What does First B Jackson teach about balaam?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on Balaam starts with the story in Numbers 22 through 25, treated not as background detail but as necessary ground for understanding what Peter warns about in 2 Peter 2. Pastor Chris and Pastor Carl both spent full sermons walking through Balaam before arriving at Peter's letter, because they believed the congregation could not really hear what Peter was saying without knowing who Balaam was and what he actually did. Balaam was a man with a genuine reputation for supernatural sight, whose blessings and curses were taken seriously across hundreds of miles. God told him plainly not to go and not to curse Israel. When Balaam went back to ask again after a second, richer offer, God gave what Pastor Carl called the reluctant permission, a go-ahead that was not approval. Psalm 106:15 sits behind that moment: God can give people what they press for while sending leanness into their souls alongside it.
The donkey episode is read at First B Jackson as a pointed exposure of Balaam's real condition. The professional seer could not see the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword. His own animal had to stop three times before God opened Balaam's eyes. The man with the reputation for spiritual sight was made a fool by his donkey, because he was so fixed on what he stood to gain that he was blind to what was right in front of him. Even after that confrontation, Balaam went through the ritual three times and every word that came out was blessing over Israel, including a messianic oracle about a star coming out of Jacob that he delivered despite himself.
But the teaching at First B Jackson does not let the story end with the oracles. Numbers 25 and Revelation 2:14 together make the full picture plain: after Balaam could not curse Israel directly, he taught Balak how to corrupt them from the inside, leading Israelite men into sexual immorality and the worship of Baal of Peor. That is why Peter reaches for Balaam as the example of false teachers driven by greed. The way of Balaam is the path of someone who says mostly right things while the heart is chasing money rather than God, and that path, Carl and Chris both show, ends in destruction for the one walking it and for the people they influence.
Taught from Numbers 22 · Numbers 25:1-9 · Psalm 106:15 · Revelation 2:14 · 2 Peter 2:10-3:2
The passage taught · 1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- May 19, 2019 Your Path Is a Reckless One The pastor walks through the story of Balaam in Numbers 22-24, showing how greed and persistence against God's clear "no" led to devastating consequences for God's people.
- May 19, 2019 Beware the Reluctant Permission of God Pastor Carl walks through the story of Balaam in Numbers 22-24, warning against pursuing what God has already refused and the danger of His reluctant permission.
Mentioned along the way
- May 26, 2019 Springs Without Water Peter warns about false teachers who promise freedom but lead people astray. Pastor explores Balaam's error and what it means to stay grounded in Scripture.
- May 26, 2019 Springs Without Water Pastor Ray works through 2 Peter 2, warning about false teachers who twist Scripture, promise freedom while enslaved to sin, and lead unstable believers astray.