#5 (The
“Remember” Series)
“REMEMBER BALAK AND BALAAM!”
TEXT: Micah
6:1-8; 2:11; 3:11
INTRO: How much of
our walk with God is spent trying to bribe God? Humans have this funny way of dealing
with doing wrong; we will try and do some other good thing to soothe our
conscience and atone for our sins when we have done something wrong. We attempt to buy God’s favor when we
feel desperate, hoping to make up for some sin we don’t really want to deal with
or acknowledge, etc.
ILLUS:
LIKE THE
MAN IN GASTONIA, N.C. WHO BROKE INTO AN APARTHENT TO ROB IT – HOPING TO SOOTHE
HIS CONSCIENCE AND APPEAR LIKE HE WASN’T SO BAD AFTER ALL HE PROCEEDED TO WASH
ALL THE DISHES LEFT IN THE SINK, HE THEN MOPPED THE KITCHEN FLOOR, SCRUBBED THE
BATHROOM NEXT – AND THEN EVEN REARRANGED THE FURNITURE FOR A MORE PLEASANT LOOK;
THEN HE STOLE THE STEREO AND EVERYTHING ELSE OF VALUE IN THE HOME! HIS GOOD DEED HELPED HIM FEEL HE COULD
OVERLOOK HIS SINS! – SOURCE UNKNOWN
We grew up bribing our parents when we
wanted something or to atone for something we had done wrong, bribing teachers
when we needed something, and sometimes we attempted to bribe God – but God
cannot be bribed and we need to learn that His love is given
freely!
We would all be better off if we
learned to have an honest relationship with God, when we sin we simply confess
it, when God asks of us something to simply do it because it is right and it
honors God, and not to try and move God to do some favor for us through
bribery!
PROP.
SENT: Balak and
Balaam’s error was that they thought God’s blessings and curses could be bought
for a price! The tragedy in Micah’s
day was that Israel was attempting to do the same thing with God that Balak
and Balaam had tried many years earlier, a tactic that proved to be a horrible
failure and had thus kept Israel from a revival!
I. THE “HEARTBREAK” OF THE ISSUES!
6:1-5;
2:11; 3:11
A. Prophets
of Profit! 6:1-3;
2:11; 3:11
1. Israel (here mostly Judah) had been complaining
about the lack of God’s blessings on them, they felt God had been unkind to them
and had put too much pressure on them.
a. They ignored their own attitudes of
selfishness and materialism which was rampant at this time in
b. They for the most part had been
pretty faithful to attend the
c. The rich were getting richer; the
poor were preyed upon by the rich in the country.
2. They
felt that as long as they gave God their tithes and attended faithfully the
Temple and worked hard that it didn’t matter how they treated one
another!
a. Thus as God began to withhold
covenant blessings from them they couldn’t understand the reasons God had for
doing this to them!
b. Ceremony had replaced
Character!
3. The tragic element in this story is
that the example of this was set by the PRIESTS
themselves!!!
a. 2:11 and
b. The priests were preaching all the
things the people wanted to hear in order to make them feel good so they would
continue to give good offerings, this gave the priests a healthy salary and made
them popular!
c. These priests gave the people a
false sense of security, they didn’t preach sin or repentance, just
blessing!
d. How many pulpits today ignore
preaching on repentance and the reality of sin, the reality of hell is ignored
in sermons so people won’t FEEL bad!!
4. Judah was thereby distracted from
the real issues of sin in their life individually and corporately! Two things can distract us from the real
issues in our life:
a. PAIN
b. PLEASURE
ILLUS: IN THE
MOVIE “ROBIN HOOD” THIS VERY PRINCIPLE WAS DEMONSTRATED WHEN ROBIN HOOD CANE TO
A YOUNG MAN WHO WAS PRACTICING HIS ARCHERY ABILITY. ROBIN HOOD ASKED THE MAN, “CAN YOU SHOOT
AMID DISTRACTIONS?” THE YOUNG MAN
SAID YES AND RAISED HIS BOW TO SHOOT WHEN JUST AS HE WAS ABOUT TO RELEASE HIS
ARROW ROBIN HOOD TOOK A FEATHER AND POKED THE MAN’S EAR QUITE HARD! THE BOY’S SHOT WENT HIGH BY SEVERAL FEET
OVER THE TARGET AS HE FLINCHED WITH PAIN.
AFTER THE LAUGHING DIED DOWN, MAID MARIAN STANDING BY THE BOY ASKED ROBIN
HOOD IF HE COULD DO THE SANE TEST, AND OF COURSE HE CONFIDENTLY STATED “YES!”
TAKING AN ARROW AND CAREFULLY
AIMING IT ROBIN HOOD WAS ABOUT TO RELEASE THE ARROW WHEN MAID MARIAN
FLIRTATIOUSLY BLEW INTO HIS FACE.
THE ARROW MISSED THE TARGET, GLACED OFF THE TREE BEHIND IT AND BARELY
MISSED A BYSTANDER! PAIN AND
PLEASURE CAN BOTH BE A DISTRACTION, SOMETIMES PLEASURE CAN BE THE WORSE
ONE! – SOURCE UNKNOWN
5. Judah was complaining about God
giving them hardship while they continued to practice doing most of the right
things – even if it was for mostly the wrong reasons!
a. Their security was being threatened
by an enemy nation!
b. Their
prosperity was drying up though their religious life was vibrant, however
the righteousness that God desired was absent – similar to what is
happening in
B. Principle
of Pardon
6:4-5
1. As though in a courtroom, God
presents his case against His people.
a. To try and show Judah that God
wanted CHARACTER and not just CASH from the people He reminds them of two
examples of His deliverance for them from their past – both times God delivered
Israel not because of their great sacrifices financially but because of their
trust in Him!
(1. Crossing the
(2. Crossing the Jordon river when Balak and
Balaam tried to force God to curse them through a large payment of cash, and it
failed! 6:5
b. In both these cases God delivered
Israel freely because they were living in obedience to the Lord and trusting in
God, it wasn’t the rituals that won God’s favor, it was
righteousness!
2. Now they were hoping for God’s
favor based on ritually following certain of God’s laws like temple attendance
and giving, but with no heart to care about people or to minister to the poor!
They had jumped on the wrong horse
in trying to win God’s favor!
ILLUS: LIKE THE
RIVARLY YEARS AGO BETWEEN TWO MEN IN KENTUCKY WHO RACED HORSES. THEY TRIED EVERYTHING TO BEAT EACH OTHER
WITH THEIR HORSES. ONE YEAR ONE OF
THE MEN HIRED A PROFESSIONAL JOCKEY TO GIVE HIM THE EDGE SINCE THEIR HORSE WERE
PRETTY EQUAL IN TIME ON THE TRACKS. SURE ENOUGH, BOTH HORSES WERE IN THE
LEAD, BUT NECK AND NECK COMING UP TO THE FINISH LINE; THEN A TRAGEDY STRUCK, THE
TWO HORSES COLLIDED WITH EACH OTHER AS THEY TRIED TO MAKE AN EDGE ON EACH
OTHER. THEY BOTH WENT DOWN, WITH
BOTH RIDERS. THE PROFESSIONAL
JOCKEY HOWEVER DEMONSTRATED THE STRENGTH OF HIS TRADE HOWEVER WHEN HE PICKED
HIMSELF UP AND QUICKLY REMOUNTED AND MADE IT ACROSS THE FINISH LINE WITH THE
WIN! RETURNING TRIUMPHANTLY TO THE
STALL WHERE THE OWNER WAS WAITING HE WAS CONFUSED TO FIND THE OWNER WHO HAD
HIRED HIM MADDER THAN A WET HEN!! THE JOCKEY ASKED, “WHAT’S THE MATTER?
WHY ARE YOU SO MAD, I WON DIDN’T
I?” THE KENTUCKY MAN RESPONDED,
“YEA, YOU WON ALL RIGHT, BUT YOU CROSSED THE FINISH LINE ON THE WRONG
HORSE! WHEN YOU GOT BACK UP YOU
JUMPED ON MY ENEMIES’ HORSE INSTEAD OF MINE!” THE WIN MEANT NOTHING SINCE IT WAS THE
WRONG HORSE! – SOURCE UNKNOWN
3. Judah was betting on the wrong
horse, they thought they could appease God with some perfunctory obedience to
outward actions and not have to deal with the real issues of the
heart!
a. While they were mad at God for the
loss of their material blessings God was heartbroken over their attempts at
tokenism!
b. God saved them from Pharaoh and
Balak freely because they loved the Lord back then, not because of what they did
for God!
c. If they had found God’s grace
because their heart was in the right place back then, why did they think they
could now buy God’s love and favor?
4. This is the heartbreak of many
Christians today, they go through the motions of spirituality without having the
character of spirituality!
a. When they need God’s favor they go
through a flurry of doing “good deeds” until things are over or they get want
they wanted, then they slip back into avoiding God!
b. God cannot be bribed or
manipulated, He responds to love and obedience that springs from love, not from
attempts at manipulating Him!
II. THE “HEART” OF THE ISSUE! 6:6-8
A. Portrait
of a Phony! 6:6-7
1. Their response to Micah’s preaching
this message to them about pleasing God was to go overboard on giving as if to
bribe God even more!
a. This only proved that they still
didn’t get the real message!
b. Notice their reaction – they give
thousands of sacrifices, ten thousand rivers of oil, and unbelievably they even
consider offering up to God their own children as sacrifices to make their bribe
for prosperity that desperate! To
even consider giving their own children in sacrifice to try and move God to
bless them again demonstrates just how far their hearts had turned toward
prosperity over principle. Their
outward focus was on “getting back their blessings” instead of getting back true
righteousness!
c. Prosperity or gold was their goal,
not God! Is this what drives
Americans “back to God” today?
2. God was viewed as just another
means of getting more! What ever
happened to the “Sin
issue?”
3. They had reasoned that perhaps a
sacrifice of one of the own children might atone for the sins of their own body
since the baby came from their own body or it would at least show God how
serious they were about making sacrifices!
a. How many
Americans sacrifice their children to the God of money – to get more and more –
so busy making money they ignore them while they grow up!
b. How many Americans think that if
they just gave their kids everything then it will make up for all the sins they
commit in ignoring their family life!?
4. This reaction by them to go
overboard on giving to atone for the real problem of their sinful heart
condition reflects the age in which we live today! Some things never
change!
a. Their idea to the challenge to
repent: “Let’s do something quick and dramatic and get this
over with and get back our prosperity.”
b. Instead of changing their hearts
they attempt to just appease God with a quick, dramatic offering in the hopes
that an easy quick fix will turn things around!
c. God wasn’t looking for this kind of
response to His challenge, He wasn’t after more money from them; He wanted
godly character not great cash!
5. They were used to getting their way
by buying people off, by waving their gifts around and taking advantage of the
poor!
a. Their concern was PROSPERITY, not
PEOPLE!
b. How does
c. How do you stand
up to it?
6. Judah had more excuses for not
really changing their hearts, the only person in their eyes responsible for
their loss of blessings was God – not them! It certainly wasn’t their fault, at least
in their eyes! How like today this
is!
ILLUS: LIKE
MICHAEL TINDALL OF BOSTON YEARS AGO WHO WAS SET FREE BY A JUDGE FOR FLYING
ILLEGAL DRUGS INTO THE UNITED STATES. TINDALL’S ATTORNEY HAD ARGUED
SUCCESSFULLY THAT TINDALL WAS A VICTIM OF A SYNDROME CALLED, “ACTION ADDICT
SYNDROME” ... A SO-CALLED EMOTIONAL DISORDER THAT MAKES A PERSON CRAVE DANGEROUS
AND THRILLING SITUATIONS! THEY
ARGUED THAT TINDALL WASN’T A DRUG DEALER, JUST A THRILL SEEKER AND THAT HE
COULDN’T HELP HIMSELF! -OR- LIKE THE MAN IN OREGON WHO TRIED TO
KILL HIS EX-WIFE, HE TOO WENT FREE HAVING SUCCESSFULLY ARGUED THAT HE COULDN’T
HELP HIMSELF BECAUSE HE SUFFERED FROM “DEPRESSION-SUICIDE SYNDROME” ... A
DISORDER WHOSE VICTIMS DELIBERATELY COMMIT POORLY PLANNED CRIMES TO THEY CAN
HOPEFULLY GET CAUGHT. HE WASN’T
TRYING TO REALLY KILL HIS WIFE; HE WAS HOPING THAT THE POLICE WOULD REALLY KILL
HIM! -OR- DAN WHITE WHO KILLED THE MAYOR
YEARS AGO OF SAN FRANCISCO ... HE GOT OFF A MUCH LESSER CHARGE BY CLAIMING THAT
HE COULDN’T HELP HIMSELF FOR KILLING THE MAYOR BECAUSE OF HIS JUNK FOOD
OBSESSION! WE ARE LIVING IN THE ERA
OF “IT’S NOT MY FAULT OR RESPONSIBILITY” ... AND SO WE LOOK FOR QUICK
FIXES! – SOURCE UNKNOWN
7. Judah wanted a quick-fix, not a
change of heart! They just wanted
God’s blessings back, the easiest and quickest way
possible!
B. People of
Promise! 6:8
1. God now clarifies what it is He is
looking for if they really want His blessings to
return!
a. It is not more “stuff’ or more
“activity” in the temple.
b. It was JUSTICE, MERCY, HUMILITY,
AND LOVE; for God and fellow man!
c. This is what God has always wanted
from His people – character, not
just CASH!
2. Time and time again they only
turned to God when things were bad, only when they found themselves in a crisis,
God wanted their love and trust in the good times too, not just to be used by
them!
ILLUS: LIKE A WELL
TO DO LAWYER AND HIS WIFE WHO HAD HIRED THIS MAID. THEY FELT SORRY FOR AND SO HAD HER
BECOME A LIVE-IN MAID TO GIVE HER A BETTER LIFE. SHE WAS A PRETTY GOOD COOK AND KEPT THE
HOUSE WELL. THINGS WENT WELL FOR
SOME TIME AND THEN ONE DAY SHE CAME TO THEM AND SAID, “I HAVE TO QUIT, I’M
PREGNANT!” THE MAN AND HIS WIFE
DISCUSSED TOGETHER HOW THEY COULD HELP HER AND FINALLY AGREED. THEY CAME TO HER AND SAID, “WE WILL ADOPT
YOUR BABY AND YOU CAN CONTINUE TO WORK AND LIVE HERE!” SHE WAS HAPPY AND IT WAS DONE. LATER THE SAME THING HAPPENED, SHE CAME
AND ANNOUNCED SHE WOULD HAVE TO QUIT, SHE WAS PREGNANT AGAIN. AGAIN THE COUPLE AGREED TO KEEP THE BABY
AND ADOPT IT FOR HER IF SHE STAYED ON. LATER THE SAME THING HAPPENED A THIRD
TIME, AND AGAIN THEY ADOPTED THIS BABY. ONLY ABOUT A MONTH AFTER ADOPTING THE
THIRD BABY HOWEVER THE MAID ANNOUNCED SHE WAS QUITTING! THE COUPLE’S RESPONSE WAS LOGICAL BUT
SURPRISED, THEY SAID, “SURELY YOU’RE NOT PREGNANT AGAIN SO QUICKLY?!” THE MAID
RESPONDED, “NO, I’M QUITTING BECAUSE THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY KIDS IN THIS HOUSE
TO PICK UP AFTER, I HAVE TO THINK OF MY NEEDS!” HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE DONE THIS WITH
GOD? GOD HAS HELPED THEM OVER AND
OVER AGAIN AND THEN THEY TURN THEIR BACK ON GOD THE MOMENT THINGS GET TOUGH, TO
HELP THEMSELVES! – SOURCE UNKNOWN
3. God is looking for the heart and
not just our gifts.
a. You can be a gifted person and
still not be usable in God’s kingdom, it matters where your heart is and your
character!
b. It is not CHARISMATA (gifts) that
God looks for in using us as much as it is CHARACTER!
4. God is moved by one thing, a real
heart of righteousness. The heart
that seeks to love God and man simply because they have learned to be moved by
God’s love for them!
5. Don’t
just seek to have God restore your fortunes when they are lost, have the wisdom
to seek God to have Him restore your faith, He then will take care of everything
else!
CONCLUSION: What moves God’s heart? Can God be bought or fooled by lavish
displays of sacrifices without a real change of heart? God’s grace flows freely because of who
we are, not just on what we do! You
can do right things for the wrong reasons. Those who do this do not experience God’s
blessings anymore than those who do wrong things. God looks for righteous character more
than lavish sacrifices!