Palm Canyon, Palm Springs, California
it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and . . . Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion.” Who can doubt Calvin’s statement that Balaam was endued with the gift of prophecy? And yet, with all of his inspiration and eloquence, Balaam was a gamester. He was possessed of the notion that somehow he could be true to God and at the same time collect a financial rake-off on the side. "Maybe I can collect this reward from Balak and still do my duty.” You will perceive that this line of reasoning has not yet disappeared from the earth. Abraham would not let the King of Sodom reward him, lest he should say, “I have made Abram rich.” But Balaam had no such scruples nor do many who claim to be consistent Chris tians today. Dangle enough money before a man or an institution, and the strategy of Balaam will be pressed into service now as then. How to maintain the appear ance of absolute fidelity to God and yet not miss the reward of this world was Balaam’s problem. There is no way to do both, but countless souls have tried it. There are still those Gehazis who run after Naaman and who would follow a work of God by collecting a fee. If Balaam had really meant business with God, he would have sent Balak’s delegation home in short order, but he kept toying with his temptation until it ruined him. There are all sorts of clever devices today by which men maintain a pose of loyalty to God and yet clean up a nice profit from this present age. Balaam had his price and many a prophet today has his, and Satan is perfect ly willing for him to make fine speeches from Pisgah, if in his heart he nurtures that love of money which is the root of all evil.
O STRANGER character appears in all the Scrip tures than Balaam. This Jekyll-Hyde rose to heights and descended to depths on such a scale that Spurgeon sizes him up with the lines of
Ralph Erskine:
To good and evil equal bent, And both a devil and a saint.
He also likened him to old King Rufus who painted God on one side of a shield and the devil on the other, inscribing underneath the motto: “Ready for both; catch who can." Joseph Parker calls Balaam the Simon Magus of his day and says he was the greatest mystery with which Balak had to deal. Alexander Whyte, writing of Balaam, states: “Some eloquent preachers put all their religion into their eloquence.” Another expositor makes Balaam’s fault to be that he tampered with his inspiration. Maclaren asserts that Balaam “tried to make ‘the best of both worlds,’ so he. ran with the hare and hunted with the hounds.” At any rate, we never get away from Balaam in the Bible. His story is second to none in its fearful warnings. At the very end of the New Testament, we are still being reminded of Balaam—his way, his error and his doctrine. There is absolutely no doubt as to the inspiration of this strange prophet. We are not disposed to enter into the mystery of it here, but Balaam was mightily and mysteriously gifted. Not only was he blessed with in spiration, but also with eloquence. I dare you to find any higher heights of oratory in all the Word of God than such passages as these: “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!” "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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