Life Principle 3

Let God’s Word Be Your Foundation

The Principle of the Unchanging Word
The Key Passage: God Does Not Lie (Numbers 23:19)
Balak Summons Balaam (Numbers 22:1–12)
God Blocks the Path (Numbers 22:22–35)
Balaam Speaks Only What God Puts in His Mouth (Numbers 23:16–23)
The Word That Does Not Return Empty (Isaiah 55:10–11)
Written for Our Hope (Romans 15:4)
Lessons to Remember

Beloved friend, build upon God’s Word, especially when the storm comes. Satan often attacks hardest when you are following God. There will be difficult seasons. There will be situations that test your trust in Him. Life Principle 3 calls us to make God’s Word our foundation. Let us open the Scriptures and learn.

The Principle of the Unchanging Word

God is not human, that He should lie. He does not speak and then fail to act. His Word is the rock beneath our feet when everything else shifts.

The Key Passage: God Does Not Lie (Numbers 23:19)

Numbers 23:19 (NKJV)
God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

Balak Summons Balaam (Numbers 22:1–12)

Numbers 22:1–12 (NKJV)
1 Then the children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho.
2 Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
3 And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel.
4 So Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.
5 Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me!
6 Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak.
8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
9 Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”
10 So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying,
11 ‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’”
12 And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

The Israelites were vast in number and had camped near Moab. King Balak, terrified, summoned Balaam because whatever Balaam blessed was blessed and whatever he cursed was cursed. God made His will clear: Do not go. These people are blessed.

God Blocks the Path (Numbers 22:22–35)

Numbers 22:22–35 (NKJV)
22 Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
23 Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road.
24 Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side.
25 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again.
26 Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
27 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”
30 So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?”
And he said, “No.”
31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face.
32 And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me.
33 The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.”
34 And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.”
35 Then the Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

God blocked Balaam’s path with the Angel of the Lord. The donkey saw what Balaam could not. After being beaten three times, the donkey spoke. When Balaam’s eyes were opened, he confessed his sin. The Angel then permitted him to continue—but only to speak the words God gave him.

Balaam Speaks Only What God Puts in His Mouth (Numbers 23:16–23)

Numbers 23:16–23 (NKJV)
16 Then the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
17 So he came to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”
18 Then he took up his oracle and said:
“Rise up, Balak, and hear!
Listen to me, son of Zippor!
19 God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received a command to bless;
He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21 He has not observed iniquity in Jacob,
Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel.
The Lord his God is with him,
And the shout of a King is among them.
22 God brings them out of Egypt;
He has strength like a wild ox.
23 For there is no sorcery against Jacob,
Nor any divination against Israel.
It now must be said of Jacob
And of Israel, ‘Oh, what God has done!’”

Balaam essentially asks Balak: If God says something, does He not do it? God is not like men who speak and fail to follow through. Even when Balak later pressures him to stop blessing Israel, Balaam replies that he can only say what the Lord has put in his mouth.

God does not lie. That means He will not fail, deceive, or ultimately disappoint those who trust Him.

The Word That Does Not Return Empty (Isaiah 55:10–11)

Isaiah 55:10–11 (NKJV)
10 For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

God uses the picture of rain and snow to show how His Word works. It comes down, accomplishes its purpose, and never returns empty.

Written for Our Hope (Romans 15:4)

Romans 15:4 (NKJV)
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

These things were written so that in our times of trouble we might have hope.

What are you struggling with today? As you think about it, hold on to this truth.

Lessons to Remember

Consider God’s promises your spiritual anchors:

Hebrews 6:18–20 (NKJV)
18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,
20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

God always keeps the promises He makes:

Joshua 21:45 (NKJV)
Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

Be willing to wait patiently for God to fulfill His promises:

Habakkuk 2:2–3 (NKJV)
2 Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.

Let God’s Word be your foundation. Build upon it, especially when the storm comes. He does not lie. His Word will accomplish what He sends it to do.

Amen