Jude 11<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain;\u00a0they have rushed for profit into Balaam\u2019s error;\u00a0they have been destroyed in Korah\u2019s rebellion.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cThe way of Cain.\u201d\u00a0<\/i>\u00a01 John 3:12<\/b>\u00a0\u201cDo not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one\u00a0and murdered his brother.\u00a0And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother\u2019s were righteous.\u201c<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0As early as the 2nd generation of man, after evil had infected mankind, evil was revealed as hateful.\u00a0\u00a0It not only did not want to live a righteous life, but it hated people who did.\u00a0\u00a0Those who oppose righteousness do so because they love evil and they approve and encourage those who likewise do evil.\u00a0\u00a0(Romans 1:32<\/b>) Those who do right, by doing right, illuminate evil and therefore incur wrath and hate from those who prefer evil.<\/p>\n
Not only did Cain not have love, and therefore did have the love of God, (1 John 4:8<\/b>), but he did not love God and so he rebelled against God and he desired to assert his will above the will of God.\u00a0\u00a0All disobedience is pride to elevate one-self\u2019s will above God\u2019s will.\u00a0\u00a0Every disobedient act has an excuse by its perpetrator.\u00a0\u00a0A lack of love and respect is what is behind it.\u00a0\u00a0That is why children must be taught to love and obey.\u00a0\u00a0If they learn love, obedience and respect from their parents, they will know to apply that to God.\u00a0\u00a0This is no small thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cBalaam\u2019s error.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Balaam was gifted by the Lord to proclaim the word of God.\u00a0\u00a0Even the non-believers recognized that.\u00a0\u00a0Balaam was a man blessed by God and he was tempted by bribery to use his blessing to curse Israel.\u00a0\u00a0Even after the Lord God warned him several times.\u00a0\u00a0Why?\u00a0\u00a0Balaam’s obvious desire to disobey the Lord was on full display.\u00a0\u00a0He clearly understood that God did not desire the Israelites to be cursed. In attempting to, what is he hoping?\u00a0\u00a0Is it that God may change His mind because the reward to Balaam will now be higher?\u00a0\u00a0Why does Balaam, having this personal relationship with the Lord, consider anything of the world worth having rather than the blessing of God?\u00a0\u00a0Or did he think he may have both.\u00a0\u00a0Too many who profess to love and follow Jesus Christ also want both, the blessings of God and the things of this world.\u00a0\u00a0But The Lord’s Word is clear “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father d is not in them. 16 For everything in the world\u2014the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life\u2014comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”\u00a0\u00a0(1 John 2:15-17<\/b>)<\/p>\n
Balaam let greed consume him. He began to cherish the things of this world greater than he treasured his personal relationship with the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0Balaam let the world come between him and God.\u00a0\u00a0It is best for us to heed Jesus\u2019 words\u00a0\u201cNo one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0Balaam erred and was sucked into the world.\u00a0\u00a0Balaam gave the enemies of Israel advice on how to corrupt Israel. (Numbers 31:16<\/b>) He thought he found a way to circumvent the will of God.\u00a0\u00a0He was rewarded by Balak and lived with those people.\u00a0\u00a0In the end, when God gave the victory to His people, Balaam was among the enemy and killed along with them in their defeat.\u00a0\u00a0(Numbers 31:8<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0Balaam only fooled himself.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cDo not be deceived:\u00a0God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0(Galatians 6:7<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Greed is a faith-killer. (2 Timothy 6:10<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Be happy with the blessing of God and eschew craving more than God has blessed us with.<\/p>\n
\u201cKoran’s\u00a0rebellion.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Moses was God’s appointed leader.\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes people will rile up others to join them to rebel against God\u2019s appointed ones and in doing so, rise up against the authority of God Himself.\u00a0\u00a0They fill people with seditious thoughts and stir up the pride within them. They forget that the man of God is called by God and that is the authority they are to respect. In this rebellion against Moses one man was right and over 250 men were wrong. (Numbers 16:1-35<\/b>) The majority can all sometimes be wrong. Stand with God and heed His ways (Proverbs 3:5-6<\/b>) and do not be swayed by any man, whatever the majority, but rely on God, on His Word, on His guidance, and in that way always be right. Don’t let numbers bully you out of being right with God!\u00a0\u00a0Never rebel against the authority of God.\u00a0\u00a0Korah was a Levite priest.\u00a0\u00a0His position went to his head.\u00a0\u00a0When God blesses us, don\u2019t let the blessing go to our heads.\u00a0\u00a0Doing so is prideful and in rising against the authority of God one joins in what the evil Lucifer did in trying to assert his own will over the will of God. (Ezekiel 28:2<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Be humble and submit to God or find oneself outside the blessings of God. (James 4:6<\/b>)<\/p>\n
Cain, Balaam and Korah were proud and did not humble himself before God.\u00a0\u00a0Cain (the elder brother), Balaam (a prophet) and Korah (a priest) let their positions go to their heads.\u00a0\u00a0They wanted to do something different, other than, or more than what God called them to.\u00a0\u00a0In doing so, they have perished.\u00a0\u00a0And what should we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s be thankful to God for the blessings that He gives to us and let\u2019s not allow our eyes and flesh to become ravenous or our pride to inflate us with ambition and discontent.\u00a0\u00a0Be thankful, be satisfied, and so be blessed with the peace of our God.\u00a0\u00a0Always, let us be thankful and praise our God!<\/p>\n
Psalm 150:6<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/p>\n Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.<\/p>\n Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.<\/p>\n Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jude 11\u00a0–\u00a0Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain;\u00a0they have rushed for profit into Balaam\u2019s error;\u00a0they have been destroyed in Korah\u2019s rebellion. \u201cThe way of Cain.\u201d\u00a0\u00a01 John 3:12\u00a0\u201cDo not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one\u00a0and murdered his brother.\u00a0And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[705,1969,1700,100,2188,94,1874,88,17,10,2036],"class_list":["post-2379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-ezekiel","tag-galatians","tag-james","tag-john","tag-jude","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-proverbs","tag-psalm","tag-romans","tag-timothy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2380,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379\/revisions\/2380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}