Topic:The Hook And The Bait
Text: Numbers 25:1-9

Satan uses lots of weapons. The hook and the bait is one of such instruments. However, the hook is always concealed; only the bait is visible. Satan often uses women to get men. The human eye is the gate through which the devil gains entry. A man can hardly take his eyes off a beautiful woman and, the more he looks at her, the more immoral thoughts creep into his heart. As soon as these thoughts are allowed in, a lot of problems may follow. As it is with men so it is with women.

Many women start having immoral thoughts when they see handsome men. Many people who would have lives glorious lives have lost the opportunity because of the lust of the eye. We have many examples in the Bible. We shall look at a few of them. Let us start with the children of Israel. As they were on their journey in the wilderness, they got to the land of Moab. Here, King Balak sent to Balaam, the soothsayer, to curse the Israelites since he could not attack them. Balaam could not curse them. Instead, he blessed them. When you are on the side of the Lord, curses become blessings. When Balaam did not succeed, Balak got angry. Balaam then suggested another way of getting the Israelites. He told the king to organize a party and invite the Israelites.

As the party was going on, Balaam told Balak to let some beautiful and almost nude girls come in to entice the invitees. The strategy worked. When the Israelites saw the girls, they started behaving immorally. The whole story is told in today’s text. Let us see verse 9: “And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.” God was angry with the children of Israel. 24,000 died in one day! Satan set a snare for them using beautiful women and food as baits and they fell into the trap.

Satan is still using women and men as baits today. Unfortunately, many have already fallen flat on their faces. The question I have for you today is this: Will you allow Satan to trap you through the opposite sex?

Memory Verse: Romans 14:16 - “Let not then your good be evil spoken of.”