I’m digging in Numbers to learn about the sin of Balaam. Revelation 2:14 talked about him casting a stumbling block before Israel. Where can I find more about him doing that?
Beth D.
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Hi Beth!
It is so good to see someone digging into the scriptures in search of the knowledge of God. Dig for it in prayer, as for hidden treasure because Jesus promised, “Seek and you shall find.”
In Numbers 31 (see verse 16), we find Balaam still in the area of Moab, and Moses killed him along with other enemies of Israel. So, Balaam did not return to his homeland at the end of Numbers 24, the way it sounds. He only went back to his tent, which was in that area, and he decided not to go home but to remain in that area so that he could get the large sum of money that Moab’s King Balak promised him if he would help him overcome Israel. It was Balaam’s crafty advice that Israel was following when they blended with Moab and their gods in Numbers 25, and the influence of that horrible advice continued in Israel for a long time (see Josh. 22:17).
The equivalent of Balaam’s doctrine in the New Testament is when a minister is hired to teach a doctrine that says to someone with the holy Ghost that it is OK with God for them to be joined together in marriage with a person who does not have the holy Ghost, or when a person with the holy Ghost is talked into joining one of the churches of Christianity – none of which are the body of Christ.
“Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” covers a lot of territory, and that simple statement is God’s cure for Balaam’s cunning, “love everybody” doctrine. Let’s stay away from that lie.
Thanks again for writing!
Pastor John