The "Madness" of the Prophet
SABBATH AFTERNOON
Read for This Week's Study:
Numbers 22–24; Deut. 1:30; 20:4; Matt. 15:14; 1 Cor. 2:14; 2 Pet. 2:14-16; Rev. 3:17.
Memory Text:
"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:10).
The story of Balaam is well known and often used to make jokes, such as: “Well, if God could talk through Balaam’s donkey, then He could talk through so-and-so.”In one sense, however, there’s nothing really funny about this story. Though it can be read on various levels, Balaam’s encounter with the Lord can be seen as another example of how sin, if not overcome, if not wrestled with through the power of God, can lead us into paths of destruction.
Balaam is referred to in the New Testament three times (2 Pet. 2:15, 16; Jude 11; Rev. 2:14), and none of the references are very flattering. On the contrary, he’s a prototype, a symbol, of sin.
Peter talks about the “madness” of Balaam. Yet, it wasn’t the “madness” of the mentally deranged; rather, it was the madness of someone who was so swept up into covetousness that he was ready to do what Balak asked, and all for money, regardless of how wrong it was.
If someone like Balaam, a prophet, could be so “mad,” how much madder would we be to do something similar, especially with his sorry example before us?
*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment