Go With What God Says The First Time Every Time

This is the message Balaam delivered: “This is the message of Balaam son of Beor, the message of the man whose eyes see clearly, the message of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide open: I see him, but not here and now.  I perceive him, but far in the distant future.  A star will rise from Jacob; a scepter will emerge from Israel.  It will crush the heads of Moab’s people, cracking the skulls of the people of Sheth.  Edom will be taken over, and Seir, its enemy, will be conquered, while Israel marches on in triumph.  A ruler will rise in Jacob who will destroy the survivors of Ir.” [Numbers 24.15-19]

The first time Balaam sought the LORD about Balak's request, God clearly told Balaam to stay put and not go to Balak.  The second time Balak requested Balaam to come, God told Balaam to go.  The rest is history.  

I suppose Balaam could have rejected the invitation from Balak altogether.  However, I don't know what Balaam would have done with God's telling him to go ahead and go that second time.

Here is what I can deduce from Balaam's story: Balaam should never have given second thought to Balak's second request!  Had Balaam refused, quite possibly, he could have gone down in Bible history without the negative reference he is well-known for.

We must remember that God knows the heart of man.  And, even though Balaam pronounced blessing on Israel in the context of this story, it must be remembered that a donkey spoke too.  In other words, there is nothing surprising about God's blessing coming from Balaam's mouth when compared to God communicating with Balaam through the mouth of a donkey!  Donkeys don't speak and unrighteous men don't bless, but we witnessed both in the story of Balaam.  The donkey remained a donkey and the unrighteous man remained unrighteous regardless of what came from their mouths!

Other later Biblical references to Balaam reveal that he was not at all revered by Israel as a righteous man even though blessings came from his mouth.  This is no small matter as the scripture referenced at the beginning of this post is laden with Messianic prophecy from the mouth of this historically unrighteous man!  We can only deduce that Balaam's heart was in it for the money regardless of what his mouth said.  So often, betrayal of the 'straight and narrow' is influenced so by money.

Two things that speak to me today are these: stick with what God says the first time as subsequent questioning may bring confusion and trouble as any further consideration of a matter that God has already clearly spoken against is rebellion (regardless of whether even Messianic prophecy comes from your mouth!).  If money is involved, go the way away from the money!  And the second thing is this: I was pointed to Jesus!

Father, in my life I have second-guessed You countless times - I cannot even begin to isolate each individual instance.  Please forgive me!  Help me to stick with what You say the first time every time!