Children, do you test your parents at times?  I think you know what I mean: Do your parents tell you what to do or say but you want to say or do the opposite? Let me give you an example. Let’s say your parent tells you to clean your room but you don’t want to. Or maybe he or she tells you to get at your homework but you’re in the middle of a computer game and don’t want to stop right then. You know what to say. Maybe your parent will give in if you start whining, or if you ask for just 15 more minutes; or maybe if you cry about it they’ll give in and let you do as you please for a while longer.

Now I believe you know God’s Word well enough to know that what you’re doing does not please God at that point, just as it doesn’t please your mom or dad. You know the Bible tells you to Honor your father and your mother that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. (Ephesians 6) But you have other ideas, so you selfishly try to sway your parents instead. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t. But God still tells us that you have done wrong, and along with all the rest of us, you deserve to be punished for it!

Amazingly God knew you were going to sin as he knows I would too. That’s why he sent his own Son Jesus. God decided even before he created the world (Ephesians 1) that he was going to punish his own Son for your sins and mine. Jesus would have to suffer and die on a cross so that we could live forever in heaven with him. Now that doesn’t mean we will never have to suffer any consequences for sins. I believe you also know that –because sometimes you do wind up being grounded or having even more chores to do when you don’t obey your parents or teachers. But at least we can rest assured that because of Jesus, our heavenly Father is satisfied; our sins are paid for; he loves us –even as he disciplines us through our parents and teachers –and we will be with him forever.

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You may have noticed that our text is only a few chapters after last week’s but in those few chapters we have gone from the beginning of Israel’s years in the desert to near the end of those 39 years. So not only do we skip ahead many years but the Bible also does.

As I grew up hearing about those 40 years of wandering I pictured the Israelites pitching their tents each evening and packing everything up the next day. That rarely if ever happened. They usually stayed in one place for weeks or months or even years. They’re referred to as years of wandering because they lived in no permanent place until they entered the Promised Land.

In the chapters we skipped is the death of Moses’ brother Aaron. Also in those chapters Moses again struck a rock so the grumbling Israelites could drink –but this time Moses acted as though he was bringing the water forth. He didn’t give credit to God and for that God broke the news to him that he also would not enter the Promised Land. Of those who were 20 or older at the time of Israel’s defiance, only Joshua and Caleb would enter.

We should also note that just as we skipped a very important part when we made little of God’s giving of the law on Mt. Sinai, so in these chapters we have skipped another very precious part of Holy Scripture. But we have often considered it. Recall how they were again grumbling against the Lord so he had poisonous snakes enter the camp so many Israelites died. He then instructed Moses to create a bronze snake on a pole so any Israelite who looked at it believing in God’s promise did not die. Jesus makes the point that Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3)

In that incident we hear how God turned everything out for good for those who believed in him and that’s a lesson for us today as well. As we consider this strange incident of Balaam and his donkey let us learn to declare with the apostle Paul and with the hymn writer:

What God Ordains is Always Good!

Pastor: You don’t REALLY believe that this incident happened, do you? I mean REALLY! A donkey talking? That’s pretty far fetched!  Well, brothers and sisters in Christ, I would hope that along life’s way you learned that song: If it’s in the Bible, then it’s truly so. And whether you did or not, I want you to know that I most certainly do believe that this incident occurred just as a literal serpent spoke to Eve in the Garden of Eden. In that case the devil spoke through the serpent; in this case the LORD God chose to allow the donkey to speak. What we should find strange about this text is not that a donkey spoke but that her master was not as smart as she was to know right from wrong!

Prior to our text the prophet Balaam had been told by the LORD twice before that he should speak only what God wanted him to say. But Balaam wanted some extra cash and he knew that if he could do as the enemy king Balak suggested, he would be richly rewarded for cursing Israel.

Now the LORD takes curses and blessings very seriously. Recall how young Jacob tricked his father Isaac into believing that he was his brother Esau. Isaac’s sight was nearly gone and so Jacob tricked him into giving him all the blessings Isaac had planned to place on his favored son Esau. So when Esau came Isaac said to him: Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing… I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So when it came to blessing Esau all Isaac could tell him was: Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above. You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke off your neck. (Genesis 27) And that’s what happened! Esau’s descendants lived in and around Petra –in a barren area south of the Dead Sea, and the Edomites, as they were called, always resented the Israelites. Oh, yes, the LORD takes curses and blessings very seriously!

And in this case Balaam knew that the LORD wanted him to only bless Israel, but he wanted to hire himself out and curse Israel instead!

So let’s first ask why the LORD had Balaam’s donkey speak and let’s listen because:

WITH BALAAM THE LORD WARNS US!

Three times the Angel of the LORD stood in Balaam’s way but only his donkey could see him! Each time she stopped –first by turning to the side, second by crushing Balaam’s foot against a vineyard wall, and third, by just lying down right under him. Each time Balaam beat his donkey. Now since we’ve all heard of people who are “stubborn as mules” we might think that this donkey was just acting up as she normally did. But when addressed on that very issue, Balaam admits that she didn’t normally treat him like that; apparently she was an obedient donkey. But in all three of these incidents the LORD makes it clear that he intended on killing Balaam if he continued in his plan.

Remarkably, after he opens Balaam’s eyes to the danger he had placed himself in, the LORD still allows Balaam to go to the king of the Moabites!  But as in the other times he went, Balaam could only speak a blessing and not a curse on Israel, in direct opposition to what the Moabite king hired him to do.

This brings up several points that are just as valid for you and me today as they were 1400 years ago. First,

God gives us a free will that allows us to go against him.

While we readily admit what God ordains is always good, what we ordain, what we plan is often NOT good! The LORD said concerning Balaam’s plans: I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. Now, how was Balaam’s life’s path reckless? What was Balaam’s sin? Certainly it was more than just beating his donkey, though that was sinful too. No, Balaam’s sin was not asking: How can I please God, but rather asking: How much will the LORD let me get by with? Each time the Moabite messengers came, Balaam was like a kid with very bad teeth in a candy store begging his parent: Can I please have some more candy? I promise that one of these days I’ll remember to brush my teeth! Each time the messengers came asking Balaam to curse Israel, he’d ask the LORD, Can I please go with them? I’ll be as good as I want to be! And when the LORD would answer no, Balaam would go anyway, figuring the LORD wouldn’t punish him; he’d let him get by with it.

Unfortunately Balaam was looking at his heavenly Father as many parents are today when the only punishment they dole out is: Now, Junior, you shouldn’t do that! Now, Missy, you know that’s not what we want you to do! And the kids soon realize they can get by with anything.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please the sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Have there been times when you have not listened to this Word of God very well and also asked: What can I get by with? I get tired of being good all the time; once in a while I just have to let loose. This once I should be able to go on the Internet to places I shouldn’t, right? It doesn’t hurt to look –as long as I don’t touch! Besides everybody’s doing it! I’m sober most of the time. So what if I get drunk once in a while? But officer, I was late for church; that’s why I was speeding. Do you suppose the officer will let that one go? Why should the LORD God Almighty? Paul encourages us instead: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to the family of believers. (Galatians 6)

There’s another important point taught us by Balaam here.

God often ALLOWS us to go against his will!

And we often choose to go against his will even though we know better –just as Balaam did. Could God just stop us from sinning? Oh, most definitely. So why doesn’t he? Because he doesn’t want mere robots. He tells us: Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22) We can’t do that if he absolutely controls us. After many angels sinned by rebelling against him, the LORD apparently sealed some angels so that they remain only holy, while others sealed their own fate of spending eternity in hell with their leader Satan. But God never chose to do the same with the crown of his creation, human beings. He still allows us to sin against him, but desires that we love him instead.

Yet every time we do sin, he wants us to come to the same realization Balaam did only after his eyes were opened and he saw the LORD as that angel standing before him. We know it was the 2^nd person of the Trinity because only the LORD has power over death and life, and he speaks as the LORD himself. That’s one reason why John refers to Jesus as The Word. (John 1, 1 John 1) The LORD had to appear to Balaam personally to graciously try to stop him from going against his will. What will it take for us to listen? Hopefully not his appearing to us –since he says the next time he’s going to do that is when he appears as our Judge at the end of the world –and then it will be too late! No, God tells us: Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it. (Luke 11)

There’s at least one more important point here: we need to realize

The LORD has every right to destroy us.

When we disobey him he has every much right to kill us as he planned to kill Balaam, but he often gives us another chance just as he did Balaam. That’s not because we deserve it but because he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness. (Psalm 103) He proved that by letting Balaam go so he could pronounce another blessing on Israel; he proved that to us by sending his own Son to die for all those times we sinfully test him. The fact is that while he has every right to destroy us forever in hell,

THE LORD DESIRES ONLY TO BLESS US.

God our Savior…wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2) Paul wrote in the prior chapter: Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners –of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. He says that if God could have mercy on him, someone who had formerly persecuted Christians and had them executed, then he will have mercy on anyone including you and me. We would say if God showed so much mercy even on Balaam, then he will also show it to you and to me.

And with what results? Balaam unfortunately still continued in his sinful ways and found a way for God to curse Israel. Paul used the rest of his life to proclaim his Savior Jesus.

What will you and I do? God forbid that we should further misuse his grace! May we instead realize that God has shown how gracious he is to us so that we will see how he turns everything in our life around for the good of others –and also for us as together we serve him. May we learn to continue to follow God’s plans for our lives and in that way he will bring the good he plans for us and to us. Amen.