EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/18/2025
8:30 PM
My
Worship
Time Focus: PT-2 “Their
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Bible
Reading &
Meditation Reference: 2 Peter 2:15-16
Message
of the verses: “forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having
followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of
unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute
donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.”
(NASB)
“forsaken
the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son
of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 But was rebuked for his
iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the
prophet.” (KJV)
I will continue to quote from John
MacArthur’s commentary and will put many if not all of the verses that he
references on this Spiritual Diary, using the KJV of the Bible until I finally
get my Online Bible Program onto my computer which I had on my older computer.
“In the first half of Numbers 22,
Balaam appears to be a faithful prophet (vv. 7-21.”
“7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of
Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came
unto Balaam and spoke unto him the words of Balak. 8 And he said unto them, Lodge here this night,
and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the
princes of Moab abode with Balaam. 9 And
God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? 10 And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of
Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, 11 Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt,
which covers the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I
shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out. 12 And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go
with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed. 13 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said
unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refused to give
me leave to go with you. 14 And
the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refused
to come with us.
“15 ¶ And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and
more honorable than they. 16 And they
came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let
nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: 17 For I will promote thee unto very great honor,
and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee,
curse me this people. 18 And Balaam answered and said unto the servants
of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go
beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here
this night, that I may know what the LORD will say to me more. 20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said
unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but
yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. 21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled
his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.”
“Yet, even
in this passage, Balaam’s stall tactics imply that he hoped to negotiate a
higher payment from Balak before performing his prophetic service (v. 13). Of course, in the end, Balaam did not curse
Israel but rather blessed her.
Nonetheless, he was more than willing to accept Balak’s riches (vv. 18,
40; 24:13) because he loved the wages of unrighteousness (cf. Prov.
11:18).” “Verse 18 is highlighted above.” “40 And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to
Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.” “13 If
Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the
commandment of the LORD, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but
what the LORD saith, that will I speak?”
“18 ¶ The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to
him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.”
“If God
had not intervened on Israel’s behalf, Balaam would have willfully sinned for
his own material prophet (cf. Deut. 23:4-5).”
“4 Because they met you not
with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and
because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of
Mesopotamia, to curse thee. 5 Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not
hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto
thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee.”
“Even though Balaam claimed to speak
only the words of God, the Lord knew that he wanted to curse Israel in exchange
for money. Because of his greed, Balaam received rebuke for his own transgression. While he was riding on his mute donkey, the
Lord miraculously caused the animal to speak (Num. 22:22-35) and the madness
of the prophet was restrained.”
“22 ¶ And God’s anger was kindled because he went:
and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he
was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing
in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of
the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into
the way. 24 But the angel of the LORD
stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall
on that side. 25 And when the ass saw
the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s
foot against the wall: and he smote her again. 26 And the angel of the LORD went further, and
stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right
hand or to the left. 27 And when the ass
saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was
kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. 28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and
she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me
these three times? 29 And Balaam said
unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine
hand, for now would I kill thee. 30 And
the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast
ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so
unto thee? And he said, Nay. 31 Then the
LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in
the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell
flat on his face. 32 And the angel of
the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three
times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse
before me: 33 And the ass saw me, and
turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now
also I had slain thee, and saved her alive. 34 And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I
have sinned; for I knew not that thou stood in the way against me: now
therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again. 35 And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go
with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt
speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.” (I
have to say here that this is one of my favorite Old Testament passages.)
“The term
translated madness (paraphronia) literally means ‘beside one’s
own mind.’ In other words, Balaam was so greedy that he was ‘beside himself.’ His love of money had caused him to act
irrationally (cf. 2 Cor. 11:23).” 23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a
fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in
prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.”
“In addition to his greed, Balaam
was also motivated by sexual immorality.
When his attempt to curse Israel failed, the prophet tried to
ruin the Hebrews through moral corruption,
He used his influence to promote relationships that God had strictly
forbidden (Ex. 34:12-16; Deut. 7:1-4; Josh. 23:11-13; Ezra 9:12; cf. Ex.23:32)—namely,
marriages between the Israelites and their pagan neighbors, the Moabites and
Midianites (Num. 25; 31:9-20). In
Numbers 31:16, Moses identifies Balaam as a primary corrupting influence: ‘Behold, these [pagan women] caused the
sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in
the matter of Peor’ (cf. Num. 25:1-3).” “1
¶ And Israel abode in Shittim, and the
people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices
of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the
anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.”
“Balaam encouraged the Israelites to practice idolatry, immorality,
and intermarriage in a second attempt to destroy them—this time by assimilating
them into pagan Canaanite society. The
prophet’s apostasy not only assaulted God’s holiness, but it also threatened
the very existence of His chosen people.
Although Balaam knew better, he allowed fleshly impulses to guide his
choices. And, as a result, he suffered
the ultimate penalty of death (Num. 31:8; cf. Prov. 13:15.” “8 And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the
rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur,
and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the
sword.’ “15 ¶ Good understanding giveth favor: but the way
of transgressors is hard.”
12/18/2025
9:02 PM
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