WAGES OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.
By A. O. Tait
BALAK promised to promote Balaam with great honor if he would curse Israel, and God said unto Balaam, “Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people, for they are blessed.” Such a command from the Lord was sufficient. But Balak had hired Balaam to curse Israel, and Balaam loved the wages, expected to be promoted and to have great honors bestowed upon him. So when Balak sent more honorable princes the second time, Balaam’s desire was so great to accompany them that he requested them to remain, and he would inquire of the Lord again. God saw his heart and told him to go, but no power would be given him to curse the people. Balaam started soon after. The ass saw the angel and refused to move. Balaam’s eyes were so full of wages and promotion that they formed a veil between him and the angel. The angel said: “The ass saw me, and turned from me these three times; unless she had turned from me surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.” So it is possible that the wages we are expecting may blind our eyes, and the destroying angel must needs stand before us with his drawn sword. The curse that Balaam intended to pronounce upon the children of Israel returned upon his own head, not because he loved unrighteousness, but he loved the wages and longed for promotion and honor. But this was selfishness, and selfishness is sin.