Prophets of the Bible - 05/27/2018

PROPHETS OF THE BIBLE

MAY 27, 2018

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

The next person on our list is Noah. Now, for some reason you will not find Noah on any Prophet list – except mine. And why did I add him? Well, what would you call someone God told to build a huge boat in the middle of dry land so the he would be safe when rain came, before rain had been invented as it were, and THEN told to spread the warning to everyone else for 120 years (see Jasher pg 13) telling them what was coming? I call him Prophet.

And actually we can add his grandfather Methuselah to that list too. Jasher page 13 says, that in the 1536^th year after Creation: For thus saith the Lord, ‘Behold I give you a period of one hundred and twenty years; if you will turn to Me and forsake your evil ways, then will I also turn away from the evil which I told you, and it shall not exist,’ saith the Lord. And Noah and Methuselah spoke all the words of the Lord to the sons of men, day after day, constantly speaking to them.

Of course, we know the results, But the sons of men would not harken to them, nor incline their ears to their words, and they were stiffnecked. 

NOTE: Want to know some really cool trivia?  Noah married one of Enoch’s daughters. Her name was Naamah. She was 580 and he was 498 when they married according to Jasher. (pg 13)

Now Genesis doesn’t give us this insight, but knowing the merciful nature of God, I tend to stand by its authenticity. Genesis 6:9-17 says, “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God…¹³And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them and, behold, I shall destroy them from the earth…¹⁷And, behold, I AM, even I, am bringing a flood of waters, upon the earth to destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of life, from under heaven, and everything that is on the earth will die.’”    

Now there are some who call Abraham a prophet due to Genesis 20:3-7 “But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, ‘Behold, you are but a dead man for the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.’ ⁴But Abimelech had not come near her and he said, ‘Lord, will you slay also a righteous nation? ⁵Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister?’ And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.’…⁷Now therefore restore the man’s wife for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live, but if you do not restore her, know that you will surely die, you and all that are yours.”

So the Lord established Abraham as a prophet and he was told of the four hundred year Egyptian captivity of his heirs so, according to man’s definition as well as God’s Abraham was a prophet. Isn’t it nice when we all agree?

He is also known as an Evangelist in Hebrew history. In the One New Man, Genesis 14:14 reads, “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken was taken captive, he armed his disciples, born in his house, three hundred eighteen, and pursued them to Dan.” 

Next I believe is Balaam. Now, Balaam was a mess! An absolute mess! His name means Foreigner, so right off we know he wasn’t a Hebrew. He was a Mesopotamian prophet and although he heard from the One True God, he didn’t necessarily listen to Him, as he frequently flopped from Mammon to God to Man to Mammon to God, and so on. (By Mammon I mean the god of money.)

But I have to say, Balaam has the most unique story I’ve ever heard! And it shows that God can and will use ANYTHING that is necessary to help His people and get His point cross. His story is in Numbers 22:5-25:9.

He was a travelling kind of guy, but his Biblical journey was primarily tossed between the service of Balak, king of Moab and YehWah, King of the Universe.  

We start with Balaam conferring with the elders of Moab and Midian bringing rewards of divination or bribes for him. And their intro was, “Behold, a people came out from Egypt. Behold, they cover the face of the earth and they live next to me. Now therefore, I pray you, curse these people for me, for they are too powerful for me.” (Numbers 22:5) Now, I don’t know about you, but I hear satan’s influence there. Nobody knows who they are, but because there are so many of them, they are perceived as a threat. Not a potential ally, but automatically a threat. So let’s just put a curse on them and we can sleep easier, because he was a reputation of being accurate with his blessings and curses.  So Balaam says sure, see you tomorrow. 

So Balaam prays and the Lord answered him in Genesis 22:12, “And God said to Balaam, ‘You will not go with them! You will not curse the people, for they are blessed.’” So Balaam goes back to his potential employers and says no. The Lord refuses to curse them, so there’s nothing I can do and I’m not supposed to go with you either. (As they were planning an attack either presently or after they returned with reinforcements.)  

So they upped the ante: a promotion, honor, and a royal house filled with silver and gold. So Balaam thinks on it another night. So Balak sees him the next day eagerly anticipating another answer. “And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ ¹⁸And he took up his parable, and said, ‘Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor: ¹⁹God is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man, that He should be sorry. Has He said that He will not do it? Or has He spoken that He will not make it good? ²⁰Look, I have taken the message to bless. And He has blessed and I cannot reverse it. He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen evil deed in Israel. The LORD his God is with him and the shout of a king is not among them.’” Numbers 22:17-20.

Now this passage tells me that Moab wanted to follow the LORD, however, only when He agreed with their thoughts on life. 

In the meantime, Balaam decided to keep in touch instead of just walking away, I’m sure mulling everything over in his mind. And this is when his story gets miraculously weird: “And God’s anger was kindled because he went out, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to be an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. ²³And the donkey saw the angel on the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field, and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. ²⁴But the anger of the LORD stood in the path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side and a wall on that side. 

“²⁵And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it thrust itself to the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall and he struck it again. ²⁶And the angel of the LORD went further and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn to either the right hand or to the left. ²⁷And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam, and Balaam’s anger was kindled and he struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸And the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey and it said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you, that you have hit me these three times?’

“²⁹And Balaam said to the donkey, ‘Because you have mocked me and I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you.’ 

“³⁰And the donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your donkey, upon which you have ridden ever since I was yours to this day? Did I ever attempt to do so to you?’ 

“And he said, ‘No.’ ³¹Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand and he bowed down his head and fell on his face….” Numbers 22:22-31

So, two things about this that struck me instantly:

First is that Balaam never flinched when his donkey started to talk! Now, I talk to my cat all the time and he talks to me too, but you can bet that if he ever spoke English I’d probably have to change! But Balaam just kept going like it was an ordinary occurrence! 

Second, he still asked permission to keep going! Even though the angel just told him he would have killed him had his donkey not veered out of the way!! (Makes me want to quote Forest Gump!)  

But even with what I consider a stern warning, to say the very least, did he stop? NOOO! And did Balak stop? NO! “And Balak said to Balaam, ‘Come, pray you, I shall bring you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.’ ²⁸And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor that looks toward Jesimeon.” Numbers 23:27

Well, take note of what the LORD said in 22:20, “He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen evil deed in Israel.” When Balak and Balaam looked down on the entire camp of Israel, do you know what they saw? They saw them camped, with the tabernacle in the center and the tribes encamped around it facing north, south, east and west in the shape of the cross! THAT was how they travelled and that was how they set up camp every time they stopped.

“What God has cleansed, you must not declare unclean.” Acts 10:15. In the desert, the Hebrew people were declared righteous even with their complaining and idolatry. Why? The Blood and the coming of the Cross. They had the blood of bulls and goats, we however, have the eternally righteous Blood of the Savior. The Blood of God Himself! So rise up and know who you are in Christ! Because when He looks at you, He sees His Son! Sometimes I think of myself standing behind Y’shua and the Father’s [x-ray] vision being able to see me, even though I’m hiding. But I’m not hiding fromHim, I’m hiding from everyone/everything else. I’m staying where it’s safe. Not where it’s necessarily easy, but it’s totally safe! Eternally safe! Ultimately safe! 

Stay where it’s safe. “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ²I will say of the LORD He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust. ³Surely He will deliver me from the snare of the fowler and from the destructive pestilence. 

“⁴He will cover me with His feathers and under His wings I will find refuge; His truth will be my shield and buckler. ⁵I will not be afraid of the terror by night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ⁶nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday. 

“⁷A thousand will fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand, but it will not come near me. ⁸Only with my eyes will I behold and see the reward of the wicked. ⁹Because I have made the LORD, Who is my refuge, the Most High, my habitation, ¹⁰there will no evil befall me, neither will any plague come near my dwelling.

“¹¹For He will give His angels charge over me, to keep my in all Your Ways. ¹²They will bear me up in the palms if their hands, lest I dash my foot against a stone. ¹³I will tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent I will trample under my feet. 

(Fill in the blanks with your name) “¹⁴‘Because ______ has set his/her love on Me, therefore I will deliver him/her. I will set him/her on high because he/she has known My name. ¹⁵_____ will call upon Me and I will answer him/her. I AM with _____ in trouble. I will deliver him/her and love him/her. ¹⁶With long life will I satisfy ______ and show him/her My salvation.” (Psalm 91) AMEN & AMEN!

SHALOM!!