Death By Seduction.

As we continue our reflection of the life of Balaam, we see in Scripture that he was relentless in his efforts to oppose the nation of Israel. After his attempts to curse the nation (Numbers chapters 22 through 24) were unsuccessful, Balaam then engaged a strategy that had undermined God’s people earlier in their wilderness journey: sexual immorality.

In Numbers chapters 25 and 31 we learn that Balaam, after being prevented from cursing God’s people, counseled the Midianites to involve the Israelite men in their worship of Baal Peor. Balaam knew that false worship would cause Israel to fall out of God’s favor. To paraphrase our pastor, the people who previously had been protected by God would be lured into walking away from God’s protective presence.

Pastor Sam used an illustration of a fish attracted to the bait on a hook. The bait on the hook is specifically chosen to lure a particular fish into biting. And, interestingly enough, this gimmick always works: generations of fish families have fallen for the same old lures.

There seems to have been a generational challenge sustained by ancient Israel as they wandered in the wilderness. The chief traits of the first generation to leave Egypt were a bizarre longing to return to the land of their captivity, and a continual fantasizing of a life of ease. Their desire for an abundance of food and “fun” wiped out the centuries of their ancestors’ cries for deliverance. So it is not surprising that over their four decades of wilderness-wandering, ancient Israel kept “taking the bait” of seeking to fulfill their desires apart from the plan and program of God.

Our pastor gave a somewhat graphic explanation of Baal Peor. In a nutshell, the Midianites’ worship of Baal Peor was both sexually explicit and a health and hygiene nightmare. But this sick, gross deity was an idol who offered a promise of fertility-- exactly what Israel longed for. It is no wonder that Balaam, with the bait of Baal Peor on hook, was ultimately successful in his attempt to bring a curse upon Israel; or, rather, he finally succeeded by causing Israel to curse themselves.

But, what about us? It is Lent: let us contemplate ourselves as wanderers in the wilderness, the people of God on a journey of faith.

-Are we asking Moses, ‘Why did you bring us out?’

-Are we saying, ‘We’re tired of this manna’?

-Are we demanding that Aaron make us a god like the gods of Egypt?

-Are we blaming our leaders for the plagues our sins have brought upon ourselves?

-Are we willfully plotting mutiny against God’s plan and program for us?

-Are we refusing to enter into the land God has promised us?

-Or, are we alert and aware of the plots of the enemy designed to make us destroy ourselves?

Balaam, and every representative of the devil, has a tackle box filled with lures. Don’t take the bait.