Numbers Class 07 The prophecies of Balaam

Study of Numbers
Class 7
The sin of Moses
The Brazen Serpent
The prophecies of Baalam
Preparations to enter Canaan

Study of Numbers – Chapter 20
The sin of Moses
 ‘‘Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the rod; you
and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together.
Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its
water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock,
and give drink to the congregation and their animals.’’
(Numbers 20:7-8).

The sin of Moses
 What recommendation did God give to Moses, the first
time, when he had a similar opportunity in Horeb? God told
Moses to strike the rock, a figure of the crucified Christ, the
rock that was stricken to satisfy our thirst of life
 But this time God commanded him to merely speak a
command to the rock.

The sin of Moses
 This time the rock speaks of the resurrected Christ from
the dead, caught up to heaven.
 ‘‘But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins
forever, sat down at the right hand of God,” (Hebrews
10:12).
 Now his body can never again be broken and his blood can
never be poured out a second time, since his sacrifice was
perfect.

The sin of Moses
a. Moses’ attitude of indignation
 Moses answered the congregation, and called them
rebels when God himself only commanded him to bring
them refreshment.
 Moses compromised God’s character, because he made
God seem bad.

The sin of Moses
b. He suggested that his human power made the
water come out
 In verse 10, it appears that Moses boasted before the
congregation, as if he had a type of power. God had told
him to speak to the rock, however, Moses insinuated that
he and Aaron could have caused the miracle.

The sin of Moses
c. Disobedience to God
 God did not command Moses to bring water out of the
rock. God merely told him to speak to the rock and the
rock would produce water to refresh the people.
 Just as the Lord Jesus said in John, ‘‘whoever believes
in me ... from him will flow rivers of living water” (John
7:38). Once we have been reconciled to God, by the
death of Christ, the stricken stone, we are saved by his
life, the living rock.

The sin of Moses
 When he struck the rock a second time, Moses
symbolically declared the crucifixion of the rock, but not
its resurrection. He became a man with half of a
message, and a man with half of a message only fulfills
half of a job.
 For this reason he merely took the people out of Egypt
but failed to bring them into Canaan. The life of Canaan
is a life of resurrection, and the enjoyment of Christ
within us.

The sin of Moses
 But the Lord told Moses and Aaron: "Because you did
not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children
of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into
the land which I have given them." (Numbers 20:12).
Because you did not believe me (unbelieving believers)
this was the sin of Moses, the man who died before his
time and was buried in the wrong place.

The sin of Moses
 In one sense, Moses is a type of Christ, the Liberator.
But there is also a sense in which Moses represents the
law. That is why the Jews referred to the Old Testament
as the “law of the prophets”.
 Since Moses was a symbol or representative of the law
he could not have brought the people into the land, since
the law is too weak to lead the people to perfection and
God’s will. The law is effective to reveal sin, but
ineffective to introduce us into the life of victory.

The Bronze Serpent
 Once again the people of Israel murmured against God
and rejected the manna. As punishment, God permitted
the fiery serpents to come among the people causing
many to die. This event is a type of the Christ crucified,
lifted up on the cross.

The Bronze Serpent
 God provided the most simple solution which only
requires faith. Remember: God commanded Moses to
make a brazen serpent and whoever merely looked at the
serpent, would be freed from the power of the venom.
 It is possible that many Israelites had thought the solution
to simplistic, deciding not to submit themselves to such a
childish method, perhaps this is why many died. Many
times the things of God are very simple, demanding a
simple and complete faith.

The Bronze Serpent
 The principal point of this event is that it is a type of the
crucified Christ. Jesus said that he would be lifted up just
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert.
 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. John 3:14

The Bronze Serpent
 Today we can be freed from the poison of the serpent.
The only thing that we have to do is to look to Christ
lifted up on the cross. Just a look of faith will remove the
venom and save us from eternal death.
 Both the serpent and the bronze are spiritual symbols
that point to the work of Christ on the cross. The serpent
that Moses lifted up in the desert was a serpent of
bronze.

The Bronze Serpent
 It had the form of a serpent, without the venom of the
serpent. It represented the Lord Jesus who was lifted on
the cross. When we look to him our sins are forgiven.

The Bronze Serpent
 Naturally the serpent points to Satan (Genesis 3:1,
Revelation 12:9). Therefore Satan was condemned on
the cross. For this reason when we look to the cross our
problem with the devil is also solved.
 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh
and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that
through death He might destroy him who had the power
of death, that is, the devil. Hebrews 2:14

The Bronze Serpent
 Romans 8:3 says that Jesus merely had the appearance
of sinful flesh, yet without sin, thus he condemned sin on
the cross.
 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through
the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned
sin in the flesh. Romans 8:3

The Bronze Serpent
a. The bronze
 In the first place, the serpent is a type of Christ crucified
because of the bronze. In Exodus we have already
learned that bronze in the Bible is a symbol of God’s
judgment, for the remission of sins. For this reason the
altar is made of bronze.

The Bronze Serpent
b. The serpent
 Many people do not like to imagine a serpent as a type
of Christ. But we must understand that the death of the
Lord condemned Satan to death itself. For this reason
we were justified before God.
 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that
we might become the righteousness of God in Him.’’ (2
Corinthians 5:21).

Study of Numbers – Chapter 22 - 25
The prophet Balaam
 Without a doubt Balaam is one of the great mysteries of
the Old Testament.
 Not much has been written about him, but it is certain
that he knew God, even though he was not from the
nation of Israel. Balaam, however had no intimate
knowledge of God.
 The New Testament refers to Balaam in three ways: the
error of Balaam (Jude 11), the way of Balaam (2 Peter
2:15) and the doctrine of Balaam (Revelation 2:14).

Study of Numbers – Chapter 22-25
The prophet Balaam
a. The error of Balaam
 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have
run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in
the rebellion of Korah. Judes 1:11
 The error of Balaam was to think that God would julge his
rebellius people, while forgeting the power of the atonement.
 He imagined that God was angry with his people because of
the constant provocations in the desert and that it would be
possible to curse God’s people.

The prophet Balaam
b. The way of Balaam
 The way of Balaam is caracterized by the mercenary
worker or those who do the work for financial interests.
In 2 Peter 2:15 Peter warns us against this way.
 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray,
following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved
the wages of unrighteousness 2 Peter 2:15

The prophet Balaam
 The great men of God in history, were very careful with
respect to finances, and we should be radically opposed
to those who want to make the ministry a profession to
gain financial wealth.
 As leaders we will receive greater discipline than those
of the flock, since the life of the Saints weighs upon us.

The prophet Balaam
c. The doctrine of Baalam
 Baalam was a Gentile, however God called him a
prophet.
 But I have a few things against you, because you have
there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught
Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of
Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit
sexual immorality. Revelation 2:14.

The prophet Balaam
 Just as in the case of Saul, the Holy Spirit moved over
Baalam, but didn’t enter in him.
 Because the people of Israel were always victorious,
Balak, King of the Moabites, became afraid and called
Balaam. He said, “You are a prophet. Please curse the
people of Israel.” Balaam wanted the money that Balak
offered him so he agreed, and although God hindered
him in the beginning, in the end allowed him to go.

The prophet Balaam
 However, Balaam founded no way to curse the people of
Israel. But, since he had already accepted the money
from Balak, he came up with a scheme. He counceled
the Moabites to ask their women to draw near to the
people of Israel.
 Therefore the Moabite women drew near and the men of
Israel took them as wives.

The prophet Balaam
 These Gentile women also brought their idols with them,
introducing them to the people of Israel, that’s not only
committing fornication, but also worshiping idols.
 God became angry and killed 24,000 Israelites, but
Moab was spared. In Numbers 25, we see that the
Moabite women joined themselves to Israel, but only in
chapter 31:16 do we discover that the plan was devised
by Balaam.

The prophet Balaam
 Look, these women caused the children of Israel,
through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the
Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague
among the congregation of the Lord. Numbers 31:16
 Balaam’s method is to destroy the separation between
the church and the world, resulting in idolatry.
 We must be very careful to not permit anything of the
world to penetrate the church.

The prophet Balaam
 We must also be careful to guard against mixed
marriages of believers with unbelievers, since this is the
means of Satan to destroy many lives. May the Lord
keep us from the error, the way and the doctrine of
Balaam.

Study of Numbers – Chapters 26-36
Preparations to enter the Promised Land
 Between chapters 15 and 20, a period of 38 years
transpired. Beginning in chapter 26, a new generation
takes over. A new generation arose that had a new faith
to destroy the enemy.
 We have here a serious warning. God always passes
over the generation that does not respond to his call.
God has something to do through this generation, but
how many of us have responded to him? May the move
of God not pass over us in these days.

 Again we see God commanding Moses to take a census
of the children of Israel. The first census became useless
because that generation failed to take possession of the
land, therefore a new census became necessary.

1. Joshua succeeds Moses - Numbers 27
 Between Joshua and Moses, we have one of the
greatest examples of discipleship in the Old Testament.
 When Moses climbed the mountain to receive the law,
Joshua remained at the base of the mountain waiting
and observing.
 During the war against Amalek, Moses climbed the
mountain and Joshua went to the front of the battle.

 When the spies were sent, Joshua and Caleb were the
only two that assumed an attitude of faith and boldness.
 When the 70 elders prophesied, Joshua was with
Moses, observing everything and certainly learning from
him.
 In all the great moments, we see Joshua at Moses’s
side.
 God does not contradict his principles it would be very
strange if at the end of the life of Moses, another name
was chosen.

 It was natural for Joshua to be chosen because in his
discipleship with Moses, he learned everything. In all of
the great moments we see Joshua at the right hand of
Moses.
 His discipleship with Moses certainly brought him great
recognition among the congregation. The way that we
establish leaders in the church is through discipleship.

 Imagine if Moses had held an election in the desert.
Elections are not God’s method.
 New leaders must be formed through discipleship as
Joshua was and they will naturally be recognized by the
people.

2. The trans-jordan tribes - Numbers 32
 In Chapter 32, we see the tribes of Ruben and Gad and
the half tribe of Manasseh’s asking Moses if they could
settle in the land of Gilead, on the east side of the
Jordan. This attitude demonstrates three things.
 First, it demonstrates the selfishness of keeping the
easiest part, without being concerned whether the others
had received their inheritance or not.

 In second place, it demonstrates laziness, the
convenience of remaining in a place where there were
no enemies to be defeated.
 In third place, the attitude of these tribes points to those
who live on the borderline between the church and the
world. They are not exactly in the world, but they are
very close to it (2 Timothy 4:10).

 There is an enormous danger of living on the margins of
the church, at the division between the church and the
world. Such people do not have the safety of the church
and are easy prey to the enemy, the final result is
corruption. Ruben never again is mentioned as an
important tribe, and the tribes of Dan and Manassas are
never again emphasized in Israel’s history. The timid
believer, fearful and worldly has no value in God’s work.

Numbers Class 07 The prophecies of Balaam

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