The Way of Balaam
by Edwin Crozier
via Read the Bible, Make Disciples
Peter’s descriptions of the false teachers in II Peter 2 are as creative as they are intense. We could spend pages and pages walking through each description. However, I want to home in on one allusion. This reference highlights the slippery slope even we in Christ can be on if we let our motivation shift from glorifying God to promoting our own gain.
In II Peter 2:15-16, Peter says the false teachers had forsaken and gone astray from the right way and instead “followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing” (ESV). Peter calls to mind events recorded in Numbers 22-25.
Though not part of Israel, Balaam was a prophet God had used. Apparently, God had used him in mighty ways, as Balak had noticed. “For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed,” Balak says to Balaam in Numbers 22:6. Of course, Balak didn’t realize the promise God had given Abraham to bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. If Balaam cursed Israel, Balaam and the one hiring him would be cursed.
God tells Balaam not to go with Balak’s servants. However, Balak sent more envoys. Balaam demonstrated he really wanted to go. He wanted the money. God permitted Balaam to go. However, the story reveals God saw beneath the external behaviors and recognized that Balaam’s motivation wasn’t true obedience. God had already told Balaam not to go with Balak’s envoys. He shouldn’t have even sought permission the second time. God demonstrated he didn’t see this as true obedience by sending an angel to stand in Balaam’s way. Balaam was saved by his donkey. Certainly, a quick read of Numbers 22:34-35 suggests that Balaam desires to submit to God. But consider again what is happening there. Why would Balaam even need to say, “If it is evil in your sight, I will turn back”? The evil of it had already been demonstrated. He should have simply turned back. He didn’t need to announce his willingness if God really wanted it. It was as if Balaam was giving God another chance to change His mind.
While the story is odd, God allowed events to unfold in such a way that He could demonstrate Balaam’s desire for payment and his reluctant obedience, while at the same time accomplishing the great blessing on Israel He wanted Balaam to give. That is exactly what happened. Despite Balak’s pleas for Balaam to curse Israel and despite Balaam’s repeated attempts to get God to curse Israel, God had Balaam bless Israel. And Balaam did follow the letter of that blessing law. He knew the rules. He couldn’t say anything but what God told him to say. He toed that one line, but love for gain was going to overcome his seeming technical obedience.
Numbers 31:16 offers insight into the Israelite idolatry described in Numbers 25:1-9. Balaam had refused to curse Israel. He had kept the letter of God’s “say only what I tell you” law. However, he had advised the Moabites and Midianites to lure Israel into immorality with their daughters, prompting them to follow them into idolatry. He wouldn’t directly curse Israel, but he advised Balak what to do so Israel would experience cursing. But it didn’t last long. Israel still conquered the Midianites in Numbers 31, and Balaam was killed at the same time.
Peter’s allusion to Balaam highlights a real danger for us. We like to play mind games. We are good at finding loopholes. Balaam thought he could have his cake and eat it too. He thought he could somehow obey God while still getting paid by Balak. He tried to keep one foot in both camps, if you will. If we are not careful, we can get caught up in the same kind of games with God.
Balaam knew the rules. In hopes of receiving God’s reward, he would try to walk a fine line between rule-following and rule-breaking. But he really wanted the world’s goods. He really wanted what Balak had to offer. Peter, of course, is saying the false teachers are like Balaam. However, we should recognize that false teachers like Balaam are most successful in influencing Christians who are like Balaam. These Christians have the same approach to spirituality. More concerned with avoiding hell and gaining heaven than with truly being devoted to God, they try to delineate the rules they believe have to be followed. They even do their best to keep those rules. But they really want what the world offers. They really want to please their fleshly passions. They really want to get away with as much sensuality as they think God might just allow, but still let them into heaven.
Remember what Jesus said. We can’t serve two masters (see Matthew 6:24). One will win out. When Balaam advised Balak to tempt Israel to immorality and idolatry, his fleshly desires, waging war within him, won out. Of course, the Israelites succumbed to the temptation because they struggled with the same weakness Balaam did. They wanted the Promised Land, but they also wanted to fulfill their fleshly passions. The same thing can happen to us. If we do little more than pursue external shifts in behavior, trying to measure up to a set of rules we think will give us entrance to the eternal kingdom, we will not succeed. The changes that need to take place in our lives go far beyond external behaviors. We are to change at the very core of our being. Our attitudes, outlooks, priorities, perspectives, and values must change.
When we realize this, we come face to face with why we need the power and promise of God to grow us and enable us to partake of His divine nature. If all I had to do was change a few external behaviors, I might be able to pull that off. But change at a core level? I’ll never make that happen. I need God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to make that happen. This is why we spend time in the Word, in prayer, in worship, and with the saints. We don’t do these things because they are rules to follow to get into heaven. We do these things because, through them, we connect with the God who has given us all we need. Through them, we respond to God’s offered grace. Through them, we access the strength God is promising.
Don’t take the way of Balaam. Take the way of Christ. One master. One Lord. Yes, we’ll stumble, fumble, falter, and fall at times. But like Peter did when he sank in the sea of Galilee, we can cry out to Jesus, and He will deliver us. After all, as we’ve learned repeatedly this week, He knows how.
