The incident that we are studying in detail is from Numbers Chapter 23. As the people of Israel progressed towards the Promised Land, the King of Moab out of fear and envy wanted to curse the Israelites, and thereby hoped that he could hinder their advancements. He bribed the Prophet Balaam, and hoped that he would curse the people of Israel.
Even today children of God are constantly striving against the onslaughts of the evil one. Often times we have no understanding as to who we are in Christ, and hence we are gripped with fear.
In Numbers 23:9-10, Numbers 23:19-21, there are certain characteristics of the Israelites that are mentioned that we can apply to the church as well.
1. The Israelites were a people who lived alone, and were separated unto God.
2. They were numerous, and their growth no one could stop
3. Their death was like that of a righteous which meant that they were blessed both in life and death.
4. None of the promises of God will fail because He is a God who does not lie, and but is faithful to His word. When life is hard and seems contrary to the promises of God, we can rest assured that God is faithful, and will remain true to His word.
5. Also we see that God does not change His mind like men do. The God who called us is faithful to lead us and keep us until the very end.
6. When God blesses us no one can hold it back. If you feel that you have forfeited the blessings of God know for sure that when God blesses you no one can withhold or take it back from you.
7. God also did not consider the sins or wickedness in Israel which means that through Christ God has forgiven us our sins, and made us righteous in His sight.
8. Also the Lord God was with them, and this is the greatest privilege we have as children of God.
Today we will study Numbers 23:23, There is no magic charm, no witchcraft, that can be used against the nation of Israel. Now people will say about Israel, 'Look what God has done!' (GNB)
There are many people today, even Christian ministers who when asked to pray for others declare that some evil spell has been cast on them, and will suggest that they either fast and pray for a specified period of time or attend church for certain number of days to be rid of their troubles. This is just a human solution which is totally contradictory to the word of God. Have you observed that when someone is told that their circumstances are a result of some evil spell that someone has cast on them, that person is filled with fear, and anything amiss that happens afterwards is associated as being a consequence of that? More people are willing to trust the words of men, rather than to depend on the word of God.
Let us remember from the word of God based on Numbers 23:23 that no magic charm or witchcraft that is aimed at us can prevail over us, because we are under God’s divine protection. Let’s keep our eyes fixed and our minds focused on the word of God, and whenever something is said contrary to the word of God, we must hold on to the word of God. We must firmly know and believe on the basis of God’s word that, ‘no weapon formed against us will prosper.’
Sadly, we live in a time when even those who are believers in the Lord Jesus go seeking after all sorts of magic and astrology.
Things that are detestable to God
We read in Deuteronomy 18:10-11, There shall not be found among you one who makes his son or his daughter go through the fire, or one who practices divination, or an interpreter of signs, or an augur, or sorcerer, or one who casts magic spells, or one who consults a spirit of the dead, or spiritist, or one who inquires of the dead. (LEB)
There are many who may not practice a lot of what is mentioned in the above verses, but there are still believers who observe days, and want to make sure that their weddings are planned for only certain days of the week which they consider as auspicious. There are many who will have no weddings in the period of lent. We must know that every day is a gift to us from God, and there is no day or time that is evil because God has blessed it. Many believers go for palm reading, and we must know that nothing about us is written on the palm of our hand, but is known by the God who created us. These are last days, and we must be cautious to not let the people of the world dictate what we should do or not do in order to stay safe and blessed because this is in complete variance to the word of God.
We read in Deuteronomy 18:12, “Whoever does these things is disgusting to the LORD.” (GW)
God’s word reminds us that anyone who does these things is disgusting to the Lord. The Lord laid it on my heart to mention that no child of God should for any reason dabble or seek any of these evil methods because they are totally detestable to God.
Encounter between God and Moses
The wonder God performed
We read in Exodus 4:1-3, Then Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, 'The LORD did not appear to you.'" The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff." And he said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. (ESV)
In this encounter between God and Moses where God called Moses to go to Pharaoh, and deliver the Israelites from his cruel hands, Moses told God that the Israelites would never believe that he was sent by God. After Moses ran away from the palace in Egypt, for forty long years Moses had been a shepherd, and all that was in his hand was a staff in his hand. Moses was firm that Pharaoh or the Israelites would never accept him or his leadership. It was at this point that God asked Moses as to what was in his hands. All that Moses had was a staff but God took it, and made it a great and powerful tool in his hands.
There are many of us like Moses who think that we can’t do much because we don’t have anything worthwhile in our hands. The Lord is willing to use any little thing that is in our hands. Remember the time when there were more than five thousand people who were hungry and without food when Jesus was here on earth. Jesus asked His disciples to bring to him whatever, they could find, and when they brought the five loaves and two fish, it was more than enough for the Lord Jesus to perform the astounding miracle, and feed the five thousand. We as believers in the New Covenant have the power and authority that the Lord Jesus has entrusted to us, but sadly we are unaware of the mighty anointing that is within us through the Holy Spirit of God. If we can give whatever is in our hands to the Lord, He can take it and make it a blessing for many.
When God asked Moses to throw the staff in his hand to the ground it became a serpent. Just think about the number of times Moses might have dropped the staff earlier, but nothing happened. However, when Moses dropped the staff in obedience to God’s command, there was a miracle.
We too must learn to listen to the word of God, and obey if we want to see the miraculous in our lives.
The miracle before Pharaoh
In Exodus 7:10 we read, “Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a large snake.” (GW)
This was a miracle that was performed by Moses in the presence of Pharaoh at the command of the Lord wherein a lifeless staff became a large snake.
The imitation
However in Exodus 7:11 we read, “Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.” (ESV)
We may wonder as to how when there was a genuine miracle done by Moses, the wise men and sorcerers of Pharaoh’s palace were also able to perform a similar miracle. Whenever, there is a powerful miracle by God, Satan will do his best to do an imitation of the same so as to mislead the people. There are many who run after such counterfeit miracles, but we as believers must be conscious that the enemy is all out to duplicate, and deceive God’s people.
This is mentioned to us in the New Testament too in 2 Thessalonians 2:9, The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, (ESV)
In the last days the coming of the lawless ones will be accompanied with activities of Satan along with all counterfeit power, signs and wonders. Satan is deceptive, and we have to be discerning to know which miracles are from the Lord, and which ones are from the devil. Today more emphasis is given to miracles rather than to the word of God.
Recently we heard of a leader of a very big congregation who claimed he had a dream, and converted to another faith. Along with him his entire congregation of over one lakh people also did the same. The reason for those people going astray is because they were certainly not rooted in the word, but were rather caught up with things that were sensational.
Instead of running to people we must learn to spend time in the presence of God until we receive our miracles. Sometimes there are those who are with us who can lead us astray. Let me share a testimony of a young couple. This couple had been married, and were childless for almost four years. The wife would get pregnant, but had repeated miscarriages. One of the husband’s friend at work told him that if he and his wife would go to a certain place, they would surely have a baby. The date too was fixed for the trip, but the wife was so troubled that she called us to visit them, and pray that this would not happen. We visited and counselled both of them on the basis of God’s word, and encouraged them to trust in the Lord to do the miracle for them. The husband took the counsel, and instead of going to the place as planned, they committed the matter to God in prayer. The Lord honored them, answered our prayers, and they have been blessed with a beautiful baby. Just when God is about to work a miracle, we will find that we will be misled by someone to go elsewhere. It is good that we only entertain those who bring peace into our homes, and we don’t be hasty to let just about anyone lay hands on us to pray for us.
The counterfeit signs won’t last
The magicians in Pharaoh’s palace did the exact same sign that Moses did. However we read in Exodus 7:12, For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. (ESV)
Though the magicians did the same miracle so that all of their staff’s became serpents, their serpents were swallowed up by Moses’ staff that became a serpent.
Deceptive signs will only be temporary, and will never last long. Remember, there is no power that is mightier than the power of God.
Though the sorcerers and magicians in Pharaoh’s palace did a few of the signs and wonders that Moses performed, like the water turning to blood, there was a time when something happened.
We read in Exodus 8:18-19, “And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man and upon beast. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God:” (Webster)
The magicians came to a point where they could not do what Moses did, and they acknowledged before Pharaoh that the plagues that had come upon Egypt was the hand of God in judgement upon them.
An interesting thought came to me as I read this passage of scripture. Moses was sent by God to bring judgement on Pharaoh and the people of Egypt, so he could deliver the Israelites. When Moses pronounced the plague and struck the Nile so that the water turned to blood, Pharaoh’s magicians instead of reverting the plague, performed the same sign that only further troubled their own people. The magicians were only imitators, imposters, and hence they were not able to bring a reversal to the plague.
There are many who look genuine, but are deceivers, and we should be careful to not be led astray by such people. If we have objects and artifacts in our houses that we have kept hoping they would change our fortunes around, we need to discard them, and allow the blood of Jesus Christ to be our cover and protection. We have a God who is able to do everything for us, and no matter how hard our situations are let us never choose to do anything that would dishonor or displease the Lord. God’s timing is perfect, and we must wait on the Lord to fulfill all of His promises in our lives.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
