The Error of Balaam 

• • Who greedily sought reward for his calling
  • Who taught Israel idolatry and fornication
  • Whose heretical teaching has infiltrated the Church
  • Who conspired with the spirit of Antichrist and the World Spirit against God

Balaam is one of the most infamous and despicable men of all history. It should send a chill up and down the believer’s spiritual spine to hear his name mentioned as having great influence and power within the sacred sphere of the Church of Jesus Christ. The spirit of Balaam has apparently misguided many a soul, whole churches even, causing the would-be faithful to believe that ‘gain is godliness’ or that they can get away with subverting the will of God by guile and stealth. The Bible calls his doctrines the ‘madness of a prophet’. Balaam was a prophet of God who betrayed God’s confidence in him by teaching the King of Moab how to lead the children of Israel into idolatry. And he did it for self aggrandizement, for fame and fortune, and purely for personal glory. His defiance of God caused the death and destruction of more than 24,000 Israelites as well as countless others who were caught up in his seductive trap. His spirit has caused the spiritual demise of many more countless Christians down through the Age of Grace. A notice to beware of his spirit is sternly advanced in the letter addressed to the church of Pergamos recorded in the Book of Revelation.

His spirit of corruption and fornication did not dissolve into thin air after God judged the people and rid them of the infectious influence that Balaam had brought to Israel. The “doctrine of Balaam”, as it is known in Revelation, has since ship­wrecked the faith of would-be believers on every continent and in all denominations. Balaam’s treachery is recorded in a trail of Scripture which reveals that his ways have been so entrenched in the Church as to become a particular nemesis to God’s people. His methods are those employed by the whoredoms of False Religion everywhere. The effects of Balaam-like teachings which he had a part in inventing for false religion have proved to be so injurious to people’s faith that he ranks among the most evil persons of all creation. He is notorious and his name is synonymous with graft and greed. His deeds are rivaled only by the likes of the murderer Cain, the seductress Jezebel, the hated Esau, the rebellious Korah, the lying Hananiah, the seditious Absalom, the megalomaniac Haman, and the betrayer, Judas Iscariot. And we find his influence in the midst of the churches.

The letter to the church of Pergamos in chapter 2 of Revelation proves that the threat of the “doctrine of Balaam” (or teachings of Balaam) had then and have ever since that time found their way into the lives of believers so as to seduce them and throw them into the faithless arms of Antichrist living. This influence was so alarming to the Lord that He angrily zeroed in on it making it a major point of rebuke and commanding those who wanted to be received into His everlasting kingdom to thoroughly denounce it and repent of it.

Exactly what is the doctrine of Balaam?

What was he all about? For us to overcome this “enemy” in our midst we must recognize it for what it is. That is what this addendum to our study is about. What is the doctrine of Balaam? How do we detect this false religion? How do we repent of it? How do we overcome it?

Balaam’s story of treachery is told in Numbers chapters 22-24.

Chapter 22

“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 the Lord 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 the Lord 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.
And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they.
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 the Lord my God, to do less or more.
Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more.
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 God’s anger was kindled 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.
And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.
And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.
And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.
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? 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. 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.
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.
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:
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.
And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.
And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast.
And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?
And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.   And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjathhuzoth.
And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.
And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.”

Chapter 23

“And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.
And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the Lord will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.
And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.
And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.
And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?
For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?
And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the Lord yonder.
And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the Lord spoken?   And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
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?
Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.   God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.   And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.   But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do?
And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward jeshimon.   And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.”

Chapter 24

“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.
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.
And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:
He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!
As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.
He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in
many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.
God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.
He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.
And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.
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.
And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying,
If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I speak?
And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.
And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:
He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.
Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.
And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.
And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock.
Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.
And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!
And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.
And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way.”

So ends the first installment of the prophet Balaam and his conspiracy to destroy and curse God’s people with his co-conspirator, Balak, king of Moab. The name of Balaam, the perverse prophet of God, who for the love of money, honor and promotion, betrayed his calling, has become synonymous with any teaching or spirit that leads God’s people into idolatry and disobedience and does great harm to God’s people. Though chapter 24 ends the account of this abhorrent conspiracy without telling us exactly how Balaam showed Balak the way to corrupt the people of Israel its effects are by no means unknown. Little by little the Bible tells the rest of the story. We will follow this trail of Scripture, but first let’s see what we can understand from the initial story of betrayal.

Who was Balaam? Balaam was –

• A gentile prophet of God
• A true priest of God
• He knew God, they spoke together
• He knew what God required
• Nevertheless, his heart was perverse
• And he also heard the call of the world

A Gentile Prophet of God
(22 verse 5) “He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor”

– Balaam was from a town in Mesopotamia along the Euphrates River. He was probably of Babylonian stock, though Pethor belonged to the Midianite kings during his life. Balaam was therefore a Gentile, not an Hebrew of the seed of Abraham.

A Priest of God
(22 verses 6-10) God spoke to Balaam and Balaam spoke to God. He was a prophet who had a relationship with the one true God.

– Whoever Balaam blessed, was blessed; and whoever he cursed, was cursed. He knew the sacrifices to offer the Lord and understood the necessity of blood sacrifice.

Balaam Knew God Intimately
(22 verse 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.”

– God used the prophet’s donkey to show Balaam that he had ridden to fame because of his relationship with God. Balaam had gained his reputation and authority because God had never deceived or abused him in all the time of their relationship. Balaam was on a path to double-cross God, and though God knew it, the Lord was giving Balaam one last warning. “[There are those] 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; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.” 2 Peter 2:15-16 But Balaam’s madness caused him to think that he could keep God’s word and do his own thing behind God’s back at the same time.

Balaam Knew Exactly What It Was that God Required
(23 verse 1-5) “And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.   And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.   And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.   And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.   And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.”

The requirements for righteousness were still blood sacrifice. Balaam was aware of this fact as the only entrance into communing directly with God. Abel, Noah and Abraham had all performed blood sacrifice as part of their faith and relationship with God. It was known throughout the earth that this was God’s requirement for righteousness. The fact that Balaam immediately instructed Balak to sacrifice to God shows the depths of his understanding and awareness with God, even though he was not an Hebrew descendent. All the earth had this understanding if cared to seek the true God of heaven.

He Could Only Speak God’s Word
(23 verse 11-12) “And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.   And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in  my mouth?”

As God’s mouthpiece, as a prophet of the Almighty One, Balaam could only speak the words God gave him to speak and since God would not curse the seed of Abraham but only bless them Balaam could do nothing but give a blessing.

It is an all too common misconception that Balaam was a pagan sorcerer who, while tending to the gods of Babylon and Baal, had only an occasional brush with Jehovah. Nothing, however, in the account from Numbers 22-24 should give us that impression. Whatever we may imagine about Balaam’s relationship and duties to Baal or other gods of the ancient world we certainly get a picture in Numbers of a man who had as deep a relationship with Jehovah as men could have in the dispensation of time that preceded the Law and the coming of the Messiah. Balaam knew God; God spoke to him, and he spoke to God. He knew God’s requirements of blood sacrifice. He knew he could not withstand God’s will and, as we shall discover by other Scriptures, he also knew what people do and how people justly incur God’s wrath. Is this the picture of an ignorant pagan sorcerer who knew nothing of the one true God? The conclusion we must draw is that Balaam was a man of God who spoke God’s Word. God, for some reason we are not told, had decided to trust Balaam as His mouthpiece. Balaam knew God, knew how to come into His presence, knew how to dispense and deliver His word and knew both what God approved and disapproved of. In this sense Balaam was a priest and man of God and a true believer, but his heart, what he sought after as his reward – and what he taught men to do were not at all godly. These are the letter to the believers in the church at Pergamos. They had those who believed in the Balaam way of operating and who teaching the great Whore of Babylon’s doctrines that lead to fornication and idolatry, which included the concept of “the sacrifice of the Mass” and bogus, carnal communion.

Immediately following the story of Balaam in Numbers 22-24, we are told in Numbers 25 that the men of Israel began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab and began to bow down to their pagan gods. A plague came upon the entire congregation and twenty-four thousand Israelites died. Balaam, however, is not specifically implicated in this. It is not until Numbers chapter 31 where Balaam’s death is recorded, that we find out his culpability in an entire people’s heinous crime against their holy God.

“And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.
   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.
   And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.
   And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.
   And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts.
   And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.
   And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.
   And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.
   And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
   Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.” Num 31:7-16

It was the counsel of Balaam that showed Moab how to corrupt the people of Israel by getting them to co-habit with pagan women. Eventually, Balaam was slain for his evil work. In Numbers 25 we discover that Balaam’s carefully crafted scheme actually worked its evil effect. God was jealous and a plague ran through the camp of Israel killing 24 thousand people. God had the heads of the guilty parties hung up before the “sun” in full view of the congregation (Num. 25.4) to show the severity of the evil done by worshipping other gods. (Remember this is allegation against the church in Pergamos, something this serious.) It was not until Eleazar drove a javelin through the belly of a Midianite woman and a chief man of Israel that the plague was stopped. A gruesome judgment had fallen on Israel because of the serious nature of Balaam’s clever deceitful doctrine. His counsel had allowed the mortal enemy of man – idolatry – to enter into the congregation.

When the whole matter of Balaam from Numbers 22 to the end of the book is read and studied then the full implications of Balaam’s doctrines in the churches of Jesus Christ can be understood and wherever necessary avoided and repented from.

Here are the other Old Testament mentions of Balaam
They are testaments to the severity of his crime and threat of his doctrine.

(Joshua 13:22) “Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them.”

(Joshua 24:8-10) “And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.”

(Nehemiah 13:1-2) “On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever; Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.”

(Micah 6:5) “O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.”

Three New Testament References
Balaam appears three times in the New Testament. Each time it talks of evil and corruption within the congregation of God’s people.

(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;”

(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.”

(Rev 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.”

The summary judgment of Balaam’s doctrine is to be found in Revelation where it uses the term “doctrine of Balaam”. If Christ was rebuking people in Pergamos for having let Balaam like teachings into their fellowship then it stands to reason that this problem and false way is an ongoing concern and evil in the life of the churches.

The doctrine of Balaam is deadly in three major ways. It causes believers to stumble in their faith. It gets them into idolatry. And it causes them to be lustful, adulterous and perverted in their desires. It was so devastating a conspiracy at its inception that God said to Moses, “Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from the people.” Twenty-four thousand died because they were infected with the teaching of Balaam.

The way it manifests itself in the Church can be even more subtle than the way Balaam taught Balak to corrupt Israel. Balaam had to repeat only what God had said to him, this is akin to just regurgitating God’s Word from the Bible. Today there are ministers and prophets who can only speak what God tells them, like Balaam. In the halls of the Church, within the confines of Christ, those who have the doctrine and greed of Balaam, who love the wages of unrighteousness, must say Jesus is Lord. They must spit out God’s word verbatim if they are to have any credibility but they can teach it and twist it any way they wish for their own gain, just like Balaam taught mankind to do. It is not so much that a minister preach god’s Word it’s how he teaches it that tells the tale of righteousness or not. Balaam was compelled to admit and to say that God blessed Israel. Preachers can sing the praises of God but teach a corrupt way by idolatry and fornication (perverting the truth of it.). For money, greed, honor and power, ministers act as priests and prophets like Balaam and teach their congregations the way of rebellion, idolatry and sin.

The way Balaam did this was to mingle the holy with the unholy, God’s ways with the world’s ways, God’s people fornicating and delighting in any other god. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. It could be an idol of fleshly desire, acclamation of men, riches, or as the parable of the sower of the seeds says, “lusts of other things”. Balaam knew the power of idolatry to destroy the soul and anger God. His spirit uses this today just as he once used it for his own advantage. For if God’s wrath fell upon all those who fell for Balaam’s doctrine, will it not fall on any in the Church who are likewise deceived by it? Will they not be dragged into the grip of the Antichrist powers of this world and have for their future the pit along with the Antichrist, False Prophet and their Father, Satan?