Hello Dear Listeners, welcome to overcoming temptations. My name is Oyisi Okatahi. Today our topic is titled: The Doctrine of Balam. Our bible passages are taken from Rev 2;14, and 2 Peter 2 :15. Rev 2;14 says Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 2 Peter 2 :15 says they have left the straightway and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. So what is the doctrine of Balam, the doctrine of Balam is the doctrine of 1. Greed or the love of money and 2. Fornication.
From Numbers 22 to 31 we read of the story of Balam. Balak the king of the Moabites asked Balam to curse the children of Israel. He saw how they defeated all the other nations and was afraid them. So he sent noble men to call Balam. However God instructed Balam not to follow them. When Balam saw there was good financial incentive, he began to persuade God and God eventually allowed him in a permissive will and not perfect will.
While Balam rode on his donkey to meet King Balak, an Angel of God was on the road with a sword drawn to slay Balam. However God opened the eyes of the Donkey and donkey refused to move ahead.
Balam kept beating the donkey but it refused to move, Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” 29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” 30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you. “No,” Balam said. 31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn.
So today many people even men of God will compromise for money, they are prepared to lie in the name of God to receive financial reward. Today a Christian leader cannot tell his congregation the truth, simple because he does not want to lose their attendance which comes with offering and tithes. This is the doctrine of Balam. Anyone who is prepared to make money even by wrong means is practising the doctrine of Balam.
Balam tried to curse the people but each time he ended up blessing them. So Balaam decided that the only way the Israelites could be cursed is to persuade them to fornicate spiritually by worshiping idol and physically by sleeping with women. So he planned with Balak and they got women to persuade them to commit fornication. In Numbers 25: 1-9. 24,000 men died due to the plague from God. It was not until Phinehas saw a man bring in a woman into the tent to sleep with her and he drove a spear into both of them killing them, then the anger of God subsided. Numbers 31 we read that all the immoral women and men including Balaam were all killed in the Israelites. The act of persuading people to commit fornication and telling them they can get away with it is the doctrine of Balaam. The thing about sin is that the consequences are usually not immediate so people are of the illusion that they will get away with it. Yes God is merciful, but do we continue in sin so that his mercy will abound, no God forbid.
Balaam was clearly anointed, but he used his anointing wrongly. Just like Lucifer the Arch Angel was anointed but used it wrongly and became the devil. So we need to be careful, the fact that a person is anointed does not make all his action correct and acceptable to God. Anything that is contrary to the word of God as contained in the bible is certainly not acceptable to Him. So greed and enticing others to commit fornication destroyed Balaam, we need to be careful and avoid this things in Jesus name. Have a blessed day.
