Numbers 22:12-17: a reflection

12God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land; for the LORD refuses to permit me to go with you.” 14The princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.” 15Balak again sent princes, more, and more honorable than they. 16They came to Balaam, and said to him, “Balak the son of Zippor says, ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me, 17for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.’”

God gives Balaam a clear answer about whether to go and curse Israel: You shall not go; you shall not curse them, for they are blessed. Balaam tells Balak's messengers that the LORD has refused to let him go, and they leave. But Balak does not accept the refusal. He sends again, this time with more numerous and more honorable princes, and a sweeter offer: I will surely honor you greatly, he says, and do whatever you say; only come and curse this people. When the first refusal did not work, the temptation returned with a richer reward.

Notice the tactic, and the danger. Balaam had a clear answer from God: no. But when he refused, the pressure did not stop; it came back stronger, with greater honor and greater reward dangled before him. That is how temptation often works: a clear no is met not with acceptance but with a sweeter offer, a bigger reward, more pressure to reconsider. And the increasing sweetness of the offer can make a settled no start to waver.

That is a warning worth heeding. When we have a clear answer from God that something is wrong, that we should not do it, the temptation often does not simply go away; it returns, sometimes with a sweeter offer, a bigger reward, more reason to reconsider. And the danger is that the improved offer will make us reopen what God had already closed, start to renegotiate a settled no. Do not renegotiate what God has clearly forbidden just because the reward increases. When a clear no is met with a sweeter offer, hold to the no. The sweetening of the temptation does not change what God has said. Stand firm on his clear word, however the offer improves.

Lord, when Balaam had your clear no, Balak did not accept it but returned with greater honors and a sweeter offer, tempting him to reconsider. Guard me against that tactic. When I have a clear answer from you that something is wrong, and the temptation returns with a bigger reward, more pressure, more reason to reconsider, keep me from renegotiating what you have already closed. Help me hold to your clear no, however the offer sweetens. The improved reward does not change what you have said. Keep me standing firm on your word.