A Second Glance At Obedience
Scripture: Numbers 22:10-12, 16-19, 21-22
"10 Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent me this message: 11 ‘Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come and curse these people for me. Then perhaps I will be able to stand up to them and drive them from the land.’ 12 But God told Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed!...This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Please don’t let anything stop you from coming to help me. 17 I will pay you very well and do whatever you tell me. Just come and curse these people for me! 18 But Balaam responded to Balak’s messengers, “Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of the Lord my God. 19 But stay here one more night, and I will see if the Lord has anything else to say to me...So the next morning Balaam got up...but God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the Lord to stand in the road to block his way."
Observations:
This is certainly one of the more odd stories in the Bible. A prophet named Balaam was hired to curse God's people. After praying about it, God replied the first time "NO". But after he was offered more money, Balaam decided to give it some more prayer and decided that God had changed His mind and got up the next day intending to curse God's people. However, the Bible says that God was angry because Balaam went so He sent the Angel of the Lord to block him from doing it. But if God really did change His mind and told Balaam to go the second time he prayed about it, why was God angry with him for doing what He told him to do? The most likely solution: God doesn't change His mind (Numbers 23:19). It's much more likely that Balaam, who made a practice of giving God's "blessing" to the highest bidder, decided on his own that more money was at least worth asking God again after He had already received a very explicit command not to go (vs. 12). Balaam failed to understand the unchanging nature of God and His ways because he was ignorant of God's word, and as a result, He nearly got himself killed in the process for going against God's command. Was Balaam a true prophet of God or was he simply in it for the profit?
Application:
There's a big difference between truly knowing God and just knowing about Him. We can do religious things like worship or pray, but that doesn't necessarily mean we have a true relationship with God. In fact, it's completely impossible to have a right relationship with God and truly know Him apart from His Word. Even when God does speak to us, unless our relationship with Him is based on the truth of God's Word, we make ourselves susceptible to deceiving ourselves into disobedience. James 1:22 says, "don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves." Like Balaam, listening to God's Word is only part of the process. In order to truly know God we must consistently translate our "listening" into "doing" or else we're only kidding ourselves when it comes to the authenticity of our relationship with God.
Prayer:
Father, help us to come to know You more. We ask You to give us a renewed passion for Your Word and a heart to obey Your commands. Help us to know Your voice. Show us the areas in our lives where we are not consistently living out the truth we already know and give us the grace to change. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
"10 Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent me this message: 11 ‘Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come and curse these people for me. Then perhaps I will be able to stand up to them and drive them from the land.’ 12 But God told Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed!...This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Please don’t let anything stop you from coming to help me. 17 I will pay you very well and do whatever you tell me. Just come and curse these people for me! 18 But Balaam responded to Balak’s messengers, “Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of the Lord my God. 19 But stay here one more night, and I will see if the Lord has anything else to say to me...So the next morning Balaam got up...but God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the Lord to stand in the road to block his way."
Observations:
This is certainly one of the more odd stories in the Bible. A prophet named Balaam was hired to curse God's people. After praying about it, God replied the first time "NO". But after he was offered more money, Balaam decided to give it some more prayer and decided that God had changed His mind and got up the next day intending to curse God's people. However, the Bible says that God was angry because Balaam went so He sent the Angel of the Lord to block him from doing it. But if God really did change His mind and told Balaam to go the second time he prayed about it, why was God angry with him for doing what He told him to do? The most likely solution: God doesn't change His mind (Numbers 23:19). It's much more likely that Balaam, who made a practice of giving God's "blessing" to the highest bidder, decided on his own that more money was at least worth asking God again after He had already received a very explicit command not to go (vs. 12). Balaam failed to understand the unchanging nature of God and His ways because he was ignorant of God's word, and as a result, He nearly got himself killed in the process for going against God's command. Was Balaam a true prophet of God or was he simply in it for the profit?
Application:
There's a big difference between truly knowing God and just knowing about Him. We can do religious things like worship or pray, but that doesn't necessarily mean we have a true relationship with God. In fact, it's completely impossible to have a right relationship with God and truly know Him apart from His Word. Even when God does speak to us, unless our relationship with Him is based on the truth of God's Word, we make ourselves susceptible to deceiving ourselves into disobedience. James 1:22 says, "don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves." Like Balaam, listening to God's Word is only part of the process. In order to truly know God we must consistently translate our "listening" into "doing" or else we're only kidding ourselves when it comes to the authenticity of our relationship with God.
Prayer:
Father, help us to come to know You more. We ask You to give us a renewed passion for Your Word and a heart to obey Your commands. Help us to know Your voice. Show us the areas in our lives where we are not consistently living out the truth we already know and give us the grace to change. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
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