I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      The Lord directed the apostle John to write a letter to the church at Pergamum and to include this fearful warning in Revelation 2:14-16:

"But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.  So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.  Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.”

B.      Peter and Jude also made references to "the way of Balaam” (2Pet. 2:15-16) and "the error of Balaam” (Jude 11).

C.      To understand these references to Balaam, his teaching, his way, and his error, we must go back to the Old Testament account of this man’s evil deeds in the book of Numbers.

II.      THE STORY OF BALAAM

A.      Balaam was a diviner who was hired by Balak, king of Moab, to curse Israel (Num. 22:1-36).

                                                             1.      A diviner is a person who observes signs and omens to tell the future, give prophecies, or pronounce blessings or curses.  Divination was condemned by God in Deuteronomy 18:10-14.

                                                             2.      Moab and Midian were threatened by the presence of Israel and their victory over the Amorites as they prepared to enter the promised land.  Therefore, Balak and the elders of Midian combined their efforts and resources to recruit Balaam for the task of cursing Israel.

                                                             3.      When the men from Moab and Midian came to Balaam at Pethor of Aram (a long journey from Moab), God commanded him not to go with them.  When Balak appealed to him again, God permitted him to go but commanded him to speak only the words that God gave him.

                                                             4.      When Balaam went, God was angry with him because his way was contrary to God (v. 32).  It was the greedy and evil motivations and intentions of Balaam that provoked God’s anger.  (We will consider the character of Balaam later from 2Pet. 2:12-16.)

                                                             5.      As Balaam travelled to Moab, his donkey saved his life on three occasions.

a.       The donkey could see the angel of the Lord, who stood in Balaam’s path due to God’s anger with him.  Three times the donkey reacted to avoid the angel, and three times Balaam, who could not see the angel, struck the donkey to turn her back on the path.

b.       On the third occasion, God permitted the donkey to speak and, and then Balaam was able to see the angel himself.  Balaam repented and resolved to speak only the word of God.

c.        Peter gives us insight into this event involving Balaam, for he "loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet” (2Pet. 2:16).

B.      When Balaam came to Balak, God prevented him from cursing Israel but instead caused him to give three blessings and a prophecy of Israel’s success (Num. 22:37-24:25).

                                                             1.      Each of these blessings was given from a different mountain overlooking the camp of Israel (Bamoth-baal, Pisgah, Peor).

a.       On each of these mountains, Balak built seven altars and sacrificed oxen and sheep.

b.       Each time Balaam pronounced a blessing by the word of God instead of a curse, Balak relocated them to a different mountain in hopes of a different outcome.

                                                             2.      When Balak finally dismissed Balaam without pay, Balaam gave a prophecy describing Israel’s dominion over the Moabites, the Edomites, the Amalekites, and the Kenites.  This prophecy contained foreshadows of the kingdom of Christ.

C.      Even though Balaam failed to curse Israel, he served Balak’s purpose by giving him advice to ruin Israel.

                                                             1.      Balaam had not cursed Israel as Balak desired, but Balaam did help Balak by telling him how to turn Israel against God and provoke God’s wrath against them.

a.       In Numbers 25, the Scriptures record how Moab seduced Israel to "play the harlot with the daughters of Moab” and worship Moab’s gods at Peor.  This brought a severe plague on Israel that killed 24,000 Israelites.

b.       In Numbers 31:16 we learned how Balaam was behind this seduction, for Moses said of the women involved, "Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.”  Also, see again Revelation 2:14.

                                                             2.      In Numbers 31, we read of Israel’s invasion and destruction of Midian.  During this attack, "they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword” (v. 8; see also Josh 13:22).

III.   LESSONS FROM BALAAM

A.      The character of Balaam is alive today in modern false teachers and deceivers.

                                                             1.      In a lengthy description of false teachers, Peter cited Balaam as a historical example of such a person in 2Peter 2.

a.       The false teachers whom Peter describes in this chapter possess some of the worse characteristics known to man.  They are deceitful, carnal, arrogant, greedy, seductive, and mad.  Their conduct is summarized by Peter as "the way of Balaam” (v. 15).

b.       Balaam was fully evil and had no redeeming quality.  He reluctantly complied with God’s will only when his life was threatened by the angel of God.  His treachery against Israel was remembered for generations (Josh. 24:9-10; Neh. 13:2; Mic. 6:5).

                                                             2.      Not every false teacher has every trait described by Peter, but all of these traits are still present among the whole class of false teachers that exists today.  Let us detect these traits and understand that such teachers are following "the way of Balaam.”

B.      Enticing others to sin is one of the worst offenses man can commit.

                                                             1.      Everyone who was involved in Israel’s sin at Peor was put to death, including Balaam and people from the nations of Moab and Midian (Num. 25:16-18; 31:1-18).

a.       The severity of this punishment is indicative of the vile sin that was committed.

b.       Notice that when Israel initially spared the women of Midian, Moses rebuked them because it was the women who had seduced Israel to sin at Peor (Num. 31:15-18).

                                                             2.      Similarly, anyone who causes others to stumble in sin is duly subject to the wrath of God.

a.       Notice the Lord’s words in Matthew 18:5-7:

"And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.  Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks!  For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”

b.       In the same context where Peter used Balaam as an example of false teachers, he explained how such false teachers operate in 2Peter 2:18-19, saying, "For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.”

c.        Concerning such false teachers, Peter says, "Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” (2Pet. 2:2-3).

d.       This explains exactly what was happening to the church at Pergamum (Rev. 2:14-16).

C.      Balaam was killed by the sword of Israel, but those who hold to teachings like Balaam’s will suffer war against them from the sword of Christ’s mouth (Rev. 2:16).

                                                             1.      God does not send carnal weapons against modern false teachers who operate like Balaam, but rather He sends His word, which will expose them in the present and judge them in the end.

                                                             2.      Notice Paul’s words in 2Corinthians 10:3-6.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

                                                             3.      The sword of the Spirit is the word of God (Eph. 6:17), which has come from the mouth of Christ (Isa. 49:2; Rev. 1:16; 19:15, 21).  Concerning His word, Jesus said, "He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day” (John 12:48).

                                                             4.      Those who teach or follow the way of Balaam will perish like Balaam, and their destruction will be complete and eternal unless they repent while they can.