Balaam was a diviner (one who uses omens to determine God's will) and a
soothsayer (possessing certain powers not of God), the practices of which were
condemned in Deut. 18. Yet by all appearances, Balaam was a man of God -- a
genuine prophet: Balaam's "God-talk" attested to his being a prophet
(Num. 22:8,13,34,38; 23:12,28; 24:13); God was speaking to him and through him
(Num. 22:9,12,20,32-35; 23:4,5,16,18-24); Balaam appeared to worship God in
spirit and truth (Num. 22:31); and he blessed the people of God (Num.
23:5,7-10,18-24; 24:2-9,15-19).
There are other instances in the Bible where God appears to pagan peoples and
reveals Himself: Ambimalech in a dream (Gen. 20:6,7); Pharaoh (Gen. 41:25);
Nebuchadnezzar before his conversion (Dan. 2,4); Pilate's wife through suffering
in a dream (Matt. 27:19); Saul (1 Sam. 19:23,24); and to Caiphas (Jn. 11:51,52).
Therefore, just because an individual seems to have great powers or a large
following or that God is "using" him, doesn't mean that the person is
a genuine "prophet," let alone a believer in Jesus Christ. The person
could be a pagan, a false prophet, a spiritual fraud, who God is using for His
purposes. Spiritual frauds are quite capable of quoting the Word of God, of
sounding pious and true, yet can be totally wicked. God speaking through a false
prophet does not signal a believer, any more than Balaam's donkey was a believer
because God spoke through him (Num. 23:21-30). In fact, the deception of a false
prophet appearing to be from God was so prevalent in Old Testament times that
God established another screen for true prophets (in addition to accurate
predictions) -- "Do they lead you to worship other gods?" (Deut.
13:1-5).
The bottom line is that we must examine a teacher's fruit of doctrine. If his
doctrine is impure, avoid him (Rom. 16:17; 2 Jn. 10,11). Even though his
"God-talk" may proliferate, we must examine the fruit of his doctrine
-- "diviners" and "soothsayers" cannot be the children of
God.
Yet, we have a professing Church today that tolerates Balaams -- "They say
some good things. They use the Bible." Yes, but their doctrine gives them
away. They are false prophets, corrupting and destroying the Church from the
inside!
The issue is not whether there is some good in their teachings. The issue is
their erroneous doctrinal teachings from which the Bible commands us to
separate. So, look out for those who reject spiritual separation. In these days
of ecumenism, there are scores of frauds about us who make no distinction
between what is right or wrong, whose energies are devoted to man-made unity
while they de-emphasize doctrine, whose purposes are to appeal to the hearts of
the masses while neglecting the truth of God. Inclusivism because of areas of
agreement can never take precedence over our obligation to separate because of
error.
Believers need to use the weapons of truth which God has given us, so that we
identify and deal with every Balaamite fraud in the spiritual arena in which we
live. Note his characteristics. He can be seen everywhere around us on the
landscape of Christendom. Mark such evil entities and avoid them. Learn the
lesson Israel learned the hard way from her unfortunate exposure to Balaam and
his unscrupulous methods.
* Excerpted and/or adapted from a 1988 sermon by Gil Rugh, Senior Pastor, Indian Hills Community Church, Lincoln, NE; and from an article by Dave Kazen in the 4/96 Uplook: "Spiritual Fraud," pp. 4-5.
