Old Paths Journal

Numbers 22:7
“And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.”

We are often reminded of the importance of prayer and the need of boldly going to God’s throne to ask Him to give us a desire or a need. Certainly, every Christian could improve their prayer life; however, there are some times when you don’t need to ask God if He would give you something or if you should do something.

Balaam came across one of these times in his life when he didn’t need to ask God what to do. Balak sent his servants to ask Balaam to curse Israel. The request alone should have caused Balaam to send those servants away; instead, he said to them, “Lodge here this night…” He had no business even entertaining their request because what they wanted was directly opposed to God’s Word. This story teaches us three times when we don’t need to ask God what to do or if we can have something.

First, you don’t need to ask God when what you want is associated with the wrong. The servants of Balak brought “rewards of divination” to pay Balaam to come. These rewards were used to “appease the spirits” in their false worship. These rewards should have told Balaam he didn’t need to ask God. When you know what you want is associated with wrong, you don’t need to ask God if you can have it. You don’t need to ask God if you should yoke up with someone when you know their associations are wrong. You already have the answer by the associations. When you ask God to give you something that you know is associated with the wrong, you are asking God to do wrong. You are wasting your time because God has already given you the answer.

Second, you don’t need to ask God when He has already given you the answer. God told Balaam the first time not to go, but he entertained the thought of asking God again because these servants came back as if God changed His mind. When God has already made it clear that you should not do something, you don’t need to go back and see if He changed His mind. God’s Word never changes, and for you to go back when He has already told you what to do is to insinuate that His Word isn’t resolute. If God has already spoken to you about what you should do, that is enough!

Third, you don’t need to ask God when you know what you are asking is directly opposed to His Word. The Scriptures answer most of your questions about what you should do if you will study them. If God’s Word has made it clear that you should not do something or that you should not associate with a certain type of person, you don’t need to waste your time asking God.

Let me apply these three principles to parenting. If every parent used these three principles with their children, they would help their children to learn how God responds, and they would teach their children how to answer questions as to what to do when they are not around. My parents used these three principles in our home, and they would remind us of these rules if we asked to do something that would break one of these rules. If you make these principles clear in your home, your children will be able to respond properly when you are not there with them to guide them.

Leviticus 22:18
“Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering;”

When I look at the freewill offering, I’m reminded of my parent’s desire from me. There were things that they told me to do and I would do it, but they desired a willing heart while I was doing it. My parents wanted me to get to the point when I did what they expected of me to do, not because I had to do it, but because it was my will to do it.

One of the offerings that God established for the children of Israel was the freewill offering. The name of this offering properly describes its purpose; it was an offering that truly revealed the heart of those giving it. Certainly, God was pleased that they would be willing to do this, but He still had requirements for this offering if they wanted it to be accepted. Four things that God desires from Christian are revealed in this freewill offering.

First, God desires a willing spirit. A freewill offering is just that; it is the desire of the individual to give something to God. Christian, God desires that your spirit is a willing spirit. There is a huge difference between doing something because you have to do it and doing it because you desire to do it. You will certainly be blessed if you do right even if you are doing it because you have to do it, but you will find greater joy in doing right when you do it because you want to do it. The greatest joy in serving the LORD will be found when you serve God with a willing spirit and with no expectations.

Second, God desires your sacrifice. Verse 19 says, “Ye shall offer at your own will…” I know we often say that you never give anything up to serve the LORD, and that is true, but what have you given up to serve Him? There are going to be times when doing something for the LORD won’t be convenient, but you must be willing to be inconvenienced for God. God loves to see His children’s willingness to give up their pleasures and desires to please Him.

Third, God desires your best. Verse 20 shows us that God didn’t want anything that had a “blemish”; He wanted their best. Likewise, God desires the best from you. This principle is found throughout the Scriptures. Maybe it can be exemplified best in Matthew 6:33 where God says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness…” If you want to please God, you should give Him the best of your life, effort and possessions. Don’t become the Christian who only gives your leftovers to God.

Fourth, God desires total obedience. Verse 31 says, “Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.” Always remember that partial obedience is disobedience. God doesn’t want you to only do the part of His commandments that you want to do, but He wants you to obey all of them out of a willing spirit.

Let me ask you, are you giving God what He desires from you? Do you find yourself going to church, serving in your ministry, reading your Bible and praying out of obligation or out of a willing spirit? When the world and its possessions are no longer the focus of your life, it is then that you will find it won’t be difficult to serve the LORD with a free-will spirit.

Leviticus 13:44-45
“He is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head. And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.”

There are repercussions to everything. You may feel that you have the right to do whatever you want, but you must also understand that there are repercussions with every choice and action. For instance, you can drive your vehicle as fast as you want, but you are going to have to deal with the repercussions of paying a speeding ticket if you get caught. You can’t expect to do whatever you want and not have to suffer the consequences that go with it.

Leprosy is a picture of sin. A person gets leprosy because something got in them that caused the disease. Likewise, sin is the result of someone allowing something to influence them that they should have never allowed in their life. Just like the leper had to cry, “Unclean,” sin also leaves the person who sins with unpleasant repercussions. In this chapter, you see four repercussions caused by sin.

First, sin leaves you with a bad stigma. The person with leprosy had to alert everyone who got close to them that they were unclean. Likewise, sin leaves you with a stigma that will likely follow you the rest of your life. You may think that people should forgive you, and you may be right, but that doesn’t take away the fact that you have a stigma that will follow you wherever you go. If you don’t want the stigma that sin brings, you better not commit it. Sin always leaves an unwanted stigma from which you won’t be able to flee.

Second, sin leaves you lonely. The person with leprosy had to dwell alone “without the camp” all the days the plague was in them. You will find that sin always leaves you lonely. The sin that promised a good time and lots of friends will always leave you alone when its effects have ravaged your life. You better get rid of any sin if you don’t want to be the lonely person whom nobody wants to be around.

Third, sin destroys your work. The clothing that the leper wore was to be burnt. Sadly, everything for which you worked in life will be gone when sin has ravaged your life. It doesn’t matter how unfair you think it is, everything you do will be forgotten because sin destroys. Sin is like a wrecking ball that could care less how great a work it is destroying; it just devastates anything in its path. All the hard work, toil and great results will be forgotten once the wrecking ball of sin has hit your life. You better stay away from sin if you don’t want your hard work to be destroyed.

Fourth, sin destroys your familial relationships. That clothing that was burnt was the only tie the family had with the leper. Once they were burnt, there were no more remembrances. Don’t expect your family relationships to stay the same when you choose to live in sin. Sin changes your relationships, and the closeness you once had will be gone; the respect you once had will be totally destroyed. Sin always destroys family relationships.

The only way you will turn these repercussions around is a miracle from God. God is a miracle working God and can turn sin’s effects around, but He first expects repentance before He does His work to cleanse and restore your life to usefulness. Simply put, do right and you’ll never have to worry about suffering sin’s repercussions.

Leviticus 5:1
“And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.”

Every school has one; they have that child who thinks they must police everyone in the class or on the playground. They are the tattletale. They are the one who runs to the teacher to tell what they perceived that others did wrong. Most of the time, nobody likes the tattletale or want to be one.

According to the verse above, there are times when a person should be a tattletale. The verse above says, “And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing…if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.” There are times when God expects you to tell authorities when someone does wrong. In fact, God holds that person accountable who knows someone did wrong and never tells the authorities about it. When should a person be a tattletale?

First, you should be a tattletale when someone is not telling the whole truth. The verse above appears to be talking about a person who has sworn under oath to tell the whole truth, but they purposely withheld part of the truth. When this happens, it is your responsibility to be sure that authorities know the whole truth. When you don’t allow the whole truth to come out, you hurt those who hear the lies because they believe the lie is the truth. You may feel that you don’t want to get involved, but because you know the truth, you are responsible for telling the truth. Whether or not people will listen to what you have to say is not the issue. God holds you responsible for any hurt that is caused by your unwillingness to reveal the truth.

Second, verse 2 shows that you should be a tattletale when someone’s actions bring reproach on others. You may recall that God punished Israel because Achan touched the unclean thing. His family should have told on him, but they didn’t to their own detriment. When someone’s actions bring a reproach on another person or the name of an institution, you have a responsibility to tell authorities. You should not hold your peace and let the name of an institution or person be damaged because you don’t want to get involved.

Third, verse 3 shows that you should be a tattletale when someone is immoral. Touching the “uncleanness of man” is immorality. When you know someone has been immoral and you don’t tell authorities, you are as responsible as the person who is immoral. You are as wrong as the individual who harms a child when you don’t tell authorities. God holds you accountable when someone in church leadership is living in immorality and you don’t tell anyone. Immorality of any type is never to be swept under the carpet. If you know about it, you are responsible for telling the proper authorities.

Fourth, verse 4 shows that you should be a tattletale when you know someone wants to hurt another person. To be silent when you know someone is going to get hurt is evil. It is the right thing to do to be sure that another person is not hurt by the evil intent of others; this includes hearing that someone plans to remove authority by any means.

As much as being a tattletale brings a negative connotation to mind, there are times when you must tell authorities what is happening. God holds you responsible for what you know. No, you don’t have to be the spiritual police, but you are responsible for telling the authorities when one of these four circumstances have happened.

Exodus 30:8
“And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.”

One reason I love the warmth of summer is because our family loves to grill. My wife will get the meat ready to grill, my daughter will set the table, and I will get the coals hot so that I can cook the meat. It never fails that after I’m done grilling, the smell from the grill is on me. For the rest of the day, you can tell that I grilled because of the smell of smoke.

Two times a day, Aaron was to go into the holy place and make sure that the incense was burning. I can imagine every time he left the holy place and went back to the house that his wife could smell the incense on his clothing and in his hair. As he walked down the street and passed people, they could smell that he had been by the altar of incense. You had no question as to where he had been because the smell told everything.

In the Scriptures, the altar of incense is related to the prayers of God’s people. Revelation 8:4 says, “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” Notice, the incense was the “prayer of the saints.” There are some observations that we can take away from this altar of incense that will help us as Christians.

First, you will never keep the smell of God on you unless you spend multiple times with God every day. Aaron was to go into the holy place in the “morning” and “at even.” The smell of the incense never left Aaron, because twice a day he made sure the incense was burning. If you spend multiple times a day with God, you will never have to worry about another smell getting on you. Sadly, many Christians never get the smell of God on them because they never darken the altar of prayer one time. You will never become like God without spending time with Him in prayer.

Second, a regular prayer life helps to keep you living a holy life. Aaron never forgot who he represented because he was constantly reminded by the smell of incense on his clothing. You will find that it will be much easier to live a holy life for God if you spend multiple times every day in prayer. Every time you leave the altar of prayer, you walk away with the smell of God on you. As you walk throughout your day, that smell reminds you as to Whom you belong.

Third, others will be able to tell that you have a regular prayer life. Aaron didn’t have to tell anyone where he had been because the smell of the incense was on him. Everyone will notice a difference in you when you spend time with God. You won’t have to tell them because the smell of God’s fragrance will be in your actions and countenance. Just like the people knew Moses had been with God because of the shine on his face; likewise, people will know you have been with God because His shine and smell will be evident in everything you say and do. That smell will have a way of warding off those whom you should not be around; thus, helping you to stay away from sin.

Let me ask you, what smell do you have on you? Is the fragrance of God on your life because you have spent time in prayer? You will make the greatest impact with your life when you get God’s smell on you by spending time at the altar of prayer.

Exodus 13:14
“And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:”

The verse above is a commentary of what God said would happen one day when the Israelites inhabited the Promised Land. He said that one day they would observe the Passover, and a son would ask the father, “What is this?” That father was to tell his son, “By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:” In other words, that father was to keep the history of the LORD’s strength before his children. However, I believe there is something missed in this verse. I believe that God wanted the father to tell his son about what the LORD had done so that it would motivate the next generation to allow the LORD to make history through them. It was not good enough for the son to just hear the history, but it was a motivator for the son to make his own history.

I’m afraid many Christians have based their Christianity upon history instead of making history. God didn’t write His Word just so that we can study it and do nothing with it; He wrote it to encourage us to do more for Him. There are three thoughts of which the verse above can remind us.

First, don’t let your history be your history. There are many Christians who can tell you about the LORD working through them in the past, but they have nothing to share when talking about what the LORD is doing in the present. Sadly, their history is their history. If we are going to motivate the next generation to do something for God, we are going to have to make history with God today. You have spiritually died if the only history you have with God is in history.

Second, let history motivate your history. In other words, instead of just quoting history, let it be the catalyst to see God do something through you. One of the things that has stirred me to strive for the LORD is a desire to see God do something through my life and ministry as He has for others. I am not going to sit idly by and simply talk about history; I want to be a part of letting the LORD show His strength through me. When you hear about what the LORD has done through someone else in history, let it stir your heart to see God do something through you. History should be a motivator, not just a lesson.

Third, your history will be the stimulus of the next generation’s future. Either they will serve God because of what He did through you, or they will go to the world because of a lack of seeing God’s power today. The verse above was all about stirring the next generation with a desire for God to do something through them. If you want to keep the next generation from going to the world, you must step out by faith and let God perform the miraculous through you. When the next generation sees the power of God working, they will desire it for themselves.

Let me ask you, is your history already written because you are no longer doing anything for God? Don’t let your history be a finished book, but continue to step out by faith so that the power of God can continue to be seen by the present generation. Don’t let the only stories you have about God working be in the past. I challenge you to be a history maker with God instead of a historian so that the power of God is a reality and not just history.