NewCity Orlando Sermons

Numbers 22-23 | In the Wilderness

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Listen to this week’s sermon, In the Wilderness preached by Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches from Numbers 22 and 23.

Rev. Benjamin Kandt:

Hello everyone. This is Pastor Benjamin. You're listening to the Sermon Audio from New City, Orlando. At New City, we long to see our Father answer the Lord's Prayer. For more resources, visit our website at Newcity Orlando.com. Pray together this prayer of illumination as we prepare to read God's Word. Join with me. God of mercy, the covenant promises in your eternal word do not change. Holy Spirit, enable us to respond to your gracious promises with faithful and obedient hearts through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Our scripture reading comes from Numbers chapter 22 and 23. Please remain standing if you are able. Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. And Balak, the son of Zipor, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. And Moab said to the elders of Midian, This horde will now lick us up, all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field. So Balak, the son of Zapor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor, at Pethor, which is near the river, in the land of the people of Emma, to call him, saying, Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, they cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed. And this is verse 17. And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him, and Balak said to him, What has the Lord spoken? And Balaam took up his discourse and said, Rise, Balak, and hear, give ear to me, O son of Zippor. God is not man that he should lie, or a son of man that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will he not fulfill it? Behold, I received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them. God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, What has God wrought? Behold, a people. As a lioness it rises up, and as a lion it lifts itself. It does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain. And Balak said to Balaam, Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all. But Balaam answered Balak, Did I not tell you all that the Lord says, that I must do? This is God's word. Thanks be to God.

Kenneth Dyches:

Good morning, new city. Some of you notice that uh we are not talking about Balaam and his donkey today. Fear not, it is in the children's worship guide. So you can color along as you answer some questions if you want more information about that story. No, what today we're talking about is blessing. See, oftentimes when uh we say bless you to someone who sneezes, uh, we're not expecting that we will instantly heal them of whatever illness that they have, right? Um, or uh if your southern grandmother uh says, bless your heart, we're not expecting that our hearts will become instantly sanctified and holy, are we? No, oftentimes we don't fully understand what blessing means. Uh, when uh God's blessing is conferred in baptism, there's power there. It's not just uh words that are nice, it's not just well-wishing. Uh, God's power and person and grace are over those people. And so blessing has real power, as we will see in this passage and in our sermon today. However, we often want to take blessing on our own terms, don't we? Rather than receive blessing on God's terms. And so why is that? Well, we all have empty hearts that, absent of God's blessing, raise up alternatives and seek after those alternatives. Those alternatives you can call idols. Those are idols of our hearts that we go after. That might be financial self-security, uh, where we're if we're financially stable, then you feel blessed. It might be a comfortable and stress-free life, which looks like prayers that the Lord would keep everything calm and easy and stress-free. Maybe it's career and achievement. You know, if if business is good, then then I feel blessed. Maybe it's relationships. If I'm accepted by my friends or the opposite sex, if I marry the right person, then I will have the blessed life. Maybe it's image and self-branding, right? Our social media curates our lives so that when people look at our feeds, they see a life that looks blessed, all of the highlights of our lives. Maybe it's self-health and spiritual autonomy or moral and religious performance, right? If I do the right things, then the universe or God will give me good things in return. Those are all things that our hearts, instead of going to God first, can go to in order to feel to fill the empty void in our hearts to find blessing on our own terms. However, even though our hearts tend to do that day in and day out, there is good news, which is that God has already blessed his people. We just need to kneel to receive it. God has blessed his people, so we must kneel to receive it. So my first point today is the definition of blessing. What exactly is blessing? Well, blessing holds real power. And so if we look at Numbers chapter 22, verse 6, you can go ahead and if you have a Bible, you can open that, or a Bible app, you can go ahead and bust that out now. Scroll and click your way to the right passage, is Numbers 22. And so in verse 6, Balak says to Balaam, Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed. So Balach here, he truly believes that if uh Balaam is able to curse Israel, to revoke their blessing, then he will have real power to defeat them. Right? So he's expecting this is more than well-wishing, this is an opportunity for him to defeat God's people. Now that word Barak is a really, it's the Hebrew term for blessed in the Bible, uh, and it's a really important one. Essentially, it means to bless and invoke with divine favor and abundant life, to bestow power for success, prosperity, and fertility. So, blessing in scripture, the blessing over God's people is divine power for success according to God's terms, right? And if we look at our passage, we see that Israel has God's blessing. They have power, provision, and abundant life, and they have become an abundant people. Go ahead and look at me at 22, verses 2 through 3. Bloch, the son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was in great dread of the people because they were many, and they were overcome with fear of the people of Israel. And then in verse 5, it even says that they covered the face of the earth and they are dwelling opposite me. So this is a people who, in the verses just before this, it says that God gave over the enemy into their hands, right? Because the tabernacle is with them. The tabernacle is the throne of God, it's the footstool of his throne. And so as the tabernacle goes with God's people, God's very presence and power goes with them against every enemy. And so Israel has defeated uh the Amorites, who had actually already defeated the Moabites. And so the Moabites are like, well, dude, what chance do we have versus these people? In addition to that, they're an abundant people. They've come out of Egypt, delivered by God. Uh and in Genesis chapter 2, verses 2 through 3, we see where this blessing has come from, why God chose this people. And that reads, uh, God says to Abraham, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So here we see that Israel, they're a great people, they're defeating anyone they come across. God is providing all that they need in the wilderness, he has delivered them from Egypt, and Balak is not ignorant of that. He sees all of these things, and he knows that he cannot go against them on his own. Israel has God's blessing, their power for success according to his will. And that power is God's very presence. In Numbers chapter 6, verses 23 through 27, it reads, The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel. You shall say to them, The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them. This is, of course, also the benediction that we speak over you at the end of the service every week. And so notice a few things in this passage. The name Yahweh is invoked. The power for abundant life comes only from the life giver. Second, his face and countenance are invoked. God's personal presence is actually tied up in blessing. And thirdly, his name is placed upon them. God makes a claim over the people of Israel as his own when he blesses them. And notice in our passage, if you look at chapter 23, verse 20, it reads, Behold, I received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. God is the only source of blessing. God is the life giver who created all things, and those who receive his blessing receive abundant life according to his purposes, power to succeed. So why does blessing hold all of this power? Why does God's blessing hold all of this power? What is God's doing? Well, it is in line with his character. If we look at verse 19, Balaam says, God is not a man that he should lie, or a son of man that he should change his mind. He has said, and will he not do it? Or he has spoken and will he not fulfill it. What Balaam is getting there at there uh is God's immutability, the idea that he does not change. Now we change our minds all the time. I don't know about you, but I uh resolve to work out every evening after my kids go to bed. But lo and behold, uh I finally get my kids to bed, you know, after 30 minutes to an hour of trying to put them down, and that TV is very tempting. And I turn it on and just see what's going on there. I'll say, you know, maybe after I work out, I'll see what I'll watch. And lo and behold, I'm watching Netflix for hours and I have not worked out at all. And then it becomes a week and I have not worked out all week, right? So you get it, right? We change our minds. Things, circumstances come up that move us in a different direction, not so with God. When he resolves to do something, he accomplishes it. He has given to Abraham a blessing that is, he is carrying out in Israel and God's people, and he will surely accomplish it. And then that goes along with who he is. Yahweh reveals himself to Moses and he says, Uh, My name is Yahweh Yahweh, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Right? This is the God who is offering to us his blessing. He is good and merciful and gracious and pursues us in steadfast love, and he will certainly accomplish the blessing that he gives to us. And so that power, that blessing is power for success, prosperity, and abundant life according to the one who has given you life. But just to give you a brief illustration on what that looks like, oftentimes uh parenthood uh and parents with their children uh is an image in scripture to describe God's relationship with us. So I'll tell you a little bit about my son Luca. Luca uh just started karate recently. Uh it's his first sport. He was super stoked. He walks in the first day and his lights just lit up. His face lit up. It looked like he was at um Disney World or something. And he does his first lesson, he loves it. Uh he comes in the next week, uh, he does a full lesson. Uh, he gets to break a board to earn his first belt. Uh really excited. You should have seen his face. I delighted and his delight. Uh lo and behold, fast forward two weeks, we've paid for the first three months because we're like, this kid loves this thing. This is great, this is fantastic. We're excited for him. Uh, I try to bring him into the dojo, and lo and behold, he does not want to go in. And he doesn't want to get on the mat. Uh, and he's cheerful. He's worried. Something has happened that has caused him to worry about uh coming onto the mat and maybe disappointing somebody or uh getting things wrong, not doing things right. Uh and so he doesn't want to do it. And of course, as a parent, you're thinking, like, okay, I want to listen to you and love you well, but also I paid for the next three months. So you kind of have to do it. Um But you know, as gently as we could, we listened to him and encouraged him. Uh I would pray for him as we went in. Uh and then uh the next couple times as I brought him in, they would let me do some of the moves with him on the mat. And as I did that, he started to build up a courage. He started to feel my presence and feel comforted by me. He started to feel a power uh to succeed and to do well. And lo and behold, in the next couple of lessons, now he's running around, he's doing it on his own, uh, and he knows that I am there and I am with him, even though I'm not right next to him. In the same way, our hearts tend to be enveloped by fear and want to go to things uh opposite of what God wants for us. And yet, when God, when we receive what God has for us, when we know He is with us, God's blessing gives us power to succeed in the same way that I bless Luca with my presence and give him power to succeed. Yet, that being true, why does Baloch and why do we tend to still seek after blessing on our own terms? Well, that leads me to my second point. We've seen the definition of blessing, and now we'll look at counterfeit blessings. So go ahead and look at Numbers 22, verses 1 through 4. We see Balak seeking blessing on his own terms. Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho, and Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and Moab was in great dread of the people because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel, and Moab said to the elders of Midian, This horde will now lick up all that is around us as the ox licks up the grass of the field. So Balak, the son of Zapor, who was king of Moab at the time, did those things. So what do we see? We see fear, right? The Moabites go to Bloch. Block has seen all of these people, and fear is driving them, and it reveals their idol, right? At this point, Israel actually, if you look into the details, they're miles from the border of Moab. So at this point, they are not actively threatening Moab at all. And yet they've seen what happens when Israel uh goes through a nation, uh, when God leads them uh in the direction of another nation, when a nation opposes them. And so fear begins rising up that uh Israel will take from them their resources, that Israel will take from them their autonomy to rule themselves. Uh and so we see that their idol is self-autonomy, to do things in their own way, not to have to consider what God wants, uh but to go about it in their own way. And that leads to sin, right? So, what how do they respond? Well, the king of Moab decides to go and recruit somebody who's known for blessing and cursing to go and curse Israel, to actively oppose God's people. And so, even though the truth is right in front of him, right? This people's come out of Egypt, they've defeated the Amorites, they're great in number. He even, he and Balaam actually both use Yahweh's name, which means they know what God is over Israel. They've heard of him. God is making a name for himself by blessing Israel and deliver them, delivering them. And so, nonetheless, he is coming against that God and this people. And this is where we see his spiritual blindness. We even see the fact that he he looks at the people of Israel and he says, They're gonna take everything from me. They're like an ox, they're gonna lick it up. But Balaam later will say, Well, this, they are like an ox, but God is their horns. He is defending them. And those who bless them will be blessed along with them, and those who curse them will be cursed against them. And yet he still continues. And this shows us the irrationality of our hearts towards our idols, right? We like to think that we're rational beings, but when our empty hearts are deceived and go after wrong things, they tilt in the wrong direction direction and they just keep going. Which is why Balak will continually try to curse Israel over our three chapters, even though Balaam keeps saying, I can only bless these people. This is what God's given me. And yet he continues in the wrong direction. Eric Hofer, an American moral philosopher, says, You can never get enough of what you don't really need. Right? Our hearts are always, as they go after our idols, uh, they can never quite get enough, and yet they keep going. They keep going in the wrong direction. Which is why Jim Carrey says, I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see it's not the answer. Right? He finally got exactly what he wanted, what his heart was going after, what he was filling the void with, and he realized I am still not satisfied. This is still not the blessing that I was seeking. So I wonder, what are you afraid of right now? What idols lay behind that fear? How are you responding in sin? And how are you blind to the blessing that God is giving you, offering you in the midst of it? How is your empty heart filling up and seeking something other than God? A rational and perhaps subconscious, full tilt towards destruction. So we see that Balak's heart is oriented that way. All of our hearts, because of sin, are oriented in that direction. And now we'll see what the opposite of blessing is. So we've seen the definition of blessing, counterfeit blessings, and now the opposite of blessing. Go ahead and look at chapter 23, verse 21. The opposite of blessing is iniquity and the curse. And we actually see the word for iniquity, one of the words for iniquity in chapter 23, verse 21, he says, Balaam says, He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob. This is Balaam speaking of God beholding Israel, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them. That word for misfortune is a word often used of the human condition of the human heart, and it carries a sense of emptiness. The stress on emptiness that leads to idolatry and deception that leads to sin and wickedness. See, back in Genesis chapter 2 and 3, deception, uh, the lies of the enemy led to Adam and Eve sinning against God, choosing a life apart from God, which was then the absence of the presence of God as they were banished from the garden and his receiving his curse instead. Because as we saw earlier, God's very presence is his blessing towards us. As he is with us and goes with us, we receive power for success and flourishing and abundant life. But when their hearts were deceived by the lies of the enemy and they chose to fill them with the wrong things, they didn't receive the abundant blessing that God had for them. Instead, they were receiving death, futility, and curse. The opposite of blessing is curse. And so the lies of Satan likewise deceive our own hearts into grasping onto idols instead of God. And this leads us to curse as well. Deceived hearts always end in curse. Go ahead and look at Numbers 24, verse 9. At the end, and the end of verse 9, it reads, Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you. Balaam here is echoing God's blessing and promise to Abraham. And after multiple attempts of Balak to curse Israel, Balak is now reaping curse instead. And Balak will, in the next few verses, describe exactly how Israel uh will conquer the Moabites. And so as our hearts continually move in the wrong direction away from God, eventually the blessings that we seek in our own power are going to fail us. And when we when they do, we will be left not with blessing, but with curse. Tim Keller says, when we turn good things into ultimate things, they become our curses. Every idol starts with something good, whether it's work, family, or comfort. But when the heart elevates it above God, it inevitably destroys the one who clings to it. And yet the good news is that though our hearts are like that, this is not the end. We can receive the blessing of God. See, receiving the blessing, this is my fourth point, receiving the blessing requires surrender. We open our hands when we receive the benediction, and God proclaims his blessing over us because we are saying we want not the things of our own heart that it tries to grasp for, but the things that you have for us. The literal definition of blessing is to kneel down or make kneel, right? Some scholars believe there's a connection because uh a blessing is giving from the greater to the lesser. And so likewise, uh when we kneel, when we surrender, when we submit to what God desires for us rather than what our hearts want, when we repent and turn away from those things that I listed in the beginning and instead invite God to give us what he has for us, we receive his blessing. However, you might be here today and be thinking, you know, I uh maybe a friend invited you, uh maybe you stopped in to check out uh the church for the first time, and so you're thinking to yourself, well, you know, I uh I receive blessing in many parts of my life. You know, I I follow other religions. I uh know lots of people who um bless me and and who uh love me and I receive the things that I need. Uh and so maybe you're you're wondering, like, I don't I don't feel like I need to submit to to just the Christian God. I don't need to submit to uh the the God of this church. I don't really understand why there's an explicit call to that. Um and so to that I would say uh this is an invitation. I wonder uh how many of us are even right now experiencing the emptiness of our hearts, experiencing the things that we're going after not completely satisfying us, experiencing fear uh in our lives that things will be lost or taken from us, or maybe we have experienced loss and things or people taken from us. And we understand the emptiness that we have in our hearts and the desire for something more. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. That is an invitation from God in Jesus Christ to come to God to receive his blessing because Jesus has earned it on our behalf. Maybe you're here today and you're like, I come to church every Sunday. I'm part of communities and circles, and I do all of the good things. I try to serve others, I try to love others, and so I am walking in God's blessing. Maybe that's true. Maybe that's true. But uh Paul tells us in Romans 3 that no one truly seeks after God. Our hearts are oriented in the wrong direction. And then in Romans 4, 5, uh 4 through 8, he says, And to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. See, it's repentance, it's acknowledging all of the things in our heart that we go to, laying them before the one who created us, the life giver, and saying, These are yours. Would you help me to receive what you have for me in all of these things? These things, when I go after them in my own power, are sin. But when I believe in faith that you are giving me your blessing, I know that I am covered by the blood of Jesus. I am forgiven, and I will receive and experience the blessing that you have for me. That's why the author of John also in 1 John 1 8 says, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. See, God's blessings come to us in Jesus Christ. In Numbers uh chapter 23, in our passage, um, verse 20. Rather in verse 21, we see at the end of 21, the Lord their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them. The shout of a king. What is he looking forward to and prophesying and seeing? Well, in Revelation 19, we see the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is Jesus Christ, who returns again and defeats all his enemies, defeats the father of lies, defeats all the lies in our hearts that move us in the wrong direction. That is the King of Kings who declares his victory over the world and over our hearts. And then in Revelation 22, 4 through 5, it says, They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads, and the night will be no more. We're seeing the fulfillment of the blessing given in numbers. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. We will be with God forever. We will see him face to face. We will be satisfied in him. We will receive fullness of joy. That is what comes to us. The blessing is going to be fulfilled because the God who gave it to us never changes, because he is good and because he is our King. So as we kneel and we receive his blessing, we will see the fulfillment of it in part now, but soon and one day forever. And then at the end of Revelation in chapter 22, verse 7, he says, And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. So Jesus reigns. We know that all things work for the good of those who submit to his reign. For it was God that was able to speak of word of blessing through Balaam. And so, how much more through the blood of Jesus Christ who has secured our salvation forever. Go ahead and pray with me now. Yahweh, you are our God. You do not change. You are the God of blessing. You are good and righteous. You have pursued us in steadfast love. You desire that we not only receive your blessing, but you accomplish it in us, and you desire that we would experience it. Lord, by your spirit, would you help us to discern our hearts? Would you help us to see the ways we're striving after things, after blessings in our own power that are not in line with your will, that we put before your will. Would you help us, oh Lord, to offer those up to you today so that we can receive the fullness for what of what you have for us in Jesus Christ? Amen.