Balaam's Four Prophecies - Part 03

Guest (Female): The Book of Numbers records a remarkable series of four prophecies, including a startling prediction about the coming of the Messiah. But what makes these four prophecies even more amazing is that God gave them, not through Moses or through a Jewish prophet, but through a pagan priest named Balaam. Stay tuned as Dr. Gary Hedrick discusses Balaam's Four Prophecies right here on Messianic Perspectives.
Liz Aiello: Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctive first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. Today, our Bible teacher is Dr. Gary Hedrick, and he's talking about four remarkable prophecies given through a pagan priest named Balaam. I'll be back at the close of the program with news about a special offer. And now, here's Gary.
Dr. Gary Hedrick: Thanks, and we welcome our listening friends. We're in a series of studies dealing with Balaam's four prophecies in the Old Testament book of Numbers. And if you're listening on your radio at home and you have a Bible handy, why don't you grab it and follow along as we turn to Numbers chapter 23, where we have the first of Balaam's four prophecies regarding God's plan for Israel's past, present, and future. Now, before we jump in here at chapter 23, let me give you a little background information about what's happening here in this section of the book of Numbers. The children of Israel have just about come to the end of their 40 years wandering through the wilderness. They've come to the plains just below Moab, and that's where they set up camp. Now, the Moabite king, whose name was Balak, had heard about what the Israelites had done to the Amorites and to the people of Bashan. The Israelites obliterated both of those armies back in chapter 21. So, although there's no indication that the Israelites meant to do any harm to the Moabites—because remember, all the Israelites were trying to do was to get through Transjordan so they could cross the Jordan River and move into Canaan—they were no real threat to anyone east of the Jordan River. But the Amorites had attacked them, and the people of Bashan had attacked them, so the Israelites defended themselves and destroyed those two armies in the process. But Balak, the king of the Moabites, was paranoid. He was afraid of these Israelites because of what they had done to the Amorites and to the people of Bashan. But Balak knew he couldn't match the Israelites militarily. I mean, after all, the Israeli army had already decimated two major military powers of that region. So, Balak decided to employ other means—supernatural means—in an attempt to destroy Israel. So, this is what he did. He had heard that there was an old mystic, a pagan prophet named Balaam, who lived over in Mesopotamia. Now, in the Hebrew, it doesn't say Balaam was a prophet; he was not a *Navi*. It says he was a *Hakosim*, literally a soothsayer in the Hebrew. In ancient times, a soothsayer was considered someone who could not only tell the future, but they could actually influence the future by their pronouncements. That's what a soothsayer was. These people were believed in ancient times to possess supernatural powers. Now, some people believe Balaam was a member of the mystical order of the Magi, which was an ancient guild of astrologers and magicians. Others believe Balaam came from near where Abraham lived and that Balaam had once been a prophet of the one true God, but he misused the prophetic gift for his own material gain. At any rate, Balak, king of Moab, believed that Balaam had the power to curse Israel so they could be destroyed. So the king sent for Balaam. Now, King Balak is expecting Balaam to curse Israel, but when Balaam opens his mouth, listen to what comes out. I'll begin reading in verse 7. This is Numbers chapter 23. And he took up his parable and said, "Balak, the king of Moab, hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, 'Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.' How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy whom God hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. Lo, the people shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his," that is, like Jacob's. You see, Balak, the king of Moab, wanted Balaam to curse Israel. "Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel." But in his first oracle, what does Balaam say? He says, "How can I curse whom God hath not cursed?" In verse 8 and in verse 9, Balaam says that the people of Israel shall dwell alone and will not consider themselves to be one of the nations. In other words, the nation Israel, the physical seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have been sanctified by God—that is, they have been called out from among the nations of the world to be God's chosen people. And by the way, a similar theme is found in the New Testament, where we are told that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a called-out assembly. That's what the word "church" means, *Ekklesia*. A called-out assembly of people who have been sanctified and set apart and separated unto God for His glory. In Romans chapter 12, this is how Paul put it. He said in verse 1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Verse 2: "And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Now, isn't that interesting? There are two processes, you see. There's a process of conformation, where we've got this world system bombarding us from every direction with all of these messages of sensuality and selfishness and secularism through television and movies and magazines and advertising and everything else. All of these things hammering away at us day in and day out, trying to beat us into the world's mold so we'll think like the world, act like the world, and basically lose our distinctiveness—our saltiness—as the people of God. That's the process of conformation. But then there's a second process going on in the life of every believer, and that's the process of transformation. That's the inner working of the Holy Spirit of God, you see, whereby He is in the process of renewing our minds. And as He renews our minds, we begin to think God's thoughts and we begin to adopt God's priorities and God's standards and God's principles. And it's interesting that the word here in Romans 12:2 for "transformed," where he says "be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind," it's interesting that that word for transformed is the Greek word *metamorphoo*. And you can probably tell from just hearing the word *metamorphoo* what it means. It means a metamorphosis. That is, it's a change from within. The ancient Greeks used that same word to describe the transformation that takes place when a caterpillar crawls out of its chrysalis and emerges as a beautiful butterfly. You see, it's a metamorphosis, a transformation. And that's the word in the Greek language that's used to describe the work of God's Holy Spirit in us. You see, sometimes we get all caught up in our own human effort of trying to be good and trying to do the right things and trying to act and talk and look like a Christian. We forget that it's God's work in us. I think that may be why so many of our church members are burning out because they've taken this legalistic approach, like the Jews did at Mount Sinai when they said, "Anything that God tells us, we'll do it. We can do it! We can do it!" And we've forgotten that it's the work of God's Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside out. It's His work. That's why Ephesians 2:10 says, "We are His workmanship." In other words, He's the one doing the work in us. "We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ordained that we should walk in them." And that's what Balaam prophesies here when he says that the people of Israel shall dwell alone and will not consider themselves to be one of the nations. They have been set apart. They were to be God's people, not just another one of the Gentile nations. And the Gentiles were out there worshipping cattle and birds and trees and stones and doing all kinds of crazy things. But God wanted Israel to be His own people, a distinct people with a personal relationship with Him. That's what God wanted. And that's why He called Israel out from among the other nations of the world to be His people. And you know, I think that's why even today God blesses those who love the Jews because they are His special people. The churches that God blesses the most and the Christians that God blesses the most are those who love His people Israel and who have a burden for the physical and spiritual welfare of the Jewish people because God loves them, my friend. And that's what's happening here. Balaam says, "God has blessed His people Israel. How can I curse someone whom God has blessed?" And look what he says in verse 10. We're in Numbers chapter 23 now. Look at verse 10. Here's the evidence of God's blessing. Balaam says, "Who can count the dust of Jacob and the number of the fourth part of Israel?" You see, that's the evidence of God's blessing—the fact that all of the promises God made to Abraham were destined to be fulfilled to the letter. God had said back in Genesis 13:16, "And I will make thy seed," and he was talking to Abraham there, "I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." In spite of war, famine, captivity, oppression, slavery, and even attempted genocide—in spite of virtually every form of persecution you could imagine—the Jewish people have survived. In AD 70, close to a million Jews were killed by the Romans. National Israel was crushed. The Jews were scattered like dust to the four winds of the world, into all the nations of the world. And after 1,900 years of persecution, including the slaughter of six million Jews by Nazi Germany, they have survived. In fact, there are 14 million of them alive in the world today. Well, that's all we have time for right now. Join us again on the next program, won't you, as we continue discussing Balaam's four prophecies.
Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. You have been listening to our Bible teacher, Dr. Gary Hedrick, on the subject of Balaam's Four Prophecies. If you would like a CD containing all seven programs in this series, it is available for a contribution of just six dollars. The title is simply "Balaam's Four Prophecies." Balaam is spelled B-A-L-A-A-M. Or just ask for CD number GT20. Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas, 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397. And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. This is Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series on Balaam's Four Prophecies right here on Messianic Perspectives. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the freewill contributions of our listeners in this area.