Balaam
Balaam was a magician or soothsayer summoned by King Balak of Moab to curse the Israelites before they took over the Promised Land. He wavered when he was asked to curse Israel, but finally agreed to do so. Balaam’s desire for financial wealth overruled his obedience to God. He left his home to respond to the kings request. On the way his donkey became stubborn and refused to go on. An angel was blocking the way. After the third try the donkey spoke, reproving Balaam. Then the angel told Balaam he could only speak the words that the Lord would give him. On arriving at the site Balaam was only able to bless the Israelites and not curse them. Before he left King Balak he apparently told him that the way to defeat the Israelites was to seduce them into the worship of Baal. Indeed this is exactly what happened and "…the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel."
Lessons from the life of Balaam:
- God condemns those who tempt God’s people to compromise their moral standards.
- Your treasure is where your heart is.
- Your motivation to obey God should not be because of the profit you will gain from it.
- Motives are just as important as actions.
- Who and what we are will eventually surface, destroying any masks we may have used to cover up our real selves.
- Efforts spent on keeping up appearances would be much better spent on finding the answer to sin in our lives.
Read about Balaam in Numbers 22:1 through Numbers 24: 25. He is also mentioned in Numbers 31:7,8,16; Deuteronomy 23: 4,5; Joshua 24:9,10; Nehemiah 13:2; Micah 6:5; 2 Peter 2:15,16; Jude 11; and Revelation 2:14.
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