#DailyDevotion False Prophets Have Real Motivations
Monday
Read Num 22:1–20
Num 22:8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam…12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”…18 But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more. (19) So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.” (20) And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.”
Now it is true that the inhabitant of Canaan did not repent of their sins and in fact got worse over time despite the preaching of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is also true that Abraham and Isaac had other descendents besides the Israelites and on top of them there were the descendents of Lot in the area, the Moabites and the Amorites. Most of these were in the Arabian peninsula but there were a few on the border of Canaan. Now it seems with the connection of the Midianites in the beginning of the chapter that Balaam was probably one of these descendents of Abraham. He knew Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and was a prophet of the Lord. Because he was a prophet of the Lord and a child of Abraham it was known that whoever he cursed was cursed and whoever he blessed was blessed. It was for this reason the people of the Moabites went to seek Balaam’s help.
Now it seemed as if the children of Lot had mostly forgotten the Lord and had adopted the gods of the Canaanites who dwelt in the area. Balaam however seemed to have retained the knowledge of the Lord and was a prophet of his in the area. When the Moabites sought his counsel concerning the Israelites he went to the Lord to seek counsel. At first the Lord counseled him to not go. When they came to him again, the Lord gave him permission to go but to only speak the word that the Lord had given him to speak.
In Balaam we will see the course of all false teachers and those who follow the whims of men and seek their approval. The people have the knowledge of the Lord but fall away from proclaiming his rightly. They will lead people away from the truth for the sake of worldly wealth and the praise of men. One is the result of covetousness and the other is from fear of losing praise. We see preachers who preach falsely seeking to fill their bellies and so they say things which entice the people to give them their wealth. They often are actually quite reasonable in what they preach. It makes sense to people and allies itself with their natural fallen nature and reason. The other tells people what they want to hear. Do this and you will live a happy life, with a beautiful wife and above average kids. It really doesn’t matter what ‘this’ is. It is what the people want to hear. So out of fear of losing the praise of men, they give them what their hearts desire to hear.
Lord, give us always true preachers of your word that our hearts and minds may be conformed to your ways. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.