Balak

The story of Balak and Bilam have many prophetic visions and is one of the more difficult Parshas to understand. The Alshich speaks of how Bilam had his free will taken away from him after three warnings as opposed to Pharoah who had five warnings before his free will was taken away.The Rambam adds that even today if a person acts consistently to turn away from Hashem and ignore His Mitzvot, his free will can also be taken away from him as Hashem will have decided to bring down such a person.A further message along the same lines is brought from the Talmud in Makot 10. There it is written that Hashem takes a person along the path that he wishes to take. If one chooses the path of righteousness, he will be helped from above. If he chooses the path of evil, that is where he will be led.Bilam chose the path of evil and went down in history as one of the most evil people that ever lived. He is mentioned as one of the individuals who lost his share of עולם הבא. Shabbat Shalom