The Blessing
By William M. Self, Sr.
Balaam’s Donkey Wreck
Balaam made sacrifices and spoke God’s blessing
But sought his own blessing and financial gain
Rather than staying with God’s people and being a blessing
The story of Balaam is so revealing of our human nature.
Balaam was into sorcery. Numbers 24:1
He looked to spiritual things to make a living.
He was known for his ability to speak blessing and cursing.
Balaam did not realize his place was to be
with God’s people to be and speak a blessing.
He knew God wanted to bless His people, yet the
greed for money took him away from God’s people.
His road got narrow and was given many warnings.
He almost died in a donkey wreck
when the angel of the Lord stopped him.
Yet, instead of turning back to be God’s
blessing among God’s people, he allowed
greed to take him on a road of compromise.
Balaam still spoke
the word of
the Lord and bless God’s people.
But Balaam was not part of the blessing.
Balaam could not speak a curse on God’s people but he
did know how to get them to bring a cure on themselves.
In Revelation 2:24, we read Balaam was a teacher and
he taught Balak how to entice the people of God into sin.
Balaam’s own interest got in the way of his purpose.
You and I are called to be a blessing to God’s people.
We are called to speak and remind God’s
people of how great God’s blessings are.
Balaam looked to the people of God for
his own blessing and financial reward.
Like Judas who should have been focused on
being a blessing, took opportunity to seek his own
fortune at the expense of God
and His people.
Many people come to church and do many good things
but see the
people of God as their financial blessing.
Like Balaam they don’t see anything wrong with it.
Each one of us should take a good look
at our motivation from time to time.
What is our example teaching God’s people?
Balaam offered up many sacrifices
doing outwardly all the right things.
But he taught a doctrine that enticed God’s people into sin.
Are we with God’s people, speaking and being a blessing?
Or, are we on another trail to find
our own blessings and financial gain?
God says He will bless His people.
Let’s be a part of that blessing.
Scripture Reading
Numbers
22:4-6 NIV
So Balak son
of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,
5 sent
messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was
at Pethor,
near the River, in his native land. Balak said:
"A
people has come out of Egypt; they cover
the face of
the land and have settled next to me.
6 Now come
and put a curse on these people,
because they
are too powerful for me.
Perhaps then
I will be able to defeat them
and drive
them out of the country.
For I know
that those you bless are blessed,
and those
you curse are cursed."
Numbers
31:16-17 NIV
16
"They were the ones who followed Balaam's
advice and
were the means of turning the Israelites
away from
the Lord in what happened at Peor,
so that a plague struck the Lord's people.
Revelation
2:14-15 NIV
14
Nevertheless, I have a few things against you:
You have people there who hold to the teaching
of Balaam,
who taught
Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating
food
sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.
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