Promise 32 from Numbers 24:4-7

Numbers 24:4-7 - "The oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered.  How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings O Israel! 'Like valleys that stretch out, like gardens beside the river, like aloes planted by the Lord, like cedars beside the waters. Water will flow from his buckets, and his seed will be by many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and His Kingdom shall be exalted." - When looking a the promises of God in scripture, on needs to look at who the promise is for. God may not promise to one person what He promises to another. Even though Balaam is speaking over the Israeli camps, he begins with saying that oracle is for all who hear the word of the God and sees the vision of the Almighty. Balak was listening to the words of Balaam but he wasn't in tune to the vision of the Almighty. Therefore this blessing was not for him. So what is the blessing for those who hear and focus their eyes on the Lord? Your dwelling places are beautiful, overflowing with abundance, like valleys as far as the eyes can see, and beautiful gardens beside rivers of rushing, refreshing waters, like healing aloes planted by the Lord, Himself, and like strong cedars beside the water. There will be abundance of water, a symbol of life and refreshment, and your seed will be spread by the water, the symbol of multiplying growth and abundance. Your king, the One who is on your throne will be over all others and His Kingdom will be exalted, a promise of victory which is an eternal joy. This is what God promises His people. This is how God delights to bless His people.

Promise 31 from Numbers 24:1-2

Numbers 24:1-2 - "When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to seek omens but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the spirit of God came upon him." - Balaam had a personal encounter with God when his eyes were opened to that which pleases God. Prior to this mission that Balak asked him to go on, and God gave permission to go, even though intially he wasn't supposed to go, his job was to curse the enemies of those who paid him or to bless those who paid him. I really didn't believe he condsidered God too much, except to have an awareness of Him and maybe even a fear of Him. Even though he was not to go on this trip with Balak, God used this time to show Balaam what brings peleasure to God's heart. It was after he saw what pleases God, then the Spirit of God fell upon him.
Something I've experienced myself the last few years is, as soon as God reveals to me something new about Him, especially those things that bring Him pleasure, then I feel the Holy Spirit come upon me, which manifests in a variety of ways. It usually isn't the other way around, from my recent experience. God, Himself gives a fresh revelation using whatever means He chooses; scripture, a sermon, a talk with a friend, a song or even nature, then "Bam!" enter Holy Spirit on the scene. I could write a book on this whole topic, but just to bring clarification, because I know most of the conservative christian world would disagree with my statement thus far. When we have Christ in us, of course we have the Holy Spirit in us too. It is the work of the Spirit of God that opens our eyes to see the new revelations of God. This is what I call "the gentle Spirit within us. He does his job and we get it, we get what He is showing us and that revelation drops from our heads into our hearts, which springs up joy, peace, healing, whatever the case may be, then the "Gentle Holy Spirit" rises up and becomes a "party animal Holy Spirit" who begins to celebrate that we got it. At this point our little fleshly bodies can't handle all that Holy rumbling going on inside us and it starts doing uncontrollable things in response. Its like our soul and the party animal Spirit start to dance and the body doesn't know what to with it. So the body falls down, or shakes, or rocks or dances, laughs or cries or does flips or stand on its head. This is what happens when the joy hits our souls when we understand and respond to those things that please God, when we come into agreement to be pleased with those things that please God. The spiritual party begins and the Holy Spirit is the D.J.  Balaam explains his experience in vss. 3-4, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, and the oracle of the man whose eye is opened; The oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered." The party began and he fell down at the revelation of the Almighty God. So what is the promise? God raises up the party animal Spirit within us when we come into agreement to be pleased with those things which please God.

Promise 30 from Numbers 23:5

Numbers 23:5 - "Then the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, 'Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.'" - I really don't know why, as believers, we fret so much when we are headed toward an interview, a speaking event or a confrontation with someone. If God can put words in a donkey (vs. 22:28), for crying out loud, He can put His words into us. Balaam obeyed God when God told him to "only speak the words I give to you to speak" (vs. 22:35). We can trust God, without a shadow of a doubt to give us the words we need, especially when those words are about blessings and revealing the character of God to others.

Promise 29 from Numbers 22:20-22a

Numbers 22:20-22a. - "God came to Balaam at night and said to him, 'If the men have come to call you rise up and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you shall you do.' So Balaam arose in the morning, and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab. But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as an adversary against him." - Balaam starts out in this story doing all the right things. When Balak's men arrive asking Balaam to go with them so he can curse the Israelites he says, "Let's sleep on it and I'll tell you in the morning what God has to say about it" vs. 8. So God tells him, "Don't go with these guys because the Israelites are blessed people" (vs. 12). So Balaam tells the men, "Sorry, God says I can't go, have a great trip back home" (vs. 13). Then Balaak tries again to persuade Balaam with some higher ranking men and even promises great riches if he goes with his men. Balaam continues to do well and stands his ground and tells the men, "Look, you can promise me the riches of the world, but won't work, cuz I can't go against the words of my God" (vs. 18.). Way to go Balaam! Now, if he would have left things right there and sent the guys off on their journey back home, I think he might have gotten a special mention in Hebrews 11, but.... no. Instead of sticking to what he knows the desire of God is, he decides to see if God might change His mind. Well, lo and behold, God DID change His mind, in his ears anyway. God says, "If the men have come to call you, THEN rise up and go with them." It's no wonder the Lord sent His angel to block Balaam's path and to speak through the mouth of the donkey. The Lord wanted to make it very clear that Balaam was NOT doing what He said. How many times do we do so well in seeking the Lord for His guidance on an issue and even do as He says, but turn off that path because of either pressures from others or our own desires pull us off the path that God clearly directed us to? It's one thing to look to God and hear His voice, its another thing to maintain obedience to it. Balaam was clearly confused. "But... God, you told me I can go.... if you don't want me to go further I'll turn back", he says (vs.34). He wouldn't have had to step into confusion if he would've just stood his ground the first time and insisted to be obedient to God's wishes. So where is the promise in this? God did not let Balaam continue on the wrong path without showing him his wrong. When we do veer off the path for some reason or another, God will show us, He will give us warning signs, and most of all He will talk us through the decision we make. He won't strike us down right away but lovingly give us back the choice to follow Him and His direction once again.

Promise 28 from Numbers 21:8

Numbers 21:8 - "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and let it come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live'." - Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on the top of a staff, just as God instructed. The people realised their sin and repented of it. They came to Moses to repent of their sins. Now God could have, with just one word, removed the poison from everyone's bites and they would be healed, but He didn't. In God's Sovereignty and His ability to see the big picture, from beginning to end, He tells Moses to make a prophetic symbol which will hold significance not only for the Israelites at that moment, but for God's people for all time. The bronze serpent is a symbol of the healing and saving nature of Jesus. "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up" Jn. 314. When the Israelites looked on the snake, they were given life, they were healed, they were saved. The Israelites had to do their part by looking at the snake. God could've just saved them all, but after their awareness and repentance of sin, they needed to look toward the snake for the healing. The same is for us, just realising we sin and say "I'm sorry!" isn't enough, we need to then look to the One who can give back our lives, heal us and save us, Jesus! The bronze is a metal made up of two alloys; copper and tin. When the two are mixed together they form a strong bond that can never be separated. When we look to Jesus and call Him to become a part of us, He brings the strength of the power of His Spirit which holds us together, a bond that can never be broken. We must turn to Him first in order for this to happen.

Promise 27 from Numbers 21:2-3

Numbers 21:2-3 - "So Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, 'If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.' The Lord heard the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. Thus the name of the place was called Hormah." - The Canaanites began an offensive against the Israelites and they were winning. They had already captured some of them. When the Israelites realised they couldn't do this in their own strength, they regrouped and sought the Lord. Their pleas however wasn't "Lord, save us!" but it was a strategic move in working together with the Lord. The plan was, 'God delivers the Canaanites into their hands', in others words, 'You drive them toward us, and we'll take care of the rest.' This was a vow, or a promise they made to God, but it stems from the realisation that they couldn't do it on their own and needed His help. This wasn't a vow such as "Lord if You help me win the lottery, I'll give to the poor!" but a vow of working together against the enemy. Some people think they have no control over the enemy, so they wait for God to come and wipe him out, but God blesses those who realises the authority they have in taking control of the enemy with God's help.

Promise 26 from Numbers 20:12

Numbers 20:12 - "But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them'." - This is such a difficult verse and so difficult to understand. The consequences of something that seems like semantics, given to the ones called His friends and spoke to personally. What was it that caused such hard punishment? It wasn't Moses' striking the rock too hard or even yelling at the sons of Israel, but it was his lack of belief in God. He felt he needed to handle the situation his own way, so as a result of his lack of belief, and probably anger toward the people, he spoke to the people and struck the rock, instead of speaking to the rock and letting God strike the people with a new revelation of His love, care and holiness, by giving them water. If only Moses hadn't taken his eyes off the Father. If only he didn't let his own emotions take over. How different it would look for him and Aaron. How often do we take our eyes off the Father in frustrating circumstances? I would hate to see how many promises have been deterred and how many blessings I've missed out on because of my lack of faith in believing that God will do what He says He'll do. There are consequences to our unbelief.

Promise 25 from Numbers 20:8

Numbers 20:8 - "'Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.'" - Many of us who are raised in conservative churches are taught to pray pleading "if it only be your will God" prayers when we want Him to act on behalf of other people. God tells Moses and Aaron to speak to the rock, 'tell it what you want it to do' and it will happen. God gave them the authority to exercise His power. He didn't tell them, "Now go in front of all the congregation and plead to Me, asking if it be My will to bring forth water out of the rock", He said, "Go speak to the rock and it WILL happen." So often we dishonour God's character by questioning His will while we pray, when He makes His will known to us all over scripture. What people don't realise is that He is waiting for us to receive what He is freely giving us; authority to use His power so that He gets the glory when people see it is His will and see His character shine through us. Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." Jn.10:10. It's the theif that robs people from water, from health, from relationships, etc... God gives us the authority to claim back what has been stolen so that God's abundance can be poured out on His people.

Promise 24 from Numbers 20:6-7

Numbers 20:6-7 - "Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them; and the Lord spoke to Moses." - Moses and Aaron were once again targets of complaint by the people. Even in the midst of mourning the death of their sister, the people rose up against them and blamed them for bringing them to a place with no food or water. People suffer terribly at the words and actions of others. We live in a world of angry people who only think about themselves. I've seen how people can absolutely destroy another through their complains, anger and disrespectful actions. So what did Moses and Aaron do during this very difficult time? They went into the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. They retreated back to their God. There was nothing more that they could do, but to fall on their faces before Him. In that position of surrender, the glory of the Lord filled the room. God came before them right in that place; and spoke! Often  times people feel as though God has abandoned them during times of trouble. Usually the case is that people don't get themselves to that place of surrendering all that stress and sorry and fall on their faces before Him, so as to hear His voice. God doesn't always wait for us to be in that desperate place before He speaks, He's always speaking, its just that in that quite space we can hear Him clearer. If you haven't heard God's voice lately, maybe its fall on your face time. He will come to you in all His glory and speak!