Balaam, but turned the curse into a blessing."6 And by the mouth of Joshua the Lord makes the same declaration, "I would not hearken unto Balaam, therefore he blessed you still so I delivered you out of his hand."7 St. Peter testifies that he "loved the wages of unrighteousness;" & and St. Jude, that he "ran greedily after reward."9 Can we then marvel that the angel of that Lord to whom all hearts are open, should withstand the madness of the prophet?

And now the ass, on which the prophet rode, first turned aside from the angelic adversary; then crushed the prophet's foot against the wall; then fell down under her indignant master: afterwards, on being smitten by the prophet, she opened her mouth, and, as of old the serpent in paradise, addressed him with human voice.

Was there nothing in this strange incident to arouse the conscience of the prophet? Could he discern no meaning in so unusual a scene? These, surely, were startling circumstances, did he consider only the business in which he was engaged. Had not his heart been corrupted, and his eyes blinded with avarice and ambition, this event must have appeared to be something more than mere accident.

6 Deut. xxiii. 5.

8 2 Peter ii, 15.

7 Josh. xxiv. 10.

9 Verse 11.

When unusual occurrences such as these befal us at any time, they call on us to consider how far our steps are in the path of duty.

The prophet now heard the angel of the Lord upbraid him with the perverseness of his way. He offered not to excuse his conduct. His only reply was, "I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now, therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again." How plainly are these the words of a guilty conscience, unable to stifle its convictions! "If it displease thee!" Could he doubt whether his conduct was displeasing to the Lord? Or would it have sufficed that with a hypocritical obedience, due to the consciousness of his inability to frustrate the will of God, he had returned, while he still harboured in his heart the same treacherous desires? No: he must not only conform outwardly to the divine will, but be also transformed and renewed in the spirit of his mind, ere his way could prove acceptable to the Lord.

And now it was with an uneasy conscience and an aching heart that to the proud vaunt of Balak he replied, "Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say anything? The word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.”2 1 Verse 34. 2 Verse 38.

These are the words of one convinced of his inability to frustrate the will of the Most High, and, at the same time, conscious that his feet were not treading the path of duty.

You may sometimes see the sinner gain his end, and appear to prosper in the attainment of his desires; but there is always something to mar his happiness. It is a miserable estate, however prosperous you be, to know that you have not the Lord's blessing; that, so far from the light of his countenance being lifted up upon you in your path, your every step lies under the frown of his displeasure.

Yet so set was this sinner's heart upon the proffered wages of iniquity, that he did not, even now, attempt to divert the king from his design of bringing down a curse on the Lord's heritage. God had already declared his resolution with regard to Israel; and Balaam knew that his counsels were unchangeable. When, therefore, he met the king on the borders of Moab, his part it was, as a true prophet, to have declared to him the will of God.3 But here he was silent, and the king thus encouraged to cherish the hope that he should obtain a curse against his enemies. Balaam followed him to a mountain, whence he might view the Israelites; he sought the Lord by prayer and sa3 Sherlock, p. 365.

crifice, and received a further confirmation of his favour to his elect Israel. He was willing, however, still to gratify the king's unreasonable humour; he removed to a second eminence, aud then to a third, where the same solemnities were repeated, and the event was still the same.*

Now, what was all this but a solemn mockery of Jehovah,—to importune him to reverse what he knew to be irreversible? The same mercenary views that brought him to Balak, prompted him thus to trifle with holy things. So impossible is it to serve God and mammon. The menaces of the angel and the fear of instant punishment alone restrained him within the limits of his commission; and still his tongue blessed in spite of his heart, and his heart cursed in spite of his tongue.

And now, desperate in his recklessness, he proceeded to fill up the measure of his iniquities. Knowing that Jehovah was the strength of Israel,

The word " enchantments," in chap. xxiv. 1, is not significative of idolatry or magic. "These enchantments,” says Bishop Horsley, in the Dissertation before mentioned, 66 were, as it should seem, either some stated rites of invocation of the inspiring Spirit which he practised in retirement, or, as I rather think, some sensible signs by which, in the early ages of the world, God was pleased to communicate with his prophets; some voice or vision."

and that nothing but sin could separate between him and them, he gave his counsel, when he could give no curse. By his satanic advice the women of the country were instructed by Balak to seduce the Israelites into sensuality and idolatry. That Balaam was the author of this temptation is declared in this history,5 and in the Apocalypse of St. John. The consequence of their sin was, that the Israelites were visited by a plague from heaven, and twenty-four thousand of their host received the just recompense of their lewdness and apostasy. Nothing can afford a more plain indication of an impious and desperate mind, than this last act of Balaam.

His end was that he perished on the field of battle, fighting against that very people whom his prophetic mouth had pronounced the blessed of the Lord.

There can now be little difficulty in perceiving the true character of Balaam. He is one of a cloud of examples, that it is possible to be terrified without being sanctified; to be restrained by the law of God, without being renewed by the Gospel; to know God in his power, without knowing him in his love. Let us ask ourselves of what character is our knowledge of the Lord: see whether it be an experimental knowledge of

5 xxxi. 16.

6 ii. 14.

7 xxxi. 8.