“But Balaam, though a true priest and prophet, was unsound in heart, worldly, and mercenary. His selfish disposition and degenerate character were probably as well known to Balak as his high qualifications as a prophet were to the people; and both well fitted him for a tool in the hands of that artful monarch. It was customary among the heathen in those ages, at the beginning of a war, to devote their enemies to destruction with all the solemnities of religion; and, terrified by the recent victories of the Israelites, lest they should “lick up all, as the ox licketh up the grass,” he applied to the venal prophet in his distress. He knew Balaam’s eminence in the church, and his influence over the people; he knew that his interference might be purchased, and he bribed him to come and curse the invaders.
“Though Balaam was eager to obtain the proffered reward, and though he was flattered by the high opinion in which his blessings and curses were held, he well knew that they would be of no avail without the sanction of God. He, therefore, deferred giving any answer till he should have consulted the divine will; and when that will was made known to him, he at once refused Balak’s request, alleging that God had said to him, ‘Thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.’ This refers to the blessing given to Abraham, Genesis xii., and which was afterwards renewed to Jacob, Genesis xxvii. Balak, however, was not discouraged by the first refusal. He repeated his invitation along with promises of an unlimited recompense; and Balaam, having this time obtained the Divine permission, departed with the princes of Moab.”
I asked my uncle why he was now permitted to go, since his proposal to do so before had excited God’s displeasure?
“God often graciously stays the wicked in their sins,” said my uncle, “or warns us when our inclinations are evil; but if we obstinately persist in indulging them, he then leaves us to our own free-will, and abandons us to our foolish imaginations. Balaam had set his heart on the promised honours and rewards, and was unwilling to forego them, notwithstanding God’s distinct prohibition; so the foolish man was allowed to follow his inclination, to proceed in his own way, and to complete his own destruction. Just in the same manner, when the Israelites afterwards demanded a king to reign over them, God graciously condescended to expostulate with them, and to warn them of the consequences; but they persisted--and, therefore, ‘in his anger, he gave them a king.’