| 6 August, 2000 | Christianity In The Last Days, Part 3: Balaam |
If you have your Bibles with you today, and I hope you do, turn
to 2nd Peter chapter 2 and verse 1; " But there were false
prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even
denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift
destruction." Skip down to verse 15:
"Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray,
following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages
of unrighteousness;"
OK, so we know that Balaam was a false prophet, he introduced
false teaching into the church, and he did it for profit. A for-profit
prophet.
Turn to Jude 4: "For there are certain men crept in unawares,
who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly
men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying
the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." And now skip
down to verse 11:
"Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and
ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished
in the gainsaying of Core."
Here we learn a little bit more; that the heresy that Balaam was
involved in had something to do with corrupting God's grace, turning
it into lasciviousness, sexual immorality; and it also had something
to do with denying God, denying the Lord Jesus.
For our last New Testament reference, turn to Rev. 2:12 "And
to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith
he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
:13 I know your works, and where you dwell, even where Satan's
seat is: and you hold fast my name, and have not denied my faith,
even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who
was slain among you, where Satan dwells.
:14 But I have a few things against thee, because you have there
them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast
a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things
sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication."
Here we find out more details: what kind of doctrines and false
teachings he used to stumble the faith of God's people.
Teaching them to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit
fornication. OK, but how does that apply to us?
We already know that it is wrong to be involved in fornication,
and the Food City meat counter doesn't have a section that says;
"Previously offered to Aphrodite", or Jupiter, or whoever,
so does that mean that we don't need to worry about this?
Let's go see just what it was that Balaam did, and how he did
it. Turn to Numbers 22 and verse 1. "And the children of
Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this
side Jordan by Jericho.
:2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to
the Amorites.
:3 And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many:
and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. (Discuss
picture)
:4 And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company
lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licks up the grass
of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites
at that time.
:5 He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to
Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his
people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out
from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they
abide over against me:
:6 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for
they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that
we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land:
for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you
curse is cursed.
:7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with
the rewards of divination" -Ah Ha; here we
go, there's apparently big money in this prophet for hire thing,
and here come the bagmen, with- "the rewards of divination
in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the
words of Balak.
:8 And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring
you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes
of Moab abode with Balaam.
:9 And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with
thee?
:10 And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of
Moab, hath sent unto me, saying,
:11 Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which cover the
face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall
be able to overcome them, and drive them out.
:12 And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go
with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for
they are blessed.
:13 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes
of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuses to give
me leave to go with you."
Let's stop right here; if Balaam been consistent at this point,
and had nothing else to do with the Moabites, he could have been
a hero of the faith. But he didn't; verse 14:
:14 "And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto
Balak, and said, Balaam refuses to come with us.
:15 And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable
than they.
:16 And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak
the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from
coming unto me:
:17 For I will promote thee unto very great honour,
and I will do whatsoever you say unto me:
come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
:18 And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If
Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot
go beyond the word of the LORD my God," - note
the language he uses- "to do less or more."
Not bad. Balaam was apparently a genuine prophet, a true prophet,
even though he was not an Israelite.
Moab and Midian were distant cousins of the Israelites, and it
is very possible, even likely, that God wanted those people also
to know about Him, who He was, and He may have sent prophets-
like Balaam- to them.
The Bible does not say, we don't know. However, the Moabites and
Midianites would not accept that Israel was God's special, covenant
people, they rejected Israel, and they rejected Israel's God.
So Balaam at least started out as the genuine article. And here,
talking to these envoys; up to this point Balaam has done well,
but here is where he messes up; verse 19:
:19 "Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night,
that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more.
More? More?
Why would the Lord tell Balaam any more than what
He already had?
God had just told him, probably within the month, "You shall
not go with them. You shall not curse them, they are blessed."
What part of those two sentences did Balaam not understand? But
he thought he would just check and see what else God might have
to say on the matter. Bad idea. Really stupid idea.
Let me make this just as plain as I can: when God says something
straight out, He makes His will very plain, and you are not
confused, don't bother asking Him any thing else on the
topic again.
Because the answers do not change
as you ask more questions. Trust me on this one. Or don't trust
me; see what happens next. Verse 20:
:20 "And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him,
If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet
the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do."
God's will has not changed, this is a test:
:21 "And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass,
and went with the princes of Moab.
:22 And God's anger was kindled because he went:"
Balaam flunked the test.
God had already made His will as plain as could be, but Balaam
did not want God's will, he wanted the riches that the King of
Moab was offering, and he was willing to be blind to the obvious
to get it.
What happens next is a real good object lesson of what can happen
when God makes His will very plain, we understand it, and then
decide that maybe there is still some way that we can make things
work to suit ourselves.
Continuing verse 22: "and the angel of the LORD stood in
the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his
ass, and his two servants were with him.
:23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way,
and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out
of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass,
to turn her into the way.
:24 But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards,
a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.
:25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself
unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and
he smote her again.
:26 And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow
place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to
the left.
:27 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down
under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the
ass with a staff.
:28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto
Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me
these three times?
:29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me:
I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill
thee."
Have you ever been in a situation where it seemed like the will
of God was written in letters across the sky, a mile tall, and
nobody has a clue?
Balaam was having a bad clue day. Not even a talking animal
could get through his mental block.
If you are ever in a situation like that, you better smarten
up; and if you are ever with someone that is in a situation
like that, go stand way back and watch from a safe distance.
God can make things really dramatic for the deliberately clueless.
:30 "And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon
which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was
I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay." The light
still hasn't come on.
:31 "Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw
the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn
in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his
face.
:32 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou
smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand
thee, because thy way is perverse before me:
:33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times:
unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee,
and saved her alive.
:34 And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned;"
And let's stop right there; if Balaam had repented, turned around
right there, and gone home, he would probably have still gotten
away with his life and maybe even a little bit of his reputation.
But there is no real fear of God before his eyes. The only thing
that he can see is trying to figure out some way that he can finagle
God to still get what he wants. What HE wants has
blinded him to the sword of God.
Look at what he tells the angel; "for I knew not that thou
stood in the way against me:" What did he expect?
"I didn't know that you were going to be maaad" "I
didn't realize that you wouldn't liiike it" "I didn't
see you standing there, so I thought it was all riiight."
Now we get Balaam the mealy-mouthed whiner.
But next, comes his dumbest, most willingly ignorant line in the
whole self-willed story; listen to this; "now therefore,
if it displease thee, I will get me back again."
Duh!
God told him not to go, and Balaam tried to weasel around and
go anyway, so God told him; "OK, go ahead. See what happens."
And now he can see the angel of the Lord standing there with a
drawn sword, who tells him; "Behold, I went out to withstand
you, because your way is perverse before me."
The will of God is in letters across the sky, a mile tall, and
Balaam is playing dumb. Listen to me: God does not respond well
to such things.
:35 "And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with
the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that
thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
:36 And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to
meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon,
which is in the utmost coast.
:37 And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto
thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not
able indeed to promote thee to honour?
:38 And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have
I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God puts
in my mouth, that shall I speak."
And with that hypocritically pious remark, and because of the
shortness of the allotted time, I think we'll go ahead and stop
here.
The narrative continues on for two more chapters, Balaam sacrifices
to God, and God gives Balaam a vision of Israel, dramatically
showing that the nation would endure.
God causes Balaam to bless Israel on three different occasions,
and Balak, the king that hired Balaam, is totally exasperated
and disgusted with the way the whole thing turns out.
Something that is not mentioned in the account here in Numbers,
apparently Balaam gives Balak advice on how to corrupt Israel.
He reasons that if Israel is out of the will of God, if they are
disobedient to God, then God cannot bless them like He said.
Which is what was mentioned in our earlier quote from Revelation:
"the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock
before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols,
and to commit fornication."
Fornication here has a primary reference of Israel being spiritually
unfaithful against God. Spiritual adultery.
Chapter 25 in the book of Numbers recounts how the people of Israel
began to intermarry with the Moabite women, and they began to
sacrifice to the Moabite gods, which was committing spiritual
adultery against Jehovah.
So although Balaam was honest when he told Balak that he could
only prophesy what God gave him to say, he later gave the Moabite
king some truly devilish advice designed to destroy the people
of God.
A marvelous account, I urge you, after lunch today, prop your
feet up, and take the time to read all four chapters in Numbers
22 through 25.
But before we get done with this lesson, we need to see the exact
nature of Balaam's error, and consider how we should not fall
into the same mistake.
Balaam was a person who had a genuine spiritual gift, a genuine
spiritual insight into the things of God, and he prostituted it
- and I choose that word very deliberately- he prostituted his
spiritual gifts for his own self interests.
The things of God to him were something he used for his own advantage.
As we read this story, it is obvious that he could care less what
God wanted, all he cared about was what he
wanted.
How does that apply to us? Have any of us ever taken the things
that God has given us and used them selfishly?
Do we take spiritual values, spiritual gifts and insights from
God and apply them in ways that are totally selfish?
"Oh, God; if only you would save my" -husband, wife,
mama, daddy, boss, child, fill in the blank- "then they wouldn't
be such a pain in my neck."
Question: in this scenario, what's the priority? Is the priority
God's glory? Is it the soul of the person involved?
Just who is it that you want benefitted? Numero
Uno; Me.
"This person is a pain in MY neck, God please
save them, fix them, whatever; so they will quit hassling ME."
Do we use the things of God for selfish reasons? Material, emotional,
egotistical, financial, whatever?
Taking the things that God intended for His purposes and using,
abusing, prostituting them to an unworthy, ungodly
purpose?
Has God given you spiritual wisdom and discernment, and you are
using His gifts in inappropriate ways?
God has given every believer some sort of gift through the Holy
Spirit to be blessing to those around them. Some ability to encourage,
or strengthen, or build up other Christians.
All of us are probably familiar with Jesus' words in Matthew 25
about the three men; one received five talents, one received two
talents, and one received one talent.
The man with five traded and earned five more, the man with two
earned two more, and the man with one just hid it, and earned
nothing except the master's disapproval.
It is so simple for a Christian to use whatever talents they have
to do whatever they can, speak a word of testimony for Jesus,
write a note of encouragement to a Christian that is discouraged,
give something helpful to someone in need, whatever. It's simple.
That's how you use your talent to profit the kingdom
for Jesus.
Now: one thing you'll notice in the story that Jesus told: none
of His servants took those talents and used them
to promote their own selfish agenda.
Even the slothful and wicked servant at least had the sense not
to use the Lord's talent for something contrary to the
will of God.
That was the error of Balaam. Not a complicated lesson. What has
God given you? What has God given me?
What are we doing with what we have, and who are we doing it for?
Jesus? Or ourselves?
Are our goals, and plans, and purposes in line with the will of
God? And if they are: how about our methods?
Are our methods for accomplishing them in line with
the methods that God uses?
In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul tells us that you cannot drink the cup
of the Lord and the cup of devils. You cannot be partakers of
the Lord's table and the table of devils.
What are you putting in your cup? What are you putting
on your table? You can't have it both ways. Balaam
thought he could, he was wrong.
Balaam didn't care what God's purposes were, he didn't care what
God's will was, and he didn't care that his game plan and agenda
eventually destroyed thousands of people, including himself.
Peter, Jude, and John, speaking by the Holy Spirit, tell us that
there will be Balaams as long as the church remains on earth.
Since we know that, our goal is to make sure that our church doesn't
have any Balaams, and to make sure that we don't become one.
And as long as we all stay humble before the Lord, and examine
ourselves faithfully before Him, and remember the warning of the
apostles about Balaam, maybe we'll stay out of trouble.