He has not observed iniquity in Jacob,
Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel (Numbers 23:21).

From one of the three occasions of God's blessing Israel, Balaam likely figured out what it would take for Israel to be cursed. They would need to be enticed to sin against God. And that is likely what he advised the Moabite and Midianite kings to do. So we read,

Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel (Numbers 25:1-3).

Twenty-four thousand Israelites died without a single arrow being shot by Moab or Midian. They died because they sinned against God. God was not inextricably bound to Israel, but their lives were entrixicably bound to God. God's unconditional covenant could remain in force with just a single Israelite. Remember, God invited Moses to be the primogeniture of a new generation of Israelites while He would destroy the current stubborn and rebellious generation. Moses passed on the invitation, but the potential was there. And unlike finite humanity, God has all the time in the world. 

Friends, let us never imagine that God is beholden to us. We are beholden to Him. God is only beholden to Himself. Like Israel of old, we don't cling to our righteousness but to the promises of God.

My wife and I have been doing a daily couple's journal for the past three years (link). One of the questions in this journal only now appeared (because of leap year, Feb. 29), and it asked something like, "What is a risk you don't mind taking?" I answered, "To believe and follow the Bible with all my heart." My wife asked, "How is that a risk?" I answered something like, "I don't know everything. There's a place for faith. I know enough to believe and commit." 

Paul wrote in Philippians 2:12, "Continue to work out your salvation in fear and trembling." The word "trembling" leaves room for some doubts and insecurities regarding the integrity of our faith and the assurance of our salvation. I am saved, and I believe it, but I tremble before a holy God, who condemns the vast majority of the world's people to an eternal Lake of Fire. This is also why I hold so firmly to the doctrine of God's unconditional election. I have little trust in the integrity of my faith if it is truly my own and not His gift to me.

If I lived in the days of Noah, could I really say that I would have been like Noah and not like the myriads of others who perished in the flood? How many of the other nations outside of Israel really knew the LORD so as to be saved? Even Abraham was taken out of idolatry. Could I really say that I would have been like Abraham? Who am I to think that I would not have sided with the ten spies that advised against taking the Promised Land? The rest of Israel did. Slim chance that I would have been like Joshua or Caleb, the only two that trusted God and made it into the Promised Land. We have a too high view of ourselves.

Dear friends, I can boast of nothing with regard to my salvation. Jesus is truly both the author and perfecter of my faith (Hebrews 12:2), from before the beginning and after its ending, with respect to salvation's means and salvation's ends, both in agency and in content. Freedom? Free will? We deify what we do not understand. This is but the invention of sinful man. I want no part of it. I am wholly saved by His grace.

Numbers 23: 9-10

From the rocky peaks I see them,
    from the heights I view them.
I see a people who live apart
    and do not consider themselves one of the nations!

Who can count the dust of Jacob

     Or number the fourth part of Israel

Let me die the death of the upright

     And let my end be like his!

I very much like this prayer & praise. Be a person not of this world, be, as C.S. Lewis put it, a fish out of water – not intended for this world.  Jesus lived up to this; “Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!”

Balaam, perhaps was speaking figuratively of the noble death and noble end of a righteous one, but we have a more complete picture through Jesus Christ.  Die doing what is right, as Jesus. Know what your end will be, as Jesus’.

Living a life in the hands a God, even dying the death of the upright having joy in the hands of God; being glorified and perfected holy and righteous forever – like Jesus.

How Awesome the future will be for those in Jesus!

I have heard often from the pulpit that God changes his will or mind according to our prayers.  It sounded good to me in the beginning because it gave me a certain level of comfort that as long as I perform well and show my zeal for Him, I will get what I think and believe is right.  The more I read and meditate on the Word, however, the more convinced I have become that's not what the Scripture says about God.  God is immutable because He foresees everything, ordains and appoints all the events of our lives.  Balaam tried three different times to change God's mind by offering bulls and rams at differet locations as if God could be pleased by changing the location of sacrifice.  We may think that it is such an absurd thing to do.  But isn't that what even christians of modern days do?  We often say that it wouldn't have been this way if we prayed harder, offered more monety contribution to church, or went to early rise service without missing one.  I could only imagine that God's purpose and plan would be undone because of our ill performance.  I am not disapproving of or belittling our religious zeal, but we should do all those with right mindset.  God will do and accomplish the purpose of His will no matter what, and we are just simply called to obey Him.  Once again I am reminded that I must simply pray that His will be done instead of thinking that I can change God's mind by prayer as if He were at my disposal.

God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent;
Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbres 23:19)

Alas, who can live except God has ordained it? (Numbers 24:23).

Even though these words come through the mouth of one, who may not have been a true prophet of God, the Scriptures teach that God used him to convey prophetic truth. I highlight the above pronouncements because they affirm what we should already understand about God:

(1) He does not lie (cf. 1 Samuel 15:29; 2 Samuel 22:31; Psalm 12:6; Psalm 33:4). 

(2) He does not repent (i.e. He does not change His ways) (Numbers 23:19-20; 1 Samuel 15:29). 

(3) He does what He says. 

(4) He determines destiny (i.e. He determines life and eternal life).

The sometimes confusing thing here is that there are passages where, for instance, God sends a lying spirit, or that the Bible says He changes His mind about carrying out a certain judgment. There are also passages that speak of God's arms and hands, even though the Bible also makes it clear that God is spirit (cf. John 4:24). What are we to make of all these apparent contradictions?! They are NOT contradictions, but they are anthropomorphisms, giving human qualities to God, so that we might better relate and believe in God. As Jesus says to Nicodemus, "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" (John 3:12). So, when God asks Adam and Eve, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9), it is not as though God, who created the universe, did not know where they were hiding. 

Friends, I have only given a brief snippet of perhaps a larger discussion. But I am hoping that each of you will search these things out for yourselves. I have discovered that Christians fall short in their understanding because they give up too soon in their search for truth. This is true of people who believe in other religions as well, even atheists and agnostics. It is not so much that they reject truth, but they only have some of it and not enough of it to make a right judgment. This is a matter of eternal consequence, in light of which our earthly lives are but a drop in the bucket; therefore, I believe it is worthy of at least a life-long pursuit. 

Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;
For if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding;
If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will discern the fear of the Lord
And discover the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:2-5).

Let us seek wisdom, understanding, and discernment. Let us seek truth as for hidden treasure. I believe that, of all pursuits, this is the most worthwhile. Solomon, who wrote a whole book on the vanity of every other pursuit in life (i.e. the Book of Ecclesiastes), writes, "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind (Ecclesiastes 12:13). And here in Proverbs 2 he writes that by pursuiing truth as for hidden treasure we "will discern the fear of God and discover the knowledge of God." 

The Lord said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the Lord's fierce anger may turn away from Israel." So Moses said to Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor." Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman's stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000. (Numbers 25:4-9 NIV)

I am quoting this entire passage because I don't want you to miss the important series of events. In a football game, when they do the instant replay, they only show you a clip, but they make sure that you see the critical play. I don't want you to miss the critical play in our text. 

God is furious with certain leaders in Israel, who have joined Moabite women in worshipping Baal. He commands Moses to kill them all without burial. So Moses assembles Israel's judges to give this order, and they begin weeping for their brothers, whom they would have to kill. While this solemn assembly is going on, one of the Jewish men walks right in front of the group with his Midianite woman (Moabites and Midianites were in cahoots together, cf. Numbers 22:4,7). We later discover that this woman is also the daughter of the leader of the Midanite clan.

Phinehas, a grandson of Aaron, also notices. But unlike the rest, who are weeping over this edict from God to kill their brothers, Phinehas leaves the assembly, grabs the nearest spear, and follows the Israelite man into his own tent and thrusts the spear into both the man and the Midianite woman, whom this man is presumably embracing.

By Phinehas' singular act, the plague, which had killed 24,000 Isratelites already, was stopped. God was impressed with Phinehas' zeal, which God said matched His own. While the other leaders were preoccupied with the grim prospect of having to kill their brothers, Phinehas' singular interest was in obeying God without hesitation, without deliberation, and without delay.

As Unmi wrote in her comment, this act by Phinehas is given the same commendation as Abraham's faith. It was credited to him as righteousness. Recall that when Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac, there was no mention of hesitation, deliberation or delay on Abraham's part. He simply trusted God and obeyed. 

In the New Testament, we are commanded,

My dear friends, as you have always obeyed -- not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence -- continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and act in order to fulfill his good purpose (Philippians 3:12-13).

We are commanded to obey God "with fear and trembling," that is, with the attitude and urgency of one discharging the executive order of a just president and one fulfilling the demands of a ruthless tyrant. I use these analogies because that is what is conveyed in the expression "with fear and trembling," which commands obedience without hesitation, without deliberation, and without delay. Let us learn to cultivate the zeal of Phinehas and encourage each other to do the same.

Balak knew he couldn't defeat Israel militarily, so he calls upon Balaam to try to defeat Israel supernaturally by putting a curse on them.  When this didn't work, he results to even a more deceptive means to defeat the Israelites, allow the Israels to fall out of God's favor through sin. The order of how this happens is significant. First, entice the men into sexual activity, then as the men fall physically into sin, this leads to them to fall away from God.

Numbers 25: ¹ While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, ² who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. ³ So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them.

This is a very critical event in Israel's history, this is the first account of Israel being lead astay by its intermingling with neighboring peoples. Sadly this is just the beginning.

We find out in Numbers 31 that it was on Balaam's advice that the Moabites enticed the Israelites into sin. (It appears that Balak did get his money's worth after all.) Numbers 31:16 “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the LORD in the Peor incident, so that a plague struck the LORD’s people.

In the midst of a plague with 24,000 people dead or dying, one Simeonite flagrantly brings a women into the camp in front of everyone to witness. Phinehas kills both of them. It was because one man stood up for God that the plaque was stopped.  It is said in Psalm 106 that this was credited to him as righteousness.  (Remember?..The same thing was said of Abraham's faith in Genesis 15:6.)

 Psalm 106:

 ²⁸ They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor
   and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
²⁹ they aroused the LORD’s anger by their wicked deeds,
   and a plague broke out among them.
³⁰ But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
   and the plague was checked.
³¹ This was credited to him as righteousness
   for endless generations to come.

Because of the righteousness of one man, the nation of Israel was spared from the wrath of God that would have continued to consumed them. Likewise, we are spared from the wrath of God because of the righteousness of Jesus. 

Thank you, LORD, that you show us what ONE righteous person can do if he is zealous for Your honor.  AS Pastor Steve talked about last Sunday, let us remember that God has already given us the divine POWER to live the godly life.

Interesting and confusing at the same time!  What do any of you think that was on God's mind when he used the pagan divinator to bless Israel and say prophecy since divination was abominable to God?  Because Balaam was famous among the nations at the time for his reputation as a divinator and so God was putting fear in his people's enemies?  God's blessings were already on His people regardless of Balaam being able to curse or bless them.  I think that God was making a declaration to many nations that He is Almighty God of the Israelites.
 
Anyway, I would like to share what today's text meant for me today.  Balaam made three different attempts to curse the Israelites but the words came out as blessings.  The story reminds me of what apostle paul said in the book of Romans,
 
"Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?  It is God who justifies.  Who is he that condemns?  Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:
   “For your sake we face death all day long; 
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^{[an]  37} No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[ao] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
We have the accuser who brings charges to God against us day and night.  Just as the Israelites rebelled in the wilderness, so do we everyday.  Our enemy plots evil schemes to destroy us.  However,  they will never work  as today's text proves it.  Whoever or whatever it is in our lives cannot be greater than His faithfulness and love.  bless Jesus our Lord who is the author and the perfecter of our salvation!

In this reading Balaam is with Balak and is requested to curse the Israelites.  Repeatedly, Balaam speaks to the Lord and tells Balak that the Lord has blessed the Israelites and repeatedly Balak tells Balaam to try again.
 
I find it interesting that Balak was told that the Israelites were blessed but still insisted in cursing them so that he would not be defeated.  Perhaps, had he embraced the Israelites rather than opposing them, things would have turned out differently for the Moabites. 
 
We too have desires that we will pursue even if it in direct opposition to the Lord’s will.

Towards the beginning of the Balaam/Balak story we read God told Balaam he could go, then we read God was angry that he went. Is this similar to when we read David was told by God to do a census only to have clarity that it was the devil? how is this resolved?

Yujin replied... Numbers 22:32 indicates that the Angel of the LORD opposed him and considered killing him because his way was "reckless" (or "perverse" in the KJV and ESV). He appeared to obey God by going with the messengers of Balak; however, his heart may have been intent on evil. In the NT, we are told that he "loved the wages of wickedness" (2 Peter 2:15). He becomes a byword for those who teach how to cause others to stumble (Rev. 2:14). Even though here he blesses Israel, later in Numbers we are told that he showed Balak the way to harm Israel by causing them to sin against God (cf. Num 31:16; Rev 2:14). 

But  why the talking donkey story? It appears that God was showing the stubborn madness of Balaam. 2 Peter 2:16 is very informative: "But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—a beast without speech—who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness. " Balaam should have been surprised by the miracle of a talking donkey. This is why Peter emphasizes that the donkey was "a beast without speech" and that it "spoke with a man's voice." Yet, Balaam's stubborness kept him from seeing the obvious miracle. Peter calls it Balaam's "madness." And it was indeed mad that Balaam would consider opposing God, and we discover that even after all of God's revelations and wonders, Balaam still stubbornly - stubborn like a donkey but without a donkey's wisdom - continues on his wicked path against God's people.