Saturday, November 3, 2012

What we can learn from the story of Balaam...



In Numbers 22 we are introduced to Balak and Balaam. Balak, the king of the Moabites, wanted to take down Israel. To do this, he turned to Balaam whom he had heard “had a reputation for being able to bless and curse with great effect.” (Old Testament Student Manual) Balak offered Balaam many worldly treasures if he would complete this task for him. The Lord told Balaam not to do what Balak had recommended but in the end Balaam went against the Lord’s counsel and went out with Balak’s men to curse the Israelites. The Lord was unhappy with Balaam and sought to teach him a lesson because of his disobedience. An angel appeared blocking Balaam’s path which caused his donkey to go wild. In the end, the donkey rebuked Balaam for his actions and Balaam was “troubled because of his attempt to serve both God and mammon.”  (Old Testament Student Manual)

How many times in our own lives do we try to serve both God and mammon? We learn from Matthew 6:24 that “no man can serve two masters: for he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.” It is not possible for us to be fence sitters when it comes to God and the temptations of the world (Satan). There are many times when we try to do both, but in the end we succumb to one or the other. The story of Balaam shows us that even though the enticements of the world seem exciting to us they can only leads us to sorrow and retribution in the end if we abandon the Lord. 

After being rebuked by the Lord, one would think that Balaam would remove himself from being in the presence of Balak who was his ultimate source of temptation at the time. We see this is not the case as we read on further in Numbers. Balaam actually continues to spend his time with Balak and to complete the tasks that he asks of him. Why did Balaam continue to be around Balak even though the Lord told him before that what Balak had asked him to do was not in accordance with what the Lord wanted done? Balaam still wanted approval in Balak’s eyes so he continued to be around him and to do those things that were asked of him. The Old Testament student manual gives further insight into this by saying “when [Balaam] saw that he could not earn Balak’s commission by cursing Israel directly, he told Balak that God would only bless Israel when they were righteous. Thus, Balaam became a symbol of those who use their callings and gifts to get gain and pervert the Lord’s people.” 

The example of Balaam shows us the true power that being in the presence of temptations has over us. We may feel like we are strong and can handle being around temptations, but eventually it will wear us down and we will succumb to that temptation in a matter of time. We need to make sure in our own lives that we avoid the appearance of evil and keep ourselves far away from those things that are temptations to us. The Lord cannot protect us if we continue to allow ourselves to be in situations where He disapproves of and His Spirit cannot dwell. 

We learn from this story that in the end righteousness always wins over wickedness. In Number’s 31:7-8, Israel destroys the wicked Midianites including Balaam. Balaam was a man of God in the very beginning and if he had lived according to God’s will he probably would have had another ending. But because he choose to follow the enticings of the world and took part in leading many people astray, he ended up being destroyed. This story should be an eye opener to all of us as it has many applications to our lives today. We need to be diligent in following the ways of the Lord and make sure that we do not get distracted by what the world has to offer us. Remember that the Lord has so much more to offer than the world!

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