THE WAY OF BALAAM, THE ERROR OF BALAAM, THE DOCTRINE OF BALAAM

THE WAY OF BALAAM, THE ERROR OF BALAAM, THE DOCTRINE OF BALAAM

The “way of Balaam” is Balaam’s lifestyle as a soothsayer and false prophet. His motive was to make money and he used his opportunities, not to serve God and His people, but to satisfy his craving for wealth. In other words, he was a hireling who sold himself to the highest bidder. He used “religion” only to make money and to cover up his sinful cravings. He also used “religion” to entice people to sin. - WARREN WIERSBE 

 When are we walking on “the way of Balaam”? When we deliberately rebel against the revealed will of God and try to change it. When we have selfish motives and ask, “What will I get out of it?” When we cause other people to sin so we can profit from it. Paul may have had Balaam in mind when he wrote 1 Timothy 6:9–10, words that need to be taken seriously today. “Religion” is “big business” today and it’s easy for preachers, musicians, executives, writers, and others in Christian service to become more concerned with money and reputation than spiritual values and Christian character. - WARREN WIERSBE 

 Balaam’s error was not only thinking that he could disobey God and get away with it, but also in thinking that those he enticed to sin would get away with it. The false teachers in the days of Peter and Jude preyed upon ignorant people and tried to lead them into sin (vv. 10, 13, 18; Jude 4, 8, 18–19), all the time covering everything over with a cloak of “religion.” - WARREN WIERSBE 

The doctrine of Balaam is the lie that it’s permissible for saved people to live like unsaved people, that God’s grace gives us the right to disobey God’s Law. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel’s compromise with idolatry is called “adultery” and “playing the harlot,” for the nation was “married” to Jehovah at Sinai. (See Jer. 2:19–20; 3:1–11; Ezek. 16; 23; and Hosea 1–2.) This same “marriage” image is applied to Christ and the church in the New Testament (2 Cor. 11:1–4; Eph. 5:22–33; James 4:4; Rev. 19:6–9). The believer compromising with sin is like the husband or wife committing adultery. - WARREN WIERSBE