There are several practical lessons here including doing good to those who have done good to you, avoiding shaming people publicly, and fighting the battle of this life with courage and complete trust in the work that the Lord will do for us.
Balaam is one of the strangest characters in the Bible. On one hand, he is deceitful, greedy, and disobedient and works against God and His people Israel. Yet, on the other hand, God speaks through him as a true prophet and he gives some glorious prophecies concerning the coming of Christ. In the end, he is killed after using Moabite women to seduce the Israelites and is mentioned only in evil terms in the New Testament (2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11; Revelation 2:14).<br />
<h4>Numbered List</h4>
<h4>Numbered List</h4>
God had promised the Israelites that He had reserved a land of milk and honey for them (Exodus 3:8; Exodus 13:5; Leviticus 20:24). He had even “espied” the land Himself for them (Ezekiel 20:5-6), but they had to see for themselves (see Deuteronomy 1:22-23). They could not take God’s word that He would give them the land. They had to determine for themselves whether or not they could take it. As a result, God removed His blessings and allowed them to walk in their own counsels (Psalm 81:10-12). He let them wander for forty years in the wilderness (Ezekiel 20:13-17).<br />
<h4>Numbered List</h4>
<h4>Numbered List</h4>
The Lord desired to dwell in the midst of His people, but in order for this to happen they had to be willing to separate from the defiled. Though we live in a different dispensation and some things have changed concerning the presence of God, we still must be willing to separate from defilement.<br />
<h4>Numbered List</h4>
<h4>Numbered List</h4>
This lesson records the call of Moses to deliver the children of Israel. God often skips many generations of earthly rulers and kingdoms with a verse or a word. However, He takes two entire chapters to tell us of His encounter with Moses at the burning bush. In this lesson, God emphasizes His power as opposed to the ability of man. The bush burns supernaturally. But the power is not in the bush, it is in the God who caused the bush to burn. When God puts His touch on something, any old bush will do. Moses has to learn this lesson about himself. Forty years earlier, he had learned that he could not deliver Israel. Now, he has to learn that God can use him anyway.<br />
<h4>Numbered List</h4>
<h4>Numbered List</h4>
This lesson teaches us about the willingness of God’s people to give to Him when they are in a right relationship with Him. The church at Antioch was a giving church (Acts 11:27-30). The church at Philippi was a giving church (Philippians 4:14-19). We need to be a giving people.<br />
<h4>Numbered List</h4>
<h4>Numbered List</h4>
God has brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and now He wants to make them His special people by giving them the covenant of the law. They have the promise of Abraham which will never be taken away. However, God wants to have a relationship of obedience and blessing by which they serve Him because of love and He makes them a special people on the face of the earth.<br />
<h4>Numbered List</h4>
<h4>Numbered List</h4>
God continues to increase the price to be paid for disobedience to His commands. Yet, God has a much larger plan for His people so He increases the resistance against Him by hardening Pharaoh’s heart even further than he had hardened it himself. God will deliver His people entirely out of the land. He is not satisfied with a halfway deliverance.
