Key Verse: Verse 15 – ““Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;”
Key Words: who loved the wages of unrighteousness
Peter, Jude, and John all deal with Balaam (II Peter 2:15, Jude 11, Revelation 2:14)
In Balaam we have an illustration of a head full of light but a heart full of darkness. This man had all kinds of religion, but he was very much lost.
As you read the life of Balaam, you read about a life of self-will (Numbers 22:5- 22), and a man whose donkey was smarter than he was (Number 22:33). He was a failure (Numbers 24:10), and an evil counselor (Numbers 31:16). Balaam is proof that the road to hell can be paved with good resolutions. Balaam, no doubt, loved gain more than God. (See II Peter 2:15 and Jude 11.)
The following is a good illustration of what happens to us when we focus on financial gain:
“One day a certain old, rich man of a miserable disposition visited a rabbi, who took the rich man by the hand and led him to a window.
“‘Look out there,’ he said. The rich man looked into the street. ‘What do you see?’ asked the rabbi.
“‘I see men, women, and children,’ answered the rich man.
“Again the rabbi took him by the hand and this time led him to a mirror. ‘Now what do you see?’
“‘Now I see myself,’ the rich man replied.
“Then the rabbi said, ‘Behold, in the window there is glass, and in the mirror there is glass. But the glass of the mirror is covered with a little silver, and no sooner is the silver added than you cease to see others, but you see only yourself.’”
What to do:
✞ Make sure you are smarter than a mule, or you will end up making a donkey of yourself.
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