, presence" that was present within Israel. In a similar way, Revelation 12:13 and 17 says that the dragon was enraged with the woman who gave birth to the male Child, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. The dragon is enraged in this case by the woman because she gave birth to the male child. We will see the direct connection between the Sabbath account in Numbers, and a revealing of Jesus later. In our account from Numbers 22, we start out with a great fear and loathing towards Israel by the country of Moab. Because of this, Balak, "the devastator", the king of Moab, makes several attempts to connvince a soothsayer to come with him to curse the people of Israel. Balak understood that the battle against Israel could not be won by natural warfare, but would have to begin in the spiritual realm. This soothsayer sought out by Balak the king was named Balaam (meaning "not of the people"), son of Beor ("Burning, consume, burn up"). Balaam lived at Pethor ("soothsayer"), and he had quite a reputation as a practician of the occultic arts (see Num. 24:1), including the practice of sorcery (defined as "divination, incantation, enchantment, fortunetelling"), because the king, Balak, said to him regarding Israel: "See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! Therefore please come at once, curse ("execrate, bitterly curse") this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." (Num. 22:5-6). As this account continues, God and the Angel of the LORD, first forbid, and then directly turn the repeated attempts to curse Israel by the "devastator" and the "soothsayer", into the blessing of Israel, and a revelation of the Messiah. As Balak and Balaam travelled to different sites in their futile attempts to curse God's people, the prophet Micah would later reveal: "O My people, remember now what Balak, king of Moab counseled, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from Acacia Grove ("Shittim- scourging thorns, to pierce") to Gilgal ("heaven, sacred circle of stones, roll away the stone"), that you may know the righteousness of the LORD." (Mic. 6:5). As Balak took Balaam to various places from which to attempt to curse the children of Israel, Balaam brought forth, these amazing prophetic words from the LORD, which he felt compelled to speak: "Rise up Balak and hear!...God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them...For there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob and of Israel, "Oh, what God has done!" Look, a people rises like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion..." (Num. 23:18-23). From among the people of Israel, Balaam heard the shout of a King, and a presence like a lion. Because of this "countenance" among the children of Israel, it can be prophesied and declared that there is no iniquity nor wickedness among them, even though we know from the scriptures that Israel displeased and sinned against the LORD on numerous occasions. Again, Balaam was compelled to prophesy: "His King shall be higher than Agag ("I shall increase", "I shall overtop", a king of Amalek), and his kingdom shall be exalted...He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him? Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you." (Num. 24:7-9). We can see that a special King is again prophesied, and we know from Balaam's description that this King from among Israel is the Messiah. Balaam then prophesies to Balak about the latter days: "Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days...I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star ("pertaining to Messiah") shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter ("branch, rod, staff, Shepherd's rod, mark of authority") shall rise out of Israel...Out of Jacob, One shall have dominion (tread down, rule)..." (Num. 24:14-19, see also Micah 5:2). As we see and apply by the account of Balak and Balaam, although the enemies of God will persist, by the supernatural tools of the devil, in the fear, hatred and persecution of God's people, especially in these end times, God has already put His Word in their mouths, as it says in scripture: "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him (Jesus) and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:9-11). The Devastator may come, but the King, the Lion, in the midst of God's people has already defeated him. God has promised that He has cut off the soothsayers and sorceries from the midst of His people (Micah 5:12). As we face these times, we can pray: "Heavenly Father, although the world becomes more and more hostile both to Israel, and to the people of faith, You have already spoken Your blessing, which cannot be overturned. You have placed the face of Your Son, and the shout of Your King, the Messiah, among Your people. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah is perceived to be dwelling among Your people, and He will never be defeated. Every tongue, even those which have been dedicated to speak evil, will confess the name of Jesus. Those whom You have blessed, LORD, no man can curse. I want to dwell among Your people, called out of the world by Your Salvation, Jesus, Who died for me, and rose again from the dead for me as the stone was rolled away from His grave. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit to lead me in the way of righteousness, "from the Acacia Grove to Gilgal". Help me to grow in the grace and the knowledge of God through His Son. In Jesus' name, I pray. AMEN."