Scripture referenced 11 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Numbers 22 Read aloud in full as the primary background text for understanding Balaam
1 The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.
2 Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
3 Moab was very afraid of the people, because they were many. Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.
4 Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this multitude will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.
5 He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, “Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt. Behold, they cover the surface of the earth, and they are staying opposite me.
6 Please come now therefore curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall prevail, that we may strike them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
7 The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand. They came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak.
8 He said to them, “Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as Yahweh shall speak to me.” The princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
9 God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?”
10 Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has said to me,
11 ‘Behold, the people that has come out of Egypt covers the surface of the earth. Now, come curse me them. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.’”
12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people; for they are blessed.”
13 Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land; for Yahweh refuses to permit me to go with you.”
14 The princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”
15 Balak again sent princes, more, and more honorable than they.
16 They came to Balaam, and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me,
17 for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.’”
18 Balaam answered the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond the word of Yahweh my God, to do less or more.
19 Now therefore please stay here tonight as well, that I may know what else Yahweh will speak to me.”
20 God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do.”
21 Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
22 God’s anger burned because he went; and Yahweh’s angel placed himself in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
23 The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned out of the path, and went into the field. Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the path.
24 Then Yahweh’s angel stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.
25 The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel, and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. He struck her again.
26 Yahweh’s angel went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
27 The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel, and she lay down under Balaam. Balaam’s anger burned, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
28 Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
29 Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have mocked me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you.”
30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long until today? Was I ever in the habit of doing so to you?” He said, “No.”
31 Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw Yahweh’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face.
32 Yahweh’s angel said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me.
33 The donkey saw me, and turned away before me these three times. Unless she had turned away from me, surely now I would have killed you, and saved her alive.”
34 Balaam said to Yahweh’s angel, “I have sinned; for I didn’t know that you stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases you, I will go back again.”
35 Yahweh’s angel said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
36 When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border.
37 Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I earnestly send for you to summon you? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I not able indeed to promote you to honor?”
38 Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you. Have I now any power at all to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak.”
39 Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth.
40 Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him.
41 In the morning, Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal; and he saw from there part of the people.
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Numbers 23
Summarized: Balaam blesses Israel three times despite Balak's repeated requests to curse them
1 Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
2 Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.
3 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height.
4 God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.”
5 Yahweh put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
6 He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7 He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.
8 How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom Yahweh has not defied?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be listed among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, or count the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!”
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”
12 He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth?”
13 Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.”
14 He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
15 He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over there.”
16 Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”
17 He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh spoken?”
18 He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.
19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it.
21 He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them.
22 God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.
23 Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; Neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’
24 Behold, the people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
25 Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”
26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do?’”
27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”
28 Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.
29 Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
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Numbers 24
Summarized: Balaam prophesies further blessings on Israel and a coming Messiah from Jacob
1 When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he didn’t go, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
2 Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.
3 He took up his parable, and said, “Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eyes are open says;
4 he says, who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, and having his eyes open:
5 How goodly are your tents, Jacob, and your tents, Israel!
6 As valleys they are spread out, as gardens by the riverside, as aloes which Yahweh has planted, as cedar trees beside the waters.
7 Water shall flow from his buckets. His seed shall be in many waters. His king shall be higher than Agag. His kingdom shall be exalted.
8 God brings him out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox. He shall eat up the nations his adversaries, shall break their bones in pieces, and pierce them with his arrows.
9 He couched, he lay down as a lion, as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Everyone who blesses you is blessed. Everyone who curses you is cursed.”
10 Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times.
11 Therefore, flee to your place, now! I thought to promote you to great honor; but, behold, Yahweh has kept you back from honor.”
12 Balaam said to Balak, “Didn’t I also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, saying,
13 ‘If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond Yahweh’s word, to do either good or bad from my own mind. I will say what Yahweh says’?
14 Now, behold, I go to my people. Come, I will inform you what this people shall do to your people in the latter days.”
15 He took up his parable, and said, “Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eyes are open says;
16 he says, who hears the words of God, knows the knowledge of the Most High, and who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open:
17 I see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel, and shall strike through the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth.
18 Edom shall be a possession. Seir, his enemies, also shall be a possession, while Israel does valiantly.
19 Out of Jacob shall one have dominion, and shall destroy the remnant from the city.”
20 He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, But his latter end shall come to destruction.”
21 He looked at the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said, “Your dwelling place is strong. Your nest is set in the rock.
22 Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted, until Asshur carries you away captive.”
23 He took up his parable, and said, “Alas, who shall live when God does this?
24 But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim. They shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber. He also shall come to destruction.”
25 Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.
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Numbers 25:1-9
Summarized: Israel falls into sexual immorality with Moabite women, described as the aftermath of Balaam's counsel
1 Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab;
2 for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods.
3 Israel joined himself to Baal Peor. Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel.
4 Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to Yahweh before the sun, that the fierce anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.”
5 Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor.”
6 Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
7 When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the middle of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand.
8 He went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
9 Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
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Numbers 31:8
Referenced to note that Balaam died alongside five high-level Moabite and Midianite officials
8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.
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Genesis 12
Referenced to explain God's promise to Abraham that whoever blesses his people will be blessed and whoever curses them will be cursed
1 Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treates you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram went, as Yahweh had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5 Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go into the land of Canaan. They entered into the land of Canaan.
6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time, Canaanites were in the land.
7 Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” He built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.
8 He left from there to go to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to Yahweh and called on Yahweh’s name.
9 Abram traveled, still going on toward the South.
10 There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land.
11 When he had come near to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.
12 It will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me, but they will save you alive.
13 Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you.”
14 When Abram had come into Egypt, Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
15 The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
16 He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
18 Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife?
19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way.”
20 Pharaoh commanded men concerning him, and they escorted him away with his wife and all that he had.
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Psalm 106:15
Quoted to illustrate that God gave the people what they wanted but sent leanness into their souls
15 He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
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Revelation 2:14
Referenced to establish Balaam's culpability in leading Israelites into sexual immorality
14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
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2 Peter 2:10-3:2
Named as the current series passage, with Balaam cited as Peter's example of greed and immorality
10 but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries;
11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord.
12 But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,
13 receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;
14 having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;
15 forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;
16 but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
18 For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error;
19 promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.
20 For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”
1 This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you;
2 that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior:
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1 John 1:9
Quoted in the invitation: if you confess your sins God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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James 1:5
Quoted as a benediction: if any lack wisdom ask God who gives generously without finding fault
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message, preached by the pastor, was part of the ongoing series through 2 Peter. Before arriving at the passage in 2 Peter, he spent the full sermon walking through the story of Balaam in Numbers 22 through 25 so the congregation would understand who Peter is referencing and why. The story of Balaam, he said, is necessary background for making sense of Peter's warning about false teachers driven by greed.
What was said
the pastor set up the context in 2 Peter: Peter is addressing false teachers who entice others into a greedy and licentious way of life. The example Peter reaches for is Balaam, a man whose name carried a reputation across hundreds of miles as someone whose blessings blessed and whose curses cursed. To understand why Peter uses him, you first have to understand what Numbers 22 through 25 actually says.
The story opens with Balak, king of Moab, watching the Israelites camp near his territory after defeating the Amorites. Terrified, he sends officials with payment to bring Balaam from the Euphrates River to curse Israel. God's word to Balaam on that first night was plain and direct: do not go with them, you must not curse these people, because they are blessed. Balaam sent the officials away.
When Balak sent a second, more powerful delegation with a bigger reward, Balaam went back to ask God again rather than holding to the answer already given. God, the pastor noted, let him go, but with a warning: you will only say what I tell you to say. That permission was not approval. Psalm 106:15 came up here, the observation that God can give people what they keep pressing for while sending leanness into their souls alongside it.
The famous episode with the donkey was read in full. The donkey could see the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword; Balaam, the professional seer, could not. Three times the donkey turned away or stopped, and three times Balaam beat it. When God opened the donkey's mouth and it spoke, Balaam answered it without apparent alarm. Then God opened Balaam's eyes, he saw the angel, and he fell on his face. The point the pastor drew out was that the man with the reputation for supernatural sight had to be shown the obvious by his own animal. The donkey made a fool of him.
Even after that, Balaam traveled to Balak and went through the ritual three times, building seven altars each time. Each time, what came out of his mouth was a blessing on Israel, not a curse. By the fourth oracle, the Spirit of God had come upon him and he was prophesying about the Messiah, a star coming out of Jacob, whether he wanted to or not. Balak dismissed him without payment. On the surface, you could almost feel sorry for Balaam. But Numbers 25 and later texts in Revelation make clear that Balaam went back afterward and taught Balak exactly how to get to God's people: not through divination or curses, which cannot touch those God has blessed, but through tempting them into sexual immorality and idolatry. Twenty-four thousand Israelites died in the aftermath.
The pastor closed by saying the sermon would carry into the 2 Peter text next week, but the point was already visible. Balaam heard God say no, went back to ask again, received a conditional permission, and still found a way to pursue what he originally wanted. The contrast he offered for the congregation was 1 John 1:9: confession brings forgiveness and cleansing. Balaam did not repent. That door, the pastor said, remains open for anyone carrying something they know God has said no to.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- The pastor said that everything Balaam said in the early part of the story 'sounds good and right,' yet his heart was pulling him toward the money all along. Have you ever seen someone, or yourself, say all the right things while quietly moving toward something God had already said no to?
- God told Balaam clearly, 'Do not go with them,' but when Balaam kept asking, God said 'Go ahead and go.' The sermon pointed to Psalm 106:15, that God sometimes gives people what they want but sends leanness into their souls. What do you think it looks like in a person's life when God allows them to have what He warned them away from?
and 3 more questions in the guide
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