This Month's Newsletter

Secret Place Part 4: Hindrances to the flow of the truth...The spirit of Balaam

Pastor Don Nicely's Newsletter for April 2008

Numbers 22:9-12 (NKJV)⁹Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” ¹⁰So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, ¹¹’Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them.’” ¹²And God aid to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

Numbers 22:21-23 (NKJV)²¹So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. ²²Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back on the road.

Balaam is one of the most controversial bible characters in all the scriptures. Some see him as a slick, calculated, soothsayer who knew how to manipulate words and people to achieve his own personal interests. Others see him as a prophet who once was anointed to prophesy the words of God, but fell into error. Balaam was even privileged to prophesy one of the messianic prophecies about the coming of Jesus.

Our first introduction with Balaam comes when he is approached by King Barak to come and pronounce a curse against Israel. After much persuasion Balaam was willing to go and talk with Barak. This angered the Lord so he sent an angel with a drawn sword to assassinate him as he passed by through a tight space on his journey. Fear of God came over Balaam as God opened the mouth of a donkey to speak to him about the angel whom he himself couldn’t see, but the donkey alone was given the spiritual insight to protect Balaam. Balaam was in error and God let him known in a hurry.

Error is the devise used by the devil to deceive the people of God. Today the spirit of Balaam operates through false prophesies, corrupt council, and the teachings of error in the doctrine. (The word doctrine means the teaching of a belief system to follow)

Satan is constantly looking for weak spots in our belief system to plant some erroneous teaching into our heart. The enemy has many paths of error. We can’t keep error from attempting to enter our lives, but we can stop it from hindering our walk with God.

Balaam’s path of error came through the temptation to have more money. Our path may not be money, but something else. He may try to use popularity, fame, or prestige to entice us into the path of error. Or he may use power or influence to seduce us down the wrong path.

The spirit of error almost always begins with sincerity. A lot of people start out sincere, but in reality they are sincerely wrong. Even Balaam’s enticement began with something that seemed good. You know someone invited him to use his gift of prophesy that God had entrusted to him. Error always follows truth. WE cannot fully commit to error without first knowing the truth. Balaam knew the truth, he knew the rules. He knew that the Israelites were God’s chosen nation and he knew that God was blessing them. Hew knew that he would be working against God to try to curse them. Even though he knew the rules he attempted to bend them to work in his favor. And God said no!

Error gets a foothold when we begin to question God’s word. Eve was deceived by the spirit of error. Saul, Israel’s first king fell into error’s grip when he spared the Amalekite king Agag and didn’t destroy him like God had commanded him to. then there was Gehazi Elisha’s servant who thought; what could it hurt to take a little money for healing Naaman of the dreaded disease Leprosy. His penalty for following errors path was that he himself died of leper.

Error is extremely dangerous because it spreads from one person to another. So please be careful that you are enticed by its deceptiveness. Just simply disobeying what you know is right can put you into its grip.

James 1:22 (NKJV)²²But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Error is so close to truth that many have learned to use scripture to justify doing what they want to do instead of doing what God wants them to do.

Many times we fail to obey because it’s difficult, or it costs too much, or it requires us to do something that we do not want to do. Don’t let this happen, but please bring your wrong thinking into the obedience of God’s word, or else you will be led into sin’s captivity.

2 ways of resisting the spirit of error

1) Know the truth…The first way to combat the spirit of error is to know the truth. Don’t be oblivious to the truth like most Christians. Many church going people have no idea what the bible says. You must devote time to God’s word reading, studying and learning the truth.

John 8:32 (NKJV)³²And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

2) Be obedient to the word…The second thing you must do is do what God’s word tells you to do. “Just do it!” Plenty of people know the truth, and still refuse to walk in it. Reading the word leads to a relationship with Jesus Christ, then living word.

John 15:9-10 (NKJV)⁹”As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

Choosing to stay away from error is choosing to believe God’s word. It’s choosing to obey his commandments, and guarding your heart against the path of error. If you truly want to be free from the spirit of error ask God to reveal any weaknesses that you may have and invite the Holy Spirit to instruct you in the way that you should go. This will release the Spirit of Truth.

Continued Next Month