God is Not a Man, That He Should Lie

Numbers 22:21–23:30; Luke 1:57-80; Psalm 58:1-11; Proverbs 11:12-13

Balaam – God Speaks
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! – Numbers 23:8-10

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. – Numbers 23:19-20

Balak promised Balaam riches and prestige to curse the children of Israel. God wouldn’t let it happen and told Balaam over and over that it was not happening. God’s people were blessed, and not to be cursed. Balak tempted Balaam over and over with things and status. Each time, God instructed Balaam to speak only what God told him. God’s instruction and His Word did not change though Balak tried to change the scenery to get a change of response. 

Balak learned the lesson we all must learn. God is not a man, that He should lie. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Yes, His Words all those years ago are still the same today and forever will be. 

John – The Lord Was With Him
And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him. – Luke 1:66

Isn’t that all any of us need? The Lord with us?

Zacharias – was Filled with the Holy Ghost
And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. – Luke 1:67-79

Zacharias couldn’t speak for a time because of his unbelief. When he was able to speak again, after John was born, these were the words he said. These Words are proceeded by the phrase “Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost.” These were the Words of the Lord to His children, coming through Zacharias.

The Righteous – Shall Rejoice
The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth. – Psalm 58:10-11

Reveal or Conceal
A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. – Proverbs 11:13