Christ is the Remedy for Balaam’s Teaching
12/11 Reading Portions: 2 Chronicles 11-12; Revelation 2; Zephaniah 3; John 1
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12/11 Reading Portions: 2 Chronicles 11-12; Revelation 2; Zephaniah 3; John 1
Revelation 2:14
“But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.”
MANNA
What is the teaching, or doctrine, of Balaam? Most of us remember the story of Balaam and the donkey that spoke (Num 22-24). Peter tells us that Balaam…
…loved gain from wrongdoing, 2 Peter 2:15
Since Balaam had advised Balak to send idolatrous Moabite maidens to turn Israelite hearts (Num 31:16), that counsel plus the subsequent acts of Israel (Num 25:1-3), brought a plague upon Israel. Lord Jesus explains to John (and to us) the basis of this insidious business. At its essential core, what Balaam did was no different than what Satan did in the garden. Jesus gives us a clue of that by telling the church in Pergamum that they dwell “where Satan’s throne is” (Rev 2:13). Satan told half-truths to deceive Eve at first (Gen 3:1-4), then finally blasphemed the very character of God (Gen 3:5). Although Balaam prophesied God’s blessings upon Israel (Num 22-24), his counsel was filled with instruction to Balak on how to cause God’s people to sin (Num 31:16). From that instruction, Balak, an unbeliever, set temptations before the people of God so that they would commit idolatry and all the sins that spring forth from the distraction of idolatry so that we place something, anything before the LORD our God. Eating foods sacrificed to idols and the practice of sexual immorality are emblematic of two things. The former represents receiving nourishment from something other than God’s will and the grace of God in Christ. The latter represents activity that seeks self-gratification, which opposes God’s will and the grace of God in Christ. The remedy of course is repentance at the foot of the cross (Rev 2:16). And so we don’t fall into that trap again, Jesus has already provided the prevention, which is found in who He is, and what He has done:
“‘The words of Him who has the sharp two-edged sword. Revelation 2:12
It is also written,
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrew 4:12
The word is given so that we might not fall into the same disobedience as Israel of old (Heb 4:11). Therefore, we must keep our eyes of faith upon the Lord Jesus when we read our Bibles (John 5:39), for He is the “hidden manna” that He gives us when we turn to Him (John 6:32-33, 41; Rev 3:17). Hallelujah! What a Savior!