Sermon Tone Analysis
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Recap from last week:
Balak, the leader of the Moabites saw that the Israelites were close to them and he knew that they had just taken out the Amorites and he was scared.
So, he apparently had heard about this Balaam guy who was a diviner...
We don’t really know much about what that means or looks like, but we do know that he does meet with God...
So, Balak sends word to Balaam and asks him to come and curse the Israelites....
Balaam says he needs to meet with the Lord and does through the night.
God tells him the Israelites are blessed and that he was not to curse them...
Balak doesn’t like taking “no” for an answer and now sends back higher ranking officials and offers him a nice amount of money....
Balaam again returns to God and this time God says that he can go, but he must only say what God tells him to say...
They begin the journey, and on the way, something happens with Balaam and God becomes angry...
He places an angel in the road to stop him.
Balaam can’t see the angel, but his donkey does and runs Balaam off the road....Balaam beats his donkey...
The donkey then presses against the wall and Balaam beats him a second time..
The third time, the donkey lays down in the middle of the road and Balaam beats him again...
The Lord opens the mouth of the donkey…and Balaam has this conversation with this donkey...
Last week we had 2 main points in the message....
The first was
1.
A lesson in Focus
Initially it seemed that Balaam was focused on what God had for Him.
He was willing to meet with God before he responded to Balak’s summons...
But, along the way he gets distracted and can’t see the angel in the road....
The second lesson was
2. God Spoke through a Donkey
We talked about how a talking donkey would be just as crazy in Balaam’s day as it would be in our day....
How God chose to speak through an animal in order to get Balaam attention...
So we asked the question: are we willing to listen for God, even if the means seems crazy?
God wants to speak to His people…are we willing to listen?
So, this week we pick back up on the road…while this conversation between Balaam and his donkey is happening...
The first lesson for us to see today...
1. Balaam Couldn’t see the Angel until God opened his eyes
So, Balaam experiences this supernatural talking donkey, but he still couldn’t see the angel standing there....
Balaam was still blinded....
But, God chose to open his eyes so that he could see the angel....
This isn’t the first time that God opened someone’s eyes so that they could see things in the heavenly realms...
Remember the story of Hagar and Ishmael?
So, basically, Abraham sends Hagar away with Ishmael after God promising that He would still make a nation from Ishmael...
So, Hagar and Ishmael are in the Desert and run out of water
Ishmael becomes thirsty and starts crying…so, like a good mom, Hagar leaves Ishmael in the shade and walks away....
Here is what God does....
So, God opens her eyes to see a well there....
The question looming is: was the well already there or did God provide the water?
Well, based on the reading of the text, the well was already there…she just must have missed it.
Was she to focused on her problems to see it?
And another time in 2 Kings 6
So, here, again, we have the servant who is blinded and can’t see the armies of God...
Again I ask, was it that they army just wasn’t there or could the servant just not see it?
You see, as with Balaam, there are times when we are unable to see what God is doing until God opens our eyes!
My question this morning is: are we willing to allow the Lord to open our eyes to see the things that He is doing?
Or, are we too caught up in our own circumstances, that we don’t want to see what He is doing?
We are too caught up in our own thoughts or theologies, that we can’t see it....
Now, when I say theologies, I am not just talking about a particular camp of beliefs, I am talking about your belief....
If you believe God isn’t able to speak, or do, what He has done, that is a theology that you have....
Do we get blinded in our own thoughts?
Or, are we willing to step out and say “you know what God, open my eyes to see what you are doing!”
So, the first lesson is that God opened Balaam eyes and he could see the angel…the second lesson is...
2. What Balak meant for evil and destruction, God used for good!
Balak wanted Balaam to curse the Israelites, but God turned it around...
Let’s pick back up at chapter 23 verse 3....So Balaam has reached Balak at this point and they performed some sacrifices and built seven altars....
So, Balak wanted the Israelites cursed, but God has Balaam speak a blessing over them!
This happens two more times and in
Balaam’s response is gold....almost literally
For time’s sake, I won’t read the whole thing, but jump to verse
And who is this star and scepter?
It is Jesus!
In total, Balaam has 7 messages from the Lord...
What Balak meant as a curse, God used to bless!
What Balak meant as destruction on the nation of Israel, God used as a blessing a foretelling of His coming Son and King, Christ!
So, the message for us this morning is that when bad things happen, God is in the business of redeeming them!
When it seems that everything is stacked up against us, God, can and does continue to work...
Are we willing to allow Him to open our eyes so that we can see the work that He is doing?
Are we going to trust that He has a plan, even when things seem to be against us?
Worship Team
The story of Balaam actually takes a pretty bad turn…we might jump into it next week, but go ahead a search it out this week...
As we move into closing this morning, I want us to consider these things...
What is our focus on?
Are we willing to allow God to speak to us however He wants to?
Are we praying that God will open our eyes to see His work?
And, do we trust that even when things seem bad that God is going to use it for His glory?
And if we answer these questions honestly, how can it change our lives?
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