[Frank Dunkle] At Ambassador, we get to go through the whole Bible. You know, we study all the different scriptures, we learn from different examples. And I want to begin today with looking at an example of a powerful person during the days of Jesus Christ's ministry. He did a successful and a powerful work, but I believe he was also a man who faced a bitter disappointment. The man I'm thinking of was John the Baptist. I know modern scholars tend to use the term John the Baptizer because he wasn't a member of the First Baptist Church. He was Jesus' relative. Many people believe cousin, older by about six months, born as a result of a miracle. Early on in the gospel accounts, it tells us how his father, Zacchaeus, had a turn to be in the temple burning incense when an angel told him his prayers would be delivered.

And so those elder parents were able to finally have a son who grew up and became an impressive person. He preached about baptism and repentance. And people flocked to hear him from far and wide, his name was known, to listen to his teaching. And yet with all those people coming to him, he retained a humble attitude. He openly said, “I'm not the Christ.” He said someone greater, someone mightier than him was coming, someone of whom he was not even worthy to untie his shoes. John said all along his job was to prepare, let me say that in English, to prepare the way for the one who is coming. And prepare he did.

All four gospel accounts describe John's work quite favorably. The Apostle John adds one little story that the others don't have. I'm not going to turn there to read, but it shows us that when Christ's work began and more people started turning to Christ, John the Baptist wasn't upset, he wasn't jealous. John said that he himself was like a friend of a bridegroom at a wedding. And that friend's not upset that the bridegroom is having such a wonderful time. He's rejoicing and not upset that... You know, as I said, the friend's not upset that he's not the one getting married.

Yet there seems to have come a time when John the Baptizer was disappointed. I would speculate perhaps he was scared, even disillusioned. Now, I'm saying perhaps with great emphasis because scripture doesn't really describe what he felt at that time, but it is certain that one time things didn't quite go the way he expected. And that leaves me to say he was disappointed.

I think all of us at times are disappointed. We don't have things go the way we expect, and that's the way it is. Question is, how do we handle that disappointment? How do we endure in those times? And can we learn some lessons from John the Baptizer or from others that we find in scripture? You might guess that I think so or else I've wasted a lot of your time. But I believe we can.

I want to read a passage in Luke 7. So, if you want to begin turning there. But before I read in Luke 7, I'll make a reference, if you're taking notes, to something it says in Luke 3:19. So, there it tells us that, "Herod the Tetrarch, son of Herod the Great, threw John the Baptist into prison because John had the temerity to rebuke him for an adulterous and incestuous marriage." Rulers in the world often don't like being corrected that way. And suddenly John was trapped in a cell. Now, it's believed that he was in a place called Machaerus, near the Dead Sea, away from everyone else, unable to carry on preparing for the Messiah, unable to preach his message of repentance.

But while he was there, his cousin, the one who John had said was that very Messiah, began performing work and turns out doing some fairly dramatic miracles. But none of those miracles seemed to have included rescuing John from an unjust incarceration, not saving him from persecution, from the constant fear of death. That's where I'm going to begin reading in John 7. We'll pick up in verse 16. Now, this is shortly after recording a great miracle that Jesus had done in resurrecting a young man from the dead.

Luke 7:16-18 It says, “Then fear came upon all and they glorified God saying, ‘A great prophet has risen up among us, and, God has visited His people.’ And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region. Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things.”

It was common in prisons at those days that people could come and visit. Actually, through a lot of history, the prisoner might starve to death if family or friends didn't come and bring them food. So, disciples of John were able to come and share the stories of what was happening. And that tells us it was becoming widely known. Years later, the Apostle Paul would speak of Jesus' ministry and particularly of His crucifixion. And he used the phrase,
“These things were not done in a corner.” They weren't done in a corner.

People were talking about Jesus of Nazareth, about the astounding things that He did, about His powerful teaching. And even in an isolated prison, John the Baptist heard this report. I'd imagine he was thrilled, but perhaps also a little bit puzzled. Was he wondering, “Why is Jesus ignoring me? Doesn't He know that I'm here stuck in prison?” You know, perhaps John was thinking, “Hey, the work is taking off. He'd like to be a part of it.” You know, in the modern vernacular, he might have been like a bench player saying, “Put me in coach, I'm ready to play.” Well, John the Baptist might have had other motivations. I'm speculating a little, but whatever his thoughts were, he wanted to reach out to his cousin and find out.

So, looking back to Luke 7 and beginning in verse 19.

Luke 7:19-20 It says, “John calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus saying, ‘Are You the coming one, or do we look for another?’ When the men had come to Him, they said,” This is to Jesus Christ, “‘John the Baptist has sent us to You saying, are You the coming one, or do we look for another?’”

That question can make us wonder, was John beginning to doubt if Jesus really was what John himself had already called Him, the Lamb of God come to take away the sin of the world? Well, we could wonder that. We could also speculate that John might have been trying to prompt Jesus to get on with the work of being Messiah the way some thought the work of Messiah should go. It's possible that John shared the belief. I think of a number of Jews at that time that, you know, although they knew what the Old Testament said, they might not have been entirely clear.

As a matter of fact, it seems likely they weren't clear that the Messiah would come two times. First, to be a sacrifice for sin, also to establish his church and send them on their work of preaching the gospel. That he would come another time to put down the governments of the world and establish the kingdom of God and bring peace and justice and happiness. Even if John did understand that Jesus was not yet going to establish the kingdom of God, John might still have been a little disappointed. You know, he might have wondered, “How could Jesus just be leaving me here in prison?” Jesus sent an answer back. If we read in verse 21.

Luke 7:21-23 “At that very hour, He, that is Jesus, cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits. To many blind, He gave sight. And Jesus had answered, these disciples of John, and said to them, 'Go tell John the things you've seen and heard, that the blinds see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of me.’”

Jesus seems to have been referring to, perhaps even quoting depending on the translation, directly from a messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. I'd like to turn there. It's in Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35, beginning in verse 6. I think it might be very instructive in conveying a message to John.

Isaiah 35:5-6 Says, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing, water shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.”

And I'll leave off there. Much of this is definitely millennial prophecy. But referencing these miracles, it could be like Christ telling John the Baptist, “Look, these are the signs of the Messiah and I'm doing them.” If John did have any doubts that Jesus was the Christ, and I am saying if, this should have given him an answer. Christ could have been saying, “Yes, I am the Messiah. I'm fulfilling the prophecies.” I believe being the son of a priest and trained in the Levitical ways, John the Baptist probably was more aware than many others of what the scripture said. And if that's the case, he might have noticed that there's part of this prophecy Jesus did not quote or read to him. Well, I don't know if He was reading. He probably wasn't carrying a scroll. But if you look earlier in the prophecy, starting in verse 4 in our Bible where it says, “Say to those who are fearful-hearted, ‘Be strong, do not fear. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with a recompense of God. He will come and save you.’”

John might have had that in mind and he might have noticed when his messengers came back that Jesus did not tell him, “Your God will come and save you.” Rather what he said is, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of me.” Now, I always hesitate to put Jesus' words in vernacular. I hope I don't do it injustice, but it almost could be like He was saying, “Yes, I'm the Messiah, but John, I'm not getting you outta prison. Sorry buddy. Please don't take offense. But it's not part of the plan now.” Again, it could be that He's saying that.

And we are not told how John reacted to that, what thoughts entered his mind when his disciples brought back that message from Jesus the Christ. Now, we don't know for certain, but because of what Jesus says to the crowd afterwards, I tend to think that John did handle the disappointment well. There's never a record of John doubting or turning away from the truth, but I'd like to put that aside for now. And if we accept that things didn't go quite the way John expected, that could naturally be a disappointment.

Do we get disappointed at times? Do we have doubts, fears, worries? We may experience disappointment, and God's message to us sometimes might seem to be that's how it is. Blessed is he who is not offended. But if that's the case, I would say, is that all that God has to say or all that He has to do for His servants when they're going through disappointment? Well, I say no, that's not at all the case. And I could turn to numerous examples. I want to go to one, a story showing that God might not respond quite the way we expect. He might not respond exactly the way we want or wish He would, but He always knows. He always cares.

I think we can find an example of that in the story of Elijah the Prophet. I'm going to be reading from 1 Kings 19. So, if you want to begin turning there, which I'll begin turning there while I'm trying to talk because I want to summarize the story that's found in the chapter before that, in 1 Kings 18. I won't read all of that but it's worth remembering Elijah is considered to be one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. When Israel was caught up in sin and in the worship of Baal and false gods, God had Elijah speak correction, and God, through Elijah, did powerful works. Elijah declared a drought and it didn't rain for three and a half years. We don't have time to look at all the adventures Elijah had during that time where God miraculously provided for him, and actually through Elijah brought a young man back from the dead. Well, when the three and a half years was done and God decided that it was time, He sent Elijah to confront King Ahab and to challenge the priests of Baal, challenge them to a showdown.

“We'll see who's God,” I don't know if Elijah said it like that, but they gathered on...let me say that in English, on Mount Carmel near the Mediterranean Sea, 450 Pagan priests. The deal was, “We'll each offer a sacrifice to our God and we'll call on our God to send fire from heaven.” Elijah said, “There's a lot of you and only one of me. So, you go ahead and go first.” Well, Baal is only a fictional creature. There is no Baal. And so that sacrifice sat there. Elijah couldn't help but have a little fun, you know, mocking them while they cut themselves and they prayed and chanted, you know. “Maybe he's off on a journey, maybe he's in the restroom or taking a nap. Call him louder,” he called.

Well, the whole day goes by, then Elijah called people near to him. Well, beforehand, he wants to make sure nobody has any doubt of the miracle, so they poured water on the sacrifice, pour some more. A lot of water to pour, considering they've had a drought for three and a half years. He says a brief prayer, and boom, fire comes down from heaven. It consumes the sacrifice, the altar, the rocks all around it in spite of the water that had been poured on it. And then Elijah rallies the people, “Put those priests of Baal to death,” and then he goes off to implore God to send rain. He prays and God sends rain in abundance. The drought ends. What a feeling. Elijah was on top. He was riding high. But as we all know, what goes up often inevitably has to come down. And that was the case for Elijah's confidence. That's where we begin reading in Chapter 19 of 1 Kings. Chapter 18. So long I've missed a page.

1 Kings 19:1-3 “Then Ahab, the king of Israel, told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, ‘So let the gods do to me and more also if I do not make your life as a life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.’ And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life. He went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, left his servant there.”

I'm not going to keep reading all the chapter, but I think we'll see from what follows that Elijah wasn't just afraid. I'm not sure that he was very much afraid at all, but I think he was disappointed. Imagine after all he'd done, after God showed dramatically who was the one and only supreme God, the nation as a whole was not turning back to God, and Jezebel was out to kill Elijah. Israel was still steeped in idolatry. Elijah might have wondered, “Is what I'm doing, does it even matter?”

1 Kings 19:4 “But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness. He came and sat down under a broom tree and he prayed that he might die. He said, ‘It's enough. Now, Lord, take my life. I'm no better than my fathers.’”

That's pretty unusual. You know, prophets of God don't get depressed. They don't give up. Well, we don't think of them that way. As I noted, I think he was disappointed in his nation, maybe more so than in himself. He knew his relationship with God. He was serving God in the right way, but the people of Israel... Can we relate to that?

Do you ever watch the TV news or listen on the radio, look it up on a website, and see what's going on in the world around you and it gets you kind of depressed, disappointed in the world around us? I know I do, just as Elijah might have wondered, “How can the people see these great miracles like fire coming down from heaven, a terrible drought ended with prayer to God, and yet the nation doesn't turn back to that God?”

You know, we could even wonder sometimes and be disappointed in the results that we get from the work of the church. You know, we could wonder, “How is it that we can broadcast the truth, and it's put so well on the TV, on the internet, and print, and so few seem to respond? How can so many in our nation be blind to truth, to morality?” It seems to the facts of physics, biology, you know, and they pursue policies that are contrary to God's way, but we could say they're contrary to common sense, sometimes even to self-interest.

And we might say, “Does our witness even matter? Are we all alone like Elijah thought that he was?” Well, we're not. And I think our work does matter. I think we can see some of God's patience and His mercy and His understanding and how He responded to Elijah. God didn't scold Elijah. He didn't punish him. There's not a record, at least of Him saying, “How dare you think that way, Elijah.”

The story here in 1 Kings 19 shows that God did show His power. We won't read all of it, but the narrative describes Elijah traveling on south, out of Israel, past Judah, all the way down to Mount Sinai. The narrative here refers to it as Horeb. It's a different name for the same mountain. And there, instead of scolding, God asked a simple question, notice in verse 9.

1 Kings 19:9-10 “There, he, Elijah, went into a cave, spent the night in that place. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” What are you doing here, Elijah? Elijah will answer, showing what he was feeling. “He said, ‘I've been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant. They've torn down your altars, killed your prophets with a sword. I alone I'm left. They seek to take my life.’”

I might be tempted to look at the United States of America today and say they've broken and undermined God's law. They're destroying the means to worship God. Although I haven't seen them killing prophets, those who teach anything about God's way are derided, made fun of. You know, in our society today, there's a total lack of respect for religious leaders and teachers. We could look at the United Church of God and know that there are some who would like to eliminate us as well. God responds showing Elijah his great power.

1 Kings 19:11-12 “Then he said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Eternal.’ And behold, the Eternal passed by, and a great and a strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord. The Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake, the eternal God was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, a fire, the eternal wasn't in the fire, but after the fire, a still small voice.”

Now I'm very confident this isn't trying to say that these natural disasters were not caused by God. They weren't just coincidence, they were caused by God. But God is not contained by such things. Not at all limited to that way of operating. And God doesn't have to do things by powerful dramatic miracles, even though He certainly shows He has that power. He can be dramatic.

1 Kings 19:12-13 “After the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.” I think I read that. “So, it was…” Let's go in verse 13, “When Elijah heard it,” he heard the still small voice, “he wrapped his face in a mantle, went and stood at the entrance and a voice came to him.”

A still small voice. Or I like translations that say a calm, quiet voice. “What are you doing here, Elijah?” I'm not sure if that's the way he said it, but I don't think God was saying, “What are you doing here?” I think it was like a patient parent with a young child who's upset, calming him down, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And Elijah's answer is essentially what he said before, “They've all gone bad. I'm all alone, and they're out to get me too.” And in answer, God doesn't rebuke. He doesn't even correct Elijah. But I love it He firmly but gently sends him back to work. I've heard some ministers in the church say there aren't a lot of problems in the world that can't be solved with good old-fashioned work. So, Elijah's given the job to do.

1 Kings 19:15-17 He says, “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. And you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel.” And I wonder if Elijah was a little surprised at the next one. “And Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah, you shall anoint as prophet in your place.’”

Well, if Elijah now has the job of training his successor, he's not going to feel so alone. And he doesn't just anoint him and then walk off. He's going to have Elisha with him for a while. He's going to teach him the job of being a prophet. But God will also tell Elijah that he never was as alone as he thought he was.

1 Kings 19:18 God says, “Yet I've reserved 7,000 in Israel.” And that might be exclusive of the separate kingdom of Judah, but “7,000 in Israel, all of whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

You know, God could likewise tell us there are still some good people out there. Now they may not be called to understand the truth as we do, but they haven't all fallen under the spell of atheism, and hedonism, and wokism. And if I can make up some more isms, you know, ism-isms. God might also tell us the church needs to continue doing the work. He's sending us. You know, if we get distracted or disappointed, there's work to do. And I think that just as Elijah did, we need to also be training and preparing younger generations to carry on that work into the future. I mean, that's one of the reasons Ambassador Bible College exists. But we're developing other training programs, Education is what it's about. We want all of our young people to be prepared to carry that mantle when it's passed on.

I think these things are really good for us to consider as a church. But, you know, it's also good to consider ways that we don't want to react to disappointment. Now, I want to consider an example of how not to handle disappointment. The one I'm thinking of, this story begins in the 22nd chapter of Numbers. It's the story of Balaam. So, you can begin turning to Numbers 22. And I'll give you a reference to another scripture where I won't turn and read, but it's in 2 Peter. 2 Peter 2:15-16 mentions Baal, and Peter refers to Baal…Not Baal, Balaam. Baal is the false God that I said was fiction. Balaam was a very real prophet according to Peter. Now, Peter references the madness of the prophet that has to be withstood.

I think the account we'll look at in Numbers can support the idea that Balaam was a prophet. But if he was, the way I like to say it is he certainly was a bad prophet, or he turned bad. That's part of why it's such a powerful example for us. We begin in Chapter 22 of Numbers.

Numbers 22:1-4 “The children of Israel moved and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of Jordan across from Jericho. Now Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.” So, Moses had sent an army to wipe out the Amorites and the followers of Og king of Bashan, and they were prepared to take that land. And Moab was exceedingly afraid because the people, the Israelites are many. It says in the end of verse 3 that “Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel. And Moab said to the elders of Midian, their neighbors, ‘This company is going to lick up everything around us like an ox licks up the grass of the field.’”

Balak the son of Zippor who was king of Moab at that time, you know, he notices. He takes the lead. And we'll see as we go on in verse 4, sorry, verse 5.

Numbers 22:5-6 “This Balak sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, at Pethor, which is near the river in the land of the sons of his people.” Now, it's not clear here, but as we study the Bible, we'll see that generally when it says the river, it's referring to the Euphrates. So, Balaam is a ways away, but he's got a reputation. Matter of fact, Balak will say, well, I'll read what he says. First of all, they said to him, he says, “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and they're settling next to me. Therefore, please come at once. Curse this people for me, for they're too mighty for me. Perhaps I'll be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

As I said, I think Balaam had developed a reputation somehow or another. This is the first indication that perhaps Balaam had some connection with and served the one true God. Now, well, I'll say more on that in a moment. Let's drop down to verse 7. We'll see what happens when those messengers arrive.

Number 22:7-8 It says, “The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner's fee.” That means they're going to pay cash for this curse that they want. “They came to Balaam, spoke the words of Balak to him.” How does he respond? “Lodge here tonight. Stay with me for the night and I'll bring back word to you as the eternal speaks to me. So, the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.”

That's another indication Balaam uses that name that we often refer to as the Tetragrammaton. And our King James Bible its capital L-O-R-D. It makes me wonder, how did he know that name? And I don't have an answer, but he does know it.

Numbers 22:9 It says, “God came to Balaam.”

And what he didn't say there is, “By the way, I'm God, you don't know anything about me, but let me tell you some things.” No, He came and spoke to him and they had a conversation. So, what I'm saying is it seems somehow some way Balaam had some connection and knew God in some way.

Now, to be honest, that raises more questions than I have answers to. And so, I don't want to blow it out of proportion and make more of it than I should. But knowing where Balaam is going to end up, it tells us that we want to look carefully at his example. And Balaam will answer God, he asked the question, “Who are these men?”

Numbers 22:10-12 “Balaam said to God, ‘Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent to me saying, 'Look, peoples come out of Egypt, they cover the face of the earth. Come now and curse them for me.' Perhaps I'll be able to overpower them and drive them out.’ God said to Balaam, ‘You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people for they're blessed.’”

It's like Balaam didn't know God was working with Israel and had a plan for them.

Numbers 22:13-14 “So Balaam arose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, ‘Go back to your land. The Lord has refused to give me permission to go.’” Reminds me of a little kid saying, "God won't let me come out and play." “And the princes of Moab arose and went to Balak and said, ‘Balaam refuses to come with us.’”

As I said, what we see, Balaam obeys God, but it does seem that he's disappointed. He doesn't like not getting to do things the way he wanted to. As I said, he says, “God refused to let me go.” Well, Balak's not done. He's not willing to give up this easily.

Numbers 22:15-17 “Balak again sent princes more numerous, more honorable than they. They came to Balaam and said, ‘Thus says Balak, the son of Zippor, please let nothing hinder you from coming to me. I'll certainly honor you greatly. I'll do whatever you say to me. Therefore, please come curse this people.’”

Okay. So, you know, basically, it's like writing a blank check. I remember mentioning this to the students at ABC and I thought, “How many people write checks anymore?” Some people do. I do. So, it's a check with a number, amount left blank. Of course, they're not writing cheques, but he says, “I'll do whatever you want.”

Numbers 22:18-19 “Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, ‘Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less or more. Now, stay here tonight and I'll know what the Lord may say to me.’”

Okay, seems evident here, as I said, Balaam wants that money. I get the feeling he's motivated by money. And so, he wants to be allowed to go do this. Pronounce a curse. And so, again, what God is going to tell him is disappointing.

Numbers 22:20 “God came to Balaam at night and said, ‘If the men come to call you, rise and go with them. But only the word which I speak to you, you shall do.’”

Now that's hardly permission to do what Balak is asking. In fact, I'd say there's a good chance that the messengers might not have showed up in the morning. The wide interpretation that I've heard and I think is probably true is Balak doesn't wait to see if they're going to come to him. He sets his alarm, gets up nice and early, and he's saddled and ready to go.

Numbers 22:21-22 It says, “Balaam arose in the morning, saddled his donkey, went with the princes of Moab. Then God's anger was aroused because he went, and the angel of the Lord took a stand in his way and as an adversary against him. He was riding on his donkey, and two servants were with him.”

I'm going to summarize what comes next, partly because it's one of the best-known stories of the Bible. I could have a lot of fun walking us through it, but I want to get to other points. But we know God sends this angel to confront Balaam and there's a drawn sword and the donkey can see it, Balaam doesn't see it. So, the donkey goes out of its way, crushes his foot at one point, does whatever it can to not get killed by that angel with the sword. And eventually, then God will open the mouth of the donkey to talk to Balaam. And then the angel talks to Balaam and they give him a pretty simple message.

The way I like to summarize it is, “Balaam, you're walking on thin ice. You know, you can go with these men,” because Balaam says, “Well, if you want me to go home, I will.” “No, you can go, but only what I tell you you can say.” I think Balaam was appropriately humbled at this point, but he didn't seem to learn the lesson I think from his poor way of handling the disappointment over what God would allow and what God would not. Now, the story is going to go on for several chapters, and with Balaam humbled and knowing he needs to speak only the words that God gives him, he speaks some beautiful words about Israel and God's blessings that will come. I'm not going to read those, but if you're looking for some extra reading today, it's worth spending some time with. Beautiful blessings of Israel.

But Balaam, I think he's still disappointed. He did not get to do what he really wanted. He did not get to get the money that Balak was willing to pay. If you'll turn with me to Chapter 24, we'll begin reading in verse 12.

Numbers 24:12 “Balaam said to Balak…” And matter of fact, let me read verse 11 because Balak is upset.

Numbers 24:10 “His anger was aroused.” It says, “Flee to your place. I said I would greatly honor you, but in fact, the Lord has kept you back from honor.”

Now, Balak said that, and Balak didn't know God. But I say I hope we never ever feel like God is keeping us back from honor. God wants to give us honor in the proper way by following His direction.

Numbers 24:12-13 “Balaam said to Balak, ‘Did I not speak to your messengers whom you sent to me? Saying if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord to do good or bad of my own will? What the Lord says that I must speak.’”

That's what I said. I told him ahead of time. What's interesting is if you read Chapter 25, we see that soon after the listing of all these wonderful blessings, the children of Israel fell into what might have been one of the worst rebellions and sins of the whole time they were in the wilderness after they left Egypt. It says that their men became… They joined the women of Moab and Midian and fell to worshipping a false God. It doesn't tell us right there, but later on, it becomes very clear that Balaam had found a way around what God had told him to do, around the restrictions. He realized that, “God won't let me curse Israel, but I'll bet I could teach these guys how to make Israel do something that'll bring God's punishment on them.” That's exactly what happened.

If Balaam had been more like Elijah when he faced disappointment if Balaam had been more like John the Baptist facing disappointment, if Balaam had been more like the way that I hope you and I are when we face disappointment, his story could have a happy ending, could have. But as it turned out, Balaam defied God. He chose to find a way to get what he wanted. We see just hints of it in scripture, but the historian Josephus gives much more detail. You know, Josephus describes how the leaders of Moab and Midian at Balaam's coaching selected the most beautiful women of their nations and sent them out to allure the men of Israel. Draw them in and bring them into sexual sin and actual idolatry.

Josephus's account is confirmed. We'll come back to Numbers, but if you want to turn to Revelation 2:14, we see in a surprising place a mention of what Balaam did. Revelation 2:14, and this is in the message to the church of Pergamus, says, "I have a..." Maybe I'll wait till you turn there.

Revelation 2:14 Jesus is telling the church of Pergamus that “I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam.” Balaam, he's turning up here. What did Balaam do? “He taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.”

That was Balaam's idea. He taught the Moabites and the Midianites exactly how to get the Israelites in trouble. I'm going to go back to Numbers 31. After God sends the Israelite army to punish the Midianites, Moses tells us that he knew what had happened. Numbers 31, well, I'll read first in verse 8, so I'm jumping around a little bit. I should slow down and let you turn there. But in killing these leaders of Midian, we see they killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed.

Numbers 31:8 “Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, Reba, five kings of Midian. And Balaam the son of Beor, they killed with the sword.”

He was headed back to his home along the Euphrates River, but either he went and came back or never quite got there. I imagine him almost riding that same donkey that saved his life earlier and thought popped into his head, “Aha, God won't let me curse them, but I could sell a little advice so that Israel gets cursed.” I imagine him going back and laying out this plan to the leaders and it worked.

If you jump to verse 14, Moses is angry when he sees that some of the Israelites kept some of the women alive.

Numbers 31:14-16 Because it says, “Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains over thousands, captains over hundreds who'd come from the battle. And he said, ‘You kept the women alive? Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation.’”

As I said, Balaam, you know, I wonder if he had been a true prophet, but in his disappointment over what God would or would not allow him to do, did he turn away and then become a bad prophet? What he did was bad, there's no doubt. And we can question what kind of a relationship he had with God because if he turned away, I almost wonder if his ultimate fate is sealed. Is he doomed to the lake of fire? And I don't know. I can't answer that with any type of certainty. But there's something I do know with great certainty, when I face disappointment, I need to handle it more like Elijah did. Maybe better yet like John the Baptist did, but I do not need to handle disappointment the way Balaam did.

Speaking of John the Baptist though, let's go back to that story. The reason I want to come back is we left off with him in prison and the message coming back from Jesus Christ that, you know, “Yes, I'm the Messiah, but perhaps an implication that I'm not coming to save you from prison.” Now, we're going to turn to Luke 7 again, because I don't know, I'm really curious if John ever found out what Jesus had to say after he sent that message. I don't know if John knew, but I know that we know because it's written here. Jesus turned and asked the crowd, “What did you expect when you went out to see John the Baptist?” Said, “Did you go out to see someone dressed in fine clothes? No. Someone easily shaken like reeds in the wind? No. But you went out to see a prophet.” And John was a prophet, not a bad prophet. Let's look in Luke 7, if we begin in verse 26. Sorry, I keep forgetting, note takers I should tell you as soon as the scripture comes out.

Luke 7:26 Jesus said, “What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’” That was from the prophecy of Malachi. “And Jesus then said, ‘For I say to you, among those born of women, there's not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.’” Not a greater prophet. John the Baptist was the greatest prophet, “But he who's least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

In other words, being in the kingdom of heaven alone makes someone greater than the greatest prophet. How could that be? Well, I think we know. But if you will, let's turn ahead to something else we see in John 10:41. John 10:41. And this is just an aside, but I think it's pretty important.

John 10:41 “Then many came to Him, that is to Jesus, and said, ‘John the Baptist performed no sign, but all the things John spoke about this man, Christ, were true.’”

John was right. But it's interesting they said, let me say that in English, it's interesting, “John performed no sign.” That means he did not work any miracles. He didn't part a sea. He didn't walk on water. He didn't call fire down from heaven. Didn't talk to animals. As far as I know, he didn't even do card tricks. But that can remind us miracles are not what matters. And I would add, John also didn't miraculously get out of prison. Deliverance from trials is not what really matters. Character, a relationship with God, that matters. None of us have been performing miracles that I know of. I would hope if you do something really cool, put it on Facebook so we can see. But, I mean, we're not working great miracles, but that does not indicate at all that we are not God's people. John was the greatest prophet, but at that time, he languished in prison and Jesus said he should not become offended in Christ.

And these days some of us are languishing. We might be languishing in sickness and disease. We might languish in loneliness, other types of bad conditions. We've got brethren in war-torn parts of the world who are languishing. Languishing even though they and we are true Christians. Not being delivered at that time was not a sign that John lacked righteousness or that he lacked faith, just as not being delivered at this time or not being able to serve in the way you want or to do what you want might not be any indication that you lack righteousness or faith.

And when I say you, I mean me too. You know, and I should say none of us are righteous in the way that we need to become righteous with God's righteousness into us. Our own righteousness is as nothing before God. But what I'm saying is our lack of miracles or deliverance doesn't mean we're not related to God and we're not true Christians. As I said, Jesus said that while John was the greatest prophet, Jesus also said that anyone in the kingdom of God was greater. That's not a putdown of John or any of the prophets, but it's a reminder to the people then, it's a reminder to us today that our ultimate goal is to be born into the kingdom of God.

Our ultimate... That's harder to say than I thought it would be. Our ultimate goal can't be that of Balaam. Balaam wanted riches. He wanted power. Our ultimate goal can't even be deliverance from unjust suffering. There's no honor and no power on earth that measures up to the destiny God has in mind for us, the destiny to which God called us. Our ultimate goal is the kingdom of God.

Perhaps, and I'm only saying it as a perhaps, but perhaps John the Baptist was allowed to suffer and we know that he died in prison with his head cut off, but maybe that was for the sake of building his character to better prepare him for his service in the kingdom of God. And if that's the case, perhaps whatever trials you or I are going through, whatever we are allowed to endure now is preparing us, preparing us to enter God's kingdom and for better service when we're there.

I like the thought of that much better than thinking, “I'm all alone and they're out to get me, you know, and God's not noticing.” We all know God notices. He cares. Now, it might seem a little presumptuous to compare ourselves with great prophets like Elijah and John the Baptist, but I don't think it's presumptuous to say that we feel disappointment and dejection as they felt disappointment and dejection. But I hope their stories encourage us to realize that God is right here whenever we are disappointed. God knows exactly what we're going through. He cares. I was tempted. It's interesting, our sermonette this afternoon and this morning both went to Isaiah 41 and read verse 10.

Isaiah 41:10 Where it says, “God would reach out and uphold us by His righteous right hand.”

So, I'm not going to turn there, but I'll remind you of it. I appreciate both of the young men that spoke, and it's powerful. God says, “I'm not going to let go of your hand.” When we're disappointed, I hope we remember that. I hope I remember that. He might not save us right now, but He's always leading us to that ultimate goal, to the coming Kingdom of God.