Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #17 of Revelation 2, and we are going to read Revelation 2:14:

But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast 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.

This is interesting because the Lord was speaking to the angel of the church at Pergamos, and we read in the previous verse that Satan had a seat there.  Now the Lord is getting more specific, and He said He has a few things against them.  That is, there were those in the churches and congregations during the church age that held “the doctrine of Balaam,” and then God explains what that means: “…to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.”  This is interesting, and it is also unusual.  The Lord is referring to Balaam, an Old Testament character that had lived hundreds of years ago after Israel came out of Egypt, at the point in history when they approached the nation of Moab.  And yet God is harking back to the “doctrine of Balaam,” and indicating that this doctrine was present in the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ, the New Testament churches and congregation corporate bodies.  There were individuals that were holding to that doctrine, and it is a horrible thing that the Lord was pointing out.  That is why he had a few things against them.

Balaam was a man we read of in the Old Testament.  Surprisingly, his name is mentioned 63 times in the Bible, and that is a good number of times to mention someone who was a false prophet.  We will see there is no doubt about that.  Occasionally readers of the Bible may be confused because he seemed at times to want to do the Lord’s will, and yet the Bible is very clear that he was a false prophet.  We will look at verses that definitely reveal that.

Of those 63 times his name is mentioned, over 50 references to Balaam are found in the book of Numbers.  That is where we are going to turn to learn about Balaam, and we need to learn about him to know what that doctrine was, and then we will understand why the Lord is referencing it in regard to the New Testament churches and congregations.

Let us go back to the book of Numbers, and let us turn to Numbers 22.  In Numbers 22, as well as chapters 23 and 24, Balaam is the main focus.

By the way, the name Balaam seems to mean “not of the people,” and that is probably a reference to the fact that he was not a Jew.  He was not of the tribes of Israel.  He was a foreigner born in another land, so his name “not of the people.”  Spiritually, that would indicate that he was not of God’s elect.  His name was not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  He was someone who had association with God, or some dealings with the Lord, but he was not a saved man.

It says in Numbers 22:1-14:

And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 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: 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 wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak. And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as JEHOVAH shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out. And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for JEHOVAH refuseth to give me leave to go with you. And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.

Let us stop here for a minute and consider what we have read.  Here we find that the Moabites were afraid of the Israelites because the reputation of the Israelites had preceded them.  They had destroyed the mighty army of Egypt in their coming out of Egypt.  At this time they had also won a battle against the Amorites.  So the Moabites were sore afraid.  What were they to do?  They did not know what to do, so it was determined that they would send for Balaam, a soothsayer, who would curse Israel.  They were probably reasoning that this was a spiritual matter, and the Israelites had God on their side, and He was the one who had done those mighty miracles in the land of Egypt.  So they felt they needed this God on their side, and it was thought that Balaam had a good relationship with God.

From this first encounter with Balaam, we would say that this man sounds faithful.  He did not know what the ambassage from the king of Moab wanted, and he did not know who these Israelites were, as far as we can read.  So he rightly took the matter to JEHOVAH.  He even used the name “JEHOVAH,” so we initially had some hope that this Balaam was a good man.  When he did go to the Lord, the Lord actually communicated with him, and this would be another “plus,” we would say.  And the Lord told him, “Do not go with them.  Do not curse the people, for they are blessed.”  Balaam did listen to what JEHOVAH said to him, and he told the princes of Moab, “Get you into your land: for JEHOVAH refuseth to give me leave to go with you.”  Then the princes of Moab rose up and returned to Balak, and they gave him the word that Balaam had refused to come with them.

If Balaam had let the matter go, and if the Moabites had not tempted him further, and if he had not been tried any further, we might have come away with the idea that Balaam was a faithful prophet, and a good man who listens to the Word of the Lord, and he cannot be “bought,” or bribed, with these rewards of divination.

However, we know the story did not end there.  Eventually he would give in, and that is why it says of false prophets in 2Peter 2:14-15:

Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: 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;

That is a condemnation of Balaam from the Lord. 

It also says in Jude 1:11:

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.

Again, God is emphasizing that Balaam did go after the reward.

But initially, Balaam stood strong.  He went to the Lord, and he did everything correctly, from what we can tell.  We should all be aware that if there is a “weakness” in us, that fleshly weakness will be prodded.  God will arrange circumstances and allow events to unfold so that we are tested, and tested again.  If that weakness has to do with weakness of an unchanged heart, then the Lord will not let us continue to think we are of His people.  That is one of the reasons why God is so severely trying and testing us now.  He is checking the “hearts” of men who claim to be His people.

And now was the time for Balaam’s test, and it goes on to say in Numbers 22:15:

And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they.

He was thinking, “If the princes were not honorable enough, then let us send more.”  It is still hitting on the same point of weakness in that area.  God knew it, and maybe others knew it too.  We do not know the whole story here, but God is just giving us a bit of information.  Maybe it was known that Balaam would “work for hire” in this way, so the Lord was allowing these things to happen and to increase in intensity.  It goes on to say in Numbers 22:16-18:

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: For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. 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 JEHOVAH my God, to do less or more.

Again, he sounds faithful.  He is holding fast to the Word of the Lord.  He is doing right.  But let us keep reading.  It says in Numbers 22:19:

Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what JEHOVAH will say unto me more.

Now we see a problem, or we should see it.  God had told him clearly, “Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.”  By the way, Balaam had forgotten to mention to the princes that God had said the Israelites were blessed.  And after that clear communication from the Lord that Balaam was not to go, and not to curse the people for they were blessed, then why would Balaam once again go to the Lord to ask Him what he should do?

You know, sometimes man is very deceitful, especially when it comes to religious and spiritual matters and our dealings with God.  If we happen to be an unsaved person, then the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things because there has been no change in the heart, and there is really no relationship with God.  As far as having a professed relationship with God, those people are the ones that are controlling things in their relationship with God if they are saying they are saved, but they are not.

Here, Balaam is going to the Lord because he had gotten a bigger offer – more money, more honor, and more prestige.  So he went back to the Lord to find out if he could now go with them.  Why would he think that anything God had said would have changed?  Why would God allow him to curse the people when God had emphatically said, “Thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.”  It was only out of a desire for the reward of divination, and out of his deceitful heart, that Balaam would go back to the Lord on this matter.

Let us put this in terms we can understand.  We have learned from the Bible, for instance, that we are not to get divorced for any reason, and yet here is a man in a marriage relationship, and he has understood this particular truth.  He heard this teaching from the Bible, and he agreed with it: “Yes, I see this.  I understand this.”  But as time goes on, and his marriage gets more difficult, he happens to meet another woman he is interested in, and he turns back to the Bible.  He looks at the verses again.  Why is he doing this?  It is because he is just like Balaam, and he is going back to find the “loophole,” to find a way to do what he wants to do to fulfill his own desire. 

And in the case of Balaam, it says in Numbers 22:20-21:

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. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

And that is exactly what God will do when someone has it in his mind that he is bent on doing something, and he wants his own will to be done, and as this man comes back to the Bible, he sees it in a different light: “Oh, here is a verse about fornication in marriage, so there can be divorce for certain reasons.”  And even though there is no fornication in his marriage…actually fornication is also not an allowance for divorce.  So this man is trying to “get permission,” and God can allow this by removing His hand of restraint regarding this sinful desire, and it permits the man to get divorced and proceed with his wicked desire.  He gets his divorce, and then he remarries this other person: “Oh, the Lord has blessed me with a new wife.”  No. There is no blessing.  God has simply allowed this man to go down an evil road, and to do things that are not at all pleasing in His sight.

That is exactly what happened to Balaam, as we read in Numbers 22:22:

And God's anger was kindled because he went…

Hold it!  God allowed this, did He not?  Yes, and there is a “permissive” will of God.  That is, God recognizes the sinfulness of man and the rebellious nature of mankind, and God had restrained sin in the past to a greater degree.  He restrained some of the sinful desires of man, and He did so to allow mankind to function and have some ability to live their lives in a somewhat moral and decent way.  Out His goodness, God had withheld man from greatly sinning against Him.

But when we come to our day, that hand of restraint has been lifted more, and more.  There is still some hand of restraint, or else there would be total chaos as mankind would devour one another.  But as we hear the news today, we know these (evil) things have never happened before to the degree they are happening now all over the earth.  God has allowed men’s hearts to “wax cold” to a point never reached before.  And even though God allows man to do what comes naturally to man, it does not mean that it was according to the will of God.  God’s will is made known in the Bible.  His commandments are His will for each of us.  If we want to know how to live and what to do with our lives today, tomorrow, and every day, then we must read the Bible.  God tells us every step of the way: “This is the path you must trod.  This is the way you must walk.  You may be kind, gentle, and loving, and you may do these good things, but you may not do these other things that are wicked and contrary to my Law.” 

It is only because man’s nature is naturally evil that he feels God’s Laws are too restraining.  They are too suffocating.  He feels no pleasure in adhering to the commandments of God.  He wants freedom, and to the sinner, freedom means “freedom to sin.”  And because he is not good but evil, he finds no freedom in the fact that God permits him to do all the good he could imagine to do.  We are free to do good.  We are free to love, and we can do good works, and have good thoughts and words.  God would commend us, and there would be blessings.  There is no law against the many good things that we could potentially do.  But the only problem is that man’s mind does not work in that direction.  We do not naturally think of good things, and we do not do good things.  We think evil thoughts continually, and we do things that are contrary to the Law of God.  We have little interest in doing things that are in agreement with the Law of God, and that is why so many people feel confined and trapped by laws.  A person is married, and the Bible says he is not to divorce.  “Oh, but I want to explore, and I want to do other things, and meet other people.”  What that person wants to do is sin.  He wants to do what comes naturally.  He wants to commit adultery, and he does not want to do that which is good.  This is the problem with mankind.

So God permits man to do these things in a permissive way as He simply lifts His hand of restraint, and man runs after evil.  That is what He did with Balaam.  He permitted Balaam to go with the princes of Moab to see Balak, in order that he might receive the reward of divination.  It was nothing but pure evil, and Balaam had fallen from that faithful position we thought he had been in with God.  There was nothing faithful at all about Balaam.