The time was about 1500 to 1200 BC. Balaam was highly regarded by the Moabites and Midianites as a powerful diviner (Joshua 13:22) who could bless or curse with his words. The Bible depicts him as a wicked prophet who did hear from God, but his heart was not right.
The name Balaam means “Destroyer of People” (NOBSE Study Bible Name List), “Destruction of The People” (Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names), or “Confuser of The People” (Jones).
Balaam, Prophet for Profit💰
Balaam was hired by the Moabite King Balak to curse the mighty nation of Israel.
The surrounding nations living in this region were acutely aware of the unparalleled power of the God of Israel (YHWH) who had decisively defeated the mightiest army of the ancient world—the Egyptians—by drowning them in the Red Sea. This display of divine strength instilled great fear in Israel’s neighbors.
God was leading His chosen people through the wilderness and to the Promised Land of Canaan. As Israel approached the land of Moab, king Balak became fearful. He knew there was no way his army could defeat them. Let’s face it, if the powerful Egyptian army couldn’t defeat Israel and her God, there was no way the much smaller Moabite army stood a chance against them. Israel had even defeated the mighty Amorite king Sihon and Og, king of Bashan, both giants in the land.
Balak decided that his only chance at defeating the Israelites was through supernatural means. His plan was to get the “prophet” (diviner) Balaam to curse them. In the Bible, a diviner is an individual who practices divination, which is the attempt to gain insight into future events or hidden knowledge through supernatural means. It is associated with the occult😈 and involves fortune-telling or soothsaying, cursing or witchcraft.
God has always FORBIDDEN His people to practice divination. 😈
Deuteronomy 18:10: Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.
12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.
Divination/witchcraft is an abomination to God. God says that witchcraft is as the sin of REBELLION (1 Samuel 15:23). Divination and witchcraft are connected to the worship of pagan “gods” (demons). It is the reason that God ejected the pagan nations from the promised land in the first place. (Deut. 18:12 – see above)
Evil cannot curse those whom God has blessed
Balaam quickly discovered that he was UNABLE to curse the Israelites, who are in Covenant with YHWH.
God Almighty (YHWH) is sovereign. Those who are under God’s umbrella of protection CANNOT be cursed by a witch or diviner. Balaam tried three times to curse the Israelites; however, each time he could only bless them. If Balaam attempted to go outside of the boundaries that God set, he would lose his life.
A talking donkey
This truth becomes clear in the account of the talking donkey. God had COMMANDED Balaam NOT to curse the Israelites.
Numbers 22:12 But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
Although God eventually relented and permitted Balaam to travel to see King Balak, He firmly commanded Balaam to speak only the words that He placed in his mouth. God allows people to act outside of His Perfect Will, a concept known as God’s PERMISSIVE WILL. He chooses to permit many occurrences that bring Him no joy. God’s allowance of certain actions—even those considered sinful—that ultimately fulfill His purpose is what we refer to as His permissive will.
In this scenario, while God permitted Balaam to visit King Balak, He prevented Balaam from cursing Israel, which was the very intention of Balaam’s wicked heart. 🖤
Numbers 22:20: And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise and go with them; but you shall do only the thing that I tell you.”
21 So Balaam arose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the leaders of Moab.
As Balaam journeyed toward the Israelites, intending to curse them on behalf of Balak, an angel of the Lord confronted him, sword drawn, prepared to end Balaam’s life. Although Balaam was oblivious to the angel’s presence, his donkey was not.
On three separate occasions, the donkey came to a halt on the path, impeded by the angel, and each instance resulted in Balaam striking the donkey for its refusal to proceed. Balaam, unable to perceive the presence of the angel, mistakenly thought the donkey was exhibiting mere stubbornness. However, Balaam failed to comprehend that the donkey’s actions were, in fact, a demonstration of loyalty that ultimately preserved his life.
Had the donkey not halted, the angel would have struck Balaam down for his intent to DISOBEY the Word of the Lord.
Numbers 22:31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword⚔️ drawn in his hand; and he bowed all the way to the ground.
32 Then the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was reckless and contrary to me. 33 But the donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I certainly would have killed you just now, and let her live.”
34 So Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back.” 35 But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went along with the representatives of Balak.
Balaam quickly learned that any attempt to thwart God’s Decree regarding His Covenant people would be deadly. Balaam could only bless those whom God had blessed.
Numbers 23:5 Then the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” 6 So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. 7 And he took up his discourse and said,
“From Aram Balak has brought me,
Moab’s king from the mountains of the East, saying,
‘Come, declare Jacob cursed for me,
And come, curse Israel!’8 How am I to put a curse on him upon whom God has not put a curse?
And how am I to curse him whom the Lord has not cursed?9 For I see him from the top of the rocks,
And I look at him from the hills;
Behold, a people that lives in isolation,
And does not consider itself to be among the nations.10 Who has counted the dust of Jacob,
Or the number of the fourth part of Israel?
May I die the death of the upright,
And may my end be like his!”
Balak is angry
Balaam’s three prophecies of blessing on Israel infuriated the king of Moab, who told the soothsayer to go back home with no reward: “Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded” (Numbers 24:11).
Baalim, unable to use divination to curse Israel, left with no reward from King Balak.
Balaam’s new plot
Still desiring to receive the unrighteous wages offered to him by Balak, Balaam came up with a NEW PLOT to destroy the Israelites.
Unable to directly curse God’s Covenant people, Balaam devised a cunning strategy to undermine Israel’s position under God’s protective grace. He advised Balak that to dismantle this divine safeguard, it was essential to lead the Israelites into sin.
Numbers 25: While Israel remained at Shittim, the people (Israel) began to commit infidelity with the daughters of Moab. 2 For they (Moabite women) invited the people (Israel) to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
Numbers 31: 15 And Moses said to them, “Have you spared all the women? 16 Behold, THEY caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to be unfaithful to the Lord in the matter of Peor, so that the plague took place among the congregation of the Lord!
Through Balaam’s counsel, Balak used the beautiful Moabite women to entice the Israelite men into sexual sin and idolatry. The idea here is that God would turn His back on Israel because of their sin. Corrupt a people you cannot curse and God will have to chasten them. In short, this means to take a people under God’s Divine blessing and deliberately lead them into sin to strip them of the Divine blessing. This would give king Balak the greatest chance of defeating the Israelite army.
Israel sinned with the Moabite women, so God unleashed a plague on them as a chastisement. Balaam’s plot to strip Israel of divine blessing succeeded to some degree, but it ultimately backfired on him. The plague ceased only when Phinehas executed divine judgment upon an Israelite man and a Moabite woman, who were observed in the act of fornication at or near the Tabernacle (Numbers 25:6-9). Phinehas’ actions halted the plague.
A total of twenty-four thousand Israelites perished as a result of this affliction.
A war ensued later between the Israelites and the Midianites/Moabites. In the end, the Moabite women who had enticed Israel to sin were killed (Numbers 31:15-17) and Balaam was put to death. (Joshua 13:22) The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). 💀
Romans 15:4: For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Doctrine of Balaam in the New Testament
When we examine the narrative of Israel, we are confronting our own spiritual battle. Everything that Israel encountered in the physical realm parallels our own spiritual struggle. The adversaries of God persistently assailed Israel, seeking to curse them. They lured Israel into sin and the worship of false deities (Satan) in an effort to strip them of divine favor. Their relentless pursuit was to annihilate Israel, and indeed, this effort continues against Israel even today.
This is why Israel was commanded to remove their enemies from the Promised Land. This is why Israel was continually at war with their neighbors. They lived in a very dangerous neighborhood, one that sought (and still seeks) their destruction. (Psalm 83)
Israel, as God’s chosen people, continues to remain under divine protection as God is Faithful to His Covenant. However, the rejection of the True Messiah Jesus Christ and their eventual receiving of a false messiah (antichrist – John 5:43) comes with it painful consequences. Israel has endured many chastisements throughout the centuries which will continue and reach its peak during the Tribulation period. Chastisement serves as a painful correction aimed at rectifying behavior. Just as a parent disciplines a child for misconduct, God administers discipline to His people in response to sin. Such discipline reflects His love, often described as ‘tough love’. God’s great love for Israel is why they still exist today. God is faithful to His Covenants.
God Chastises those whom He loves
Hebrews 12:5: And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Chastisement differs fundamentally from God’s wrath. Its primary objective is to redirect the wayward child away from their sin, ultimately serving their long-term well-being.
Israel’s struggle has huge spiritual significance for God’s NEW COVENANT people (Christians). Our enemies are NOT flesh and blood. We battle dark forces in the spiritual realm. These malevolent forces are as REAL as anything we can see with our eyes. They are intelligent. They are organized. They have power. They have a chain of command. And they continually study their opponent, looking for any weakness or chink in our armor. They attack, tempt, curse, and do whatever they can to bring about our destruction. Their goal is to kill, steal, and destroy. If they cannot kill our soul, they will try to kill our bodies. If they cannot steal our salvation, they will steal our peace, our health, our relationships, or our finances.
Like Israel, God’s Permissive Will allows Christians to be attacked in order to chastise us and help us reach spiritual maturity. Sometimes the attack is avoidable through prayer and repentance; however, sometimes it is not avoidable. Not every spiritual attack is the result of sin. And yet, the safest place to be is right in the middle of God’s Perfect Will (What is pleasing to God). Perhaps some spiritual attacks can be avoided.
This is why it is so important to remain under God’s umbrella of Covenant protection. This is why God holds His teachers to a higher account.
There is purpose in our pain. God chastises His people, but He will NOT allow us to be DESTROYED.
God holds teachers to a higher account
James 3: Do not become teachers in large numbers, my brothers, since you know that we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment.
God asserts that Teachers of His Word are held to a higher standard of accountability, indicating that misleading His people is regarded as a grave transgression.
Balaam taught rebellion against God. Balaam instructed the Moabites on how to entice the Israelites into sin so that the Moabites could destroy them. He taught them to use the beautiful Moabite women to lead the Israelite men into sexual sin and idolatry. His goal was to HELP MOAB draw the Israelites OUT from under God’s protection so they could be destroyed. He did it for MONEY. 😈 Balaam was a “prophet” for profit. 💰
Luke 17:2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
In the New Testament, the sin of Balaam is mentioned THREE TIMES as a WARNING FOR THE END-TIMES Church. The Old Testament stories are there for OUR INSTRUCTION (Romans 15:4). Balaam was offered a significant payout from King Balak for his services. 💰 FALSE TEACHERS and FALSE PROPHETS in the Church today teach doctrines that tickle people’s ears in an effort to fill pews and line their own pockets.
2 Peter 2: But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many will follow their PERNICIOUS WAYS, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
According to 2nd Peter 2, MANY SELF-PROFESSING CHRISTIANS will be led astray by the PERNICIOUS WAYS of FALSE TEACHERS. 😈 The word “pernicious” means “to cause GREAT HARM or DAMAGE in a way that is NOT easily seen or noticed.”
2 Peter 2:13 suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They (FALSE TEACHERS) count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions as they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having hearts trained in greed🖤💰, accursed children;
15 abandoning the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the reward of unrighteousness💰; 16 but he received a rebuke for his own offense, for a mute donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the insanity of the prophet.
It is insanity to go against God. And yet today there are false teachers in the Church who REVEL IN THE DAYTIME (SIN OPENLY and PROUDLY with no remorse), encouraging their flock to ALSO engage in SEXUAL SIN and IDOLATRY. 🏳️🌈
Like Balaam, these false teachers are motivated by GREED. 💰 Leading the church astray is big business.💰
Peter details the impact these teachers have on those who believe them. False teachers are like rain clouds that never bring rain☁️, their boastful words are empty, and they blatantly appeal to lustful desires. Even so, MANY people buy into their deception. Those most vulnerable are the ones just coming out of the world and into the church. They lack the experience, or the knowledge, to know better.
The Bible lets us know that teachers are held to a higher level of accountability and will receive greater condemnation for leading the flock astray. The apostle Peter compares the path of FALSE TEACHERS to that of Balaam, who was headed blindly 🧑🏻🦯➡️toward an attacking angel until his donkey revealed what Balaam could not see – the angel had a SWORD and was PREPARED TO KILL HIM.
Speaking to the Church at Pergamum, Jesus says this..
Revelation 2:14: But I have a few things against you, because you have some there 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 sexual immorality. 15 So you too, have some who in the same way hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
16 Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.
Salvation is the FREE GIFT OF GOD
Jesus Christ IS both SAVIOR and LORD. SALVATION is the FREE GIFT of GOD. 🎁 We cannot EARN our salvation through law-keeping or almsgiving. It is not possible to earn salvation because we can never keep God’s commandments perfectly to God’s standard. Only the BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST can SAVE US. ✝️
How to be saved – Life in a Dying World
How to live for God once we are saved
However, once we are saved, we are compelled to make Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives. As Lord, Jesus has the right to instruct us through His Word. Through His Word He continually guides us toward right living – as defined by HIM, NOT by our “feelings”. It is important to understand that right living does not secure our salvation from damnation, but rather it is the BY-PRODUCT of being saved. All Christians who have accepted the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ as atonement for their sins should eventually desire to “live for God.”
Just as a child seeks to earn the approval of their father or mother, so too does the child of God seek to honor their Heavenly Father. It is through God’s amazing love that we RECEIVE GRACE and are SAVED. ✝️ God’s GRACE is the sole source of our redemption, which we can only receive through FAITH. Grace is God’s favor towards the UNWORTHY. Our LOVE for God does not save us.
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ✝️
Once saved, we are called to RESPOND to God’s love by revering Him through worship and by valuing and adhering to His Word, His Commandments. As God’s children, adopted into His family, we are called out of the world to make Jesus Christ LORD of our lives.
1 John 4:19: We love Him, because he first loved us.
John 14:15: If ye love Me, keep My commandments.
Romans 10:9: because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
The Bible instructs Christ followers to be LIVING SACRIFICES (Romans 12:1), while also assuring us that our ETERNITY is secure through FAITH in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Each time we embrace the washing of the water of the Word💦 (Eph 5:26), allowing it to transform our minds, our way of thinking, and our actions, we undergo a TRANSFORMATION from the inside out, becoming more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the powerful, life-long journey of sanctification.
2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
God meets us where we are when we are saved, but He loves us too much to leave us there. God’s Spirit is continually working inside us to CHANGE US into the NEW CREATION that God intended us to be. Our job is to BELIEVE in the Grace of God✝️, and to allow His HOLY SPIRIT to CORRECT, REPROOF, SANCTIFY and TEACH us HOW to live for God. 🕊️
Those who would teach in OPPOSITION to the Bible are leading the flock astray. Like Balaam, there are MANY false teachers who need to REPENT. If they fail to repent, 2nd Peter gives us a pretty detailed description of their future.
Avoiding last days deception
This post is written to emphasize how important it is to READ the Word of God for ourselves. Any Pastor/Minister/Priest or Reverend that preaches something that goes against the Word of God is not to be followed. Such teachers often possess a captivating allure. Their persuasive rhetoric can be deceptively appealing, expertly designed to entice our sinful desires. They blend truth with falsehood, making it increasingly challenging to discern their errors.
This is a serious word, essential for the times we find ourselves in. Throughout the last 2000 years, there have always been deceitful teachers, but the Bible warns us that in the last days, false teachings would proliferate significantly, capturing the attention of many. Not merely a handful, but a considerable number. The Spirit 🕊️explicitly says that in last times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. 😈 (1 Timothy 4:1).
This phenomenon represents the foretold apostasy within the church, and it is, frankly, quite troubling because it will eventually lead to the unveiling of the antichrist. (2 Thess 2:3).
Please take this to your war room (prayer closet) and seek the Lord. Pray, fast, and study your Bible. Review Romans One carefully. Read 2nd Peter 1-3. Revelation is the only book that PROMISES to yield a BLESSING if you study it.
The Church is to be called out of the world. ⛪We are not to have the same values as the world. This does not mean that we are to “condemn” people. On the contrary, we are NOT to condemn anyone. But rather, we are called to be salt and light, grace and truth. Jesus came FILLED with BOTH GRACE, and TRUTH. Let us be filled with Grace AND truth.
Take-aways.
- DO read, study, and learn the Word of God, making it harder to be deceived
- DON’T follow the teaching of Balaam that led God’s people into sexual sin and idolatry.
- DO Pray, repent, and seek the leading of God’s Holy Spirit, accepting chastisement and correction from God when needed.
- Teachers, DON’T prioritize MONEY over the TRUTH of God
- Teachers, DON’T twist and distort the Word of God for your own benefit. Don’t “reinterpret it” in such a way that keeps God’s people enslaved to sin. God wants us to be FREE FROM SIN, not enslaved to it.
We are living in confusing times. There is much deception out there. Thankfully, God gave us His Word, which has been translated into nearly every language, so we can be informed. The best way to spot a counterfeit is to be very FAMILIAR with the REAL THING. We should not base our beliefs on our “feelings”, but on the Word of God as it has been interpreted for the past 2000 years. Only recently has some in the Church tried to RE-INTERPRET the Word of God.
