Tag: good or bad

48.f. “Wilderness” – 12.l. “Balaam’s Third Oracle”

 

Num 24:1  When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him, and he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel! Like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the LORD has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows. He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.” And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the LORD has held you back from honor.” And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the LORD speaks, that will I speak’? And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”

Now Balaam spake not his own sense, but the language of the Spirit that came upon him. Many have their eyes open who have not their hearts open; are enlightened, but not sanctified. That knowledge which puffs men up with pride, will but serve to light them to hell, whither many go with their eyes open. The blessing is nearly the same as those given before. He admires in Israel, their beauty. The righteous, doubtless, is more excellent than his neighbour. Their fruitfulness and increase. Their honour and advancement. Their power and victory. He looks back upon what had been done for them. Their power and victory. He looks back upon what had been done for them. Their courage and security. The righteous are bold as a lion, not when assaulting others, but when at rest, because God maketh them to dwell in safety. Their influence upon their neighbours. God takes what is done to them, whether good or evil, as done to himself. (Henry)

Even after two unsuccessful attempts to cause Balaam to curse Israel, Balak was still willing to try again. This shows both his desperation and his thought that it was just a matter of persuading a reluctant deity to get what he wanted. Balak thought that maybe another place would give him the results he wanted. If Balak had not yet learned that God was for Israel and not against them, Balaam seems to have, at this point, been convinced of this truth. Because he was finally convinced God wanted to bless Israel and not curse them, Balaam did not use sorcery in the following oracle. Perhaps this means that in the first two oracles Balaam followed traditional customs of discerning the will of the gods through examining the entrails of the sacrificed animals. He stopped the false and artificial methods of the pagans, and just listened to the voice of the LORD. It may be that Balaam did use these pagan methods for the first two oracles, and God – in great mercy and willingness to meet sinful and superstitious humanity – still spoke His word to and through Balaam. This was God speaking despite such methods, not because of them.

This beautiful prophecy speaks of Israel’s blessed abundance, strength, and their dominance over neighboring nations God would give to Israel. Under God’s blessing, Israel has an abundance of water, stretching out all over the land and bringing fruitfulness. Most of all, this prophecy speaks of the abiding blessing of God on Israel, and directly rebukes Balak for trying to curse Israel. (Guzik)

 “At first the eyes of Balaam were shut, and so closely too that he could not see the angel who withstood him, till God opened his eyes; nor could he see the gracious intentions of God towards Israel, till the eyes of his understanding were opened by the power of the Divine Spirit.” (Clark)

47. “Wilderness” – 11.f. “Spy out the land of Canaan”

 

Num 13:17-24  Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.

Moses’ direction to the spies was a subtle example of unbelief. When God first commissioned Moses, He told him that the land was a good and large land…a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8). Moses told Israel that it was a good land (Exodus 13:5). There is at least a small sense here that Moses sent the spies to see if God was truthful in describing the land. Nevertheless, this was an entirely reasonable thing for Moses to do, and it reflected the curiosity of all of Israel. After all, they had never seen this land, nor had almost any Israelite for some 400 years. In some sense, this was a dangerous question to ask. If they thought the people of Canaan were strong, they might be afraid to go into the land and conquer them. If they thought they were weak, they might enter trusting in their own strength. The descendants of Anak, were there: This is the first Biblical mention of these people. They were a people of great stature (Numbers 13:33) and thought to be fierce warriors (Deuteronomy 9:2). (Guzik)

The most eager discoverer of discrepancies in the component parts of the Pentateuch need not press this one into his service, for both sides may be true: the one representing the human feebleness which originated the wish; the other, the divine compliance with the desire, in order to disclose the unbelief which unfitted the people for the impending struggle, and to educate them by letting them have their foolish way, and taste its bitter results. Putting the two accounts together, we get, not a contradiction, but a complete view, which teaches a large truth as to God’s dealings; namely, that He often lovingly lets us have our own way to show us by the issues that His is better, and that daring, which is obedience, is the true prudence. How many of us, when brought right up to some task involving difficulty or danger, but unmistakably laid on us by God, shelter our distrustful fears under the fair pretext of ‘knowing a little more about it first,’ and shake wise heads over rashness which takes God at His word, and thinks that it knows enough when it knows what He wills? (MacLaren)

Therefore God lovingly permitted the mission of the spies, and so brought lurking unbelief to the surface, where it could be dealt with. Let us beware of the one-eyed ‘prudence’ which sees only the perils in the path of duty and enterprise for God, and is blind to the all-sufficient presence which makes us more than conquerors, when we lean all our weight on it. (MacLaren)

18.o. “But I chose you and appointed you”

John 15:16  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.

 Acts 22:14     And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth;

 Romans 9:11-16     though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—  she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”  As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”  What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!  For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

 Ephesians 2:10    For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

“We are in Christ, not because we hold Him, but because He holds us.” (Meyer)

Ye have not chosen me – The word here translated “chosen” is that from which is derived the word “elect,” and means the same thing. It is frequently thus translated, Mark 13:20; Matthew 24:22, Matthew 24:24, Matthew 24:31; Colossians 3:12. It refers here, doubtless, to his choosing or electing them to be apostles. He says that it was not because they had chosen him to be their teacher and guide, but because he had designated them to be his apostles. See John 6:70; also Matthew 4:18-22. He thus shows them that his love for them was pure and disinterested; that it commenced when they had no affection for him; that it was not a matter of obligation on his part, and that therefore it placed them under more tender and sacred obligations to be entirely devoted to his service. The same may be said of all who are endowed with talents of any kind, or raised to any office in the church or the state. It is not that they have originated these talents, or laid God under obligation. What they have they owe to his sovereign goodness, and they are bound to devote all to his service. Equally true is this of all Christians. It was not that by nature they were more inclined than others to seek God, or that they had any native goodness to recommend them to him, but it was because he graciously inclined them by his Holy Spirit to seek him; because, “The grace of Christ moved and directed them;” that is, went before them, commenced the work of their personal salvation, and thus God in sovereign mercy chose them as His own. Whatever Christians, then, possess, they owe to God, and by the most tender and sacred ties they are bound to be his followers. (Barnes)

15.w. “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

John 6:22  On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Deuteronomy 5:27    Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’

Jeremiah 42:3-6    Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us.  Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”

Micah 6:7-8    Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”  He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Acts 2:37    Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Acts 16:30    Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Those who questioned Jesus seemed sure that if only Jesus told them what to do, they could please God by their works of God. For these people, as with many people today, pleasing God is found in the right formula for performing works that will please God. The sense behind their question seemed to be, “Just tell us what to do so we can get what we want from You. We want Your miracle bread and for You to be our Miracle King; tell us what to do to get it.” If we want to do the work of God, it begins with trusting Jesus. The first work is to believe in Jesus whom God sent.  This is first.  Some people stop with this.  They say they believe but, beyond these words is nothing to indicate any kind of change in their lives.  They seem to forget “obedience”.  Belief/faith/trust is the foundation for works that are done for the sole purpose to honor and glorify Jesus Christ.  Without faith in Jesus Christ first, our works turn into what we trust to be right with God.  Our works easily become our false sense of security.  Our works are not out of obedience but rather out of self-reliance.  No work of ours will wash away our sins.  No work of ours will remove the stain of sin.  No work of ours will result in eternal life. No work of ours will give lasting peace, joy, and refuge.

Robert Lowry got it right.  This is from the hymn he wrote.  

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

12.p. “Those who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.’ Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished.

Zephaniah 1:11  Wail, you who live in the market district; all your merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with silver will be destroyed. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.’ Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. Though they build houses, they will not live in them; though they plant vineyards, they will not drink the wine.” The great day of the Lord is near— near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter; the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry. That day will be a day of wrath— a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness— a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. “I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.”

James 5:1    Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.

Revelation 18:14   “The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!  The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,  “Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!  For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off  and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?”

Have you ever put your trust in what you have?  Trusting your job or position and the income from it.  Trusting in your health. Trusting in the economy.  Trusting in the safety of your home.  Trusting in your finances.  Trusting in your education.  Trusting in your experience.  What if we were to change the word from pridefully trusting to humbly thankful.  There is a difference isn’t there?  One, our reliance is on what we have and what we can do.  The other is faith, trust, and reliance on Jesus Christ, His plan and purpose, His best for our life, His supplying everything that we need, His steadfast love, grace, and mercy, His promises and…… The difference is all in the intentional choices we make one way or the other in our hearts, minds, and souls.  This difference will manifest itself in one of two ways.  If we are self-reliant, when things happen, trials, troubles, and chaos, we will find a deep-rooted fear, confusion, and lack of peace and rest.  We will complain rather than rejoice.  We will despair rather than have joy and hope.  We will have fear rather than peace.  We will have confusion rather than clarity.  We will believe lies rather than truth.  If we cling to, rely on, and trust in Jesus Christ the opposite will manifest in our lives.  Peace and certain steadfast hope that passes all understanding will flow through our entire being.  We will not fear tomorrow but rejoice in the Promises of our Lord and King, Jesus Christ.  We will see new blessings each day.  We will have peace at night for our hope and trust is in Him alone.  He is our refuge, strength, courage, power, fortress, and the reason we have no fear or confusion.  There is much going on today in our cities, nations, and the world.  Media outlets are vomiting up narratives of fear and danger.  People are buying into these lies because they reject the peace that only Jesus Christ can bring.  Oh that Jesus would open their eyes and ears once more to see and hear the truth.  Oh that He would soften hearts to the Gospel and would flood our cities and nation with an overpowering understanding of the need for salvation, redemption, and forgiveness.  Oh that He would use each of us to bring this Good News, live this Good News, and proclaim this Good News.  Oh that He would remove all fear, confusion, and anxiety from His children and allow them to walk in strength, courage, and power of the Holy Spirit.