Tag Archives: Balaam

Sunday Scriptures — God Cannot Lie

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By Sandy Kirby Quandt

Liar, liar, pants on fire!

Have you ever said that? Has anyone ever said that about you?

I’ve said it. Not recently, but I’ve said it.

I’ve lied. Not recently, but I have been a liar, liar pants on fire.

While reading the account in Numbers 23 of Balaam when he agreed to curse the Israelites for a fee the fact was stated; God is no mere human. He does not lie like we do. In fact, God cannot lie. He couldn’t even if he wanted to. That’s not in his nature.

Thinking about the way we humans sometimes project our human attributes on God, like lying and not keeping our promises, instead of realizing he is not human nor does he act like humans led me down another rabbit hole.

I thought of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and a battle scene in The Return of the King.

Spoiler alert – if you’ve not seen Return of the King, or read the book and intend to, the following gives away a plot point.

In The Return of the King, Eowyn, niece of Rohan’s king, disguised herself as a man in order to fight in a battle she’d been forbidden to enter, yet felt was her right.

During the battle she came face to face with the terrifying Lord of the Nazgul while trying to protect her uncle after he was injured. The Nazgul threatened to kill Eowyn, boasting that “no living man may hinder me,” referring to a 1,000-year-old prophecy foretelling that the Witch-king would not fall “by the hand of man”.

Eowyn threw off the helmet that had disguised her and declared:

“But no living man am I! You look upon a woman…”

She was no mere man.

The Witch-king attacked Eowyn, shattered her shield and broke her shield-arm with his mace before his attention was diverted as he was stabbed behind the knee by one of the Hobbits. At which time Eowyn seized the opportunity to strike the Nazgul with a deadly thrust of her sword.

As Eowyn’s sword shattered, the Nazgul’s withering form collapsed and he vanished with a final cry of anguish.

Now the connection…

The Nazgul erred in thinking Eowyn was a man. We err in thinking God is human.

God is not a human. He is the Great I AM, who has no beginning and no end. He is the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent one who cannot lie.

Satan’s the true liar, liar, pants on fire. He’s the one who tries to deceive us and lead us away from God’s truth. Like the over-confident Nazgul Witch-king, Satan is wrong to believe he will not be defeated.

Jesus Christ took care of that when he died and rose again to sit at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

God cannot lie…he keeps his promises. Satan is going down!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave a comment below. If you think others would appreciate reading this, please share it through the social media buttons.

God is no mere human! He doesn’t tell lies or change his mind. God always keeps his promises. Numbers 23:19 (CEV)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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Sometimes, It Takes a Donkey

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When I first read the story of the Prophet Balaam and his talking donkey, (Numbers 22:21-35) I was in elementary school. The story made me giggle. This was around the same time Mister Ed, the talking horse, was on television. If you ever saw the show you remember Mister Ed was a whole lot smarter than his owner, Wilbur.

It was also when, as the youngest member of my family, no one took what I said seriously. Or at least, that’s the way it felt. Not sure that’s changed too much. 😉

Anyway, in the story of Balaam’s talking donkey she sees danger in front of them, and tries to avert it. (Although the Bible doesn’t give the donkey a name, I’ve named her Princess.)

God opened Princess’ eyes to something he had closed Balaam’s eyes to. An avenging angel, sword in hand, stood in front of Balaam and Princess, determined to stop Balaam from the journey he had planned.

Every time Princess swerved to get away from the angel, Balaam beat or kicked her. Then the most wonderful thing happened. God let Princess speak! And Balaam talked right back to her as if it was nothing unusual.

Princess states the facts. She’d never led Balaam astray all the time they’d been together. So, why did he think she would do that now?

When God allowed Balaam to see what Princess had been protecting him from, Balaam fell to his knees. I’m thinking the guy should have given Princess a hug before hitting the dirt. After all, she had saved his life.

Got any Balaam’s in your life? You know. People you’ve been around long enough for them to trust your counsel but who, for whatever reason, think you’re a donkey without the sense enough to know what you’re talking about?

Like me, I’m sure you’re not fond of being thought of as a donkey.

What to do?

We can pray for the Holy Spirit to give us the words to say the right things. Just like God gave Princess. And for God to open the eyes and ears of our Balaams so they can see the truth.

Sometimes it works. Other times, God allows our Balaams to keep on their destructive paths until such a time He decides to make the truth clear to them. Either way, we need to carry the fire of truth until the day they choose to see it.

Then the Lord gave the donkey the power of speech, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you? Why have you beaten me these three times?”

Balaam answered, “Because you have made a fool of me! If I had a sword, I would kill you.”

The donkey replied, “Am I not the same donkey on which you have ridden all your life? Have I ever treated you like this before?”

“No,” he answered.

Then the Lord let Balaam see the angel standing there with his sword; and Balaam threw himself face downward on the ground. Numbers 22:28-31 (GNT)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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