Error of Balaam 10-The Error of Sef -deceit

31Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

32 The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.[a] 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”

34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.” Numbers 22:31-34 NIV New International Version

After Balaam left with the second delegation from Balak, he was opposed by the angel whom he did not see initially. He became frustrated by the unexplainable behaviour of the donkey and responded to what he did not understand by the use of violence and abuse. He actually considered killing the donkey until his eyes were eventually opened to see the angel .The angel rebuked Balaam for being abusive to the donkey who was trying to save his life. There are so many times we erroneously think that people and things that are not working our way are `evil .The reality is that some oppositions we face may not be from the enemy but it might just be God's way of saving us from further harm. .Balaam's ignorance was no excuse for his abuse of his donkey and the ensuing conversation with the angel reveals yet another error.

  Balaam followed the notions by worshipping the angel when he saw him. This angel appears to be the Lord as there is no record of the angel  rebuking this act of worship. There have been other appearances in the Old Testament that refer to the angel with subsequent unrebuked / unhindered worship by individuals(  Judges 13:3-23,Joshua 5:13-15 ).He was ready to do the outward display of submission without really totally submitting as the latter part of his answer reveals.

"I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.” ( italics mine for emphasis)

He started well right by saying that he had sinned but his confession did not automatically translate to repentance. It is not enough to confess if we are not going to make amends(Proverbs 28:13) and ironically, the last part of his statement shows that Balaam is in a sort of denial and the error here which we are also guilty of from time to time is that of self deceit. According to the Free Dictionary , Self deceit is the act or an instance of deceiving oneself, especially as to the true nature of one’s feelings or motives.It was no secret that God did not want Balaam to go in the first place but because his motives was getting the divination money at all cost(2 Peter 2:15-16,Jude 1:11).

Living in self deceit may also be a case of having a form of godliness but denying the power therefore (2 Timothy 3:5).It may also be denying the power of the grace of God (Titus 2:11-13) to say no to certain things we are sure of are not his will for us. Usually this would require an amount of sacrifice which our flesh usually does not want to do (Galatians 5:17).

We all have a tendency towards self deceit because sometimes the truth is too painful to face and at other times we have our own personal agenda and do not want to go all the way. We may be living in denial of our actual state but for there to be true healing and progress,  the truth must be faced and with the help of God this is possible.

Yours in His Service,

Grace Tom-Lawyer

The Error of Balaam 9- The Error of Insensitivity

)        Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials. 22 But God was very angry when he went,and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road".- Numbers 22:21-23 NIV New International Version

         When we were young, my siblings and I were sometimes naughty as all children are but   a quick supervisory look by my mother quickly made us make some readjustments.As I grew older,I realized that this experience was not uncommon with my contemporaries   and that the look is referred to as  the "Mama's eye".Without words, this eye had a way of communicating several  messages  which were best yielded to in order to avoid  discipline later.The "Mama's eye" told you when to sit down, stand up, not accept a gift or food you seriously wanted to,it gave you the final warning and the one that promised  you would cry later.Due to inexperience, sometimes the youngest child may not  decipher what was required by just a look and thus further necessitate the use of words  with   greater mercy in the area of punishment when compared to an older child who    stubbornly  refused to heed  to warnings following several looks.        

      

      The next error we see is almost synonymous to saying Balaam did not understand the "mama's eye".He goes on rather quickly the very next morning with the visitors(Numbers 22:21).However the author of Numbers  leaves us in  no doubt of God's stance on the matter by penning down eight words in the first part of verse 22 "God was very angry that he went". I like  the fact that God did something about his anger.He did not just sit passively and we are enjoined to do the same especially for anger at a justifiable cause;anger about domestic abuse or child trafficking to mention a few.          

 "..And the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him....."

    
God sent an angel to oppose him but both Balaam and his servants were blind, so blind that it took a donkey to  remove him from the place of danger.It took 3 consecutive attempts by the donkey and on those 3 occasions ,he was beaten by his owner.This picture however does not depict the Bible's position with regards to the treatment of animals.Quite the contrary as cruelty to animals is condemned by the Bible  as  depicted by the angel's rebuke to Balaam later in this chapter (Numbers 22:32), and other places(Exodus 23:5, Proverbs 27:23).Balaam was infuriated by the donkey's behaviour and the donkey eventually  resorted to words to explain his behaviour.Several commentators have argued about whether the donkey really talked but I would love us to refer to what the Word of God really says.In 2 Peter 2:16, we are told that the donkey spoke with a human voice,end of story.

   
Balaam's failure to perceive and his subsequent insensitivity may most likely have resulted from his stubbornness.Continuous persistence in wrong doing will lead to a searing of conscience and dampened sensitivity  to the voice of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Balaam was so gone in the path he was determined to take that even the voice of a human from the donkey did not deter him.Once again,we see how one error pf Balaam led to another.Because he was disobedient,and head on stubborn, he no longer could perceive God and became opposed by God.Sometimes we suffer some opposition because God himself is trying to discipline and restore us. The true proof that we are loved and are  not bastards is discipline from our fathers( Hebrews 12:8) as  a child left to himself  will bring shame to the mother( Proverbs 29:15).

      

      For us today, we can learn that insensitivity does not usually take place suddenly, rather a series of repeated  disobedience to the Spirit of God or the revealed word  of God will eventually cause callousness of our  spirits(1 Samuel 15 ,Acts 5:1-11).Whenever it is that we can see in the spirit the "Mama's eye" showing disapproval,it is necessary for us to proceed no further and retrace our steps. Someone has rightly stated that "Obedience is Jesus's love language" and if we say we love him, we should obey him(John 14:15,1 John 5:3) .It is in the place of continuous obedience that we receive further instruction.What need is there for him to give us some more instructions not to obey.Obedience is not just only the proof of our love but serves as the barometer of our spiritual intimacy and enhances our  sensitivity to the  Holy Spirit.    

     In His Service          

     Grace Tom-Lawyer

The Error of Balaam 8- The Error of Stubborness

18 Then 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 word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, please, you also 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 come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. V.12, 20, 22 Numbers 22:18-21 NKJV New King James Version

  

“That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.”-Numbers 22:20  NIV  New International Version

Several versions give different renditions to the reply of God to Balaam at this second visit. Some commentators say that God only gave Balaam permission to go if the men came to call him(as seen in the King James Version ) and that since there is no record of the men coming to call him, then he should not have gone.The New International Version however renders verse 20 of  God's reply as "Since the men have come to call you ",making it appear that God had no choice in the matter as the men had come again. However, most commentators  generally agree on one point which is that the permission of Balaam to go was conditional.This grudging permission  did not seem to deter Balaam from going ahead with Balak's request. The heart of Balaam was clearly  fixed  with a mind of his own and although we are more apt  to use the word for children, the error we see here is "Stubbornness".

So what is stubbornness? According to Meiam –Webster Dictionary, Stubbornness is unreasonably or perversely unyielding, resolute, performed or carried on in an unyielding ,obstinate or persistent manner.One is said to be stubborn when he is obstinate,inflexibly fixed in opinion;not  to be moved or persuaded by reasons or is inflexible.There is a good side to  stubbornness as there are times we need to be inflexibly fixed  about some issues but our focus for now is  on wilful stubbornness here and its dire consequences  as seen here and  in other Biblical characters such as Pharoah(Exodus 13:15) and Saul(1 Samuel 15;1-24).

The Prophet Samuel put his finger on the very root when he told  King Saul that stubbornness  is as  the sin of iniquity and  idolatry(1 Samuel 15: 23) and  although we usually associate idolatry with graven images, the idolatry of stubbornness is our failure to give God the rightful place to have the first and final say in our lives.This  is because there is another god we have chosen to obey which sadly if truth be told,is ourselves.The position of stubbornness is one that is far from righteousness(Isaiah 46:12).When we are stubborn, we do not pay attention to God (Zechariah 7:11),resist the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit (Acts 7.51) and find a reason to be an exception to the rule like Balaam.

There are several reasons for stubbornness amongst which include pride (Nehemiah 9:16) and ignorance( Ephesians 4:18).Not left without consequences,Stubbornness makes us go backwards and not forward in our relationship with God (Jeremiah 7:24) Although  God loves hearts that are quick to repentance,Stubbornness makes repentance  fractious .In relation to our fellow men, Stubbornness  causes insistence on our own way almost all the time which  shows lack of consideration for others, making them feel devalued. It can also lead to unreasonable behaviour(Gen 49 5-6) which ultimately  destroys relationships.

An attitude of the heart,Stubbornness  may be subtle and an error to watch out for especially as it  has been equated with the sin of  idolatry. The very first commandment warns us against idolatry (Exodus 20:3) and in Old Testament  Bible times, stubbornness was such a serious issue that a stubborn child was surrendered by his parents to be killed(Deuteronomy 21:18-20).For us today,it is not a  stubborn child but “ourselves” , the "I" also referred to as the "flesh" which in a nutshell is anything rising in opposition to the plan and will of God(Galatians 5:17).The same cruel treatment given to a stubborn child  has to be given to the flesh to ensure it does not usurp the authority of the Spirit(Romans 6:11-12,Galatians 5:16).We are  indeed admonished to kill the flesh( Romans 8:13).This is a daily struggle(Luke 9:24-27) which even the great Apostle Paul admitted to having(Romans 7:21-25)..One of the secrets to avoiding  this error is to be yielded to the Spirit with a continuous daily filling(Galatians 5:16, Ephesians 5:18 ) while maintaining a heart that is quick to repent(Proverbs 28:13-14).Let us remember that continuous stubbornness will lead to destruction (Proverbs 29:1 )  as we ultimately see in the life of Balaam( Numbers 31:8).God promises to guide and lead us in the best pathway as long as we are not stubborn like the mule (Psalms 32:8-9). Lord deliver us from stubbornness and idolatry(1 John 5:21).

Yours in His Service,

Grace Tom-Lawyer.

Going on air: Join "Grace" for "Feasting at the Table"

Dear Readers,

It has always been a pleasure to serve using the medium of writing. I would however like to let you all know that as from tomorrow, by the grace of God, I will also be broadcasting on the Radio. It is on a programme called "Feasting at the Table" aka F.A.T and it is my desire to always present fresh, annoited  &timely Bible Study sessions that are practical and applicable to our everyday lives.

I would like for you to help me by
1. Spreading  the Word by telling others
2. Tune in on Peace&Joy Radio Station (you can install TuneIn App on your mobile phone to listen- Every Saturday @11am GMT 
3. Like our page on Facebook "Feasting at the Table" and participate by sharing testimonies, asking questions and your own contributions on the lessons shared(I am also learning)
4. BUT most of all, PRAY. Please PRAY that all of God's purpose in bringing the programme will come to pass

So don't forget to tune in tomorrow and every other Saturday, below are the details once again

Programme:FEASTING AT THE TABLE aka F.A.T
Station: Peace&Joy Radio (install TuneIn app on mobile phone)
Time:    11AM GMT on Saturdays

In His Service
Grace Tom-Lawyer