As you've seen over the past few
weeks, King Balak of Moab was scared of the Israelites and what
they might do to his country and his position in particular. He
wanted them cursed and as we've seen, he asked Balaam to do it.
Balaam did follow the lure of money and tried to persuade God that
he can curse the Israelites, but God said no. He wanted to bless
them and therefore no one should curse them.
Now King Balak tried to entice
Balaam to curse them from three different viewpoints, but every
time Balaam blessed them. King Balak was so angry and told Balaam
to go home without a cent in reward. Balaam gave up riches and did
the right thing. He allowed himself to be a vessel of God and
didn't let the lure of wealth deter him.
And today you must also know, that
when you stand up for the right thing, it might not be the most
popular choice. It might cost you promotions, it might cost you
friends, it might cost you advances in the short run, but at the
end of the day, God is pleased with you. We need to stand up for
what is right. As a Christian it is not a choice we have, it is
something we have to do, in every part of our lives no matter how
hard. We need to be honest with our tax return, we need to abide by
the rules even though everyone else is breaking it, we need to pay
our bills on time, we shouldn't flirt with our married colleague,
we shouldn't swear at the taxi in front of us, etcetera etcetera. I
think you get the point. We need to take a stand for what is right
and we shouldn't get tired of doing it like Balaam did.
Now let's get back to Balaam. Up
and until here it would seem as if Balaam was now converted and
following God's ways, in other words, doing the right thing. But
later in God's Word we read of the sly plan Balaam came up with
later on. Balaam realized that God won't allow him to curse the
Israelites, but he still wanted the wealth promised to him. He then
came up with an ingenious plan to show Balak how to turn the
Israelites against the ways of the Lord.
"You tolerate some among you who
are like Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of
Israel. He taught them to worship idols by eating food offered to
idols and by committing sexual sin." Revelation 2:14
Balaam was very clever. He knew
that if he could get the people to rebel against God's ways that
God would need to discipline them and that they in turn would lose
the land promised to them. And it was the love of money that caused
him to ignore the commands of the Lord:
"They have wandered off the right
road and followed the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn
money by doing wrong." 2 Peter 2:15
"Like Balaam, they would do
anything for money." Jude 1:11
Don't be like Balaam. Don't
compromise and fall for the lust of money. Don't follow the right
ways of God for a while and then slip back into your old ways. It
is detrimental to your relationship with God. Don't allow anything
to come between you and God, especially the lure of money. Your
relationship with God is worth more than all the gold and treasures
of the world. Nothing can buy it and nothing can replace it. The
world today follow the ways of Balaam, it is prevalent to see.
Don't fall in line and do the same. You will lose much more than
you gain. Balaam lost his life at the end of the day in battle with
the Israelites, not long after his 'ingenious plan' (Numbers 31:8).
I think if he knew that his life would end that way, he would not
have pursued his greed. Let that be a lesson to all of us.
Father, please help us to stay away
from the lure of money. Please forgive us if we fall for it now and
again, but rather help us to stay pure and to stay on Your path. In
Jesus Name. Amen