June 5, Balaam’s Donkey, II

“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture’ saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 23:1)

When pastors of the flock of God’s chosen destroy and scatter the sheep, they can be guaranteed to face the wrath of God. Balaam, who was a prophet of the Lord, was commanded to help God’s chosen, but he shirked his job.

In my youth, people found the story of Balaam’s donkey amazing. As a child, I listened wide-eyed when my mother read it to me. Many preachers have avoided the subject of the talking donkey because it is written on one more page of the Holy Bible that we must believe...one more miracle that we must accept at face value. I have heard ministers say they were glad they did not have to believe the word of God in order to do their jobs. I wonder whether they are doing their work the way Balaam did.

As people have become more aware of the supernatural, they are not really surprised by this story. The sad fact is that people are believing pagan lore instead of the supernatural power of God.

Jesus rebuked the church of Pergamus in the book of Revelation. In Pergamus there was a huge altar to the idol of Zeus, the Greek god of thunder. Some people in the church were mixing their worship of Jesus Christ with the worship of Zeus. (Their pagan worship involved fornicating before the idols. To us in what we consider a more sophisticated era, this practice seems incredible; yet it is not unlike the use of pornography in our culture today.)

This idolatry was similar to that going on in Canaan when the Israelites took the Promised Land. Balaam, used by Satan, was influential in leading the people to worship the crude idols of the Moabites and to forsake God.

It is amazing to think that people could ever be so foolish as to worship idols, and it is astonishing that people were worshiping idols not long ago in history. Actually, idol worship has never stopped, and it is thriving in our churches today as pastors lead congregations into the idolatry of the mystical religions . “Innocent”practices not openly associated with idolatry have deep roots in worshiping statues that cannot think or speak.

I have digressed! Back to the story. King Balak said that he had noticed that if Balaam blessed something it was blessed and if he cursed something it was cursed. The kings said, “Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land”. (Numbers 22:6)

King Balak sent representatives with “the rewards of divination” in their hands to entice Balaam into arranging with God to curse the children of Israel. The greedy prophet bargained with God and found himself in serious trouble. Tomorrow we’ll finish the story.

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