What the LORD Puts in My Mouth
(Num 23:1-12)
Pastor Min-chang Song
Numbers 22-24 describe the story of Balak, king of Moab and Balaam, a false prophet. Balaam was called a charmer as well as a prophet, who considered God as one of many gentile gods. He was called to curse the Israelites by Balak, who was afraid of the increasing number of the Israelites, yet Balam blessed them. Later Balaam and Balak put the Israelites into predicament by enticing them to commit adultery with Moabite women, which caused Gods rage and curse on them. Considering Balaam, possessed by covetousness and Balak, who tried to curse the Israelites at every opportunity, lets think about what we should avoid in order for the Word to dwell in us.
1. We should avoid building altars for our own sake. Balak, the Moabite king was scared when he heard that the Israelites defeated the army of Sihon king of the Amorites. We are like Balaam and Balak if we say angrily So what? after hearing a testimony instead of kneeling before God in awe. Gods angel stopped Balaams donkey when Balaam was on his way, driven by his desire for silver and gold. When God stops us and yet we proceed in our way, building an altar for our own sake, we cant avoid his rage. Nothing can satisfy our unquenchable thirst. We should not ignore what God meant us for, distracted by the project of building our own career and hoarding property. In the midst of their consecutive victories, the Israelites faced a Balaam crisis of sexual immorality. Thus God gives us an incident that disturbs us at every turning point in order to make us grow spiritually. If we are in the midst of a turbulent situation, we need to remember that its Gods time for our spiritual training.
2. We should avoid blowing the trumpet of our work and effort. Gods Word came even to Balaam, the false prophet. Thus God helps us interpret our life and live the Word-driven life. Balaam built seven altars, preparing seven bulls and seven rams for him. He knew about God, but he didnt believe in him. And he took it for granted that the Word came to him because of his prestige. Thus he was proud of his own work and effort, which disabled him from laying down what he should have deserted in the critical moment. Against our nature stands faith, which compels us to lay down what we have. Disbelief makes us do the opposite. It prevents us from trusting God by making us cling to our past-wounds or our present-resources, which we cant lay down on our own. Yet, if we continue to resist laying down our agenda despite Gods warning, God lets us face his rage. We are not able to win in our life war with our own brain withoutexperiencing true victory. While Balaks prayer was one of lower prosperity faith, asking give me to God, Balaams prayer was one of higher prosperity faith, saying I did this for God. Thus our worship that boasts of our own work and effort proves that we are a false prophet. What made Balaam go to Balak was the fee for divination. This profit motivation of I-win and-you-die attitude is directly opposite to the spirit of true worship. Taking credit before God proves that we have Balaam within us, who prefers money and honor to the Word and community.
3. We should avoid using the words and deeds of cursing others. God changed Balaams cursing into a blessing against his stubborn heart. Verse 9 and below are the first part of three prophecies that he received from God. The clause 'I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations' implies that Israel will be the nation of prominence and excellence. Thus our total trust in God leads us to the promised land of God beyond worldly prosperity and honor. Balaam also wanted to be blessed like Abraham whose dust cant be counted, but he failed to get it. In short, Balaam was a trickster of lip service, who chases the fall of Israel. He reduced Gods command, not to go with them nor to curse the Israelites’ to a simple statement, the LORD has refused to let me go. In order to have true faith, we have to lay down pass through the cross. Balaams curse on the Israelite meant breaking the covenant between God and the Israelites and spoiling Gods great plan of salvation. Therefore, we need to change our words of cursing into words of blessing. We need to step forward to bless our family members and incidents that have bothered us. The story of Balaam and Balak takes up three chapters of Numbers to depict our secretive desire to seek worldly prosperity under our mask of faith. God called us not to achieve a great thing, but to bind ourselves to our community for salvation. Some of our fellow Christians interpret their suffering as their mission just as pastor Kim does even in the midst of her struggle against cancer. We need to accept our suffering as Gods severe message for us instead of flipping it off as beside the point. We need to listen to Gods voice to take our suffering as our own mission for salvation. May God bless us to rely on our Lord who dwells in us through his Word despite our stubborn hearts.
He answered, 'Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?' (Num 23:12)
