God Can Speak Even Through a Donkey!
13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.[e] 14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer,[f] who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
Today Peter tells the story of Balaam, the prophet in the Old Testament, as an example of the false teachers in the early church. If you don't know the story of Balaam here it is. Balaam was a well known prophet, who was summoned by the King of Moab, King Balak, because of the Israelites advancing. Balak hired Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites. On the way over to Moab an angel of The Lord tries to stop Balaam, and if were not for his donkey he would have been killed by the angel. This is where the saying, "God can even peak out of a donkey", or maybe a little cruder.
Anyways the bottom line is that three times Balak asks Balaam to curse Israel, but Balaam can only offer a blessing as he is instructed by God. Barak is infuriated with Balaam and sends him home with no reward. Although Balaam can only prophesy what God tells him, he finds a way to get his reward. He gets the Moabites to entice the Israelites with prostitutes and idolatry. Soon the Israelites commit adultery with the Midianite women and worship the god Baal of Peor. Eventually God plagued them and 24,000 Israelite men died.
In the same ways these so called prophets were carousing in daylight and full greed, using their ministry to bilk money out of the unsuspecting people. These men might have been believers at one time, but now are reaping the wages of wickedness. It reminds me of the saying, "you can't fool God". We may think we are deceiving God but our hidden sins will always be found out. We all are tempted by the world for sure. But the more we dabble in sin, we risk our authority as servants of our Lord. That is why Paul's says, "flee from sexual immorality, all other sins are outside of the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body." No matter who we are we would be wise to heed these world, as none of us are immune to temptation.
Today Peter tells the story of Balaam, the prophet in the Old Testament, as an example of the false teachers in the early church. If you don't know the story of Balaam here it is. Balaam was a well known prophet, who was summoned by the King of Moab, King Balak, because of the Israelites advancing. Balak hired Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites. On the way over to Moab an angel of The Lord tries to stop Balaam, and if were not for his donkey he would have been killed by the angel. This is where the saying, "God can even peak out of a donkey", or maybe a little cruder.
Anyways the bottom line is that three times Balak asks Balaam to curse Israel, but Balaam can only offer a blessing as he is instructed by God. Barak is infuriated with Balaam and sends him home with no reward. Although Balaam can only prophesy what God tells him, he finds a way to get his reward. He gets the Moabites to entice the Israelites with prostitutes and idolatry. Soon the Israelites commit adultery with the Midianite women and worship the god Baal of Peor. Eventually God plagued them and 24,000 Israelite men died.
In the same ways these so called prophets were carousing in daylight and full greed, using their ministry to bilk money out of the unsuspecting people. These men might have been believers at one time, but now are reaping the wages of wickedness. It reminds me of the saying, "you can't fool God". We may think we are deceiving God but our hidden sins will always be found out. We all are tempted by the world for sure. But the more we dabble in sin, we risk our authority as servants of our Lord. That is why Paul's says, "flee from sexual immorality, all other sins are outside of the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body." No matter who we are we would be wise to heed these world, as none of us are immune to temptation.
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