The Teaching of Balaam

 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

          These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

           Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 

Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.  (Revelation 1:12-17)

 

There are speculations about why Pergamum was described as the place “where Satan has his throne” and “where Satan lives,” but it’s speculation. It may have been a place of particular persecution, or it may have been a place of special temptation. For the moment, I’m inclined to think in terms of the temptation given the double criticism that follows.

The first thing Jesus says against them is that they allowed people who hold to the teaching of Balaam. Balaam was a prophet who was not a member of the Israelites. He was hired by Balak to curse the Israelites three times, and three times he refused. The cursing of Israel would not come from his lips. Apparently, however, he advised Balak to have his people seduce the Israelites so that they effectively brought God’s curse on themselves.

          Two possibilities come to mind. The first would involve people thinking that they could use sensuality to entice people to join the church – yoking themselves to unbelievers. The second is the old problem of seeing how close to the line we can get without stepping over it, which often leads to our stepping (or falling) over that line. Both dovetail with the criticism that they had people among them who were teaching the license of the Nicolaitans.

          We’re often tempted to use the world’s means to reach what we think is God’s end. It’s not an unusual tactic. In fact, I’ve read that great evangelists of the past thought it entirely appropriate to get people all wound up emotionally and use those emotions to manipulate the people into praying for salvation. Similarly, we’re often tempted to move closer to the line. We tell ourselves that it’s OK if we just look. Then we tell ourselves that it’s OK as long as we don’t touch. The next thing we know, we’re in bed with that we shouldn’t have even looked at and part of the reason for that is that we think like the Nicolaitans. It won’t hurt me – just this once. It’s OK, it won’t hurt my soul.

          When Balak’s people followed the suggestion of Balaam, and the Jewish people joined them in carousing and sensuality, there was one man who stood his ground. He drove a spear through an Israelite and the woman who enticed him to sin. We don’t tend to include capital punishment as part of church discipline but it seems as if the two “when the going gets tough” things we can take from this passage is that when the going gets tough, we aren’t to use the world’s methods to God’s end or otherwise play with the line that God has drawn. Instead, we should maintain a stand against it even if we are the only person in the church to do so. There’s a proper way to do this that we should follow but the first step is in making sure we’re not guilty of the same thing.