Balaam is an intriguing character in the Bible. There are more prophecies from Balaam recorded in the Bible than there are prophecies from Obadiah. Balaam was not an Israelite, but he was from Mesopotamia which was about 400 miles away.
Archeologists have discovered an ancient inscription that refers to Balaam. The ancient Deir Alla inscription (which was dated to within Balaam’s lifetime) says that Balaam the son of Beor got a message from the Shaddai gods that judgment is coming.
Even though he was from Mesopotamia, Balaam knew and understood the true God. He called God by his proper name, Yahweh. He called him El, which means the mighty God. He called him Shaddai. He called him Elyon, the Supreme. He called God Melek, the King.
The Holy Spirit came upon Balaam (Numbers 24:2). Yahweh put a message in Balaam’s mouth (Numbers 23:5). Balaam even called Yahweh his God (Numbers 22:18).
Balaam seemed to have a godly attitude. He said he wasn’t interested in money. He said that would only say what God told him to say. He would only do what God told him to do (Numbers 22:38; 23:12; 24:13).
Remember the famous verse, “God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do? Or has he spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). This was spoken by Balaam.
Balaam even prophesied about Jesus (Numbers 24:17,19).
But Balaam is a complicated character. Even though he apparently had all of these positive qualities, he also had a lot of problems. The Bible also calls him a soothsayer (Joshua 13:22). The word soothsayer in the Bible refers exclusively to sorcerers or witches. Balaam was also known for loving money, even though he said he didn’t care about money (Jude 11, 2 Peter 2:15). Balaam also had a dangerous false teaching which corrupted ancient Israel.
Most of what we know about Balaam comes from the Bible’s record of his interactions with Balak, the king of Moab. This interaction is recorded in Numbers 22.
King Balak and the rest of the Moabites were terrified of Israel. Israel had just come out of Egypt. They split the Red Sea, saw Pharoah’s army defeated, and conquered the powerful kings Sihon and Og. Moab was afraid that Israel was going to turn against them and defeat them too. Moab knew that military might could never defeat Israel. Israel was a miraculous nation that was walking in spiritual power. So Moab turned instead to witchcraft and evil spirits. Balak hoped a powerful curse would unleash fallen angels against Israel and render them impotent.
King Balak knew there was a man named Balaam who carried spiritual power. Balak called for Balaam to come and curse Israel.
Balaam asked God if he should go, and God told him not to go. So Balaam told King Balak he couldn’t come. Then Balak sent more people to call Balaam a second time. This second time Balaam agreed to go to King Balak.
God was not happy that Balaam went to curse God’s people, so he sent an angel to oppose Balaam on his journey. Balaam’s donkey saw the angel and was frightened. Then the donkey began speaking to Balaam, telling him he shouldn’t be going. Balaam and the donkey had an argument, and finally Balaam saw the wisdom of what the donkey said and agreed that what he was doing was wrong.
Interestingly, there is only one other example in the Bible of an animal talking, and that is the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The serpent spoke because it was indwelt by Satan, and Satan spoke through the serpent. In this case, the donkey was influenced by the Holy Spirit to speak to Balaam.
Balaam finally met with Balak and saw the camp of Israel. He prepared to curse God’s people. But when he opened his mouth, the Holy Spirit spoke out an amazing blessing upon Israel. Balaam tried a second time to curse Israel. But again God turned the curse into a blessing. This happened four times. Balaam was unable to curse the people of God.
King Balak was upset. Instead of cursing Israel, Balaam blessed them four times!
Israel was under the protection of God. No weapon formed against them could prosper. Neither human armies nor fallen angels could defeat them. They were going from strength to strength, and the devil was powerless to stop them.
Then something strange happened.
The next verse, Numbers 25:1, we read that Israel began to commit sexual immorality with the Moabite women and engage in demonic rituals. Through sin and Satanic rituals, they attached themselves to a fallen angel called Baal-Peor.
How did this happen? Why did Israel go from such heights of glory with God to such depths of depravity with Satan?
The fall of Israel was actually due to Balaam. Balaam knew that the secret of Israel’s success was the fact that God was protecting them. Balaam told Balak that the only way to defeat Israel would be to get them to sin (Numbers 31:6). If God’s people sinned, they would open themselves up to Satan, and fallen angels could ravage them from within.
Balak listened to Balaam’s advice. He sent beautiful women to seduce the Israelites and convince them to engage in pagan rituals. Through compromise with sin and pagan practices, Satan was able to invade the people of God and destroy their power.
What Moab couldn’t do by attacking Israel head-on through sin or witchcraft, they were able to do by seducing Israel to corruption. When Israel compromised with the world, they lost the power and protection of God.
Jesus said that the church has fallen for the same doctrine of Balaam that attacked ancient Israel.
“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality” (Revelation 2:14).
Like ancient Israel, the church is called to be a strong, conquering nation. But often the church is not fulfilling her calling. This is because she has abandoned the word of God and compromised with the world. Because of sin and compromise, the church has become spiritually weak.
When God’s people submit to the word of God, they are protected from the devil. But when they turn from God and sin, then they open the door to the devil. In addition to this, sometimes God’s people engage in pagan rituals, often without knowing what they are doing. This also opens the door to Satan.
Jesus warned the church to be aware of the doctrine of Balaam. Why? Because the doctrine of Balaam pulls God’s people out from under his loving hand of protection, and opens the door to the devil’s attacks.
Satan is always looking for an access point to destroy the people of God. He’s like a roaring lion, seeking people to devour.
Praise God for the blood of Jesus which cleanses us from all of our sins. Jesus can wipe us clean from all sin and compromise. He can take away the results of sin. Then we can kick the devil out of our lives, and he has no power over us.
May our eyes be opened to the insidious doctrine of Balaam. May we close the door to the devil and apply the blood of Jesus Christ liberally to our lives. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Under the protecting hand of Almighty God, no enemy can assail us, and every curse will be turned into a blessing.
Lincoln House Churches 