WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.939 Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because 00:00:08.939 --> 00:00:21.920 he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:34.649 holds the future. because you live. The Resurrection 00:00:34.649 --> 00:00:38.450 Life Sunday Sermon is brought to you by Resurrection 00:00:38.450 --> 00:00:42.609 Life Church in Apex, North Carolina, a congregation 00:00:42.609 --> 00:00:46.630 of the Presbyterian Church in America. Resurrection 00:00:46.630 --> 00:00:50.429 Life Church is pastored by Dr. Mark Kadech. This 00:00:50.429 --> 00:00:53.030 week, mark the beginning of a new chapter for 00:00:53.030 --> 00:00:56.170 Resurrection Life as we move to Felton Grove 00:00:56.170 --> 00:00:59.939 High School in Apex and Holly Springs. We also 00:00:59.939 --> 00:01:03.579 began a new sermon series called Straight Line 00:01:03.579 --> 00:01:07.060 Crooked Stakes. Pastor Mark will be looking at 00:01:07.060 --> 00:01:09.719 a collection of Old Testament characters who 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:13.540 play a role in God's redemptive plan. Not major 00:01:13.540 --> 00:01:17.700 players, more like supporting cast. And our first, 00:01:17.780 --> 00:01:22.040 Balaam and his talking dog. All right, so Straight 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:25.049 Line. Crooked Sticks is our new sermon series, 00:01:25.150 --> 00:01:28.450 and we're going to be starting where else? It's 00:01:28.450 --> 00:01:31.469 the most obvious story, Numbers 22. I'm sure 00:01:31.469 --> 00:01:34.489 you have all that chapter memorized out of the 00:01:34.489 --> 00:01:37.010 Old Testament. And why not start with a guy named 00:01:37.010 --> 00:01:40.810 Balaam, you know, and King Balak. And so please 00:01:40.810 --> 00:01:42.750 turn to Numbers 22. We're going to read the whole 00:01:42.750 --> 00:01:45.510 chapter. It's a really entertaining story. It's 00:01:45.510 --> 00:01:47.489 actually one of my favorites from the Old Testament. 00:01:47.609 --> 00:01:49.730 And for those of you who are smiling, you know 00:01:49.730 --> 00:01:52.459 the story. And you know, kind of... Sort of like 00:01:52.459 --> 00:01:55.420 how the ridiculousness of it, which we'll jump 00:01:55.420 --> 00:01:59.000 into and explain later. If you have your Bibles, 00:01:59.099 --> 00:02:01.359 it's verses one, the whole chapter is verses 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:04.719 one to 41. So it's a long chapter, but it's easy 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:06.439 to follow along. Even for the kids here this 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:08.919 morning, it's a narrative, right? So it's a story. 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:11.340 And so even if you're not reading along with 00:02:11.340 --> 00:02:14.039 the words, try to pay attention to this story. 00:02:14.340 --> 00:02:17.039 So Numbers 22. So it says this, then the people 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:19.620 of Israel set out and camped in the plains of 00:02:19.620 --> 00:02:22.479 Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. For those 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.240 of you who have no idea what that means or the 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:25.979 importance of that, we're going to dive into 00:02:25.979 --> 00:02:28.129 that in our introduction. Verse one is important. 00:02:28.349 --> 00:02:31.689 And Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all that Israel 00:02:31.689 --> 00:02:34.069 had done to the Amorites. They just fought the 00:02:34.069 --> 00:02:36.550 Amorites and they beat them. Israel did. And 00:02:36.550 --> 00:02:40.009 Moab was in great dread of the people because 00:02:40.009 --> 00:02:44.030 they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of 00:02:44.030 --> 00:02:46.509 the people of Israel. And Moab said to the elders 00:02:46.509 --> 00:02:50.389 of Midian, this horde will now lick up all that 00:02:50.389 --> 00:02:53.449 is around us as the ox licks up the grass of 00:02:53.449 --> 00:02:56.590 the field. So Balak, the son of Zippor, who was 00:02:56.590 --> 00:02:59.229 king of Moab at the time, sent messengers to 00:02:59.229 --> 00:03:02.669 Balaam, the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near 00:03:02.669 --> 00:03:04.990 the river at the land of the people of Amah. 00:03:05.530 --> 00:03:07.810 to call him, saying, behold, a people has come 00:03:07.810 --> 00:03:10.889 to Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and 00:03:10.889 --> 00:03:13.669 they are dwelling opposite me. Come now, curse 00:03:13.669 --> 00:03:16.090 this people for me, since they are too mighty 00:03:16.090 --> 00:03:19.169 for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them 00:03:19.169 --> 00:03:21.530 and drive them from the land, for I know that 00:03:21.530 --> 00:03:24.569 he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you 00:03:24.569 --> 00:03:28.189 curse is cursed. Okay, so King Balak's like, 00:03:28.330 --> 00:03:30.030 oh no, there's these people that are on the plains 00:03:30.030 --> 00:03:31.409 of Moab. We gotta get rid of them. They've been 00:03:31.409 --> 00:03:33.710 defeating people. And so let's get rid of them. 00:03:33.750 --> 00:03:35.770 I'm gonna get this guy, Balaam, who's gonna curse 00:03:35.770 --> 00:03:38.330 them. So the elders of Moab and the elders of 00:03:38.330 --> 00:03:40.389 Midian departed with the fees of divination in 00:03:40.389 --> 00:03:42.849 their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave 00:03:42.849 --> 00:03:45.150 him Balak's message. And he said to them, lodge 00:03:45.150 --> 00:03:47.250 here tonight and I will bring back word to you 00:03:47.250 --> 00:03:50.110 as the Lord speaks to me. So the princes of Moab 00:03:50.110 --> 00:03:52.689 stayed with Balaam and God came to Balaam and 00:03:52.689 --> 00:03:55.550 said, who are these men with you? And Balaam 00:03:55.550 --> 00:03:58.189 said to God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of 00:03:58.189 --> 00:04:00.930 Moab, has sent to me saying, behold, a people 00:04:00.930 --> 00:04:03.069 has come out of Egypt and it covers the face 00:04:03.069 --> 00:04:05.949 of the earth. Now come curse them for me. Perhaps 00:04:05.949 --> 00:04:08.449 I shall be able to fight against them and drive 00:04:08.449 --> 00:04:11.050 them out. And God said to Balaam, you shall not 00:04:11.050 --> 00:04:13.020 go with them. You shall not curse the people, 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:15.759 for they are blessed. So Balaam rose in the morning 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:17.639 and said to the princes of Balak, Go to your 00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:19.959 own land, for the Lord has refused to let me 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:23.060 go with you. So the princes of Moab rose and 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:25.600 went to Balak and said, Balaam refuses to come 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:28.540 with us. Once again, Balak sent princes, more 00:04:28.540 --> 00:04:30.839 in number and more honorable than these, and 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:32.939 they came to Balaam and said to him, Thus says 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:35.459 Balak, the son of Zippor, Let nothing hinder 00:04:35.459 --> 00:04:37.800 you from coming to me, for I will surely do you 00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:40.319 great honor, and whatever you say to me, I will 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:43.860 do. Come, curse this people for me. But Balaam 00:04:43.860 --> 00:04:45.899 answered and said to the servants of Balak, though 00:04:45.899 --> 00:04:48.779 Balak were to give me his house full of silver 00:04:48.779 --> 00:04:51.439 and gold, I cannot go beyond the command of the 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:54.819 Lord my God to do less or more. So you too, please 00:04:54.819 --> 00:04:57.779 stay here tonight that I may know more what the 00:04:57.779 --> 00:05:00.800 Lord will say to me. And God came to Balaam at 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:03.160 night and said to him, if the men have come to 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:05.720 call you, rise and go with them, but only do 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:07.939 what I tell you. So Balaam rose in the morning 00:05:07.939 --> 00:05:09.600 and settled his donkey and went with the princes 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:13.649 of Moab. But the Lord's anger was kindled because 00:05:13.649 --> 00:05:17.009 he went. And the angel of the Lord took his stand 00:05:17.009 --> 00:05:20.750 in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding 00:05:20.750 --> 00:05:23.069 on the donkey and his two servants were with 00:05:23.069 --> 00:05:25.269 him. And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord 00:05:25.269 --> 00:05:27.930 standing in the road with a drawn sword in hand. 00:05:28.050 --> 00:05:30.269 And the donkey turned aside out of the road and 00:05:30.269 --> 00:05:32.509 went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey 00:05:32.509 --> 00:05:35.279 to turn her into the road. Then the angel of 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:37.839 the Lord stood in a narrow path between vineyards 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:40.180 with a wall on either side. And when the donkey 00:05:40.180 --> 00:05:41.879 saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:43.920 the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:46.300 wall, and he struck her again. Then the angel 00:05:46.300 --> 00:05:48.279 of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:51.000 place where there was no way to turn either to 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:52.779 the right or to the left. And when the donkey 00:05:52.779 --> 00:05:54.779 saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under 00:05:54.779 --> 00:05:57.639 Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he 00:05:57.639 --> 00:06:01.100 struck the donkey with his staff. And then the 00:06:01.100 --> 00:06:03.139 Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she 00:06:03.139 --> 00:06:06.639 said to Balaam, What have I done to you that 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.199 you have struck me these three times? And Balaam 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:12.329 said to the donkey, Wow, you can talk? No, that's 00:06:12.329 --> 00:06:13.990 not what he says. Balaam said to the donkey, 00:06:14.129 --> 00:06:16.569 because you have made a fool of me, I wish I 00:06:16.569 --> 00:06:18.709 had a sword in my hand for then I would kill 00:06:18.709 --> 00:06:21.149 you. And the donkey said to Balaam, am I not 00:06:21.149 --> 00:06:23.550 your donkey on which you have ridden all your 00:06:23.550 --> 00:06:26.310 life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat 00:06:26.310 --> 00:06:28.930 you this way? And he said, no. Then the Lord 00:06:28.930 --> 00:06:31.439 opened the eyes of Balaam. And he saw the angel 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:33.660 of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn 00:06:33.660 --> 00:06:36.100 sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell 00:06:36.100 --> 00:06:37.759 on his face. And the angel of the Lord said to 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:39.800 him, why have you struck your donkey these three 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:43.060 times? Behold, I've come out to oppose you because 00:06:43.060 --> 00:06:46.879 your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:49.319 me and turned aside before me these three times. 00:06:49.500 --> 00:06:51.980 If she had not turned aside for me, surely just 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:54.019 now I would have killed you and let her live. 00:06:54.579 --> 00:06:56.819 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, I 00:06:56.819 --> 00:06:59.939 have sinned. for I did not know that you stood 00:06:59.939 --> 00:07:02.379 in the road against me. Now, therefore, if it 00:07:02.379 --> 00:07:04.360 is evil in your side, I will turn back. And the 00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:06.300 angel of the Lord said to Balaam, go with the 00:07:06.300 --> 00:07:08.160 men, but speak only the word that I tell you. 00:07:08.420 --> 00:07:10.879 So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak. 00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:14.019 When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went 00:07:14.019 --> 00:07:16.519 out to meet him in the city of Moab on the border 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:19.519 formed by Arnon at the extremity of the border. 00:07:19.639 --> 00:07:22.660 And Balak said to Balaam, did I not send to you 00:07:22.660 --> 00:07:25.649 to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I 00:07:25.649 --> 00:07:28.569 not able to honor you? And Balaam said to Balak, 00:07:28.569 --> 00:07:32.089 behold, I've come to you. Have I now any power 00:07:32.089 --> 00:07:34.949 of my own to speak anything? The word that God 00:07:34.949 --> 00:07:38.449 puts in my mouth, that must I speak. Then Balaam 00:07:38.449 --> 00:07:42.310 went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Hazoth. 00:07:42.449 --> 00:07:45.449 And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep and sent 00:07:45.449 --> 00:07:47.649 for Balaam and for the princes who were with 00:07:47.649 --> 00:07:50.170 him. And in the morning Balak took Balaam and 00:07:50.170 --> 00:07:53.329 brought him up to Bamath -Baal, and from there 00:07:53.329 --> 00:07:56.069 he saw a fraction of the people. So far the reading 00:07:56.069 --> 00:08:00.550 of God's word. Brothers and sisters in Jesus 00:08:00.550 --> 00:08:06.490 Christ, the title of the sermon is God's Promises 00:08:06.490 --> 00:08:10.509 Within Liminal Spaces. God's Promises Within 00:08:10.509 --> 00:08:15.620 Liminal Spaces. I want to read for you two promises 00:08:15.620 --> 00:08:19.620 that were given to Abraham many years before 00:08:19.620 --> 00:08:24.939 this. Genesis 12 marks God's plan A of redemption 00:08:24.939 --> 00:08:27.939 throughout the entire Old Testament fulfilled 00:08:27.939 --> 00:08:32.700 ultimately in Jesus. Genesis 12 is the pivot 00:08:32.700 --> 00:08:35.639 point in the Bible where before that humanity 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.240 is trying to find their own way and God says, 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:40.740 nope, it's going to be my way. And so he pulls 00:08:40.740 --> 00:08:44.080 Abraham. He says this, I will make you a great 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.799 nation and I will bless you and make your name 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:48.899 great so that you will be a blessing. I will 00:08:48.899 --> 00:08:52.480 bless those who bless you. And him who dishonors 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:54.799 you, I will curse. And in you, all the families 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:58.220 of the earth will be blessed. So there's a promise 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:01.620 of blessing right at the beginning of the call 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:04.120 of Abraham. And then there's also a promise just 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:08.019 a few chapters later of land. Genesis 17, eight 00:09:08.019 --> 00:09:11.059 says this. And I will give to you and to your 00:09:11.059 --> 00:09:14.120 offspring after you the land of your sojourners, 00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:16.799 all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, 00:09:17.059 --> 00:09:21.500 and I will be their God. And so that's why the 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:24.360 first part of this title, this sermon, is God's 00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:28.480 promises. They set the stage for all of redemptive 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:32.419 history. And then we have, well, within liminal 00:09:32.419 --> 00:09:35.340 spaces. Well, what does liminal mean? Liminal 00:09:35.340 --> 00:09:37.879 just means like door, like you're at the foot 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:40.740 of the door, like the threshold of a door, okay? 00:09:40.860 --> 00:09:45.759 So you're in a place of transition. So Israel, 00:09:45.820 --> 00:09:50.620 in our story, is at the very place that God promised 00:09:50.620 --> 00:09:54.919 Abraham in Genesis 17. There's a lot of geopolitical 00:09:54.919 --> 00:10:00.379 stuff going on in the chapters before this. Israel 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:03.620 defeats the Amorites, defeats different kings 00:10:03.620 --> 00:10:05.960 in that region, one of them famously known as 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:09.460 Og. Unfortunate name that is, right? So you have 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:12.460 King Balak, who's in Moab, who's like, oh my 00:10:12.460 --> 00:10:15.019 goodness, what are we going to do? This group 00:10:15.019 --> 00:10:19.200 is on the doorstep of Canaan, and they're creating 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:23.100 all kinds of chaos. Who are these people? Where 00:10:23.100 --> 00:10:26.019 did they come from? And so you have king of Moab, 00:10:26.019 --> 00:10:28.409 all right? So Moab's further south here. But 00:10:28.409 --> 00:10:32.289 you'll notice in Numbers 22, Israel is actually 00:10:32.289 --> 00:10:36.830 resting, camping, right across from Jericho over 00:10:36.830 --> 00:10:42.929 the river. And so you'll see Jericho in the green 00:10:42.929 --> 00:10:46.629 there just above the Salt Sea. And that's because 00:10:46.629 --> 00:10:50.909 the Amorites defeated Moab. So this is the Amorite 00:10:50.909 --> 00:10:53.570 country now. But it's still known as the Plains 00:10:53.570 --> 00:10:57.240 of Moab. And so they have this land that's there, 00:10:57.340 --> 00:11:00.000 sort of like how things have, you know, we've 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:03.360 experienced some name changes recently with bodies 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:05.600 of water, right? So this is a similar kind of 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:10.379 deal. It's no longer Moab, but it remains called, 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:13.659 named, entitled the Plains of Moab, okay? So 00:11:13.659 --> 00:11:16.580 that's where they are. And Balak doesn't like 00:11:16.580 --> 00:11:18.860 them being there. Balak does not like them being 00:11:18.860 --> 00:11:21.799 there. And he can say, hey, look, we can't beat 00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:23.620 them physically. Doesn't look like we could beat 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:25.519 them physically. we're going to beat them another 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:27.960 way. We're going to beat them spiritually. And 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:32.200 so Numbers 22 really asks this question, will 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:36.360 God's people enter the promised land as a blessed 00:11:36.360 --> 00:11:40.200 people? Will they get the promise of blessing 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:44.080 along with the land? We're going to unpack this 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:48.259 chapter with two main points. Attempts... to 00:11:48.259 --> 00:11:50.039 thwart God's blessing. We're just going to look 00:11:50.039 --> 00:11:52.059 at a few highlights from Numbers 22. There's 00:11:52.059 --> 00:11:54.539 a lot to unpack. We're not going to unpack everything, 00:11:54.659 --> 00:11:56.480 but we're going to unpack some of the main points 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:58.919 here. And then we're going to talk about, okay, 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:02.139 well, why this story? Why is this story recorded 00:12:02.139 --> 00:12:04.360 in the Bible? And what does that have to do with 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:07.779 us today? So let's look at this first point then, 00:12:07.899 --> 00:12:11.279 attempts to thwart God's blessing. Thwart is 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:15.230 another really cool word. Thwart can mean like 00:12:15.230 --> 00:12:18.990 a crossway, like crossways, or against the grain. 00:12:19.389 --> 00:12:22.690 So God's blessing, let me back this up here for 00:12:22.690 --> 00:12:27.250 a second. God's blessing is intended for Israel 00:12:27.250 --> 00:12:30.190 to be in this liminal space as a doorway to go 00:12:30.190 --> 00:12:33.070 in. But now there's these plans to thwart God's 00:12:33.070 --> 00:12:36.169 plan, to go against the grain. And so King Balak 00:12:36.169 --> 00:12:39.009 wants to provide this curse. That's how he wants 00:12:39.009 --> 00:12:41.929 to create this boundary. He wants to curse them 00:12:41.929 --> 00:12:45.929 so that rather than them expand and advance, 00:12:46.129 --> 00:12:50.710 they will revert and reduce. And so what does 00:12:50.710 --> 00:12:55.809 he do? He hires Balaam. Now, Balaam is from Pether. 00:12:56.289 --> 00:12:59.710 Balaam, son of Beor. And Balaam's actually a 00:12:59.710 --> 00:13:04.110 big deal. Balaam was a famous prophet. Diviner, 00:13:04.110 --> 00:13:08.370 actually, is his title. And we know that he's 00:13:08.370 --> 00:13:11.009 famous partly because we have archaeological 00:13:11.009 --> 00:13:13.750 evidence. Not only because we have scripture 00:13:13.750 --> 00:13:17.029 in Numbers 22, but we actually have some architecture. 00:13:17.429 --> 00:13:23.470 We have a finding in 1967 called the Dear Allah 00:13:23.470 --> 00:13:27.009 Writings. And literally names Balaam, son of 00:13:27.009 --> 00:13:32.090 Beor, seer of the gods. Seer is another word 00:13:32.090 --> 00:13:35.809 for prophet in the Old Testament. So you could 00:13:35.809 --> 00:13:38.809 have prophet, you could have seer. Diviner was 00:13:38.809 --> 00:13:42.929 foul ball. You weren't supposed to be a diviner 00:13:42.929 --> 00:13:45.250 if you were a prophet. But you could be a prophet, 00:13:45.350 --> 00:13:47.730 you could be a seer. He's named here as a seer 00:13:47.730 --> 00:13:50.830 of the gods. Some of the writings, it's called 00:13:50.830 --> 00:13:54.909 the Diyar Allah writings, are just saturated 00:13:54.909 --> 00:13:59.309 with, as Roy Gaines specifically writes, saturated 00:13:59.309 --> 00:14:02.889 with polytheism. So he would have been... Mixing 00:14:02.889 --> 00:14:05.750 with all kinds of religion, which is fascinating 00:14:05.750 --> 00:14:09.029 because it literally says that he inquires of 00:14:09.029 --> 00:14:13.110 the Lord, Yahweh. So he's using God's covenantal 00:14:13.110 --> 00:14:15.230 name. So there's debate or whether, was this 00:14:15.230 --> 00:14:18.149 guy like a monotheist eventually? We know from 00:14:18.149 --> 00:14:20.629 these early writings that he was a polytheist, 00:14:20.649 --> 00:14:22.409 but then maybe he converted. Like, who knows? 00:14:22.429 --> 00:14:24.870 We just don't know. What we do know is that his 00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:27.250 heart wasn't always in the right place. Anyway, 00:14:27.309 --> 00:14:31.840 so he's from far away, 400 miles away. But it's 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:33.840 interesting to note, though, that if you look 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:37.419 at this map here, this red square rectangle here, 00:14:37.460 --> 00:14:40.200 is that little red rectangle there? That's where 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:43.639 the findings of the writings are there. Tell, 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:46.659 dear Allah. That's where this archaeological 00:14:46.659 --> 00:14:50.440 find was. Massively important, massively, just 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:54.190 a very important find. Balaam's name is associated 00:14:54.190 --> 00:14:58.250 with the meaning devourer or destroyer of people. 00:14:58.590 --> 00:15:02.509 So Balak is like, look, I'm going to hire out 00:15:02.509 --> 00:15:06.309 this seer, this diviner, who's a destroyer of 00:15:06.309 --> 00:15:08.990 people. And he's going to come in here and he's 00:15:08.990 --> 00:15:12.269 going to curse. He's going to curse Israel. That's 00:15:12.269 --> 00:15:16.350 the plan. And so we have Balak's first delegation 00:15:16.350 --> 00:15:20.289 that's sent. Again, 400, some say 450 miles away. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:23.399 It's a far journey. It takes at least probably 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:26.379 like three weeks to get there. So you have this 00:15:26.379 --> 00:15:28.820 delegation party that goes there, and they find 00:15:28.820 --> 00:15:30.740 Balaam. They're like, hey, Balaam, we want you 00:15:30.740 --> 00:15:32.360 to come. We want you to curse these people over 00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:34.539 there. It's getting some chaos. And he's like, 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:38.080 well, let me inquire of the Lord. And he does. 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:40.860 And the Lord says, don't go. They go, okay, I'm 00:15:40.860 --> 00:15:43.320 not going to go. Three weeks, and then sometime 00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:45.539 later, there's another delegation that sends. 00:15:45.639 --> 00:15:47.700 So that delegation comes back. Three weeks travel, 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:49.580 right? Balaam's like, no, I'm not going to take 00:15:49.580 --> 00:15:52.679 no for an answer. Sends another delegation out, 00:15:52.740 --> 00:15:56.740 more money, more prestige, more princes. It's 00:15:56.740 --> 00:15:58.740 a delegation that's pretty impressive, must have 00:15:58.740 --> 00:16:01.399 been very impressive. So Balaam, again, he seeks 00:16:01.399 --> 00:16:05.000 God's direction. And he says, verse 18, I could 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:08.139 not go beyond the command of the Lord my God 00:16:08.139 --> 00:16:12.080 to do less or more. Now there's reason to suggest 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:15.720 that he's probably like, he's like saying this, 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:18.320 and it sounds good. But his heart isn't in the 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:20.519 right spot. Like it's almost as if he's eyeing 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:24.860 the honorarium saying like, I could go and maybe 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:28.639 I'll inquire again. You know what? I should inquire 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:30.940 again. And he does. And he inquires again. The 00:16:30.940 --> 00:16:32.360 Lord's like, fine, go with them. And there's 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:35.259 some subtleties in the Hebrew that's interesting 00:16:35.259 --> 00:16:38.500 that we won't get into now. But there's reasons 00:16:38.500 --> 00:16:42.379 to suggest these subtle hints that Balaam's heart 00:16:42.379 --> 00:16:44.850 is not in the right spot. He inquires again. 00:16:45.029 --> 00:16:47.830 And the Lord says, go with them, fine. But don't 00:16:47.830 --> 00:16:50.950 go with them for their purpose. It's almost as 00:16:50.950 --> 00:16:52.690 if the Lord is saying to him, you can go with 00:16:52.690 --> 00:16:55.190 them geographically. You can go, but just don't 00:16:55.190 --> 00:16:57.549 go with them. Don't go with their motivation. 00:16:57.769 --> 00:17:00.090 Don't go with their aspirations. Don't go with 00:17:00.090 --> 00:17:02.870 their purposes. Because it feels kind of odd 00:17:02.870 --> 00:17:05.420 when you read it. just naturally, where the Lord 00:17:05.420 --> 00:17:08.759 says, don't go. Fine, go. I'm going to send an 00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:10.200 angel to kill you a long way. I'm out of you. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:15.160 It feels a little odd. But when you look at what 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:18.200 is happening here, we understand God knows our 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:22.019 hearts. And God knows Balaam's heart. And he 00:17:22.019 --> 00:17:23.660 knows that he's leaving with the wrong motivation. 00:17:24.259 --> 00:17:27.359 He knows, you know, there's that, like, let's 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:30.180 go the next morning. There's an urgency to him. 00:17:30.220 --> 00:17:32.609 He's like, let's go. before the Lord changes 00:17:32.609 --> 00:17:34.609 his mind again and tells me to stay because I 00:17:34.609 --> 00:17:38.130 don't want this money. He even goes to inquire 00:17:38.130 --> 00:17:41.009 again of the Lord. Yeah, maybe he'll change his 00:17:41.009 --> 00:17:44.309 mind. So it's just some interesting, subtle nuances 00:17:44.309 --> 00:17:46.890 to the text because what we do know is that in 00:17:46.890 --> 00:17:50.329 2 Peter 2, 15 to 16, Peter writes this about 00:17:50.329 --> 00:17:53.930 Balaam. Forsaking the right way, they have gone 00:17:53.930 --> 00:17:56.549 astray. He's talking about false teachers. They 00:17:56.549 --> 00:17:59.730 have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor. 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:04.359 who loved gain from wrongdoing. Who loved gain 00:18:04.359 --> 00:18:07.660 from wrongdoing. He sees the gain, but is willing 00:18:07.660 --> 00:18:11.420 to go against God's grain. It's interesting, 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:12.980 you know, we don't have a whole lot of time to 00:18:12.980 --> 00:18:14.279 deal with this, but it's interesting to me that 00:18:14.279 --> 00:18:18.019 you can obey God's orders or be permitted to 00:18:18.019 --> 00:18:20.799 do something and still get it wrong. You can 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:23.660 come across like you're doing it right, but in 00:18:23.660 --> 00:18:25.119 your heart you know you're doing it for the wrong 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:28.000 reasons. And I think there's just this wonderful 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:31.779 kind of warning challenge for us today to even 00:18:31.779 --> 00:18:36.059 think, like, God wants our hearts in our obedience. 00:18:36.539 --> 00:18:40.180 He doesn't want us to obey him just to obey him, 00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:42.980 to chuck off a box of obedience. He wants our 00:18:42.980 --> 00:18:46.880 hearts. He wants our hearts. Okay, so let's move 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:49.819 on here. Here we are with Balaam's travels, and 00:18:49.819 --> 00:18:54.250 Balaam is on his donkey. She's been his donkey 00:18:54.250 --> 00:18:57.269 for a long time, apparently his whole life. And 00:18:57.269 --> 00:18:59.789 it's interesting, again, that Balaam is referred 00:18:59.789 --> 00:19:03.730 to in the archaeological evidence as a seer, 00:19:03.769 --> 00:19:07.650 right? And that he doesn't see a thing. He doesn't 00:19:07.650 --> 00:19:09.990 see a thing. The thing he's supposed to be seeing, 00:19:10.009 --> 00:19:13.769 he doesn't see it. All he sees is this. route 00:19:13.769 --> 00:19:16.450 that's being changed by his donkey. He's getting 00:19:16.450 --> 00:19:20.210 away. The donkey's stopping him from what is 00:19:20.210 --> 00:19:23.170 to come. The honorarium, whatever it may be that 00:19:23.170 --> 00:19:25.809 he has on his heart. And the Lord knows his motivation 00:19:25.809 --> 00:19:28.609 isn't right, and so the donkey's like, oh no, 00:19:28.789 --> 00:19:31.970 there's an angel flying with a sword over there, 00:19:32.049 --> 00:19:34.150 and I don't know what an adversary looks like 00:19:34.150 --> 00:19:38.150 in spiritual terms, but I imagine that's pretty 00:19:38.150 --> 00:19:41.309 scary. And so the donkey moves away. The donkey 00:19:41.309 --> 00:19:45.410 moves away, takes a sharp turn, scrapes his leg 00:19:45.410 --> 00:19:49.329 along a wall, then he gets to a point where there's 00:19:49.329 --> 00:19:51.690 nowhere to go, so the donkey sits on Balaam. 00:19:52.990 --> 00:19:55.829 And Balaam's just like whacking the donkey. And 00:19:55.829 --> 00:19:58.049 this is like this ridiculous moment, right? This 00:19:58.049 --> 00:20:01.150 ridiculous scene where Balaam is underneath that 00:20:01.150 --> 00:20:04.390 donkey trying to beat the donkey. And the donkey 00:20:04.390 --> 00:20:06.849 meanwhile is like, what? I'm saving your life 00:20:06.849 --> 00:20:10.470 here, pal. The donkey is saving his life from 00:20:10.470 --> 00:20:12.809 impending doom. And in response, Balaam goes 00:20:12.809 --> 00:20:14.509 and beats the donkey. That's like irony number 00:20:14.509 --> 00:20:16.630 one. Irony number two, Balaam argues with the 00:20:16.630 --> 00:20:19.170 donkey rather than expressing surprise by the 00:20:19.170 --> 00:20:21.869 fact that the donkey can talk. Only two times 00:20:21.869 --> 00:20:24.210 in the Bible does an animal talk, the serpent 00:20:24.210 --> 00:20:28.269 in Genesis and then here in this passage. And 00:20:28.269 --> 00:20:30.230 again, the irony that Balaam is a renowned seer 00:20:30.230 --> 00:20:33.029 and he can't see the very thing that the Lord 00:20:33.029 --> 00:20:37.150 has sent him. He meets with Balak finally, and 00:20:37.150 --> 00:20:40.089 Balak props him up in different positions to 00:20:40.089 --> 00:20:43.710 curse Israel. It's a fascinating kind of time. 00:20:44.450 --> 00:20:47.069 Balaam recognizes that he's a sinner. He actually 00:20:47.069 --> 00:20:49.829 says some really... Interesting words here. Again, 00:20:49.869 --> 00:20:52.609 makes you wonder what is going on in Balaam's 00:20:52.609 --> 00:20:55.289 heart. He says, I've sinned, for I did not know 00:20:55.289 --> 00:20:57.650 that you stood on the road against me. Now, therefore, 00:20:57.730 --> 00:21:00.130 if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back. 00:21:00.230 --> 00:21:02.190 He's willing to go back. So Balaam does some 00:21:02.190 --> 00:21:04.250 things right. But the Lord says, no, no, no, 00:21:04.250 --> 00:21:09.230 go. I'm going to prove my power through you. 00:21:09.549 --> 00:21:12.250 I'm going to show you that I'm going to win this. 00:21:12.950 --> 00:21:15.930 And when we look at chapters 23 and 24, which 00:21:15.930 --> 00:21:20.140 we obviously didn't read, We see each time Balak 00:21:20.140 --> 00:21:26.599 asks Balaam to prophesy, Balaam to curse, Balaam 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:29.099 can't do it. Over and over again, three different 00:21:29.099 --> 00:21:31.460 times. And so we have three times the Lord stops 00:21:31.460 --> 00:21:34.640 him and tries to get his attention. And then 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:39.119 three times Balaam gives this oracle towards 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:42.380 Israel. And each time, it's like Balaam's dealing 00:21:42.380 --> 00:21:44.720 with a donkey. Dealing with a physical donkey 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:47.490 or dealing with Balak the donkey. Example number 00:21:47.490 --> 00:21:51.509 one is Numbers 23, verse 8, where Balaam says 00:21:51.509 --> 00:21:53.349 this in this oracle, right? He's supposed to 00:21:53.349 --> 00:21:55.529 curse. That's what he's getting paid for. Instead, 00:21:55.650 --> 00:21:58.230 he says, how can I curse whom God has not cursed? 00:21:58.470 --> 00:22:00.529 And how can I denounce whom the Lord has not 00:22:00.529 --> 00:22:03.130 denounced? Then you have the second oracle in 00:22:03.130 --> 00:22:06.250 chapter 23, verse 20. Part of it says this. Behold, 00:22:06.269 --> 00:22:09.009 I received a command to bless. He has blessed, 00:22:09.170 --> 00:22:11.970 and I cannot revoke it. Then the third oracle, 00:22:11.990 --> 00:22:14.869 24, 9. Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed 00:22:14.869 --> 00:22:17.009 are those who curse you. Sounds very similar 00:22:17.009 --> 00:22:20.269 to Genesis 12, one language, right? God is using 00:22:20.269 --> 00:22:23.549 Balaam to fulfill the promise to bless these 00:22:23.549 --> 00:22:26.849 people in this liminal space before they go into 00:22:26.849 --> 00:22:30.869 Canaan. Balaam doesn't just not cave to curse. 00:22:30.950 --> 00:22:34.230 He can't curse. He can't do it. He could only 00:22:34.230 --> 00:22:36.410 bless. Those are the words coming out of his 00:22:36.410 --> 00:22:39.849 mouth. And so when we look at this really interesting, 00:22:39.990 --> 00:22:43.259 somewhat bizarre story. There are some really 00:22:43.259 --> 00:22:45.960 important things we could learn from this story. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.720 We're going to go to part two here. Part two 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:52.619 asks these questions like, why this story? Why 00:22:52.619 --> 00:22:55.940 this story here now? I think what's helpful for 00:22:55.940 --> 00:22:57.880 us today is it says something very important 00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:00.740 about who our God is. And it says something very 00:23:00.740 --> 00:23:04.259 important about what we need to do. What we need 00:23:04.259 --> 00:23:06.839 to do. Let's start with what it says about God. 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:12.029 We have to understand. that in Israel's history, 00:23:12.190 --> 00:23:16.869 they are in a very precarious spot there on the 00:23:16.869 --> 00:23:20.470 plains of Moab. And God reminds them through 00:23:20.470 --> 00:23:26.609 this story, I am sovereign. I am sovereign. There's 00:23:26.609 --> 00:23:29.349 like this cosmic battle going on in this chapter. 00:23:29.630 --> 00:23:33.589 And whenever there's any attempt to thwart God's 00:23:33.589 --> 00:23:37.210 plan, as we read through scripture, God shouts 00:23:37.210 --> 00:23:41.700 back, I am sovereign here. I'm the king. Like 00:23:41.700 --> 00:23:44.279 humanity's attempt to thwart God's plan of redemption 00:23:44.279 --> 00:23:46.680 is something like this. Let's get the world's 00:23:46.680 --> 00:23:48.960 most powerful prophet. Let's get all of our money 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:51.559 together. Let's find our finest dignitaries. 00:23:51.559 --> 00:23:55.019 And let's plot out how to curse these people. 00:23:55.339 --> 00:23:58.400 This is like a Tower of Babel moment, really. 00:23:58.740 --> 00:24:02.440 Let's dream and scheme how we could stop this 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:05.779 God. And what happens? God wins. And he wins 00:24:05.779 --> 00:24:09.450 every time. To thwart God's plan to bless his 00:24:09.450 --> 00:24:11.589 people is laughable. And I think that's one of 00:24:11.589 --> 00:24:13.130 the reasons why this story is so ridiculous. 00:24:13.390 --> 00:24:17.170 It is laughable to go against God's plan. He's 00:24:17.170 --> 00:24:20.130 too strong. He's too sovereign. He gave a promise 00:24:20.130 --> 00:24:23.309 to bless and he gave a promise of land. He will 00:24:23.309 --> 00:24:26.670 deliver because he is sovereign. This is no ordinary 00:24:26.670 --> 00:24:29.109 God. No, this is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and 00:24:29.109 --> 00:24:31.670 Jacob. This is the God who created all things. 00:24:31.750 --> 00:24:33.750 This is the God who works through time and space. 00:24:34.069 --> 00:24:37.609 This is no ordinary God. It's like this Andy 00:24:37.609 --> 00:24:40.230 Mineo moment where God shouts back at King Bela, 00:24:40.250 --> 00:24:42.829 like, you can't stop me. And if you get that 00:24:42.829 --> 00:24:45.450 reference, that's awesome. For those of you who 00:24:45.450 --> 00:24:48.390 don't, you need to listen to the song. Andy Mineo, 00:24:48.450 --> 00:24:50.630 you can't stop me. It's great. You can't stop 00:24:50.630 --> 00:24:53.430 God. You can't stop this God. Scripture is filled 00:24:53.430 --> 00:24:55.829 with people who wanted to thwart God's plan. 00:24:56.569 --> 00:24:58.950 Humanity built the Tower of Babel. Joseph's brother 00:24:58.950 --> 00:25:01.930 selling Joseph into slavery. Pharaoh thinking 00:25:01.930 --> 00:25:04.130 that he could actually stop. Israel from leaving 00:25:04.130 --> 00:25:07.130 Egypt. Jonah trying to run away from God's plan. 00:25:07.309 --> 00:25:11.289 King Herod killing all the baby boys in Bethlehem 00:25:11.289 --> 00:25:14.150 when Jesus was born. Ultimately, the greatest 00:25:14.150 --> 00:25:17.650 recorded story of humanity thwarting God's plan 00:25:17.650 --> 00:25:20.230 of redemption is through Jesus Christ. Where 00:25:20.230 --> 00:25:24.069 Judas has this Balaam moment where he betrays 00:25:24.069 --> 00:25:26.690 the Son of God with 30 pieces of silver. And 00:25:26.690 --> 00:25:29.089 then you have Peter who denies Jesus three times 00:25:29.089 --> 00:25:32.079 before another animal sort of speaks. where the 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:35.140 rooster crows and reminds Peter that he's just 00:25:35.140 --> 00:25:38.819 denied his Lord three times. The chief priests 00:25:38.819 --> 00:25:42.140 and elders in Jesus' day, made up of God's people, 00:25:42.299 --> 00:25:44.960 the leaders, tried to assassinate Jesus several 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:47.519 times before they actually succeeded. And then 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:50.039 other geopolitical involvement with Pontius Pilate 00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:52.960 gave up Jesus to what? To appease the crowd, 00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:56.980 save face, and restore his reputation. And then 00:25:56.980 --> 00:25:59.700 people mock Jesus and then they spit on Jesus 00:25:59.700 --> 00:26:01.299 and they're like, finally, we're going to get 00:26:01.299 --> 00:26:03.720 rid of this guy. But even through all the attempts 00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:07.680 to thwart God's promises to bless us prevails 00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:12.420 because by cursing Jesus, we are blessed. Galatians 00:26:12.420 --> 00:26:15.779 3 .13 says this, Christ redeemed us from the 00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:18.339 curse, the curse of the law by becoming a curse 00:26:18.339 --> 00:26:20.980 for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone 00:26:20.980 --> 00:26:23.559 who is hanged on a tree. So then Christ Jesus, 00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:26.359 the blessing of Abraham, might come to the Gentiles 00:26:26.359 --> 00:26:29.700 so that we might receive the promised spirit 00:26:29.700 --> 00:26:35.019 through faith. We tried to snuff the son of God 00:26:35.019 --> 00:26:38.240 out, but through his death, we experienced forever 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:41.279 blessing. And just to be specific on what that 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:43.980 blessing is, what is that blessing? That blessing 00:26:43.980 --> 00:26:46.779 is forgiveness. That through Jesus' curse on 00:26:46.779 --> 00:26:49.519 the cross, he took that curse away from us. It's 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:51.819 the blessing of forever life. You know, the promise 00:26:51.819 --> 00:26:54.500 that we get to live forever with our resurrected 00:26:54.500 --> 00:26:57.859 Jesus in the new heaven and the new earth. As 00:26:57.859 --> 00:27:00.000 Galatians 3 pointed out, that the promise of 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:03.259 being adopted into his family, even for Gentiles, 00:27:03.339 --> 00:27:06.740 brought into the family, purely integrated to 00:27:06.740 --> 00:27:10.619 make a whole new humanity under Christ. The promise 00:27:10.619 --> 00:27:13.339 of the Holy Spirit to help us along this journey 00:27:13.339 --> 00:27:16.099 of faith every step of the way. These are the 00:27:16.099 --> 00:27:18.960 promises that we have been given and God is sure 00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:22.380 to deliver. And that is, That brings us to kind 00:27:22.380 --> 00:27:25.220 of our second point of application. A word for 00:27:25.220 --> 00:27:29.640 us is this, to trust that God is sovereign. To 00:27:29.640 --> 00:27:35.259 trust it inside your soul. Like Israel, we are 00:27:35.259 --> 00:27:40.019 in a liminal space. Numbers 22 marks, just again, 00:27:40.119 --> 00:27:42.880 a significant moment in their history. Just on 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:45.720 the doorstep of Canaan, the place of blessing. 00:27:46.059 --> 00:27:49.500 And what is this liminal space about? It's about 00:27:49.500 --> 00:27:51.660 how to live in that. The land across the river. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:55.759 How do we live across the Jordan? Well, that's 00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:57.740 what Deuteronomy is all about. There's a whole 00:27:57.740 --> 00:28:00.799 book, and we focused on this whole book not that 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:03.500 long ago. This whole book where there's like 00:28:03.500 --> 00:28:05.900 one big sermon. And God's saying, you want to 00:28:05.900 --> 00:28:08.539 go beyond this liminal space? Well, this is how 00:28:08.539 --> 00:28:12.339 you follow me. The plains of Moab was a place 00:28:12.339 --> 00:28:15.839 of preparation, a place of transition. It was 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:19.839 a place to learn or relearn the law. That's what 00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:23.519 Deuteronomy means, second law. They needed the 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:25.359 law to be repeated to them because if you want 00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:27.480 to live out there, you've got to be present in 00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:30.759 this liminal space to learn, to understand what 00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:33.599 it means to follow Jesus before we go over there. 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:38.559 Folks, we are in such a place. Like Penny Road 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:41.559 Elementary, like Apex Middle, like Fulton Grove, 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:45.299 we are in a liminal space here. And you know 00:28:45.299 --> 00:28:48.579 what the Lord asks of us today? Do you trust 00:28:48.579 --> 00:28:52.720 in my sovereignty? Do you trust in my sovereignty 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:56.640 enough to deliver on my promises? I don't always 00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:59.819 deliver on my promises. I know that. I try to 00:28:59.819 --> 00:29:02.019 be very careful. I say to my kids, I promise 00:29:02.019 --> 00:29:04.160 I'll do that. And then that comes back to haunt 00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:08.390 me. There is now this, I must be a little lenient, 00:29:08.450 --> 00:29:10.809 a little bit more lenient with Lily because every 00:29:10.809 --> 00:29:12.869 time she asks me something and I say, well, maybe, 00:29:12.970 --> 00:29:14.730 and she says, oh, well, maybe just means yes, 00:29:14.829 --> 00:29:19.170 Dad. I'm like, oh, okay. Apparently I give in 00:29:19.170 --> 00:29:22.450 eventually. How much more can we trust in God's 00:29:22.450 --> 00:29:25.490 sovereignty to deliver on his promises to us? 00:29:25.990 --> 00:29:29.549 He's the great, good, loving Father. And so while 00:29:29.549 --> 00:29:31.769 we are in this liminal space, God begins our 00:29:31.769 --> 00:29:35.500 journey with this reminder about himself. I am 00:29:35.500 --> 00:29:38.759 sovereign. I'm sovereign over all geopolitical 00:29:38.759 --> 00:29:41.359 issues. I am sovereign over all spiritual issues. 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:44.740 I am in control. I know what I'm doing, and I 00:29:44.740 --> 00:29:47.839 know what I'm doing through you during this time 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:49.940 of transition, during this time of preparation 00:29:49.940 --> 00:29:53.880 to learn how to follow Jesus. So we need to do 00:29:53.880 --> 00:29:56.519 this as a church, as we think about this space, 00:29:56.660 --> 00:29:59.619 as we think about this space being a place where, 00:29:59.660 --> 00:30:01.819 hey, this is transitionary. We don't know how 00:30:01.819 --> 00:30:03.900 long we're going to be here, but while we are 00:30:03.900 --> 00:30:06.880 here, The Lord is preparing us for what's next. 00:30:07.140 --> 00:30:09.980 Because we're always dealing with change. We're 00:30:09.980 --> 00:30:11.259 always dealing with change. And there's always 00:30:11.259 --> 00:30:14.079 such anxiety that happens often when there's 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:18.759 change. Some of you just changed jobs. Or you're 00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:21.319 trying to change to a new career. Some of you 00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:26.299 changing back to school. Entering into a new 00:30:26.299 --> 00:30:28.960 grade. Some of you thinking, should I go back 00:30:28.960 --> 00:30:31.700 to school? Some of you changing to a new house. 00:30:32.349 --> 00:30:34.630 Or a new apartment. Some of you are changing 00:30:34.630 --> 00:30:38.029 to the reality of having another child. Or having 00:30:38.029 --> 00:30:40.609 young children. Or having even grandchildren 00:30:40.609 --> 00:30:43.309 perhaps. Going to kindergarten for the first 00:30:43.309 --> 00:30:45.670 time. All of us are going through transition. 00:30:46.069 --> 00:30:49.089 All the time. Life is filled with liminal spaces. 00:30:49.730 --> 00:30:52.549 We are constantly at a crossroads and thresholds. 00:30:52.670 --> 00:30:57.369 And each time, so often, we miss out on what 00:30:57.369 --> 00:31:00.349 the Lord is teaching us. And we can cling to 00:31:00.349 --> 00:31:03.559 worry over trust. and anxiety over confidence. 00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:06.980 The liminal places, these doorsteps of life, 00:31:07.059 --> 00:31:09.619 folks, we often miss out on what the Lord is 00:31:09.619 --> 00:31:13.359 preparing for us. And so let's start off strong, 00:31:13.500 --> 00:31:17.779 shall we? Trusting in God's sovereignty. Do you 00:31:17.779 --> 00:31:22.220 trust that he is sovereign as we, as you, enter 00:31:22.220 --> 00:31:26.299 new places and spaces? Folks, he has us exactly 00:31:26.299 --> 00:31:29.140 where he wants us. He has you exactly where he 00:31:29.140 --> 00:31:32.799 wants you. He's active. He's alive. He's pushing 00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:35.799 and prodding and preparing along the way. He's 00:31:35.799 --> 00:31:39.019 aware. He's concerned for our well -being, for 00:31:39.019 --> 00:31:43.240 your well -being. So let's use this time to grow, 00:31:43.460 --> 00:31:46.700 to grow in depth as believers in Jesus, to grow 00:31:46.700 --> 00:31:49.839 an understanding of how to live for Jesus, how 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:54.700 to love, love like Jesus. Let's not waste. Liminal 00:31:54.700 --> 00:31:58.200 space. Let's not waste liminal space. Own it 00:31:58.200 --> 00:32:01.920 as a way in which the Lord is reminding you and 00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:06.160 me, the Lord shouting at us, I am sovereign. 00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:10.000 And so as I wrap up, just to remind us, Jesus 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.359 has won. There's victory in Jesus. And God promises 00:32:14.359 --> 00:32:17.819 to continue to bless us today. Even in this liminal 00:32:17.819 --> 00:32:20.279 space, right here at Felton Grove High School, 00:32:20.380 --> 00:32:23.000 this space does not belong to us. We are merely 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:25.559 on a doorstep and a threshold that we could enjoy. 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:28.740 We are in this place for a reason, for a season. 00:32:28.839 --> 00:32:31.980 This space is our plains of Moab, time of preparation 00:32:31.980 --> 00:32:35.059 and of obedience, a time of blessing to face 00:32:35.059 --> 00:32:38.140 the future with confidence and comfort in our 00:32:38.140 --> 00:32:42.059 Lord Jesus Christ. Let's trust, trust in God's 00:32:42.059 --> 00:32:44.619 sovereignty throughout. Remembering the promise 00:32:44.619 --> 00:32:46.799 that was given to Abraham, I will make you a 00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:49.759 great nation and I will bless you and make your 00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:52.140 name great. I will do it so that you will be 00:32:52.140 --> 00:32:55.579 a blessing. This is like a guarantee. And so 00:32:55.579 --> 00:32:58.980 we, folks, we are called to be a blessing. God 00:32:58.980 --> 00:33:02.000 has blessed us for us to be a blessing. For us 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:03.819 to be a blessing of all the families of the earth, 00:33:03.859 --> 00:33:07.039 it says in Genesis 12. So wherever that may find 00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:09.099 you, wherever neighborhood you may find yourself. 00:33:10.029 --> 00:33:11.930 The neighborhoods around this school, Felton 00:33:11.930 --> 00:33:15.450 Grove, Feltonville, Windermere, Colvin, Hollybrook, 00:33:15.470 --> 00:33:18.230 Briarwood Farms, Marion, Fair Oaks, Newberry 00:33:18.230 --> 00:33:21.670 Park, Scotts Laurel, Pemberley, Arbor Creek, 00:33:22.069 --> 00:33:26.470 Wood Creek, there's about 215 ,000 people in 00:33:26.470 --> 00:33:29.250 a five -mile radius of this school. And many 00:33:29.250 --> 00:33:31.670 of them are waiting. Many of them are waiting 00:33:31.670 --> 00:33:34.289 to feel the promises, the blessings of our Lord. 00:33:34.549 --> 00:33:37.549 This is a spiritual battle, but the Lord is sovereign. 00:33:38.119 --> 00:33:40.380 And we can trust that he will deliver on his 00:33:40.380 --> 00:33:44.000 promise to us as his blessing. In the name of 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:46.579 the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. 00:33:46.640 --> 00:33:48.700 Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank 00:33:48.700 --> 00:33:51.759 you for this opportunity to focus on this very 00:33:51.759 --> 00:33:57.759 unique story of Numbers 22. Surprises, curveballs 00:33:57.759 --> 00:34:00.789 along the way. Lord, what a great reminder, Lord, 00:34:00.890 --> 00:34:03.950 as your people sat on the plains of Moab many 00:34:03.950 --> 00:34:06.049 years ago and as there are all these things that 00:34:06.049 --> 00:34:09.650 are swirling around them, plots to stop them, 00:34:09.730 --> 00:34:12.489 plots to curse them. Lord, we are so thankful 00:34:12.489 --> 00:34:18.210 that you always win. You always win. And we could 00:34:18.210 --> 00:34:20.130 find comfort in that and confidence in that. 00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:23.300 and so help us to trust that you know what you're 00:34:23.300 --> 00:34:25.280 doing with us and that you will bless us while 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:27.659 we are in this this liminal space and that you 00:34:27.659 --> 00:34:30.559 will bless us to be a blessing as we go and as 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:33.579 we seek to share the blessings and the promises 00:34:33.579 --> 00:34:35.920 that you have given us through jesus christ to 00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:38.619 others give us strength give us courage to do 00:34:38.619 --> 00:34:42.949 so help us to be in this space to prepare prepare 00:34:42.949 --> 00:34:45.909 for what's to come, to learn obedience, to learn 00:34:45.909 --> 00:34:48.369 what it means to follow Jesus, to learn how to 00:34:48.369 --> 00:34:50.130 love. Lord, do all these things through your 00:34:50.130 --> 00:34:52.309 Holy Spirit. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. 00:34:55.469 --> 00:34:57.969 You have been listening to the Resurrection Life 00:34:57.969 --> 00:35:00.949 Sunday Sermon from Resurrection Life Church in 00:35:00.949 --> 00:35:04.769 Apex, North Carolina. Resurrection Life is now 00:35:04.769 --> 00:35:07.750 meeting at our new location in Felton Grove High 00:35:07.750 --> 00:35:11.789 School off Stevenson Road, Apex, just outside 00:35:11.789 --> 00:35:15.210 Holly Springs. Resurrection Life is pastored 00:35:15.210 --> 00:35:18.630 by Dr. Mark Konech. Join us this Sunday morning 00:35:18.630 --> 00:35:21.929 at 10 a .m. for worship in the new Felton Grove 00:35:21.929 --> 00:35:24.920 High School Auditorium. And if you found this 00:35:24.920 --> 00:35:27.960 podcast to be a blessing to you, share it with 00:35:27.960 --> 00:35:31.300 a friend. And be sure to subscribe on Spotify, 00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:35.440 Apple, or GoodPods so you don't miss next week's 00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:54.340 Resurrection Life Sunday service. Because I know 00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:48.960 just because he lives.