Message 7-11-08

Balak-(Destroyer)

Numbers 22:2-25:9)

Micah 5:6-6:8

Acts 2:6-12

 

Introduction

Balak, the king of Moab, persuades the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites so that he can defeat them and drive them out of the region. Balaam tries unsuccessfully to carry out this mission three times and finally blesses Israel instead, prophesying that Israel’s enemies will be defeated. God punishes the Israelites with a plague for consorting with the Moabite women and their god. The plague is stayed after Phinehas kills an Israelite man and his Midianite woman.

 

Numbers 24:14-19

14 "And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days." 15 So he took up his oracle and said: "The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, and the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened; 16 The utterance of him who hears the words of God, and has the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, with eyes wide open: 17 "I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult. 18 "And Edom shall be a possession; Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession, while Israel does valiantly. 19 Out of Jacob One shall have dominion, and destroy the remains of the city."

 

Verse 17 mirrors the blessing Jacob gave to Judah in Genesis.

 

Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.

 

Though Balaam was not an Israelite God had blessed him with the gift of prophecy. There were probably times when Balaam did not use this gift wisely but in this instance God was bringing a message, through Balaam, that Israel was a special people called out by Him, even though they would succumb to the temptations of the nations around them. We see this happening in our own day with Israel making deals with their enemies in order to gain peace which Scripture tells us will be fleeting at best. Israel had peace in its history only a few times and never for that long a period of time except in the reign of Solomon and if we use Solomon as the example we see that Solomon did what the leaders of Israel are doing today.

 

Solomon made alliances with the nations around him by marrying the daughters of these nations in direct violation of the Torah. Today there is a move on to try to bring legitimacy to polygamy within the Messianic Movement. The argument used is that God does not prohibit polygamy in the Bible but He certainly does not condone it either. In every instance that polygamy is shown in the Bible there have been consequences to those who practiced it. We see it happening with the Patriarchs, particularly Abraham and Jacob and we see what happened as a result of it. While Jacob was the father of the twelve sons and grandsons who would become the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel it comes to pass only through polygamy and we see the results of this in Jacob’s family.

 

With Abraham he listened to his wife Sarah and slept with Hagar and she gives birth to Ishmael who fathers twelve sons, a mirror image of the twelve tribes of Israel, who become the enemies of Israel. The consequences of polygamy run throughout the history of Israel and even before its existence. While God may not have banned it outright, from what we see in the Bible, it did not exalt the men and women who practiced it. Shouldn’t that be a lesson for all of us? Is God always explicit about certain acts that man does? The Torah is often quiet or not forthcoming about certain things men should do or not do.

 

This is an example of the situations happening in our world today. There are teachers who bring prophetic utterances to the Body of Messiah but these prophecies are not the words of God backed up by Scripture but merely the opinions of men. We are in the last days my friends, there is no doubt about that, but we don’t know how long that time will last but we do know how bad it will become. The only anchor we have to hold on to is Messiah. The only guidebook we have is the Torah. Everything else is opinion and we must be very careful in how we handle the opinions of men. Man’s opinions become the basis for teachings that run counter to what the Bible is trying to teach us. If we look to the opinions of men rather than the word of God we will run into problems.

 

Jeremiah 29:18 And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth -- to be a curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they have not heeded My words, says the LORD, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; neither would you heed, says the LORD.

 

God used a donkey to get the attention of Balaam. God is moving in our day and things are happening that have never happened before. The economic system of this world is being tossed about like never before. The sons of Ishmael and Esau are wielding power like never before in their history or ours. Israel’s enemies are pushing her on all sides and it seems like a powder keg is about to blow up. I hear that people are gathering food and other things that they believe will carry them through the hard times to come. I say look to the Lord for your sustenance and be ready in their faith in Messiah, holding fast to that faith and His Torah.

 

Micah 5:6-9

6 They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances; thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when he comes into our land and when he treads within our borders. 7 Then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, that tarry for no man nor wait for the sons of men. 8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, who, if he passes through, both treads down and tears in pieces, and none can deliver. 9 Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off.

 

God exiled both houses of Israel from the Land because of their sin. He cast them into the nations of the earth where many still live today, some not realizing who they are or where they have come from. This has all been a part of God’s plan. While He had top punish both Judah and Ephraim for their sins He also used this as an opportunity to plant His seed among the nations waiting for the day that He would awaken them to their heritage. This day is coming sooner than many of us realized and we must be ready to answer His call when He calls us.

 

Exodus 15:26 and said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you."

 

Revelation 19:1 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!

 

Are you ready for when this will take place? It may be in our lifetime or in the lifetime of our children. Who can say when God will move but I feel, within my spirit, that God has already begun to move and I am just as certain that the enemy is moving also. Satan knows his time is short and he will not take the Lord moving lightly. Neither should we. We must be ready to face what is coming towards us. How many of us have gone through hard times? How many of us have truly lived by faith in the Almighty?

 

Read the story of the Exodus again and again to see what the Lord is getting ready to bring on mankind. Things are moving faster and faster. Many have made the observation that time seems to be speeding up. I don’t think that is because many of us are getting older, I think it is because God is moving the hands of the clock a little faster than before. Those of us who have placed our faith in Yeshua and have been as obedient to His Torah as we can have been placed in this situation for times like these. We may share our walk with Messiah with our loved ones, our friends, co-workers and even people we may not know. They may listen and ask questions or they may turn and walk away.

 

It is our responsibility to share but to also live out the ways of the Lord in our lives. We have been called to the lamp in the darkness sharing the word of the Lord.

 

Matthew 5:15 "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

 

What are you doing with your lighted lamp my friends?

 

Acts 2:6-12

6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 "And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 "Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 "Cretans and Arabs -- we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?"

 

How many of you realize that what is taking place here in Acts chapter 2 is the revelation of God to the “lost tribes” of Israel? Look at the people who were gathered there in Jerusalem that day on Shavuot so long ago. They were from the nations where the Lord had scattered Ephraim as well as Judah. The Lord shared with them, in their own languages, the mighty works He had done and would do. The gift of tongues would have been better described as the gift of languages because it was known languages of the day that the message of Messiah was shared with those gathered for Shavuot.

 

It was not what happens in many Churches and Messianic groups today. I do not deny the charismatic nature of what God can do but I do questions what many do. In the name of the Lord, but it cannot be found in Scripture. The gift of tongues was given so that the miracle of what Yeshua had done could be shared openly. What we see happening today is confusion that is not of the Lord no matter what someone claims. I have seen too many claiming “The Lord told me…” and then they proceed to share the word and it does not line up with Scripture. If it does not line up with Scripture then we must proceed with caution because we are told that in the latter day’s teachers and prophets would come claiming to be from the Lord when they are not and all they are doing is bringing confusion upon the Body of Messiah.

 

Mark 13:22 "For false messiahs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

 

2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.

 

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

 

This is not the time to be turning away from the Messiah who laid down His life to redeem each and every one of you. This is the time to stand up and be counted. I can feel it in my spirit and down deep in my bones that the Day of the Lord is coming soon. Just look around you and I believe you can see the birth pangs of Messiah taking place.

 

Micah 4:10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, Like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city, you shall dwell in the field, and to Babylon you shall go. There you shall be delivered; there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

 

Just before I write this message I was not feeling that well. My stomach was queasy and I could not put my finger on just what was wrong. I now believe that it was the enemy attacking me because he did not want me to share this message with you. For this Torah cycle I have been sharing about holding onto your faith in Yeshua. I have seen many turn away from Him and many question His deity and place in the Godhead. I have seen teachers latching onto the title of Apostle, Prophet and whatever else they think will get them the attention of God’s people. Unfortunately God’s people are listening to these people who are bringing forth teachings that shake us to the very core of our faith. If we do not hold onto the Rock that is our foundation we will be swept away when the Lord comes to clean house. If you hold to the teachings of these men trouble will be coming your way. If your nose is not in your Bible you are in for a world of trouble.

 

God promises us that a remnant will be saved. Is He talking about a remnant out of the last generation that will live upon this earth or is He speaking about the remnant of the generations that have lived and will live? The bottom line is which generation are you a part of? The remnant generation who belong to Him or those who will not make it into the Kingdom of our Lord?

 

Alas for those who see and don’t know what they are seeing…Talmud

 

If you want to learn more about your Hebrew/Jewish Roots sign up for one of our e-mail lists at http://etz-chayim.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi and for other Torah Studies check out:

Tony Robinson at www.devoted.to/Torah (sign up) 

Mark R. Ensign at mrensign@arn.net (request to be added to list) 

Ardelle Brody [abrody@mchsi.com](posted on Mordecai’s website along with his Torah commentary-an excellent woman’s perspective)

 

 

May the Lord bless you and yours… Mordecai Silver

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