Letting Go and Trusting God by Pamela L. McQuade

Author:Pamela L. McQuade [McQuade, Pamela L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781636092256
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2016-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

MIXED MESSAGES

“[The Midianite women] were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the LORD in the Peor incident, so that a plague struck the LORD‘S people.”

NUMBERS 31:16 NIV

When we first meet Balaam in scripture, it seems as if he might actually have faith in the Lord. Over and over God tells the prophet not to curse His people, and Balaam stands firm against King Balak. We’re tempted to believe this was an act of real faith.

But when we read the whole biblical record, something doesn’t quite add up. Balaam engaged in divination, something God forbade (Numbers 24:1; Leviticus 19:26). And it seems unlikely that God would use a donkey as a messenger when He could just as well speak to Balaam directly. There just seems to be something a bit off with this prophet.

Despite God’s clear message that His people were blessed, Balaam found a way to bring a curse down on the people of Israel, advising the Moabites to draw God’s people away from Him through seduction. Their women drew Israel into sexual immorality, and what the Moabites started, the Midianites continued.

For his faithless act, the Word repeatedly denounces the inconsistent prophet (Deuteronomy 23:3–4; Revelation 2:14).

Today we’ll run into people who give us mixed messages about their beliefs. Before we trust them and end up in a difficult situation, let’s remember that the end of any story can be very different from the beginning. We don’t need to judge others’ faith, but we can be careful about letting them lead us astray.

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