Read: Numbers 22:21-23:30; Luke 1:57-80; Psalm 58:1-11; Proverbs 11:12-13
Balaam did everything God told him to do and yet God was not pleased with him because God knew Balaam’s heart and what he would do to harm Israel in the future. If you fast forward to Numbers 31:16 is says that Balaam led the nation of Israel into idolatry with the Baal of Peor (Numbers 25:1-3). Ironically, Peor was one of the places Balak took Balaam to curse Israel.
Balaam was mentioned in 2 Peter 2:12-19 as being mad and using his words of vanity to allure the people through the lusts of the flesh to sin. He knew the way of righteousness, yet he turned away from it. Balaam is mentioned again in Revelation 2:14 as putting a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication and uphold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which God hates. The doctrine of the Nicolaitans is teaching the freedom to sin because we have grace. The Bible teaches the freedom to be righteous because we have God’s help to be sinless.
In Luke, John is born and he is the stark opposite of Balaam. John would also be a prophet who would live a life separated unto the Lord and a Nazarite who stayed away from all sin or anything that might make him sin. He preached repentance, not a license to sin as Balaam did. Through his birth, his father’s tongue was loosed and Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. This is important because for 200 years, there had been no word from God and now this baby is born with signs and wonders and God is once again speaking to his people.
Lord, thank you for the day we are living in where we can hear your voice and feel your Holy Spirit with us. Help us to live in freedom to be righteous.
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