There’s No Stopping God!

Mark Shea
December 8th, 2009
Mark Shea

Joshua 24:9-10
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel; and he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you; so I delivered you out of his hand.

Balaam was the original prophet-for-hire. When Balak saw the Israelites coming his way, he thought the best course of action was to hire a pro like Balaam to come out and curse Israel real good. That way, Balak figured, God would just have to knuckle under to the “will of the people” and do things Balak’s way. But God knuckles under to no man, not even a prophet. So when Balaam, his pockets jingling with gold, set out to read from the cue cards and curse Israel on schedule, he found…that he couldn’t. The only words that came were prophetic words of blessing. The same principle holds today. “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28). Even the blows of our enemies serve only to bless us in the Providence of God.

Comments

lkeebler

Immediately after we are told how narrow the gate is to life (Matthew 7), we are told to “beware of false prophets” and how to recognize them:

Matthew 7: 13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will know them by their fruits.

(read also 2 Chronicles 8 and 9)

Catholic Exchange

NewsWire