Balaam the Prophet
READ Numbers 22:8-13
Who was Balaam?
A prophet of God (or a
spiritually gifted individual whose “eyes are opened”) who is not one of the
Children of Israel (of the covenant) but receives true prophesy from God and
communes with God and His angels.
If a spiritually gifted person curses someone that God
does not want cursed, by whose power do they do it?
The adversary’s or any other
dark entity who is not aligned with the true and living God.
Does God really curse people?
Yes, if they reject what is
freely offered to them and turn to other “gods” like the Children of Israel did
(see Deuteronomy 28:15).
Interestingly, when Israel
attacks Midian, they kill Balaam who had taught the Midianites how to
successfully defeat Israel by tempting them with the worship of false gods.
READ Numbers 24:13
Why would Balaam go from swearing to follow the Lord to
selling his spiritual services for money?
We stand in peril every hour
that we are here on earth.
Anyone can fall from grace
(D&C 20:32) – it’s a cautionary tale to all who have spiritual gifts.
The Song of the Lord
READ Deuteronomy 31:19-22
Why does the Lord give Moses a song?
As a testimony against the
people that they were taught the truth but would not embrace it but rather turned
from it.
Because words put to music can
be more easily remembered and have a more powerful emotional response.
READ Deuteronomy 32:1-2
What is the dew and small rain to the tender plants?
It is a matter of life and
death - if they don’t get the moisture to sustain them, they will die in the
heat of the day.
This is particularly true of
new vegetation without a mature root system.
But if it is heavy rain or a
flood, they will also die.
Who are the tender plants (found in the desert land,
v.10)?
The Children of Israel.
How did the Lord sustain life for Israel?
Manna from heaven - physical
life.
His words and doctrines -
revelation, tabernacle, the Law – spiritual life.
READ D&C 130:18-21,
D&C 93:36 and D&C 88:13
Why is true doctrine life-giving?
True doctrine is both 1) intelligence and 2) leads to intelligence through via obedience to
god’s law.
Intelligence is the glory of
god = light.
Light gives life.
“A man is saved no faster than
he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into
captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more
knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth.
Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of
God” (History of the Church 4:588).
READ Deuteronomy 33:13
While all of Israel were admonished to receive the
life-giving dew, which group was specifically blessed to receive it?
The Tribe of Joseph (Ephraim
and Manasseh).
The latter day gentiles of the
last days – at least until they reject it (see 3 Nephi 16:6-11).
READ Deuteronomy 32:3-4
Who is the “rock”?
The Lord God of Israel.
Why is He called the Rock?
Rock meaning the “stone of
Israel” or Temple (Gen 49:24; Gen 28 - Jacob’s Ladder and the stone altar -
“God’s house for surely He is in this place”).
Rock as the source of
life-giving water (Ex 17:6; 1 Corinthians 10:1, 4).
Rock as the Stone Tablets or
Law/Covenant or Word or Truth (3 Nephi 15:9).
Rock as sure foundation (Hel
5:12).
READ Deuteronomy 32:5
What does the “father-child” relationship imply?
Child is loved by father.
Child has same traits or genes
as father.
Child can grow up to be like
father.
How can you tell if a child is related to a certain
father?
Child appears similar to their
father (Alma 5:14).
Child does the same works as
the father (“like father, like son”) John 8:41.
How could Israel become “no longer His children”?
Jehovah is perfect, a god of
truth without iniquity.
While the Children of Israel
are corrupt, perverse and crooked.
They have broken the covenant
of adoption into the family of Christ.
Is there any hope for Israel to be reconciled with
Jehovah?
Yes - READ 1 Nephi 21:14-16.
READ Deuteronomy 32:6, 10-14
What does “requite” or “repay” the Lord imply?
We owe Him; we are in His debt
(Mosiah 4:19).
How does the mother eagle teach her young to fly?
By “stirring up the nest” so
that it becomes undesirable to stay there in comfort.
But when they finally jump and
fall, because they can’t fly she jets down below them and catches them on her
back and flies them back up so they can practice again - it is tough love but
what is required for them to learn to fly like she can – a leap of faith.
Unlike in our culture, how did Israel regard the “fat”
of anything?
It was the best part and was
fit to be sacrificed on the altar to God.
It represented plenty or
blessings.
“Fat of kidneys of wheat”
means the “best of the best of the wheat” or the “cream of the crop”.
READ Deuteronomy 32:15-18
After being offered (and sometimes enjoying) the “cream
of the crop” of the Lord’s blessings, what does Israel “waxing fat and kicking”
imply?
Gorge themselves on blessings.
Take them for granted -
entitlement mentality - no thanksgiving.
Not “fit” or able to do the tasks
that good nutrition normally enables.
Why did the Children of Israel view the Lord’s
blessings as theirs by right?
They were the “chosen people
of the Lord” via Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Their ancestors had procured
the blessings which they inherited - no need for personal righteousness or a
personal covenant for them; they misunderstood the nature of the covenant given
to the Fathers – that all who rise up and receive the covenant themselves will
be their sons and daughters; instead they thought that all sons and daughters would
be given the covenant as a free birthright.
READ Deuteronomy 32:19-26
What happens when the Lord “hides His face” from a
people?
No revelation.
No physical protection.
No economic blessings.
They are left to themselves; if
they are inherently strong, they may last for a while on their own merits (in
this world, at least) but it won’t last and when they die, they’re stuck.
Why does the Lord scatter His people?
When you sin against the
greater light, you receive the greater condemnation.
Like the branches of the olive
tree in Jacob, the Lord tries to save the tree by removing bad wood and
grafting wild and tame branches into various trees.
READ Deuteronomy 32:36-42
When the Lord has scattered and cursed Israel, what can
their gods do?
Nothing.
Their idols (the work of their
hands, i.e. economy, military, technology) cannot save them or even help them
when the Lord chooses to curse the people.
Why does the Lord curse them?
To show Israel that there is
only one “true and living god”.
Their new gods can’t stop the
Lord (similar to Egypt).
To get them to repent, if
possible.
When they have been sufficiently humbled because they
have no power, what will the Lord do?
He will have compassion on
them.
They will receive strength
again when they return to look to the one true god of strength.
READ Deuteronomy 32:43
Why should they rejoice?
Because the Lord will remember
the covenants He’s made.
Finally, a generation will
come that will turn to the Lord and remember Him, enabling Him to remember them
(as He is no respecter of persons).
He will not force or compel
them - let them come who will come and partake of the waters of life freely
(see Alma 5:34; Alma 42:27).
Songs are meant to be remembered, so what is the
lyrical arc in this song?
The living god speaks the
truth that will save you.
The truth is about your Rock
or redeemer.
But you have corrupted
yourselves and are no longer His children.
He has given you so many
blessings.
And you repay His kindnesses
with rejection.
So He left you to yourselves.
You will receive what you
deserve and be scattered.
Your new gods will be shown to
have no power (arm of flesh).
When you have hit bottom, He
will have compassion on you.
You will rejoice again,
because He will make atonement for you and you will enter into His land (into
His rest or presence).
Moses Is Translated &
Taken into Heaven
READ Deuteronomy 34:1-6 and Alma 45:19
What is Moses being shown?
The promised land of Israel.
Why would the Deuteronomists and/or the apostate
Christian church want to remove Moses’ translation from the scriptures?
They do not want us believing
in or understanding the doctrine of translation.
It sounds a bit too “magical”
or “out there” for a sophisticated individual to believe.
What really happened next?
He walked off the mountain,
through a pillar of fire, and up Jacob’s Ladder to enter the Rest of the Lord.
