A GOD UNLIKE ANYTHING OR ANYONE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will see only a part but not all of them. And from there, curse them for me."

So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I meet with Him over there."

The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this message."

So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the princes of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the Lord say?"

Then he uttered his oracle:

"Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor. God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change his mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?”

“I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it. No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.”

“There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'See what God has done!' The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till he devours his prey and drinks the blood of his victims."

Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!"

Balaam answered, "Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?"

Numbers 23:13-26

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In Balak, the Moabite king, we see a very persistent ruler who just won’t take no for an answer. For even though Balaam had told him that Israel was blessed by God and could not be cursed, we see in today’s passage from Numbers, chapter 23 that he still tells Balaam to try to get God to curse Israel again, this time in a different location and with a different perspective. His actions made me think about others who don’t seem to get it when God makes it clear what He desires. Rather, than obey Him, they continue to try and work things in such a way that they get their way, as if that is better than what God wants.

This is exactly what Balak was up to as he constructed seven more altars on the “field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah”, offering up the same sacrifices as he did at “Kiriath Huzoth” (Numbers 22:39-40) which was a “bull and a ram on each altar”. The scriptures tell us that from this new vantage point, Balaam could see “only a part” of Israel but nonetheless, Balak repeated his order for Balaam to curse the Israelites. And as before, Balaam told the king to stand by the offering while he went to speak to the Lord.

And so it was. Balaam went to God who in turn gave a second message to be shared with Balak, saying.

"Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor. God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change his mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?”

“I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it. No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.”

“There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'See what God has done!' The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till he devours his prey and drinks the blood of his victims."

How did Balak respond to these words from God?

We read where he alters his original request, retracting his command to curse but also asking that Israel not be blessed. As we look at this a little closer, we can see that it was quite a shrewd move by the Moabite ruler because if his wishes were carried out, then Israel’s blessing would be removed and therefore a curse could be substituted. The problem with Balak was that he believed he could outsmart Israel’s God and manipulate Balaam. And while the latter was altogether possible given Balaam’s humanity, the former was an utter impossibility. In fact, what Balaam didn’t understand was that the God of Israel was fully aware of what he was up to as He could see deep into the king’s heart and soul. He was the one true God, unlike anything or anyone in all creation.

As we look at this second message from God to Balak, we can glean some important facts to remember about our Lord, facts that give us a better understanding about His unmatched and unrivaled nature.

First, God is not a human being. He was not created and is not like us in any way. He is completely distinct and unique, without equal.

Since He existed before anything else, a point made clear by the first four words of the Bible (In the beginning God...Genesis 1:1), He is the Creator of everything and therefore the Maker and Master of all created things. He is all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient), and present everywhere at every time (omnipresent). And since He is above all things, He cannot be controlled and/or manipulated like a regular person. This includes being enticed into doing wrong like us. He doesn’t lie or change His mind when He makes His decisions and He never goes back on His promises but rather delivers on them.

Secondly, when God decides to do something, no one can keep it from happening. In today’s scripture passage, God has decided to bless Israel and so no misfortune or misery would be able to fall upon them, despite any wishes of a king or the efforts of a diviner like Balaam. Neither of them could alter God’s plan and we need to remember this in our own lives today. The Lord’s will is going to be done, whether we like it or not.

Finally, we see that when God is for His people, they are protected and insulated from evil. Instead of being vulnerable as Balak viewed them, they were actually mighty and victorious like an attacking lioness or a lion. Because of the Lord’s strength and covering being with them, any attempts at sorcery were simply a waste of time. God was with the Israelites and no one would be able to stand against them as long as He was.

Friends, this God is the same God we serve today. In the midst of living in what can be a dark and sinful world, there is nothing or no one more powerful than Him so why would we want to seek refuge in any other place?

The truth of the matter is that God, our Heavenly Father, our Creator and King, longs for us to turn our attention His way and seek communion every second of every minute of every hour of every day. He is a God of sure promises and eternal hope, a God who isn’t absent but ever with us and definitely ever right on time, and He wants nothing more than to be in a close and intimate relationship with us and wishes to abundantly bless us beyond what we can imagine.

My brothers and sisters, is this not reason for us to lift up our praise, rejoicing in our God and celebrating the life we share with Him? For we are unbelievably blessed each and every day to get to experience the love, mercy, and grace of our Lord who is unlike anything or anyone we know.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.