A good lesson from a bad prophet
Balaam was hired to curse Israel. However, what happened next was beyond his expectation. Here's the lesson we must learn.
We read in Numbers 22:9-12:
9 Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”
10 So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’ ”
12 And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
It seems strange how Balaam was able to talk to Yahweh in spite of his corrupt character.
However, God, in His infinite wisdom, uses bad circumstances [in this case, bad people] to fulfill His purpose.
As we can see, Yahweh was using Balaam to show the pagan king Balak and other people that what God has blessed no one can curse. Men may accept bribes, but God can’t be bribed.
Balaam showed us that loving money and prestige more than God can lead to deadly spiritual traps.
It seems that Balaam would later become a full-time soothsayer or diviner for hire and was eventually killed by the Israelites (Joshua 13:22).
[Additional reading: Serving the God who can do the Impossible Things!]
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