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The Error of Balaam

by Grace Tom-Lawyer  
3/11/2016 / Christian Living

"Woe to them!For they have gone in the way of Cain and have run greedily after the error of Balaam for profit and perished in the rebellion of Korah"Jude 1:11
NKJV New King James Version.

In the fourth shortest letter of the New Testament, Apostle Jude in a no-nonsense approach admonished his readers to "fight for the faith" as he warned them to be aware of false teachers and men who were perverting the grace of God and using it as a license for sin, (Jude 1:3 CEB Common English Bible). In the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, these men were promoting "cheap grace".Jude gives three characteristics of these men,( Jude 1:4) and then uses three negative biblical examples as patterns they have followed; the way of Cain, the error of Balaam and the rebellion of Korah (Jude 1:11).

I knew about Cain ,after all he won the award of first murderer in the Bible(Genesis 4:8) and as for Korah,(Numbers 16:1-32) he dared to question the authority of Moses , the man of God that God spoke to face to face (Exodus 33:11)what nerve! But what about Balaam? It was just an error or so I thought until I began to study closely and realized that like us, Balaam made several errors along the way before culminating in the one he is most famously known for(Numbers 22-23,2 Peter 2:15,Numbers 31: 16, Revelations 2:14).To help us understand and avoid these errors ,a little background to the story is necessary.

The children of Israel had begun making their way to the Promised land and had defeated some of their enemies and were about to conquer the land of Jericho (Numbers 22:1). Stories of their past victories had made headline news and their success attracted both admirers- Rahab (Joshua 2:10-11) and enemies (Numbers 22:2-6).Two of these enemies (Balak, the king of the Moabites and the Midianites teamed up together to fight the children of Israel as they feared their land would be conquered soon. Not surprisingly, these enemies were actually their relatives (Matthew 10:35).The Moabites were descendants of Moab, the first son of Lot, Abraham's nephew born out of incest with his first daughter (Genesis 19:36-37) while the Midianites were descendants of Abraham from his wife, Keturah after the death of Sarah(Genesis 25:1-4).To ensure victory, they decided to employ the supernatural and engage the services of Balaam a prophet who lived hundreds of miles away. They were ready to pay honorarium and foot the bill as they believed in testimonies of the success of his ministry and anointing to attack their enemy.

What an encouragement for us to harness and continuously refine our God given gifts as we see scriptures fulfilled in Balaam's life as his gift made a way for him(Proverbs 18:16). Without the benefit of a Facebook or Twitter account, or even a complimentary card, he had people sending for him across international borders. We must be careful though to use our gifts to serve God and his purposes rather than the enemy.

Enemies are a living reality of the fallen world and we all have them both "real ones" and "phantom ones". Some we have acquired foolishly and unnecessarily while others have been wrongfully blacklisted by us. It may be possible that like the children of Israel, sadly it is the success of these individuals, being painful reminders of our unaccomplished dreams that have made them enemies. As for the real enemies, different battles require different strategies( 2 Corinthians 10 4,1 Samuel 18: 14,Matthew 10 :16, 1 Peter 5:8).Thus we should act wisely with the assurance that in the economical nature of God , he is able to fight our battles as well as use our enemies to accomplish his purpose(Psalms 23:6,Romans 8:28).

Grace Tom-Lawyer is a writer who lives in the United Kingdom and loves to share a message that brings dignity to the lives of people with a passion for the practical application of Biblical truths in everyday living.
2014 Grace Tom-Lawyer. All rights reserved.
wwwflourish.blogspot.co.uk

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