Numbers 23:19

How seriously do you take God?

Well, good evening. I invite you to open your Bibles to Numbers 23, 19. That's Numbers 23, 19. We'll be continuing our series on the way that God has revealed himself to us in the first five books of the Bible. So as you find your spot, let me invite you to follow with me as I read Numbers 23, 19. God's word says this,

God is not man that he should lie or a son of man that he should change his mind. Has he said and will he not do it or has he spoken and will he not fulfill it?

This is the word of the Lord. People have a propensity to lie. All of us have had the experience and even are the experience of knowing someone who couldn't keep their word. Perhaps it was out of malice, or perhaps there were good intentions, but it just fell short. But no matter the case, when someone lies enough, it gets really hard to take that person seriously, doesn't it? I mean, you can't believe a liar. And so it is in a fallen world where everyone lies, you need to be careful with who you take seriously. And it is in light of this experience that I want to raise this question. How seriously do you take God? That's the question we want to ask this evening because that's the question that this text asks of us. How seriously do you take God? I wonder how you would answer that. because we all have an answer to that. This is one of those big questions in life where even if we never consciously articulate the question, we're all living based on our answer to that question. How seriously do you take God? And that's what Numbers 23, 19 has been given to us to help us think through. This passage teaches us that we ought to take God very seriously. It's a word from the Lord to a Moabite king named Balak rebuking Balak because he asked for God to change. And this story was then picked up and recorded by Moses in order to teach the Israelites and us that because God is truth, we take him at his word. So what I want to do is as we walk through this text is I want to show you that this text shows us something of the character of God and gives you reason to take him seriously. In fact, our outline for this evening will be the two truths about the character of God that give you reason to take him at his word. Two realities about who your God is that give you motivation and reason to take him seriously. So let's just jump in. Look with me again at the first part of our verse.

God is not man that he should lie, or a son of man that he should change his mind.

So here we see the first truth about God. God is immovable. God is immovable. Now, in order to get a better grasp of what's going on, I think it's worth reminding ourselves of the circumstances that surround this text. I mentioned before that this is God speaking to Balak, but this wasn't the first time Balak had heard from God. You see, previously, Balak had managed to convince a wicked prophet named Balaam to come and curse the nation of Israel. When Balaam arrived, he instructed Balak to offer a sacrifice, and the word of the Lord came to him, except it wasn't a curse. It was a blessing. God blessed Israel. And of course, Baelic gets mad. But instead of giving up, Baelic takes Balaam to a second place, offers another sacrifice, and again, the word of the Lord came to Balaam, and it is in this second oracle that we find our text for this evening. You see, Balak had a misunderstanding about God. He thought he could change God's mind. He was a rich and powerful king after all, and everyone has a price. I mean, look at what he did to Balaam. He got Balaam to change his mind, so why not God? but God corrects this misunderstanding. Listen to the way he rebukes Balak with these words. God is not man that he should lie or a son of man that he should change his mind. Here's your mistake, God says, you thought I was like you. It's a fundamental mistake. Balak's thinking God is like us, but God is not like us, just bigger. He's categorically different. He's transcendent and he does not lie and he does not change. That's the contrast. And of course, in context here, his immovable nature is in reference to his promises to Israel. He made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants that he would constitute them in a nation in their land and through them bring a blessing to all the nations. And God is saying, I am going to fulfill my promises. And because I do not change, I will not go back on my word. You know, in light of this, I think one of the ways we ought to diagnose how seriously we take God is by asking, how do we approach God? Do we approach God on the basis of something that we can offer Him that will produce something that we can get from Him? Or do we approach God on the basis of your will be done? In other words, do we ask God to change for us or do we ask to be changed for God? You know, there is a way of conceiving of God as a cosmic vending machine in which I can try to force something from God. Perhaps I see a word from God I don't like. I see something that I really want, and so I just start putting in my quarters of faith. You know, I didn't rage at my kids this week. I shared the gospel with some people recently. I haven't missed a Sunday service in years, and I even go to the Wednesday once. And so now you feel as though God owes you something and will change his mind for you, and now it's okay for you to do whatever you want, even sin. We could also ask, how often do our prayers look like this? God, you do this and I will do that. I promise I will stop doing this as long as you give me that. We are prone in our nature to assume that when we come to God, we're at this bargaining table. Perhaps he has more goods at his disposal, perhaps he's bigger than us and has a greater supply, but he's still at that table ready to have his mind changed. But that is not the way God operates. God is pure, self-existent reality, dependent on no one from eternity to eternity, and he never changes. He doesn't improve because he can't improve. He's perfect. And he can't decrease because he can't be corrupted. And so if God can't increase, decrease, move left or right, then we can say that what God is, God always is. God always was. God always will be. You know, that ought to give us motivation to take him seriously, shouldn't it? I mean, do you see how ridiculous it is? When you see God as the true, immovable, transcendent, self-sufficient God that he is, do you see how lightly you have to take this God in order to try to get him to move? Rather, when we recognize that God is immovable, that will motivate us to take him seriously. And when that happens, you'll find that God's immovable nature is actually wildly comforting. I mean, look at this from Israel's perspective. The entire book of Numbers is just a record of Israel failing and failing and failing and failing. And yet, if God could change his mind, there's no better time than now. And yet in the face of Israel's enemies, God only doubles down on his promises to his covenant people. Despite Israel's faithlessness, God remains faithful. And you know, we worship the same God today. He is still faithful, he is still immovable, and he has promised that all who are in covenant relationship with him, the covenant that has been sealed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, when we place our faith in him, God washes away our sins, brings us into his family, and secures our souls for eternity. And though the devil himself may stand before God, justly accusing us of our sins, pleading that God would curse us, We can trust in the immovable great high priest who intercedes on our behalf to our unchanging father who has already declared us righteous. And there is not a force in the world that can change his mind. We need to anchor our souls in the unflinching reality that God is who he says he is and that will motivate us to take him seriously. But there's a second thing about God that you need to see from this text. Not only is God immovable, but this verse also shows us that God is unstoppable. God is unstoppable. Look with me at the second half of the verse.