I briefly mentioned in this blog how I believe the Nephilim are the product of a partnership between the spiritual leaders and the rulers or influential people from the nations. In the next Torah Portion, Balaam and Balak are an example of such a pact that gathered to curse Israel and succeeded by causing the Israelites to worship other gods and therefore, lose God’s protection and blessings. Balaam could not curse God’s people, but they could curse themselves. We discovered in this blog how obedience keeps us blessed and protected, and disobedience causes us to hurt ourselves and others, because when we disobey God’s instructions, He cannot protect us from the consequences of our choices. The enemy that I will focus on in this Torah portion is that of striving.
In all of the mentions of Balaam in the scriptures, he is known for being greedy for gain. This Torah portion, named after the King of Moab, Balak, starts in Numbers 22:2 and ends in 25:9. King Balak sees the encampment of the Israelites and becomes dreadfully afraid. He sent messengers (earthly angels) to a prophet named Balaam to ask him to curse the Israelites for money, honor, and material goods, such as animals.
Numbers 22:5-7: Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! Therefore, please come at once, curse these people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
King Balak knew the promises of God to Abraham in Genesis 12:3: “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” King Balak misunderstood this promise to mean I will bless whomever you bless and curse whomever you curse. That is not what God told Abraham.
King Balak sends messengers to Balaam with a diviner’s fee and asks him to curse Israel. Balaam asks God and gets no answer. Then King Balak sends his messengers with influential men and says, “I will greatly honor you if you do me this favor.” Balak asks the Holy One again, who tells him that if they come back again, he should go with them, and He will tell him what to say. They do return, and Balaam goes with them. God stands as a Satan, or adversary, in his way and says;
Numbers 22:32: “…your way is perverse before me.”
The Hebrew word for perverse is yarat, meaning to precipitate, or push headlong, and is similar to the Greek word for striving. It was not that Balaam was disobeying God, but the motivation for doing it was not pure. Now that is some heavy stuff. Jude 1:11 and 2 Peter 2:15 mention Balaam and say that he loved the wages of unrighteousness, or he ran greedily in error. Many teachers, preachers, priests, government officials, and leaders have a legitimate gift that they could use to bless people, to grow God’s kingdom, to fill the world with Godly wisdom and knowledge. Still, they run greedily after honor or financial gain. They are not disobeying God’s instructions; they are saying true things and doing the right things, but they are doing it for the wrong reasons. The Greek word for striving is erithiah and means to elect or intrigue for office, an internal desire to put oneself forward, even if by unfair means, or selfish. In James 3:14, the Bible tells us plainly that envy, striving, and hatred are NOT SPIRITUAL. When the Bible describes spiritual things, it is talking about things having to do with the Divine Breath or Holy Spirit. Envy, striving, and bitter jealousy are, according to the author of James, EARTHLY and demonic. If demonic activity is said to be earthly, it means humans create and manifest it, as God made us out of the earth. Animals are also pure earth, which is why they live in a purely selfish survival state of self-preservation.
James 3:14-16: But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and lie against the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil practice.
Philippians 1:15-16: Some are proclaiming the Messiah out of envy and strife, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Good News.
Maybe you have watched a religious channel with a number to call so you can donate, and if you do, there is a special blessing, healing, or reward awaiting you. This type of thing can be tricky and cause us to apply impure motives to charities that truly need financial help to do good works. I don’t want to judge other people’s intentions, but I do want to be aware that it is possible to obey God AND be perverse before Him. That is an enemy we should pay attention to because we are so easily self-deceived. If Isaiah 11:2 describes the manifestations of the Holy Spirit as individual spirits, because it says, “and the spirit of wisdom, understanding…”, it may be safe to say that the manifestations of an Earthly, Animalistic nature of humans are demonic.
Isaiah 11:2: The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 12:20: For I am afraid that perhaps when I come, I may find you not as I wish, or I may be found by you not as you wish—that there may be strife, envy, outbursts of anger, self-seeking disputes, lashon ha-ra (evil speech), gossip, arrogance, unruly commotions.
The scriptures tell us that the love of money is a root of all evil. Money is not evil, needing or wanting it is not evil, and making it is not evil. The Hebrew word for love in this verse is philargyria, mentioned only this once. I do not think that the English word love does this word justice. Philargyria defines an insatiable, intense, and excessive desire for material gain or wealth. Balaam saw an opportunity for significant financial gain, which was why he went with King Balak’s messengers, not a desire to obey the voice of the Holy One. He may have wanted a seat in the Moabite elite, triggered by the offer of great honor by King Balak, which is an example of self-forwardness or striving. It was his demonic internal state that caused the death of thousands of Israelites. It began as a spark of earthly behavior that fed the Israelites’ flesh, instead of instigating a victory of the land of Moab and the worship of the Holy One. Let us learn from Balaam’s story and be cautious of our motives and desires.
1 Timothy 6:10: For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil—some, longing for it, have gone astray from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
God’s eyes search the hearts of men, looking for purity of intention, truth, humility, and the love of others. This desire is a tall order for any one of us to fill, but let’s keep our hearts in a state of awareness, questioning our motives, understanding our more profound thoughts, and being transparent about them to God. Let’s not be afraid to expose our motivations, desires, and dreams, knowing that the Holy One loves intimacy and will not judge us for being vulnerable. He will not punish us for being truthful about our natural internal state. These feelings, emotions, reactions, thoughts, and motivations will come to all of us as they are part of our earthly nature. The point is that if we are transparent about them, He will guide us to a way to sanctify them, making our earthly nature a conduit for loving God and people.
Psalm 139:23-24 NET: Examine me and probe my thoughts! Test me and know my concerns! See if there is any idolatrous tendency in me and lead me in the reliable ancient path!
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