Numbers 23:7-24 Balaam the Perverse Preacher
Num 22:12 And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.
I. “Hope from the High Places!” Numbers 23:7-10
Balaam's Expectation - 7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
Balaam's Exclamation - 8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Balaam's Exaltation - 9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
1. Balaam sees God’s People Defended
8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?
2. God’s People Distinguished 9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone,
3. God’s People Developed 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel?
Balaam's Aspiration - 10 Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
What A :- (a) Revelation (b) Request (c) Recognition
II “Promise from Pisgah!” Numbers 23:18-24
A. Balaam's CONFIDENCE 19 God is not a 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?
1. It Is Planned - God is not a man that he should lie!
2. It Is Proclaimed - hath he said, and shall he not do it?
B. Balaam's COMMAND 20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
C. Balaam's CONVICTION 21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with
him, and the shout of a king is among them.
1. His Purity - He hath not beheld iniquity
2. His Presence - the LORD his God is with him
3. His Power - and the shout of a king is among them.
4. His Protection - 23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel:
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper;
5. His Praise - 23 according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
III. “Power from Peor!” Numbers 24:2-9
A. God's SALVATION 8 God brought him forth out of Egypt;
B. God's STRENGTH 8 he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn:
C. God's SUBJUGATION 8 he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows
D. God's SANCTION
9 Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.
IV. "Wisdom from the Wilderness" Numbers 24:10-24
Num 24:1 but he set his face toward the wilderness.
A. God's Plan 17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh:
B. God's Purpose - 17 there shall come a Star out of Jacob
C. God's Power - 17 and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
D. God's People - 18 And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.
