THE WAY OF BALAAM

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(2 Pet 2:15)  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;

(2 Pet 2:16)  But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

 

Let us begin with some background of Balaam; he would be best described as a hired gun or a Mercenary Prophet with a reputation.

 

Balaam lived in a land of Pagans:

 

All though dwelling among idolaters he had some knowledge of the true God; and was held in such reputation that it was supposed that he whom he blessed was blessed, and he whom he cursed was cursed.

 

Nu 22:5  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:

Nu 22:6  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(understand) that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

 

There are three passages in the NT which warn us not to follow the example of Balaam.

 

In Revelation 2:14 Jesus rebukes those in the church in Pergamum who "hold the teaching of Balaam."

 

In Jude v.11 some men are condemned for "rushing headlong into the error of Balaam."

 

In the text cited from 2 Peter marks certain false teachers as having "followed the way of Balaam."

 

·        The way of Balaam is best described in what Jesus teaches us about money:

 

(Mat 6:24)  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

 

Balaam loved money

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I. The Story of Balaam. Numbers 22-24. Begins with;

 

Balak, king of Moab, he wanted to drive off the Israelites. He knew he wasn't strong enough to do it himself so he tried to hire Balaam the prophet to come and curse Israel. God told Balaam not to go, but Balaam persisted and finally went anyway. Balaam tried three times to curse Israel, but each time he had to speak a blessing instead. Failing at cursing them, he then advised Balak on how to draw Israel into sin and in this way he did manage to cause some injury to the people of God.

 

 Balaam was paid twice for his work, but in the end he was slain in punishment for his wickedness.

 

Let's look at what we can learn from this story.

 

 

II. The Sin.

 

At first glance it is hard to see how Balaam was such a bad guy.

 

When first asked, he refused to go because God forbade it, 22:13.

 

He only went when God said to, 22:20.

 

All along he maintained that he could only say what God told him to say, 22:18,38.

 

 In fact he always spoke faithfully what God told him. So where is the sin?

 

A. Balaam wanted to go even though God had already forbidden him to do so.

 

·        We know this by:

 

1. His response in 22:13 which is akin to our "I'm not allowed to...".

 

3. What of his noble statement in v. 18?

 

It was a truth he could not deny, but that doesn't mean that he necessarily liked it that way. Even if Balaam wanted to do the right thing, it is also clear that he wanted the money. This conflict of interest was his undoing.

 

B. God instructed Balaam to go with the men if they called on him 22:20. Balaam did not wait on the men In ver 21 he up and left. I want you to notice something Balaams intention was to sin?

 

God was angry with him. Balaam was trying to set the conditions and God was angry with him.

 

(Num 22:22)  And God's anger was kindled (blazed hot) because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.

 

Now as the story goes three times he tried to make the donkey go in the direction he wanted it to go and three times the donkey avoided the angel whom Balaam could not see.

 

·        And then Balaam is a witness to a miracle of God:

 

(Num 22:28)  And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

 

(Num 22:29)  And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.

 

(Num 22:30)  And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.

 

Balaam actually carries on a conversation with this donkey. And it would appear that this donkey really cares about him. This donkey was seeking to spare Balaams life. For the angel had a sword in his hand.

 

(Num 22:33)  And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.

 

(Num 22:31)  Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.

 

The angel instructs Balaam not to follow the intentions of his heart:

 

(Num 22:32)  And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·        Three times Balaam was to curse Israel and three times he could nothing else but to bless them. Lets look at the third time that he tried to curse Israel.

 

(Num 24:1)  And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.

(Num 24:2)  And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.

 

The other two times that he sought to curse Israel he was trying to use magic to overcome the will of God. And this time he turned his and faced Israel in hopes of making a quick curse but of course he couldnt.

 

Like the dumb donkey on the road, Balaam's mouth was controlled by God

 

 

III. The Lessons.

 

Balaam wanted money, but he also wanted to do God's will. On this occasion the two desires were in conflict. Balaam said he could not be bought for all of Balak's silver and gold, but he ended up being bought for a sum considerably less than that. Any time our desires conflict with God's will, there will be a battle fought in our soul. It is a struggle that can not be won.

 

C. Recognize your tempter. There will always be someone in our life like Balak who thinks that every principle or command of God can be circumvented if only enough money or persuasion is offered. Such people will always pressure the people of God to compromise for the sake of "practical need" or "what's best for us."

 

 (Num 24:11)  Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honour.

 

They portray God and His laws as being a hindrance to our progress or improvement. They say they only want to help us, but our religion keeps getting in the way. See these demons for the liars they are. God's way is always the best way.

 

D. Giving in to our desires leads us into spiritual blindness and insanity. 2 Peter 2:16 describes Balaam as being crazy, and indeed he was. How could Balaam think that he could get away with such folly? We need to see how the madness sets in. When we begin to compromise our principles, our conscience pains us so much that we must either repent or become unreasonable and irrational in our spiritual thinking. Look at Balaam:

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. There is only one reason to ask again for the same thing when you have already received a perfectly clear answer, and that is because you want a different answer.

 

(Num 23:19)  God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

(Num 23:20)  Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

 

God doesn't change, but men often delude themselves into thinking that they have found something in the Bible that will allow them to change God's teaching so that it will conform with theirs.

 

2. Balaam was crazy to think that he could go to Balak and not get into trouble, crazy to think that he could get the money without doing wrong. We also fall under this destructive spell when we try to serve God and mammon.

 

3. Balaam was so blind to the danger ahead he could not see the angel warning him away. When we get rolling along the road toward our destruction we also miss the messengers that God sends to warn us. It is easy to see the insanity in Balaam as he argues with a donkey, but it is common for the person intent on sin to lash out at the innocent who only want to save them.

 

4. He tried three times to curse Israel, but God had to force him to bless instead. What could he have been thinking the second and third time? We too get so determined to do evil that we will try to get past God.

 

 

Conclusion: We follow the way of Balaam when we follow his example and compromise spiritual principles for earthly pleasures, rationalize sin, and blind ourselves to the insanity of rebellion against God. If we continue in his way we shall meet a similar fate,

 

(Num 31:8)  And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.