AP

Numbers 23:26-28  Balaam answered [Balak], “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the LORD says?”  Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place.  Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.”  And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.

The Prophet Jeremiah wrote: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9), and the sad story of Balaam is a good example of its truth.  Balak, King of Moab, felt threatened by the size and ‘track record’ of the Israelite horde as they moved through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land after being freed from slavery in Egypt.

It seems it had become widely known that the LORD (Yahweh), their God, had miraculously brought them across the Red Sea to escape from Pharaoh, and had been caring for them, and giving them victory against any enemies, for 40 years, so, as they approached Moab, the wise thing to do was to employ someone to get the LORD to curse them.  Balaam seemed a likely prospect if he was tempted with a handsome reward.

The first two attempts to pull this off had failed miserably, but Balak was desperate and wasn’t going to give up.  Balaam’s head was in the right place – he had understood the truth of God’s clear refusal to comply with the request on both the previous occasions – but Balaam’s heart, perhaps, might be more fickle and open to temptation, and could be manipulated to comply.  Although this third attempt also failed Balaam eventually advised Balak to entice the Israelites into idolatry and sexual immorality to bring a curse upon themselves, leading to the death of 24,000 of them (Numbers 24-25), making Balaam a prime example of these sins of the flesh in the NT (cf 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 11; Revelation 2:14).

His story remains a dire warning to us of Satan’s subtle powers of deception.  We might have our ‘theology’ all sound and correct in our heads, but Satan knows that, in the light of what Jeremiah says, there might be some gain in persisting in working on our hearts.  This is why Paul warns Timothy: “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22), and James urges his readers: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

Let us remember, Balaam’s demise began by yielding to Balak’s repeated requests, and in spite of knowing firmly in his head that God doesn’t change his mind, his ‘Jeremiah’ heart couldn’t help feeling, in view of the promised rich reward, it might be worth a try!  “Give me an undivided heart, that I might fear your name; teach me to walk in righteous paths and follow in your ways.  For you are gracious and forgiving; hear, O Lord, and answer me.” (Rob Smith)

– Bruce Christian