Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom, and welcome to V'ahavta Yisrael, a Hebrew phrase which means "You shall love Israel." We hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher, Dr. Baruch, shares his expository teaching from the Bible. Dr. Baruch is the senior lecturer at the Zera Avraham Institute based in Israel.

Although all courses are taught in Hebrew at the institute, Dr. Baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in English. To find out more about our work in Israel, please visit us on the web at loveisrael.org. That's one word, loveisrael.org. Now, here's Baruch with today's lesson.

Dr. Baruch Korman: Well, we are going to see that Bil'am is a manipulator. He is not someone who is sensitive to the will of God. And we're going to see as well that Balak, the king of Moab, he simply won't take no for an answer. So between these two men, we're going to learn that something good is not going to be the result.

Currently, we are in the book of Numbers, chapter 23, for the first part of this chapter. But we're going to see when we get into chapters 24 and 25 how Bil'am complied with Balak's requests, and that is to bring destruction on the people of Israel. But we're not there yet.

Let's begin in verse one of chapter 23. Bil'am is speaking. Bil'am said to Balak, "Build for me seven altars. And prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams." This is a great example of what we can call false worship. There's a lot of false worship going on, thinking that if we do this religious act, that that's going to cause God to agree with us.

Let's learn a principle. I've said this frequently, and it is so profound. Not because it came from me; it comes from the word of God. The word of God is profound. Man's thoughts are foolishness. In no way is this profound statement connected to me; it's connected to the word of God. And what is this profound statement? Agree with God.

Always submit to Him. Constantly recognize His authority over your life. That is going to bring a fruitfulness to your existence. It is going to cause you to see things differently and cause you to behave differently. Do not be like Bil'am or Balak, who are committed only to what they want. Be people that take out our desires, which are usually connected to sin, and be submissive to the will of God.

In verse two, Balak did just as Bil'am spoke, and he offered up a bull and a ram on the altar. Again, what we're seeing is worship, but not a worship that is rooted in the word of God. They're doing these things and, we're going to find out, it's related to idolatry. These men are not committed to biblical truth.

In fact, they clearly reject the will of God, even though we're going to see that Bil'am says some good things today. That's only temporary, because later on, he is going to teach Balak how to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel.

In verse three, Bil'am said to Balak, "Stand upon your burnt offering and I will go, perhaps the Lord will happen to meet me." This word in the infinitive is the Hebrew word likrot, and it means to happen. When God happens, normally there is something good that takes place. His happening brings about a good activity. That's normally, but we're going to learn something somewhat different tonight.

Bil'am is calling for the Lord to meet him. He wants God to show him what he should do. He went to a shefi, which is usually speaking about a bare cliff, somewhere high up. He wanted a perspective so that he could look out and see something. The purpose is that God will meet him. He wants God to happen in this situation and show him something that he will share.

Verse four says God happened to Bil'am, and he said to him, "Seven altars I have arranged, and I will offer up a bull and a ram upon the altar." Notice that even though God has happened to Bil'am, it is Bil'am who is speaking. We really need to learn this principle, because people often instinctively say, "God said to me," or "God put it in my heart," or "God made this."

Be careful, because most of the time when people say that, they are just stating what they want. They are not hearing from God, but they are trying to manipulate you into believing that God is part of what they want. Wisdom is when we agree with God. Foolishness is trying to get God to agree with us, our plans, and our wants. It never ends well when we try to get God to submit to us.

God is a God of truth and speaks righteously. God is holy, and His purposes are holy. God's not going to exchange what is truly good in His will for something that is inadequate or insufficient. In verse five, the Lord set a word in the mouth of Bil'am. God is communicating with him. The question is how Bil'am is going to respond to what God is saying.

The Lord placed a word in the mouth of Bil'am and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak." God is going to give a word to Bil'am. He's supposed to hear it and speak it in the presence of Balak so that he knows where God is in this situation.

In verse six, he returned to him, and behold, he stood at his burnt offering. Balak was there with all the high officials of Moab. That all the high officials are there tells us what's about to happen is significant. It has great importance, and we need to be paying attention to see indeed the important part of this.

Verse seven says he lifted up his mashal, his proverb. A proverb is a piece of wisdom that originates from God. The word mashal is also connected to another Hebrew word, dugma, which is an example. We take a parable and learn the wisdom contained in it so that we can apply it to our life. We make that wisdom the catalyst for behaving in a certain way.

The word mashal is also connected to the Hebrew word memshala, which means government. A proverb is wisdom that should govern your life. That means you submit to it, understand it, and implement it. He lifted up his proverb and said, "From Syria, Balak the king of Moab has led me. From the mountains of the east, go and curse for me Jacob. Go and be wrathful against Israel."

This is what Balak is obsessed with. He has employed Bil'am so that he would curse the children of Israel. Moab is not a faithful people and is not interested in the things of God. Therefore, God has made some strong statements against Moab. Balak wants Israel to experience the wrath of God.

As I said, in a few weeks we're going to see that Bil'am did indeed train Balak on how to bring God's judgment upon Israel. This is what he wants. And the way to do that is through idolatry. We all struggle with idolatry because it is directly connected with our will. When you know that what you want is something God would never give you because He is holy and righteous, you know it's not going to end well for you.

God gives perfect gifts. Every good and perfect gift comes down from heaven. When we are committed only to our own desires, we know it's not something God's going to provide. That often leads people into idolatry, into doing things that they shouldn't do and turning to false gods. They open themselves up to demonic influence and the influence of unclean spirits.

In verse eight, Bil'am asks, "How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I be angry against the one whom the Lord has not been angry?" For a moment, there is an agreement between Bil'am and God. Bil'am is submitting to the things of God. This is a good thing and right behavior. Make a note of that and do likewise.

In verse nine, he says, "For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. Behold, a people alone he will dwell, and among the nations he will not be reckoned." This tells us something very profound: There should be a separation between Israel and the nations. When I say separation, I mean in behavior. Israel should never behave like other nations.

They are called to be different. As believers in Messiah, you join into that call. Messiah is the seed of Abraham, and the seed of Abraham are those who are in that new covenant relationship with Him. Through that new covenant, we become one with Him. Israel should not think or behave like the nations. We're called to be different.

Verse 10 asks, "Who has counted the dust of Jacob, and the number of a fourth of Israel?" This is not done by human beings. When we look at the dust of Israel, that's ultimately a synonym for dying. We die and our bodies return to dust. Balak wanted Bil'am to curse Israel and reduce them to dust. But Bil'am says, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!"

Bil'am heard the voice of God, but he was slow to obey it and implement it into his life. That brought about a great deal of regret. Whenever we don't agree with God, we're going to regret our own decisions. In verse 11, Balak said to Bil'am, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have utterly blessed them!"

Balak was not successful in accomplishing what he wanted. He wanted an individual with power to come and curse Israel, but that is not what happened. God is not angry against this people. There's going to be a remnant that is brought to faith. That is Israel's future.

In verse 12, he answered, "Must I not take heed to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?" This is a very good statement. Bil'am is learning that God's word is precious and given so that we can obey it. This is what we ought to do.

In verse 13, Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place." When there's a change in location in the Bible, oftentimes the purpose is to have a change in perspective. Balak has spoken to Bil'am for one reason: so that Bil'am would curse the children of Israel. But God has intervened.

Balak said to him, "Please come with me to a different place, where you may see them. You shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them for me from there." A change in location usually indicates a change in objective. You want that objective to be done, so you change places for a different outcome.

Balak wanted Bil'am to curse all of Israel. He's heard that Bil'am is not willing to do that. He understands that there's a purpose for the children of Israel: to remain separate, different, and unique. They are not to be compromising and are not to be transformed to resemble the world. We are a holy people, a peculiar priesthood. We need to remember that and behave that way.

Balak is stubborn. Over and over, he wants Israel to be an accursed people. This is not God's will. Therefore, he's not going to successfully bring about this curse upon the children of Israel. God will not allow it, because God is still the defender of His people. We need to understand that and behave based upon that biblical truth.

We do not belong to anyone other than the One who has redeemed us by His blood, and of course, this is Messiah Yeshua. If you are not serving God, you are serving the enemy. If you're not faithful and committed to the things in the Scripture, the outcome will be that you are going to fail God. You are going to begin to pursue your own desires and leave the desires of God unfulfilled.

We need to see this account of Bil'am and realize that he had to repent. He had to be disciplined and matured in the Lord so that he would be ready to do the things that God has called him to do. Instead of being a false prophet, he needed to change and become a true prophet of the Lord. That involves sacrifice and persecution. It involves a whole bunch of things that are not pleasant.

In the weeks to come, we will look at several different Scriptures in the Bible about how Bil'am taught Balak how to bring a curse upon the children of Israel. If we're not sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, if we're not obedient sons and daughters of God, we will be deceived. The one in this world is not greater than Messiah, but he is greater than you and me.

That's why we always need to be under His authority. We need to be listening to Him. We need to be searching in this book so that we hear truth and learn truth, so that we can implement it into our life. That's what a servant of the living God does. The quicker we begin to resemble that, the better it's going to be for us and many others.

When we take hold of the truth and say, "Yes, this is good," it causes us to implement it into our life so that we can be faithful servants of God. We can do the things that are pleasing to Him, not doing them for what we are going to get in return. When we serve God in order to get something in return, that is a very similar proposition to idolatry.

We are worshippers of the God of Israel and His only begotten Son, Messiah Yeshua. We are led by the Spirit and are listening for the Holy Spirit so that we can know what to do and what not to do. We want to be obedient and recognize God's authority over us. It's only when we do that that our lives begin to change.

We will begin to experience God more and more. We will grow in our faith and learn that the best place for us to be is in the will of God. If we're in the will of God, we might as well complete the will of God. That is where wisdom is. The Bible talks about the fear of the Lord. That means giving Him the priority of our lives.

Trusting and faith means every other thing in our life is subjected to Him. It's when we are receiving the truth so that we can do the truth. My hope and my prayer is that you have such a perspective. It's not about what you want, but you're listening, studying, and praying that you might know the will of God.

You can then carry out that which is in accordance with God's character and attributes. Him being holy and righteous and good. All these things we are supposed to implement into our life so that we have a testimony that's pleasing to Him. Until next time, when we press on in this 23rd chapter of Numbers. Shalom from Israel.