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7 Things God Does For His People

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Balaam’s words about God’s people (Numbers 24:5-9, 17-19; Deuteronomy 33:29), illustrate seven things that God does for them. Consider:

How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel! Like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the LORD has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows. He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.” … I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”
(Numbers 24:5-9, 17-19)

Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs.”
(Deuteronomy 33:29)


From these texts, we see that God does the following for His people:

  1. God makes them a lovely people (Numbers 24:5). Lovely because they are partakers of the goodness of God. The valleys, with their fruitfulness and flowers, are an illustration of the lovely fruits and fragrance that are produced in the lives of those who are possessed by, and are under the power of Him.
  2. God makes them a supplied people (Numbers 24:7). Water poured out of buckets is but a simile of His continual supply and His all-sufficient grace to meet our every need.
  3. God makes them an exalted people. “His people shall be higher than Agag” (Numbers 24:7). Our King is Christ; He is exalted to the right hand of God (Philippians 2:9), and we are exalted with Him (Ephesians 2:6).
  4. God makes them a delivered people (Numbers 24:8). We are delivered from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10); from the second death (2 Corinthians 1:10); from our enemies (Luke 1:74); and from this present evil world (Galatians 1:4).
  5. God makes them an honored people (Numbers 24:17-19). Israel was particularly honored because Christ came from them, and was of them.
  6. God makes them a happy people (Deuteronomy 33:29). Happy because their sins are forgiven (Psalm 32:1-2); because chosen by Him (Psalm 33:12); because trusting in Him (Psalm 34:8). because occupied with Him (Psalm 40:4); because ministering to others for Him (Psalm 41:1); because abiding in Him (Psalm 65:4; 84:4); because strengthened by Him (Psalm 84:5). The word “blessed” in the Psalms is the same word that is rendered “happy” in Deuteronomy 33:29.
  7. God makes them a saved people. Saved by the death of Christ as to the means of salvation (John 10:9-11); saved by the Holy Spirit as to the effectual cause of salvation (Titus 3:5); saved by faith as to the reception of salvation (Luke 7:50); saved by the Gospel as to the knowledge of salvation (1 Corinthians 15:2); saved by the risen living Christ as to being kept from sinning (Romans 5:10); and saved by hope as to the completeness of our salvation (Romans 8:24).

Comments

  1. God did all that for me. I am eternally grateful.
    And what is most awesome is that His “saving” is continuing in me to this very moment. He who began a good work in me is being faithful to complete it.
    I pray that who I am in Christ is a beautiful thing to those that do not know Him.

  2. This post really made me smile! Lovely, supplied, exalted, delivered, honored, happy, and saved – who wouldn’t want the benefits of being God’s child? I’m so grateful to Him, especially as I see how undeserving I am! I hope to carry these truths with me always…they’ll keep my joy afloat!

  3. Mathew,

    I left a few comments on Friday’s post for you to consider.

    Barbara

    • Mathew,

      Unfortunately, your post is typical of how you have responded in past dialogues with me. You are unable reconcile Scripture, so you attempt to hide this fact by bombarding me with all manner of metaphorical rhetoric, most totally unrelated to the topic at hand, which is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. I’m willing to be wrong, but I am not willing to have the Word of God treated as though it is not an exact reflection of its eternal Author. Our God is a God of absolute order and singular truth, facts proven through every verse of His written Word. That you persist in substituting an endless stream of red-herring arguments in lieu of Spirit-led scriptural reconciliation illustrates that you really don’t know the Word as much as much as you would like to think you do, a fact proven not only by the “yelling” you interject into your posts but by the false humility (“IF I DO NOT RECEIVE CORRECTION, I AM A BASTARD”- May 3) because the fact is, you do not receive instruction.

      The bottom line is that God doesn’t care if you “DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT BIOLOGY” (May 7). What He does care about is that you “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Tim. 2:15). What He cares about is that “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (I Th. 5:21). What He cares about is that you “…grow in grace, and [in] the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (II Pet. 3:18a).

      Like others, I come to this site to learn and grow and be edified, but things have changed as Concerned pointed out several days ago. What began as a platform for believers to share their thoughts, hearts, and God’s Word with each other has be reduced to nothing more than a soapbox for you and Messenger-2 to repeatedly scream irrelevant information at the rest of us. Just one example of this is the May 7 blog. Out of the 14 posts, 11 of them were from you two.

      My intention here is not to be unkind to either of you but to draw to your attention that God is a God of order, scripturally and socially, both of which the Apostle Paul addressed more than once. I can only hope that you and Messenger-2 will take this post and consider that you, indeed, have a place within this blog to express your ideas, but that doesn’t include your being socially insensitive to the rest of us. In addition, if you take exception to someone’s interpretation of Scripture then, by all means, voice your opinion, but do so armed with the sword of the Word (Heb. 4:12), reconciling it as God commands (II Tim. 3:16), not with all the fillers posing as scriptural reasoning that do nothing but create disorder. Limiting your posts to a reasonable number and limiting your explanations to the topic that Chris has shared for the day will make this experience enjoyable and edifying for all of us.

      Finally, going back to our original post, if you would like to reconcile your ideas about speaking in tongues with I Corinthians 12:6-11, then I would very much like to hear what you have to say.

      Thank you~
      Barbara

      • Well, since posting my last response, the Holy Spirit has not let me rest. One area in which He has been ministering to me of late has been in the area of gentleness according to II Timothy 2:24-25, and I’m afraid my post did not reflect that quality, so I apologize if I hurt either Mathew or Messenger-2. With regard to Messenger-2, my comments were totally unfair as I had never even mentioned anything prior to my taking him/her to task in this post, so I am sorry for that.

        As I wrote in my post, my intention is not to be unkind, but there has been a level of frustration that has accompanied my involvement on this site. There have been several times in which other participants and I have engaged in a dialogue with regard to doctrine. When someone poses a question or offers an explanation with regard to Scripture and doctrine, I spend a great deal of time writing a well thought-out answer because that is what we are supposed to do, so it is, as I wrote, very frustrating when fellow believers allow me to spend my time doing this only to have them either quit conversing without any notice at all or else continually offer irrelevant information rather than deal honestly with the issues. That being said, I still regret the tone of my letter, so for that, please accept my apology.

        Yours in Christ~
        Barbara

  4. Joel3:21 KJV : For I ( Elohim O.T. , Yeshua Jesus Christ N.T. Covenants ? !!! ) will Cleanse their Blood that I have NOT Cleansed : For the Lord dwelleth in Zion !!! Peace and Love from Up Above amen shalom !!!