A very blessed colt of a donkey 529-1 - 10 - 8

Palm Sunday Pastor Bruce of our local Assembly of God Church talked about the donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. First a little background.

Daniel 9:25, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”

This was a timeline brought to Daniel by the angel Gabriel; from the time Nehemiah was sent to Judah to rebuild the walls until The Triumphal Entry and when the “Messiah be cut off.”

Jesus sent two disciples to find a tethered donkey, and a colt with her and bring them to Jesus. If the owner asked why, they were to explain that the Lord needed the animals. Jesus would ride into Jerusalem to the cheering of the crowd as they spread palms before him.

Matthew 21:5, “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.” This was in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

Pastor Bruce’s points concerning the colt:

1. Jesus choose the younger colt

   a. It was not brainwashed

   b. It was ready to be used

2. The colt was prophesied {Zechariah 9:9)  

   a. Are we, like the colt, the generation to fulfill prophecy?

Joel 2:28-29, “28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29  And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.” 

3. The colt had to be loosed, men had him tied up

a. Like the colt we are too often tied up by the cares and expectation of the world. We need to be set free (set aside) to follow Jesus.

b. Lesson learned, don't let the world (fresh) tie us up.

4. The colt was tied up, but Jesus knew where he was.

a. Jesus unties us as we accept His gift of grace, confess our sins, and repent.

b. The colt obeyed Jesus

c. Jesus turned Jerusalem upside down.

5. More lessons learned.

a. If God can use the colt of a donkey He can surely use us.

b. The colt received no recognition, nor should we, it’s all about Jesus.

As an aside, there is another donkey, a talking donkey, mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Numbers. Balaam was a soothsayer, a “prophet for profit,” for hire. He agreed to use his ability contrary to God’s will.

Balak, king of the Moabites, feared the Israeli so he sent messengers to Balaam and asked him to curse Israeli. God intervened. Numbers 22:12, "And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed."

At first Balaam refused to curse Israel and eventually traveled to Moab but not until after a conversation with his donkey. Numbers 22:28, “And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?” Numbers 22:31, “Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, 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 flat on his face.”  

Balaam did suggest a way for Balak to corrupt Israel through the flesh. However, there was a final blessing, Numbers 24:17, “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.:

There is an earlier reference to a scepter, Genesis 49:10, “The sceptre (H7626) shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh (H7886) come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”

H7626, to branch off; a scion, that is, (literally) a stick (for punishing, writing, fighting, ruling, walking, etc.) or (figuratively) a clan: -  X correction, dart, rod, sceptre, staff, tribe.

H7886, Shiloh, an epithet of the Messiah: - Shiloh.

How are “the way of Balaam;” “the error of Balaam” and “the doctrine of Balaam” are reflected in today’s culture? 525 - 9 - 5

Per CM there are three errors of Balaam:

• “Way of Balaam”: making religion his source of wealth.

• “Error of Balaam”: attempting to oppose God’s will and curse Israel

• “Doctrine of Balaam”: marriage with the world.

“Way of Balaam”:

2 Peter 2:15, “Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;” Very descriptive today’s mega-churches leaders. As an example, Joel Osteen’s net worth of 40 million. [http://net-worths.org/joel-osteen-net-worth/] Joyce Meyers is a very entertaining motivational speaker, however, short on biblical truth. There are several others in the mega-churches who have gone the way of Balaam, an exception being David Jeremiah who stays with Biblical truth.

“Error of Balaam”:

Jude 1:11, “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.” There are those who are redacting the Bible. An example is The Message by Eugene Peterson. Mr. Patterson changes Job 19:25, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” (KJV) to “Still, I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life—and eventually he’ll take his stand on earth.” Mr. Pearson has added to the verse and exchanged the concept of my Redeemer to a more imprecise God and the latter-day for eventually.

Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and pastor at Saddleback Church has promoted Chrislam, something in my opinion that is an insult to both Christians and Jews. Pope Francis is courting the Eastern Orthodox Church trying to bring them under the umbrella of the Roman Catholic Church, can you say the coming one world religion? But I digress.

“Doctrine of Balaam”:

To the church at Pergamos, Revelation 2:14, “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.”

Balak, king of the Moabites, feared the Israeli so he sent messengers to Balaam and asked him to curse Israeli. Balaam was a soothsayer, a “prophet for profit,” for hire. He agreed to use his ability contrary to God’s will.  God intervened. Numbers 22:12, "And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed."

At first Balaam refused to curse Israel but money is money so he eventually traveled to Moab. On the way, Balaam had a conversation with his donkey who saw an angel blocking their path. As it turns out whenever Balaam tried to curse Israel it came out as a blessing them in accordance with God’s word. Finally, he used the doctrine of Balaam, “to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel,” to cause them to be unfaithful to God so He would then “turn His hand against them.”

As an aside, God can use something meant for evil for good. Balaam was paid to curse Israel and instead blessed her with a Messianic prophecy. Numbers 23:17, “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.”

The “errors” of Balaam" 505 - 6 - 7

According to CM there are three errors of Balaam:

Errors of Balaam

• “Way of Balaam”: making religion his source of wealth.

• “Error of Balaam”: attempting to oppose God’s will and curse Israel

• “Doctrine of Balaam”: marriage with the world.

Balaam was a soothsayer, a “prophet for profit,” for hire. He agreed to use his ability contrary to God’s will.  When blocked, Balaam then suggested a work-around.

Balak, king of the Moabites, feared the Israeli so he sent messengers to Balaam and asked him to curse Israeli. God intervened. Numbers 22:12, "And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed."

At first Balaam refused to curse Israel and eventually traveled to Moab but not until after a conversation with his donkey. Every time Balaam tried to curse Israel he ended up blessing them in accordance with God’s word. Finally he usedthe doctrine of Balaam, “to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel,” to cause them to be unfaithful to God so He would then “turn His hand against them.”

Later Balaam was killed, Joshua 13:22, “Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them.”

Fast forward to the present. Today we have the televangelists who have, in my opinion, gone the way of Balaam in a marriage with the world. Like Balaam they are “hireling” marketing their gift of being persuasive speakers. Their doctrine tickles the ears rather than convicting the listeners of their sinful nature and the need for redemption. Most of these televangelists run the risk of “Sacrificing eternal riches for temporal gain.” Eventually they will stand in judgment for casting stumbling blocks before their followers.

Our world is becoming increasingly evil. The Theory of Evolution has become a religion and our Creator God is marginalize, from goo to you by way of the zoo. So little value has the unborn that millions have been sacrificed on the altar of a woman’s choice. Those in academia who suggest intelligent design often lose their positions or at the very least are ridiculed. Romans Chapter One speaks to what happens to those who deny our Creator God, the judgment of homosexuality.

Rather than verbally cursing Israel, our current administration is undermining Israel, ironically a political party that has a donkey as its icon.