Nums 24

“And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place. And Balak also went his way” (Nums 24:25).

The story ends with Balaam and Balak walking away. Read the chapter. Balak has hired Balaam to curse Israel. Balaam was a prophet who truly heard from God. This seemed like an excellent plan! There is one thing Balak had forgotten. Even though Balaam had the ability to prophecy, it was only the things God told him.

“If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the mouth of Jehovah, to do good or bad of my own mind. What Jehovah said, that I will speak” (Nums 24:13).

Balaam could not go beyond that which the Lord told him. The whole scene seems very innocent. Balaam goes to Balak, Balaam prophecies what the Lord told him, and Balaam goes home. Remember, did the Lord want Balaam to be where he was? The answer is NO! The Lord warned Balaam through a donkey to turn around! Yet Balaam had other motives. Balaam wanted the money and fame, and therefore, like it was shared before, Balaam had a price on his soul and it was bought. Do you honestly think Balaam gave up on his prize, after being spoken to from a donkey, and went home? Balaam is one of the most sinister characters in the Bible, and perfect picture of how Satan works.

Now jump all the way to Revelation 2:14 to hear the rest of the story.

“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the teachings of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication (Rev. 2:14).”

You see, Balaam could not curse Israel. Jude 11 tells us that Balaam was in it for the profit. Balaam could not curse Israel, so Balaam, knowing the nature of God, told Balak how to cause it so Israel would be cursed by God Himself. Balaam counsels Balak to take all the young women in the camp and send them down to seduce the children of Israel. Once this had happened, the women were to introduce the men to their own gods. The sad thing about the story is that it worked.

Tomorrow we get to learn the story of how to kill sin!

To be continued… (Imagine intense closing music)