The Error Of Balaam – Making Profit From The Work Of The Lord – Part 2 - Jude 1:10-11(B) Series

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 ***