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OVERCOMING THE SPIRIT OF BALAAM

Introduction 

Much has been written about the manipulative evil spirit, Jezebel, that is referenced in the book of Revelation;1 and yet, there is another spirit mentioned in the same scriptures that hardly gets any "ink." This one deserves at least as much attention and coverage, especially since these two work together as a team. Maybe the reason this other spirit is less frequently mentioned is because it is even more subtly accepted than Jezebel. This is the spirit of Balaam.

"But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality." [Revelation 2:14 NKJ]

1 Timothy 4:1 states that in the last days, men and women will depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. The doctrine of Balaam is one of these doctrines of demons and most certainly is moved by a seducing spirit. Its prime directive is to cause men and women to depart from the faith through deception—to follow the way of Balaam—loving the wages of unrighteousness and subtly selling out their commitment.

Although this has been a problem since the first century, this evil spirit is running rampant throughout our churches undetected now, more so than ever before. It has deceived ministers and congregations to the point that little mention and even less confrontation is being offered to the church of Jesus Christ. Why? Because the success of Satan’s plans involves the secrecy of his moves. Little has been mentioned about this spirit because it has become so ingrained and accepted within cultural norms.

The severity of this problem increases when we see what Jesus said . . .

"Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them [those that hold this doctrine] with the sword of My mouth." [Revelation 2:16 NKJ]

It is time to pay attention when the Lord says that He is going to personally and quickly fight against any church if it does not confront this spirit.

Jezebel and Balaam

As the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation are examined, a

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prominent truth emerges: these churches, as well as all churches, were constantly being attacked by evil spirits, and these attacks were directed toward ministers in order to deceive them.2 Even now, no one, especially the ministers, can dare expect a position of immunity against deception from these evil spirits. This perhaps is one of the great reasons for the Lord re-appearing on the earth to deliver these vital truths—not just for the welfare of the ministers, but also for the preservation of the whole church, because these spirits will devastate ministers and their churches.

The spirits of Balaam and Jezebel were working, and still are working, in tandem to attack leadership and churches. We see the correlation of these spirits from the similarities of what the Lord said about each of them. Each one teaches individuals to sacrifice to idols and commit sexual immorality. Each also attacks teachers and prophets, to the end that they teach doctrine.

Not only does the Lord hold it against us if we let these spirits stay in the church, but of major concern is the fact that they each cause the Lord to destroy a church that has been influenced by them if the people involved do not repent and remove the spirit’s influence.3 This is serious.

These spirits are employing the same tactics now, just as always before. If Jezebel fails, then Balaam will try, or vice versa. If either one finds a foothold, it will eat as a canker and consume a whole church. The reason that Jesus said He would cut off the church that has been influenced by these spirits is that their doctrines move as a cancer, taking over and destroying the whole body. Suffice it to say, we desperately need to understand these spirits and the doctrines they promote.

As we learn from the characters for whom they are named, Jezebel is a behind-the-scenes, manipulative, controlling evil spirit, whereas Balaam is a deceptive force of bribery that more blatantly allures people away from the ways of God. Both spirits attack prophets and teachers subtly with a calculated end: to have their doctrines taught and to spread over a church to destroy it. Their effects are manifested through doctrines of "pressure and pleasure," as thorns that choke a fruit producing minister and church. Jezebel works through manipulative pressure and Balaam works through alluring pleasures. Also, the fact that Jezebel is named for a woman may indicate that women perhaps are more susceptible to this spirit through behind-the-scenes manipulation, but Balaam may be more effective on men who are the "bread winners" of a family and hence more susceptible to bribery. Though differing in approach, they each target the same area—commitment, especially the commitment of the teachers and prophets.

The spirits of Jezebel and Balaam pose a very real and threatening problem

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for every Christian and especially to all ministers, since they are high profile targets and disseminators of doctrine. Jezebel indirectly attacked the prophet Elijah; and Balaam, a prophet, was destroyed by the spirit that bears his name. The end result of Jezebel’s influence on Elijah was for him to doubt his commitment and effectiveness to the extent that he wanted his life to end.4 Balaam’s commitment was out and out bought off by this demon. Though these evil spirits target ministers, every Christian should be aware of these evil forces working to deter and detract our Christian efforts—not only to the end of to not letting these spirits seduce them, but every Christian is responsible for not letting them stay in the church.

This understanding is simple when considering the effect of these two spirits: Balaam works to buy commitment, and Jezebel works secretly to destroy it. (Fundamentally, these two spirits show the nature of Satan as a merchandiser and a deceiver.) The fact that Balaam is mentioned first (verse 14) and Jezebel second (verse 20) does not necessarily indicate the order of the attack, but that both aspects must be guarded against. However, it is certain that if someone can be bought, then there is no reason to manipulate him, but just simply to buy him off. It is not a matter of either/or, but instead a tag-team wrestling event—wherever a person is weakest is where the spirit attacks. There is a consideration that perhaps certain people cannot be controlled (by Jezebel), but they might be bought (by Balaam).

Pay attention! No one is immune to these attacks. The spirit of Jezebel tried to control Jesus through Peter’s rebuke,5 and then the spirit of Balaam took his best shot on Jesus through Judas.6 The spirit of Jezebel took Diotrephes down,7 and the spirit of Balaam got Demas.8

Some fine writings about the spirit of Jezebel have caused some light to shine and expose her, but the focus of this study is to expose the spirit of Balaam. According to the records in 2 Peter 2:15 and Jude 11, there is "a way of Balaam" that can be detected and therefore guarded against. Once the patterns are seen in the Word of God, an awareness of what to look for can help protect against this spirit when the attack from this demon comes.

Be forewarned however, even when someone is prepared with the knowledge of how this attack comes, it will still come after you. You can guarantee it. If you have not had to face this demon, then you most certainly will. This reminds me of a situation where, after casting out a number of demons from a lady, she came trembling to me and said, "I am afraid they will come back." I told her, "Don’t worry about whether they will come back or not, because I can assure you that they will. Don’t worry;

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get prepared."

To be prepared against these attacks, and to learn as much as we can about this spirit, we need to survey the background of the man for whom this spirit is named. A great deal can be learned about this demon’s function by doing our homework in the Word of God.

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning... [Romans 15:4a KJV]

The History of Balaam

The man Balaam is mentioned by name 59 times in the Word of God.9 Forty-seven usages are in the actual account of this man and what he did. The other 12 usages show what he was trying to accomplish and the effect it had. Because the bible attributes these characteristics to this doctrine and the spirit, reading all of these usages will give a broader understanding to how this spirit works. Exhaustively studying all these is highly recommended, but for the sake of brevity, we will summarize what Balaam did in Numbers 22-24.

From the account in Numbers we learn that Balaam was not a righteous man. Balak, the king of the Moabites, sought Balaam to curse Israel for a bribe. Balaam was a prophet by definition, but in the truest sense of the word, he was a false prophet. He was nothing more than a warlock and a hired gun looking for an opportunity to gain reward. (Don’t be deceived. These kinds of "prophets" are running loose through the church today operating spirits of divination. They will prophesy for a profit.) To Balaam’s credit, he did accurately access the spirit realm, but while trying to conjure evil spirits to curse Israel, he received revelation from the true God and instead pronounced a blessing over Israel and a curse upon her enemies.

The Bible indicates that Balaam studied to use sorcery10 to try and gain a reward. Gaining a reward is the major attribute of the spirit in its reference in Revelation. It is reasonably well known that Balaam tried to curse Israel for a bribe when Balak hired him, but he could not do it and therefore did not get the reward. However despicable it was to try to curse Israel, this was not the sin for which he received the reward. The reference in Revelation 2:14 says that he taught Balak something else.

After failing to get a reward for cursing Israel, Balaam taught Balak how to gain an advantage over Israel. He instructed him to get the Midianite women to seduce the men of Israel. This brought about the plague of Peor

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where 23,000 children of Israel died because what Balaam taught Balak.11

Look, these women [of the Midianties] caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. [Numbers 31:16 NKJ]

Although Balaam failed to get the reward through cursing Israel, he accomplished it through teaching. This is the "doctrine" of Balaam as referenced in Revelation 2:14. This sin caused Balaam to die an unrighteous death.12 He was caught behind enemy lines, cavorting with the enemy, when God’s judgment fell.

The point of all this is to understand the spirit of Balaam. Balaam was susceptible to bribery and this is exactly what this spirit does to people. Balaam sought gain instead of godliness and had a price for which he could be hired. Likewise, this is the aim of the spirit of Balaam for ministers and all Christians alike. As Balaam’s deception progressed, he transgressed the commandments of God for gain and actually became an agent of Satan. This is what the spirit of Balaam wants for you.

The Word of God condemned Balaam and his way of life. For this transgression, he died an unrighteous, brutal death along with infidels at the hands of the children of Israel.13 This shows that ministers, like Balaam, that have come under the influence of this spirit should be confronted by the church, like Israel did. Furthermore, the end of Balaam was to die by the sword, the same promise that Jesus offers in Revelation 2:16. When this spirit is found in the church and the transgressor does not repent, the sword of the Lord must be wielded in judgment to eradicate the influence.

These are strong words and yet this responsibility belongs to every Christian. Jesus will have something against you personally if you discern the influence of this spirit in the church and do not rise up against it. He wants the church kept pure and this is witnessed to by the fact that the man, Balaam, died a horrid death at the hands of believers.

Thankfully there is instruction on how to recognize this spirit and prevent it from overtaking God’s people. We want to identify and recognize the way of the spirit of Balaam and how it functions to prevent destruction. Be reminded however, that there is a strong possibility that this spirit is already functioning in many churches due to a lack of knowledge about it. If this spirit is detected in the church, it must be confronted and removed. This is accomplished by the guilty party repenting, or if no repentance is offered, the church must wield the sword and cut the person out of the church

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according to the command of the Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.

How the Spirit of Balaam Functions

Perhaps the best way to protect ourselves from the influence of this spirit is to understand how it functions and attacks ignorant victims. This way, we can see it coming. Though it is subtle, it still is nonetheless detectable, because we have the Word of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. You can see the spirit of Balaam coming because it is just like the devil—a merchandiser.

Ezekiel 28:15 and 16 shows that merchandising was a fundamental reason for the iniquity (rebellion) that was found in Lucifer. Often people attribute Lucifer’s pride as the reason for his fall, and even though this is true (Ezekiel 28:17), it appears that his merchandising (Ezekiel 28:16) even preceded his pride. The devil is greedy and will do whatever he can to receive promotion and recognition—and he tempts men with these, too.

As previously mentioned, Satan tried to tempt Jesus with bribery as recorded in Matthew 4:8-10. As subtle is it is, the simplicity of this evil spirit’s intent is to buy your commitment to God. You can rest assured this is one of his greatest tricks in his arsenal of deception, and if he tried it on Jesus, then you can be certain he will try it on you. You are not immune to the attack. Learn from the Master: Jesus overcame this temptation because He could not be bought—He did not have a price.

By understanding the mechanics of temptation, you can likewise rest assured that Jesus actually wanted what Satan was offering—the kingdoms of this world and the glory of them. (Satan does not tempt you with things you do not want.) Jesus wanted the kingdoms, just like He wanted the bread for survival. The difference was that He wanted them for God’s recognition and not for selfish reasons; therefore, He would not sell God down the river to get what he wanted. The angels later ministered to Him and He got the bread. He will have the kingdoms in the end.14 But Satan tempted Jesus with giving these to Him at the expense of denying God. Jesus wanted what he had to offer, but He was not going to deny God to get it. The spirit of Balaam is tricky; you cannot just look at the goods being offered, but you must know who is offering the goods.

Already we are seeing that this spirit attacks people through the things that people really want. What you want is interesting.15 What you want is no great secret in the spirit realm. Most spirits know this by what you have actually voiced. Also, since this is warfare, you must realize that familiar spirits have been studying your generational background for possible weaknesses. Seducing spirits work this way. They (unlike most Christians) study their opponent to gain an advantage over them.

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Once they learn the weakness, they speak to a person’s spirit consciousness to tempt the individual into coming after the things they know he wants. This is very subtle and gets to the root of how this spirit functions--according to what you want.

Learn from the Master. Satan had been watching Jesus for forty days. He knew that Jesus was hungry; that His life had been threatened by snakes and scorpions and that it was prophesied that Jesus would be given the kingdoms of the world.16 Satan then tempted him with bread for self sufficiency, with angels protecting him for self preservation, and with the glory of the kingdoms for self-recognition. The devil is smart and does his homework. He will try each of these tactics on you, too.

This was an "in-your-face" offer to buy off Jesus’ allegiance to God. The function of Jezebel, in a manipulative sense came later,17 but the first onslaught was a direct approach to buy His commitment. It came to him when He was weak and it will come to you when you are weak. When your funds are low, or you have the perpetual thoughts that you cannot provide for your family, or how are you going to afford retirement, or your ministry finances are about to cause it to fold is the exact time when the spirit offers you a buy out. We will see later that the temptation often comes in the form of a compromise, such as not teaching the "whole" truth or cutting down another minister to insure your own provision.

This spirit has destroyed more peoples’ lives and ministries than we can imagine. Without a doubt in the day of judgment, we will realize this more than what we see now because the motivation of what people want is not always apparent. The Living Word of God, Jesus the King, will judge between the thoughts and the intents (motives) of the heart18 at the judgment seat of Christ. The Holy Spirit will be the witness because He searches the mind of the spirit.

The aspect of this evil spirit, coming after what you already want, makes it so devious because it attacks motives. This influence may be undetected by even the most keen spiritual judgment. Many actions that are taken because of the influence of this spirit may even appear genuine, but the heart of the individual may have been subtly poisoned.

The function of this spirit is to corrupt the motives of the individual by tempting the person with what they already want. This is verifiably documented from the scriptures about Balaam in two separate ways. First, the Lord told Balaam that he could go with Balak if a certain condition was met.19 But before the condition was met, Balaam arose early the next morning and went to them without the Lord’s permission. He wanted the reward more than he wanted to serve God. The second documentation of his corrupt motives spells it out specifically: "he ran greedily after the reward."20

In a short, succinct statement, Balaam could be bought. His motives were for

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personal gain instead of serving God. He sold God down the river for a price. Likewise, this spirit of Balaam influences people to become susceptible to bribery and then become hirelings that can be bought. The individual, though perhaps initially wanting to serve the Lord, subtly may become seduced and end up as Satan’s merchandise. Then later, after Satan finds the weakness, as he did with Judas, he maneuvers the individual into becoming a merchandiser to obtain more gain. It all starts with putting personal gain ahead of the will of God.

Ministers are the prime targets of this subtle attack and the optimum aim of this spirit is evidenced in that some were teaching this doctrine. Revelation 2:14 says that some ministers held21 and taught the doctrine of Balaam. You must realize that this is a subtle doctrine, because you will never see a minister stride to the pulpit and say, "Take your bible and turn to Revelation 2:14 where today I will teach you how to follow the doctrine of Balaam." The devil is too clever and deceptive for this. The process begins with buying him and his commitment, and then to get him to buy others with the same type of "watered down" commitment.

We have seen that this evil spirit works to corrupt motives. How this demon does this is by a "Method of Operation." Again, this is predictable because of the Word of God teaches us about the wiles of the devil and that we need not to be ignorant of his devices.22

The Spirit of Balaam’s Method of Operation

The spirit of Balaam has a method of operation. It is this "modus operandi" that we want to understand and expose. The way of Balaam is specifically defined in the Word of God.

They [the ministers that hold this doctrine] have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; [2 Peter 2:15 NKJ]

This way is actually called a "method." In Ephesians 6:11, the "wiles" of the devil is the Greek word methodia, or method of operation. This method is disclosed by studying scriptures that relate to this deception.

Verses of scripture relating to deception map out the method of this evil spirit. Two particular verses, Ephesians 4:1423 and 1Timothy 4:1, reveal this snare.24 This is cleverly cloaked to go undetected until the victim is already captured. In searching out this understanding, we must go slowly and use great care to uncover this. It takes attention to detail, much like walking through a minefield, and in spiritual warfare, if you miss one detail, you lose—your legs and/or your life. It is necessary to give your total attention to this snare in order to understand it. This includes patience and

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attention to detail.

Ephesians 4:14 and 1Timothy 4:1 reveal the key ingredients of this method of operation. They are doctrine and deception. However, the effectiveness of this method is not just in recognizing these ingredients, but also in knowing how they work together. 1Timothy 4:1 shows this.

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, [1 Timothy 4:1 NKJ]

Briefly stated, an attack from the spirit of Balaam comes from a seducing spirit that is familiar with a weakness in a person and that weakness is caused by doctrines of demons. The weakness is known by familiar spirits because of the generation past of an individual or by that which the person has voiced. In a well-executed plan, the demon will seduce the individual to actually "commit" the transgression by tempting the individual to go astray from the right way. Demons speak to the spirit consciousness to follow the right way—but according to a corrupt motive. Invariably, self-service or greed replace service and loyalty to God. That is just what happened to Balaam.

They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; [2 Peter 2:15 NKJ]

In the situation of Balaam, he was tempted with the wages of unrighteousness. It is directly implied that Balaam had an ongoing weakness for money because he "loved" the wages of righteousness.25 The seducing spirit then offered him a bribe to go against the will of God, and he ran greedily after the reward of unrighteousness.

Woe to them [certain men that turned the grace of God into greed]! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error [deception] of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. [Jude 1:11 NKJ]

No one would run greedily after a wage of unrighteousness unless a previously held doctrine existed in the mind. From Revelation 2:14 it is well documented that the attack from the spirit of Balaam comes in the form of a doctrine that is held in the mind. So, the method of operation then is implemented when the seducing26 spirit speaks to the spirit consciousness of man to allure him away from the will of God by deceiving him into following a wrong way.

This deception is much the same as all deception. It starts with doctrines of demons being implanted into someone’s consciousness through either spoken words or the examples of others. The seducing spirit then, being familiar with the person’s wants and desires, speaks to the spirit of man to tempt him to pursue his desire. In the condition of forsaking the right way and following the way of Balaam, the weakness

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is to love money and self more than the will of God.

Perhaps the doctrine of demons that lives in the mind could be the manifestation of a lifestyle that the person really wants to have, or maybe it is a belief that being rich is the definition of success, or in a perverted sense, that "gain is godliness." These words are rarely spoken as a doctrine but become an accepted norm of society, especially in a situation where ministers do not rise up and teach against this perversion. This is why the exhortation is so strong against ministers personally getting caught in this downward spiral, because if they do, they certainly will never speak against it.

Ministers become the target for this spirit in an effort to take an entire congregation or whole ministry down with him. Words which comprise these doctrines of demons tempt ministers just as they do others, and ministers are just as prone to temptation as others. (Maybe the temptation for additional money would not be so compelling if everyone paid their tithes and removed the concern of not having enough.) The devil continually bombards everyone (especially ministers) with words like: "Look at so and so. He has really done well. He really has a successful ministry." Or thoughts like, "If you were really successful, you would have everything that the world has to offer."

The doctrine of loving money more than the will of God has become accepted throughout many parts of the world because this spirit has had its way without confrontation. We may think that the United States of America has a corner on the market, but remember that Paul, Peter and Jude wrote about this in the first century. It is consistent with the fallen nature of man to walk by the senses and thereby trust in only what they can register. It is the nature of fallen man to worry about the future and to trust in uncertain riches. That is why it is necessary for ministers to rise up and confront this lie—not to be taken in by it.

The far-reaching ramifications of this spirit are only too painfully obvious. More money is spent on dog food in America than is spent on foreign missions, and the "god-of-my-comfort" rules the minds of people who do not "endure hardness as good soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ."

The reason this deception has happened and is happening is two fold: 1. The ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ have been bought off by the spirit of Balaam and will not confront the church, or 2. The church has been bought off by the spirit of Balaam and will not confront the ministers.

Regardless of the reason, it must be confronted. Remember what Jesus said . . .

Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. [Revelation 2:16 KJV]

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  Protection from Deception

Have you heard about the pretty young lady seated next to an elderly man at a business convention? The man quietly leaned over and asked her, "Would you spend the night with me for $100,000.00?" The young lady, looking around to see if anyone else had heard the proposition, and seeing that no one else did, replied with a crooked smile, "Yes, I will."

The older man then said, "How about for $25.00?" The young lady in astonishment said, "Just what kind of a girl do you think I am!" The older man then replied with the same crooked smile on his face, "That, my dear, has already been determined. Now we are just haggling over the price."

The point is this: Do you have a price? If you do, the devil will pay it. He offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, but was turned down because Jesus’ commitment was not for sale. He offered Judas thirty pieces of silver and got a contract. Why? It was not because of the amount— it was because the concerned party either did or did not have a price.

The key element of protection from deception is a simple question: Do you have a price?

Years ago, I was privileged to be the delivery person of a gift of healing to an aged minister who, unknown to anyone else, was dying from a heart disease. He was astonished by the fact that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were still in operation, especially since his denomination did not believe this and was adamantly against any teaching of that kind. By the mercy, grace and power of the Living God, he was instantly healed of the heart disease.

A couple of weeks later, he visited me and shared that he was having another problem with his "other" heart—his spiritual one. He said, "If I testify of the healing and the power gifts of the Holy Spirit, I might lose my job and retirement pension. If I lose my job, I will not be able to preach and help others." Then he whispered, "What am I supposed to do?"

In a response far wiser than my years, the Holy Spirit came upon me as I said, "Are you willing to give up your position and retirement pension?" His head fell down into his hands and he visibly shook under the pressure of the question. After a short while, he looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, "Yes. I would be dead before I could collect any of the pension if it were not for the goodness and power of God. Yes," he said, "I will gladly testify of the power of God regardless of what any man does to me."

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With a breath of faith, assurance and revelation, I told him, "Then testify. In the name of Jesus Christ, you will not lose anything, but the Lord will promote you in the eyes of your critics." To make a long story short: he did and he was. He has finally gone home to be with the Lord, but before leaving, he outlived most of his critics and continued to testify about God’s goodness and helped many, many people.

The point is: he did not have a price.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God and Father of Jesus Christ and your Father, too. He has not changed. He was once a jealous God and still is. He will not have any other gods before Him.

It is very easy to determine if you have a price. Ask yourself this one question: Is there anything I am not willing to give up to God? Whatever you answer is will be your price. If you have something you are not willing to give up, the spirit of Balaam has influenced you.

Will you pray this prayer? "God take from me what you did not give me!" Likewise, let me ask—do you pay your tithe? Is your commitment to God more valuable than your money? Your answers to these questions will determine if the spirit of Balaam has its fingers around your spiritual throat.

The only protection from deception is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. This means coming back to your first love and loving not your life to the death. Christianity is not a game. The truth of it is simple. If you have a price, you are in trouble. Money may buy a lot of things, but it cannot buy you honor and righteousness in the sight of The Judge.

If you are under the influence of the spirit of Balaam, you have a price and you must repent!! If you do not have a price, you must be vigilant. The only protection against the spirit of Balaam is obedience and allegiance to our one, true God.

A Word to the Ministers (which everyone should hear)

This demonic deception can only be prevalent in the church if ministers either are ignorant of it or intentionally allow this to go unchecked. The exhortation to all of us about this spirit’s influence is exceedingly strong because of the Lord’s commandment to remove it from the church. The strength of Satan’s attacks against instructed believers, such as ministers, is in rationalization, but the antidote for this is the simple statement: "God is no respecter of persons and I am not the exception." Please prayerfully consider these words as I have written them—not in an accusatory manner, but in an urgent sense to remove this influence from the church.

These may seem like very hard words, but the author of 2 Peter 2 was not Peter, but God Almighty. Verse 1 says that the false prophets and teachers (ministers who had

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been influenced by the spirit of Balaam) denied the Lord that bought them. The following exhortations throughout the whole chapter are to blood-bought, spirit-filled, born-again Christian ministers.

The spirit of Balaam causes the damage listed in verse 2.

And many [of the church] shall follow their [the false ministers’] pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. [2 Peter 2:2 KJV]

This destruction of the church is why Jesus is so direct to those who teach the doctrine of Balaam. Now this does not mean someone will stand in the pulpit and proclaim, "gain is godliness." It says in verse 1 that these individuals "privily" or secretly bring in damnable heresies.

"Heresy" is the Greek word "hairesis" which in its root form means "a choice." The damnable heresy is when the minister chooses which portion of the Word of God he will preach. That makes the minister a false prophet or a false teacher by virtue of not fully speaking the whole truth for the one true God.

You do not have to stand in the pulpit and declare something false to be a false minister. You can be guilty by not preaching the whole Word of God. When someone chooses not to confront those who are under the influence of the spirit of Balaam they are responsible for bringing this damnable heresy into the church. This spirit worked on Old Testament priests in the same way. Look at what God says about the priest that would not speak up and confront people being tempted by this spirit.

But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.

And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.

If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you [the priests or ministers], and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it. [Malachi 1:14 - 2:3 KJV]

The account in Revelation 2:14 says that the doctrine of Balaam caused the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and commit fornication. Those specific things could apply now, but it is more directly understood to have a spiritual interpretation, too. This could mean that a minister being influenced by the spirit of Balaam would teach the congregation that it is okay to give first place to your career, or that it is

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okay to not put God first in everything. (This amounts to spiritual adultery, or serving another god.) No respectable minister would ever dare to say these things, but the demon that influences him would keep him from confronting these issues. This doctrine of Balaam could either be spoken, lived by example or even lived by default, meaning not confronted.

We have yet to mention what Jesus said about this spirit. Should we be surprised to find that He directed His remarks to the Pharisees, the religious leaders and well-instructed believers? From the record in John 9 and 10, He said . . .

The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. [John 10:13 NKJ]

Since we are into asking hard questions, here are a few more: "Are you afraid of losing your job if you address certain subjects? Are you representing God or your own best interests? Is caring for the sheep "family business" or simply a career?" You can be sure that the false prophets and teachers in 2 Peter 2 started out with a genuine calling, and that no one is ever intentionally deceived. Yet the truth remains that certain ministers sold out to the spirit of Balaam.

If an attitude of representing anything else but God (which includes your own interests or a denomination’s) overtakes you, eventually the same scenario will befall you, as did Balaam. Running after a reward may not be quite so blatant in the beginning, but eventually will degrade to the point where the you will not stand up for God for fear of rejection or loss of reward.

The consequences of a minister falling into this trap are greater than just the destruction of his life and ministry; it involves the whole church being taken down by this evil spirit. The reason that Jesus hates this spirit is because the false shepherd will ultimately merchandise His people27 and not feed them. The ultimate object of this spirit’s trap is to get a minister to live a life of compromise and to fail to confront others on the subject of commitment and/or giving. This kills the growth of the whole church and invokes the curse of God upon them.28

There is a final word about how deeply this spirit of Balaam can deceive someone:

but he [Balaam] was rebuked for his iniquity [rebellion]: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. [2 Peter 2:16 NKJ]

Balaam was rebuked for chasing a bribe and was so deceived that he would not even respond to the supernatural voice of a donkey. (The angel of the Lord almost slew him for it.) This deception can go very deep, to the extent that it takes a major confrontation to change one’s ways. The Lord’s chastening29 comes first because he loves you, his minister; and also because His love for His bride will not tolerate

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anyone seducing His bride away from Him.

For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? [1 Peter 4:17 NKJ]

Conclusion

Though these final words have been to ministers, all Christians share the responsibility of not allowing the spirit of Balaam to overtake them and also to see that the spirit does not gain a foothold in the church. These are hard words but not as hard as the words will be at the judgment seat of Christ for those who have disobeyed the Lord.

We can only overcome the spirit of Balaam by being obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must all realize that none of us are immune to attack, but we must draw a hard line in the sand about having a price for compromise. The way we overcome the spirit of Balaam is by not having a price and by repenting for where we have not been obedient to the Lord. Most importantly, do not let its influence stay in the church. We serve a merciful Savior and a loving God who give us commandments for our own good and benefit. Yet the consequences for not adhering to this admonition are severe. The Lord Himself said…

 "Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth." [Revelation 2:16 NKJ]

 

End Notes:

1. Revelation 2:202. Revelation 2:2 cautions against false apostles; 2:6 and 15 against Nicolaitanes; 2:14 against the doctrine of Balaam; 2:20 against the spirit of Jezebel; and Satan’s seat or dwelling place is referenced in 2:13 and 3:9.3. Revelation 2:16, 234. 1 Kings 19:2-4. This can also be seen in the effect it had upon John the Baptist.5.  Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:336. John 13:27. 3 John 9,108. See 1 Timothy 4:10. Comparing Colossians 4:14 shows that Demas was at one time a very faithful minister.9. Not trying to build a case of one versus the other, but Jezebel is used only 20 times. Balaam is used almost three times more.10. Numbers 24:111. Numbers 25:1 and 1 Corinthians 10:8

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12. Numbers 31:813. Joshua 13:2214. Isaiah 9:6-715. Romans 8:5 says that those who are after the flesh, mind the things of the flesh, but those after the spirit the things of the spirit. The question is "What are you after?"16. Isaiah 9:6-717. See Matthew 12:46-50. Rarely is it taught that Jesus’ family was used to get to His commitment. This is the influence of the spirit of Jezebel.18. Hebrews 4:1219. Numbers 22:20- the condition was if the men came to call on him again. After viewing this whole section of scripture, it becomes apparent that God was going to use Balaam to pronounce a blessing to Israel and a curse on the nation of the Moabites. This is why He stipulated that Balaam could go—if they came to call him again.20. Jude 1121. "Hold" is the Greek word kratountas, a present active participle. This is a strong word indicating an active utilization of this teaching as a "stronghold of doctrine." The root word, kratos, is the word for power and strength. The literal translation of this word could be, "those who are using as a stronghold the doctrine of Balaam."22.  2 Corinthians 2:1123. Ephesians 4:14 shows this operation in the use of the word methodia, as translated "lie in wait." It is a method or a way of deception. This verse has the three ingredients of doctrine, deception and method.24. 1 Timothy 6:9 says that those that will be rich fall into a snare. Loving the wages of unrighteousness is what causes those to "will to be rich."25. 1 Timothy 6:10 says those that covet after the love of money pierce themselves through. Could this be a reference to how Balaam died? Being pierced is also how Judas died.26. Seducing is the same word as "deceive" in Ephesians 4:14 and "go astray" in 2 Peter 2:15 and "error" in Jude 11. It is the Greek word plane. It means to allure or to cause to wander away or go astray. The noun form, "planet" is translated "wandering star" in Jude 13. It simply means to pull away from the intended way; hence to depart from the faith (1 Timothy 4:1).27. Revelation 2:15 says that Jesus hates the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes. "Nicolaitane" is a compound word comprised of nike - overcome and laos - people. This doctrine teaches a minister to dominate or use God’s people for his own personal gain. The context of verse 14-16 puts the effect of the spirit of Balaam directly in line with the doctrine of the detested Nicolaitanes. The end result of this demonic influence is that the minister will merchandise the people for his own gain.28. Malachi 3:8-929. Revelation 3:19; Hebrews 12:6-11