STANDING STRONG

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In Christ, Mark

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

So the Moabite princes returned to Balak and said, "Balaam refused to come with us." Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first. They came to Balaam and said:

"This is what Balak, son of Zippor says: ‘Do not let anything keep you from coming to me, because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me.’"

But Balaam answered them, "Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord, my God. Now stay here tonight as the others did, and I will find out what else the Lord will tell me."

Numbers 22:14-18

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

At the beginning of Numbers, chapter 22, you'll remember that the wandering nation of Israel encamped near the Jordan River in the plains of Moab and across from the city of Jericho. They arrived there fresh off of victories in several clashes with opposing nations and this had Balak, the Moabite king, and his people nervous as they wondered whether or not they would be next.

This anxiety led to Balak hoping he could stop the Israelite surge by manipulating their god and so he dispatched an entourage to a renowned diviner named Balaam, hoping he would be able to place a curse on Israel. Little did the Moabite king know that he was dealing with the only true God, a God who would not be moved or influenced by any sinful pagan.

In yesterday’s message, we saw the Moabite entourage bring Balak’s proposal to Balaam who then attempted to make contact with Israel’s God. To his credit, he listened to God’s command to not carry out a curse on Israel because they were a blessed people. Further, the Lord told Balaam to not even go to Balak with the men he had sent. Through all this, we see where Balaam is faithful and obedient to God's command as he sent the representatives back to Balak with the report that he had refused to go with them.

This brings us to our passage for today where we pick up where we left off yesterday. In it, we see where Balak wasn’t ready to take “no” for an answer from Balaam. Look again at these verses here:

So the Moabite princes returned to Balak and said, "Balaam refused to come with us." Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first. They came to Balaam and said:

"This is what Balak, son of Zippor says: ‘Do not let anything keep you from coming to me, because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me.’"

But Balaam answered them, "Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord, my God. Now stay here tonight as the others did, and I will find out what else the Lord will tell me." Numbers 22:14-18

After hearing about what had happened and Balaam’s rebuttal, Balak wasn’t ready to give up his efforts. We read where he "sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first" who went to Balaam, saying:

"This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Do not let anything keep you from coming to me, because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me.’"

We should note here how Balak tries to tempt Balaam with first the promise of reward and then the assurance of authority, as the king was ready to submit to Balaam’s orders. All this was preceded by the king telling Balaam to "not let anything keep you from coming to me" and this implied that even Israel’s God shouldn’t be allowed to interfere.

It was another test for Balaam who we see stayed true to the Lord, sending the following reply to the second request from Moab’s king:

"Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord, my God."

These words of Balaam are words that all believers should write on their hearts today for Satan is always trying to tempt us to do his bidding, no matter what God says. He ever seeks to turn us away from the principles and commands of God, and far too often, we take the bait and fall prey to the sin he draws us into.

So how can we still stand firm and strong against Satan's advances, remaining ever faithful to God's direction and expectations?

The answer can be found by looking at His only Son and our Savior, Jesus. For in the opening eleven verses of Matthew, chapter 4, He provides all His disciples a primer in how to handle the advances of Satan when they come.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.

The tempter came to Him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will bow down and worship me.”

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”

Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.

Here, we see where Jesus had been fasting without food in the wilderness for forty days and nights after He had been baptized by John in the Jordan River. It was there, in His weakened human state, that we find Satan approach and try to tempt Jesus three times:

1. The tempter came to Him and said, "If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." (Matthew 4:3)

2. Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If You are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command His angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" (Matthew 4:5-6)

3. Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give You," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." (Matthew 4:8-9)

Three attempts and all three times Satan failed to get his way.

So how did Jesus do it? How did He ward off the advances of the devil?

We see in every instance, He used the power of the very Word of His Father God. Consider His three responses:

1. Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' " (Matthew 4:4 from Deuteronomy 8:3)

2. Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Matthew 4:7 from Deuteronomy 6:16)

3. Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'" (Matthew 4:10 from Deuteronomy 6:13)

How effective was this tactic?

So much so that we see where the “devil left Him” after which He was attended to by angels (v. 11).

Friends, our Lord Jesus came, lived, and died to save us from our sins but He also came to teach us how to live this earthly life. We only need to follow His lead as we seek to learn how to deal with the challenges that will come before us.

In this particular case, Jesus shows us how to deal with Satan's temptations and the key is skillfully using the scriptures as a defense mechanism. Later, the Apostle Paul would say this within the context of putting on the full armor of God to spiritually defend ourselves:

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Ephesians 6:13-17

Friends, the weapon we yield against the enemy is none other than the Word of God but we can’t be properly armed if we don’t know the scriptures. This is why daily Bible study is crucial not just for our spiritual protection but our faith development.

The bottom line is that God doesn’t send us into the world without a means to defend ourselves. In and through His power and His Word, manifested to full strength through His Holy Spirit, we can stand strong each and every day against the enemy, finding victory now and forever more.  

Is this not good news that we can rejoice and be glad in today?

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.