From Numbers 22
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been talking about “change.” In some cases, change is necessary to save us from danger and even ourselves. In the book of Numbers in the Bible, chapter 22 and even chapters 23 and 24 we are told about a man named Balaam who had a relationship with God that people noticed. King Balak of the Moabites had said that whoever Balaam blessed was blessed and whoever he cursed was cursed. King Balak was willing to pay a handsome amount of money to Balaam if Balaam would curse the Israelites. You see the Israelites had come out of Egypt and had settled right next door to the Moabites and King Balak was terrified of them.
When Balaam first asked God what he should do, God told him he wasn’t to go with the Moabites. But King Balak persisted, and Balaam began to entertain the thought of fulfilling King Balak’s request and making a lot of money from it. So, God told him to go with the Moabites and as Balaam rode on his donkey to see King Balak, an angel of the Lord stood in the way with a drawn sword ready to kill Balaam. You see God hadn’t change, but Balaam was hopeful that God would change his mind and let him make some money. On 3 occasions, the angel of the Lord stood in the way of Balaam and his donkey and on 3 occasions Balaam’s donkey avoided him or stopped so as to spare Balaam’s life. Each time the donkey was beaten by Balaam for not doing what Balaam directed him to do. The donkey saw the angel of the Lord, Balaam didn’t. Finally, on the third time when the donkey stopped, God opened up Balaam eyes so he could see the angel of the Lord. God told Balaam he would have been dead, had the donkey not intervened.
The donkey saved Balaam’s life. Balaam heard the donkey speak, but it wasn’t until he
saw the angel of the Lord that was he willing to change. Balaam was about to be killed for not listening to the Lord the first time. Yes, the allure of money had caused Balaam to compromise and bring him in danger of death.
Sometimes we know we need to change but we are unwilling to do so because we want things our way. That mentality will bring us to death and destruction. Just this week, I received a telephone call from a family friend who asked me if I could do a “celebration of life” service for his daughter. His daughter was only around 20 years old, and she was killed in an auto accident just a few days earlier. A drunk driver, crossed over into her lane and killed her. Now we all know that drunk driving is dangerous, inconsiderate, and stupid. We’ve seen many commercials on TV warning people not to drive drunk. Now some man who was dumber than a donkey decided to drive drunk, and he ended up taking the life of one of the sweetest young ladies there was. He was unwilling to change, and it brought death to an innocent young lady. Some of us are on the wrong road and we need to stop making excuses and change now before it’s too late. Don’t be dumber than a donkey. Listen to what God is saying. Change and do things His way. You will be glad you did. It will save your life and perhaps the lives of those around you.
Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Steve VanAmburg
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