Summary: Was Balaam a great prophet? Wonderful things came from the mouth of Balaam when he blessed Israel and did not curse them. Jude makes reference to him with "the error of Balaam" but how do we see that error in churches? That is what we will consider this morning.

THE ERROR OF BALAAM – MAKING PROFIT FROM THE WORK OF THE LORD – PART 2 Jude 1:10-11(b)

Jude is the book that we are seriously considering. We did Cain and Korah In Part 1 from last week. Then we were introduced to this compromising man, Balaam who was hired by Balak, king of Moab, to curse the Israelites on their journey from Egypt. Balaam supposedly was a prophet of the Lord, but he was very partial to money, and money and honour was offered to him. He persisted in going off with Balak even though the Lord told him not to. We saw that God used a donkey to reprimand the donkey of a man who shortly after, sacrificed on a Baal altar. Now we continue with Part 2 of this account related to the verse in Jude we are considering – {{Jude 1:10 “These men revile the things which they do not understand, and like unreasoning animals, they are destroyed by these things which they know by instinct. Jude 1:11 Woe to them for they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.”}}

GOD’S THOUGHTS ON SERVING BAAL

Zephaniah addressed that very problem of compromise to Baal – {{Zephaniah 1:4 “I will stretch out My hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests, Zeph 1:5 and those who bow down on the housetops to the host of heaven, and those who bow down and swear to the LORD, and yet swear by Milcom” (Moloch)}}. The Lord Jesus said – {{Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”}} Balaam had no problem in deluding himself that he could serve the Lord, and Baal and Chemosh at the same time. In verse 4, this false prophet had no shame in admitting his idolatry to the Lord – {{Numbers 23:4 “Now God met Balaam and he (Baalam) said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.”}} Christians must look at themselves to see if they are serving God and the world on an equal footing, for it is a sinful compromise. Let us continue.

[E]. GOD SPEAKS HIS OWN MESSAGE – NOT BALAAM!

{{Numbers 23:7 “He (Balaam) took up his discourse and said, “From Aram Balak has brought me, Moab’s king from the mountains of the East, ‘Come curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’

Numbers 23:8 How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? and how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?

Numbers 23:9 As I see him from the top of the rocks and I look at him from the hills, behold, a people who dwells apart and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Num 23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright and let my end be like his!” Num 23:11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies but behold, you have actually blessed them!”

Numbers 23:12 He answered and said, “Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”}}

This is all devout and pious talk, but it is not a mystery, because God is controlling this man almost against his will, and using his mouth to speak as He did through another donkey’s mouth a bit earlier. What Balaam says here is the Lord speaking, even though Balaam’s desire might want to think otherwise. The story continues –

[F]. IS CONSCIENCE PLAYING A PART?

{{Numbers 23:13 “Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them, and will not see all of them, and curse them for me from there,” Num 23:14 so he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. Num 23:15 He said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I myself meet the LORD yonder.” Num 23:16 Then the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak,”

*** Before we go any further, we will notice, that on face value, Balaam seems a fairly good man ***

Balak does more offering in another place because the first time did not work. I think they must have been getting around with a sizeable number of livestock with all this pagan offering going on. I can not be sure what the motive is in verse15. Balaam for the first time wanted some separation. Again the Lord is controlling the mouth of the false prophet.

The Lord now delivers a second discourse through Balaam, all too noble to be associated with a false prophet. The verses are 18 to 24 but I will mention only two of them – {{Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it; or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Num 23:20 Behold, I have received a command to bless. When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.”}}

[G]. MORE COMPROMISE WITH THE ENEMY

Would you believe that Barak chose yet another place to go over the same ground with more offerings - Numbers 23:27 “Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come. I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will be agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there,” Num 23:28 so Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which overlooks the wasteland, Num 23:29 and Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” Num 23:30 Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.”}}

These two men are playing with each other. Barak wanted the Jews cursed. Balaam wanted the honour and the riches, but did not want to curse with his mouth. God took over his mouth. Then you have these sublime words uttered through Balaam’s mouth but not with his heart –

[H]. THE MAGNIFICENT THIRD DISCOURSE

{{Numbers 24:1 “When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to seek omens, but he set his face toward the wilderness Num 24:2 and Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe, and the Spirit of God came upon him. Num 24 He took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, and the oracle of the man whose eye is opened - Num 24:4 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered, Num 24:5 How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel! Num 24:6 Like valleys that stretch out, like gardens beside the river, like aloes planted by the LORD, like cedars beside the waters. Num 24:7 Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be by many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. Num 24:8 God brings him out of Egypt. He is for him like the horns of the wild ox. He shall devour the nations who are his adversaries, and shall crush their bones in pieces, and shatter them with his arrows. Num 24:9 He couches. He lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who dares rouse him? Blessed is everyone who blesses you, and cursed is everyone who curses you.”}}

I am not going to dissect this discourse as it is off the subject if I do so, but the words here that God gave, are just simply magnificent, and verse 9 is the confirmation of God’s own words to His people Israel, words that are and will be true for all of man’s history. It is just ironic that God uses the mouth of a false prophet in error, to utter one of the most magnificent promises in all of scripture. Indeed, God will make his enemies praise Him, which is what happened here! We will finish this part of the account with the passage before Balaam returns to his home, and here it is –

THE LAST OF BALAK

{{Numbers 24:10 “Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times! Num 24:11 Therefore, flee to your place now. I said I would honour you greatly, but behold, the LORD has held you back from honour.”

Num 24:12 Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, Num 24:13 Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything contrary to the command of the LORD, either good or bad of my own accord. What the LORD speaks, that I will speak? Num 24:14 Now behold, I am going to my people. Come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the days to come,”

Num 24:15 and he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, and the oracle of the man whose eye is opened - Num 24:16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered.

*** Num 24:17 I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near. A star shall come forth from Jacob and a scepter shall rise from Israel and shall crush through the forehead of Moab and tear down all the sons of Sheth.***

Note verse 13 very carefully. Doesn’t that sound very good? Now come to verse 17 where a fantastic prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ is given – the star who is to come (the bright and morning star); and the scepter that shall arise (The King of the Jews); absolutely great prophecies. Surely you would think that only a righteous and good man of God could speak those prophetic words. We are seeing some problems here. You have been following Balaam for two messages now, so what do you think? We have seen some really great things come out of the mouth of Balaam, so the only way to resolve all this is to look into the New Testament. Here we go –

[J]. THE TESTIMONY OF PETER.

You remember that the letters of Jude and Peter parallel each other, and this is what Peter wrote on the matter – {{2Peter 2:14 “having eyes full of adultery and that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; 2Pet 2:15 forsaking the right way they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, 2Pet 2:16 but he received a rebuke for his own transgression; for a dumb donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet. 2Pet 2:17 These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.”}}

Here, Peter says of the false prophets, that they have eyes full of adultery; they don’t cease from sin; and they have a heart trained in greed. He says they forsake the right way to follow the way of Balaam who loved the wages of unrighteousness, and Peter adds a comment about the madness of the prophet. This letter of Peter is now throwing a much different light on the subject. Balaam is a mad, unrighteous man who led people astray.

We have more light thrown on this matter by John in Revelation who wrote to the Pergamon church – {{Revelation 2:14 “but I have a few things against you because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit acts of immorality.”}}

MORE OF THE EVIL THAT BALAAM DID

The teaching of Balaam was a stumbling block to destroy God’s people. We saw that the Lord would not allow His people to be cursed by a false prophet, but what Balaam did was most sinister, because he taught Balak how to corrupt the people of God. That was done by getting them to eat what was sacrificed to idols, and to commit idolatry. It was a devilish way to corrupt the people of God and this church at Pergamos was doing that for that church represents the marriage of the church to the world – twice married. It was the monstrous compromise that destroyed the purity of God’s people.

Deuteronomy sheds further light on the sordid subject – {{Deuteronomy 23:4 “because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you, Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. Deut 23:5 Nevertheless, the LORD your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the LORD your God loves you.” The book of Numbers also adds a significant verse - Numbers 31:16 “Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.”}}

THE MOST SINISTER PART BALAAM PLAYED

So, we ask, what is this matter of Peor that was mentioned? It is recorded in Scripture and here it is – {{Numbers 25:1 “While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab Num 25:2 for they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. Num 25:3 Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel. Num 25:4 and the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel,” Num 25:5 so Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor.”}}

We now know that it was this Balaam who received payment because he loved money, in order to bring sin and rebellion into the nation of Israel in the wilderness, who was responsible. He openly encouraged the undermining of God’s testimony and devised a plan to destroy God’s testimony among God’s people whom He loves and cares for. In God’s eyes it is a very grave thing. Balaam was an apostate of the most devious kind. Now we will end all the quotes with just one more to show how the counsel of Balaam to Balak took effect -

{{Numbers 24:25 “Then Balaam arose and departed and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way. Num 25:1 While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab Num 25:2 for they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. Num 25:3 Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel. Num 25:9 Those who died by the plague were 24,000.”}}

EXAMINING THE ERROR OF BALAAM

[]. THE ERROR OF BALAAM. The teaching of Balaam is that of having a religious and pious countenance, but for personal gain, will ravage the Church. This is often accompanied by the taking of money as in salary or stipend and claiming Christian leadership or witness. God hates it. People have gotten into churches using their position to corrupt the church and to make gain out of it. Next time we will look at one aspect of this.

It took me ages to understand what the sin of Balaam entailed, and I am still working it out. At face value, reading Numbers 22-24 makes us believe Balaam is an upright man. Certainly no one has uttered such sublime prophecies and praise for Israel, but it was the Holy Spirit doing that through Balaam who was reduced to God’s mouthpiece. It was God’s intervention in the prophecies of Balaam that turned the curse into a blessing for His people. {{Deuteronomy 23:5 “Nevertheless, the LORD your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the LORD your God loves you.”}} God spoke through an ass and some say he could take up anyone to speak out His glory. Face value is human reasoning concluding Balaam is a righteous man

No weapon lifted up against Israel will prevail. Even Balaam knew that. No enemy set against the Church of the living God will prevail. The teaching of Balaam has not ceased. We see the Christian testimony under attack today from modern Balaams who attack the Church to weaken and destroy it. There are those planning its destruction through compromise and corruption. The doctrine of Balaam is the corruption of the Church through lust and sensuality and worldliness often done for financial gain. The last days prophecies speak of perilous times (difficult times of much hardship) and these are upon us. The Church is being diluted and infiltrated and much of it by religious people with a religious façade and they are accepted on face value.

Balaam sought to corrupt God’s Israel by using the women of Baal to entice the Jews. It was all very appealing, just like the modern Balaams who bring in wrong doctrine through teaching such as the one known as the prosperity doctrine. Poor Christians give in the hope God will reward them and heal them. The false teachers of this are bringing in doctrinal corruption into the church but themselves have flash cars and live in mansions.

Much around us would entice Christians to co-join with the world movements and therefore corrupt doctrinal purity. There are places now where churches are encouraged to have an interfaith with the New Age movement (eg meditation) and Islam. The ABC (Australian media) has been fostering these moves. We are expected to adopt the corrupted love agenda of so-called gay marriage, the union of homosexual and lesbian couples.

A few years ago I heard an interview with a Federal Labor member of Parliament – Jacinta Collins. I don’t know anything about her but is seems she has some religious or Christian stand. She was being interviewed by the ABC because she has stated she does not support gay marriage. What horrified me was the line of questioning she faced with various comments like this from the reporter, “Well Jacinta, given your stand on this, how do you expect people to see you as impartial when you refuse to agree to gay marriage? How would the public see you being fair in your dealings?” It is horrifying. Balaam has infiltrated the church to such an extent that in southern States men and women are in the pulpits who openly confess to being “gay”. Christians who refuse to accept this corruption of marriage are designated as homophobes and narrow-minded. Satan is out to corrupt the church and render it useless.

We need personal application here. Let all we do for the Lord be done willingly and seek not financial gain through it. Seek not fame nor fortune through service for the Lord, or some kickback. Preach the pure word of God. The lazy get paid for preaching about membership and constitutions and all distractions but neglect the essentials of the Bible. Keep free from error and don’t be a crack in God’s church that will let in greed or worldliness. Balaam can be expressed in word and deed and desire.

It was this error of Balaam, the false teachers that Jude was writing about.

One last thing - Numbers 31:8 “and they killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.”

ronaldf@aapt.net.au