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The Book of
2 Peter: Message Twenty Two
By Dr. Michael Guido, D.D.
One day, while
conducting an evangelistic meeting in the Midwest, we went into a
home for dinner. As soon as we were seated a parakeet came to my
shoulder and said, "I'm saved. Are you?" Then it quoted
the Lord's Prayer, saying "Our Father." There are people,
and in particular, preachers, who, like that parakeet, have the
message in their mouths but not in their manners. It's on their
lips, but not in their lives. Such a person was Balaam, a prophet.
No character in the Bible is condemned with such bitter blows as
those leveled at him. John, Jude and Peter speak of him in terms of
bitterest contempt.
Let's look at his life. A man
wanted to drive a nail into the wall to hang a picture. He stood on
a chair, but it was too low. His wife brought him a hassock, and he
placed it on the chair, but it was still too low. Then she brought
him a box, and he put it on the hassock. Perched on that unsteady
foundation, he started to tap the nail. "Hit it hard,"
cried his wife. "How can I," he asked, "standing on
such a foundation as this?" Upon what is your life founded -
human reasoning or divine revelation, the firm foundation of the
word of God or the flimsy fancies of the word of man? Though Balaam
was a prophet, his life was founded on ways of Eastern soothsayers,
not on the will of the eternal Savior. And there are prophets or
preachers today who believe in a pantheistic God and not a personal
God, a human Savior and not a divine Savior, a fallible scholarship
and not infallible Scriptures, the natural in all things and not the
supernatural in anything. That's why they're interested in the
social and not the spiritual, and they preach reformation and not
regeneration, culture and not conversion. So nobody's afraid of hell
and nobody cares much about heaven.
Let's look at his love. It's
written in 2nd Peter 2:15, "Which have forsaken the
right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam..., who
loved the wages of unrighteousness." For an understanding of
this, we must go back to the Old Testament. The children of Israel
honored the Lord, so He honored them. He provided for them and
prospered them. Because of their multitude and might, the other folk
were frightened. So a certain king asked Balaam to come and
pronounce a curse upon them. But God commanded, "Thou shalt not
go with them, and thou shalt not curse the people: for they are
blessed." Balaam didn't tell the king's men, as he ought to
have done, that Israel was a blessed people, and must not be cursed.
Instead, he said, "The Lord refuseth to give me leave to go
with you." So the king sent for Balaam again, tempting him with
famous folk and great gifts. Instead of saying as did Daniel,
"thy gifts be to thyself and give thy rewards to another,"
Balaam said, "I'm afraid I can't go. But tarry over the night
till I see." Now Balaam wasn't interested in God's will, only
the king's wealth. The line of duty was clear. There was no need to
pray. But he prayed, and God allowed him to go. You see, God doesn't
place you under lock and key. He doesn't tie your hands and feet. He
doesn't strike you blind, or lame, or dumb, to make you obedient.
You have a free will. You can do as you please. That's what He said
to Balaam. So Balaam, more interested in gold than God, went with
the king's men to curse the people of God. That's why the Bible says
he "loved the wages of unrighteousness." Yes, sin earns
wages, and sin pays wages. But sin against the body pays wages in
the body. Sin pays in installments, but it pays in full, and
"the wages of sin is death," death to the body, death to
the soul, and death to the spirit.
Let's look at his loss. No man
ever sinned without suffering. No man ever gained who went against
God. Sin and sorrow go hand in hand. Balaam started out to meet the
king, but he didn't reach him. Suddenly the donkey he was riding
stopped. Why? The donkey saw God's angel with his drawn sword. But
the prophet didn't, and she crushed his foot against the wall. Tell
me, do you have a crushed foot? Have you been seeking your will and
not God's will? Have you gone astray and are now suffering? Then
heed this verse from the Bible: "Come, and let us return unto
the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten,
and He will bind us up."
Balaam was gifted, but he was
godless. He could have been the Master's messenger, but he chose to
become the devil's donkey. He cried, "Let me die the death of
the righteous." But you can't live like a sinner and die like a
saint. You can't be a child of the devil here and a child of God
hereafter. Turn to the Lord now, won't you?
copyright 2000 Guido
Evangelistic Association
All Scripture
verses are quoted from the New King James Version..
Click here to go to the next Scripture Study on the book of Second
Peter from the Sower.
This series of
messages on the Books of the Bible were originally
written for broadcast on Dr. Guido's radio program,
"The Sower." They are collected and
reprinted here for your enjoyment and spiritual
edification.
