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Advent Productions

Benjamin Ng

Don’t Kick the Donkey!

Father in heaven, thank you so much for bringing all of us together this morning.

Thank you Lord for the food in our stomachs.

Thank you for the many blessings that you give to us and many times Lord we're unaware of how good and gracious You really are to us.

So may You open our eyes to those blessings this morning.

And more than that, open our eyes to the blessings of Your Holy Word, that as we study together, Lord, May you speak to each and every 1 of us so intimately.

Bless us and grace us with Thy presence, we pray.

I'd like for you to turn to me in your Bibles to Numbers chapter 22.

We're gonna be studying a very familiar character, a very familiar story as you can probably tell from the title of my sermon, Don't Kick the Donkey.

We are going to be studying about Balaam.

Now, Balaam, he is famous for all the wrong reasons.

He was a man that God communicated with directly, face to face, but yet he would be the 1 that would apostatize and turn away from God eventually.

Numbers 22 in verse 1, the Bible says this, And the children of Israel set forward and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.

And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

And Moab was sore afraid of the people because there were many, and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.

And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field.

And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time." So the Israelites, they're coming towards the borders of Canaan.

And there they are, pitch right there in Moab country.

And King Balak is sore afraid because he saw what they did to the Amorites and how they destroyed them.

Verse 5 cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against Me.

Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse Me this people, for they are too mighty for Me.

Peradventure I shall prevail, that We may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land, for I want that he whom thou blessed is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand, and they came unto Balaam and spake unto him the words of Balak.

So here they come, and they, King Balak is wanting Balaam to do what?

Verse 8, And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again as the Lord shall speak unto me, and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.

Is that God really at this point still communicated with Balaam.

We don't know whether he had fully apostatized yet.

We don't know the condition at that point had Balaam died.

We don't know if he would have died a saved man or a lost man.

But the amazing thing is, Balaam could confidently say, wait here, I'll go and talk to the Lord and I will let you know what he tells me the next morning.

He himself had the confidence to tell them that, Just wait, I'll ask God.

God was still communicating with Balaam at this point.

And so maybe he hadn't gone so far as to commit an unpardonable sin or leave the Lord fully.

Verse 9 And God came unto Balaam and said, What men are these with thee?

And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, Behold, There is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth.

Peradventure I shall be able to overcome them and drive them out.

And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them, thou shalt not curse the people, for they are blessed.

And Balaam rose up in the morning and said to the princess of Balak, get you into your land for the Lord refuses to give me leave to go with you.

So God comes to Balaam and communicates with him that night and he says what?

The people that they want you to curse, you cannot curse.

But the amazing thing is how Balaam tells the Moabite princes about his communication with God.

God refuses for me to go with you, friends.

No, he kind of said that, but this is what you call Chinese whispers, friends.

You know, God tells something to Balaam, Balaam now comes to communicate it to someone else and the message is not totally, really what God had said.

You know, if Balaam had said what exactly God had said, maybe in his own heart, he might have been convicted by the message that God said to him that night.

The people that you want me to curse are blessed.

But Balaam, he kind of changes the message a little bit.

He twists it a little bit, and we got to be so careful with this, friends.

Because, you see, this is what caused the reaction later on when the Moabite princes go back and tell Balak what Balaam said.

He says this, Balaam, in order to keep the door maybe open a little bit just for Balak to come back.

But friends is that what God said I refuse for you to go?

You cannot curse this people for they are blessed.

Friends we got to be faithful and true to the message.

But you know, on the other hand, we got to make sure that we're not so sensitive with people's words.

We got to learn to check and double check because Chinese whispers happens all the time.

Messages, sometimes what we hear, they're communicated in a different way.

We gotta make sure that Miscommunication does not destroy relationships.

1 of the worst things to happen between people is miscommunication, misunderstanding that is never checked.

Verse 14 now, and said to him, Thus saith Balak, the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me, for I will promote thee unto very great honor, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me.

Come, therefore, I pray thee, curse me, this people.

So, ah, King of Moab, Balak, he knows what is happening in Balaam's heart.

So he sent princes even more honorable with more gifts, more treasures, more riches, just to tell Balaam, look, I understand why you said no the first time.

Verse 18, And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less or more.

Now therefore I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more.

If Balaam had just stopped at verse 18 and said, look, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord.

If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, if he gave me his whole kingdom, I would not be able to go.

God has already said it, I can't do less, I can't do more, that's it.

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Don’t Kick the Donkey!

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