Whose Reward Do You Want?

“I said I would reward you handsomely, but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded.” (Numbers 24:11)

Wait. Doesn’t the Lord want to reward us? Why would he keep us from being rewarded? The question is what kind of reward are we talking about and who is the source of it?

Balaam’s story is one of the most bizarre in the Bible, and not just because a donkey talked to him! OK, that is pretty dang bizarre. But what happens after that challenges us toward finishing well. Here’s the gist of the story:

Balak (King of Moab) offers to pay Balaam (a Gentile fortune-teller – Joshua 13:22) to curse the Israelites (Numbers 22). After seeking the Lord’s approval, Balaam declined to curse Israel, but blessed them instead. The king refused to give up, and repeatedly offered him more money and greater fame for doing his bidding. Balaam refused each time, and when the king finally gave up, he said: “Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded.” (Numbers 24:11)

That’s actually a great honor for any Christian when they refuse Satan’s reward, don’t you think? The Lord has kept you from being rewarded. He keeps us from being rewarded by sin, Satan, and the system when we do his bidding instead of theirs. He gives us his kind of rewards for following in his steps. When we obey him, he stands in the way of the devil’s temporal reward we would’ve otherwise gotten from doing evil.

Don’t forget, Balaam knew something about the Lord standing in his way (Numbers 22:7)!

So, that was that. All’s well that ends well. Except it wasn’t. We find out later that after making such good choices initially, Balaam lost his way and his reputation. He failed to finish well.

We’re told that he “taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.” (Revelation 2:14) Not good.

Each of the three times he’s mentioned in the New Testament he’s anything but a hero (2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11; Revelation 2:14). Sounds like Balaam changed his mind when Balak’s “reward” sounded better and better to him. They say that every man has his price. This tactic actually worked better than a curse anyway, along with the added benefit of Balak’s compensation. Made it all worth it. Or did it?

You’d think after his donkey talked to him that he’d maybe stay on track, which he did for a while. I’ve never been warned by God with a talking animal. There was that time when I saw Mary’s face in my latte foam. Not really. But astonishing signs and wonders from God don’t always prevent us from giving in to Satan’s ploys. I know people who’ve experienced undeniable miracles and still walked away from the faith.

So, whose reward do you want? And what are you willing to do for it?

“Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” (Hebrews 10:35-36)

BTW, our best “reward” is him! (Genesis 15:1)