“Then Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo’av, rose up and fought against Israel. He sent and summoned Bil‘am the son of Bor to put a curse on you. But I refused to listen to Bil‘am, and he actually blessed you. In this way I rescued you from him.”-Joshua 24:9-10
Verses 9 and 10 recounts the story of how the King of Moab hired Balaam to curse Israel.
Why did the King of Moab (called Balak) hire Balaam to do this?
Because he knew the army of Israel was coming to take his land and he needed to stop them.
So what better thing to do than hire a gentile prophet to curse the nation that was about to wage a war against him and his people?
The story of Balaam is jam-packed with theological insights we would be remiss to overlook.
The first key thing is that Balaam was a prophet and he did possess real power to curse other nations.
Balaam was also aware of the God of Israel, but he was no prophet of the God of Israel..
He was just a hired gun who had been paid a good sum of money to curse Israel.
However, during his journey to Moab, the Lord stopped Balaam and told him he was not to curse Israel but instead to bless them.
It is right here that we’re exposed to a HUGE DIFFERENCE between the pagan prophets and the true prophets of Israel.
The pagan prophets attempted to control their gods and goddesses and get them to do their bidding.
However, with a prophet of Israel, there is zero manipulation activity going on.
A prophet of Israel takes orders from God and executes.
That’s it man.
The God we worship is not impressed by the sorcery of the gentile prophets.
He can’t be boxed in nor does He take orders from human beings (including Yeshua by the way).
Quite the opposite actually.
The Lord our God controls both the actions and words of the gentile prophets.
Also, notice I’m saying “gentile” prophets as opposed to saying “false” prophet.
There’s a reason why.
Because here’s the thing.
Balaam was NOT a false prophet.
Does that surprise you?
It’s true.
Balaam possessed real power to curse.
We shouldn’t question that.
What we should question is where exactly did that power come from?
The answer is it came from the “god” he worshipped, the one now in control of the whole world.
Of course, I’m talking about the great adversary known as SATAN in Hebrew.
We can see from the story of Balaam that even a prophet of Satan can’t do anything unless the Lord allows him or her to do it.
Never forget that folks.
Satan may be the “god” of this world as the Apostle Paul pointed out, but at the end of day, that fallen angel is still under the Lord’s control.
Another great God principle that is fleshed out in the story of Balak and Balaam is that whatever men might have intended for evil, God can turn it around for good.
In God’s hands, a curse from Satan becomes a blessing.
Finally, and this is something I’ve touched on numerous times before, we can see that the Lord is not limited by any geographical, political or national boundary lines.
And yes, that would even include places like North Korea.
The sovereignty of the Lord our God covers everyone and everything.
Alrighty, that does it for today.
I have to disagree with you. Satin was the god of this world until Jesus took that authority away from him and gave it to the church. Check out the covent that Jesus made for the church and see that all authority was given to Him and He turned around and gave it to the church. Know the difference between the sprit and the flesh. In the sprit, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me but of the flesh, I can do nothing. It is the Father within that does the work.
What Paul said was post-Yeshua.
As I read and began to think on what you were teaching concerning the gentile prophets, Holy Spirit revealed that immature believers have the same mindset. Trying to get ABBA to fulfill their wants and desires and then getting upset when He doesn’t do what they “told” Him. It takes a while for it to be recognized by the person and the understanding received that this is how they are functioning and treating the God they say they love. I know because I was once that person and once I understood what it meant to be in relationship with ABBA; all of that changed.
Thanks for sharing Nichica. Be blessed and SHALOM!
Shalom Richoka, I am interested in this post and agree with most. I do remember watching 5 Prophets function in the congregation I fellowshipped in from late 1987 to 2004. These were called and anointed to be Gentile Prophets with the mantle of prophet and there were many things to be done from Elohims direction. Biggest difficulty was when they were shown how to worship the Father in Spirit and Truth they, like the priest declined and stayed in the traditions of gentiles and refused the Festivals Elohim set out for us to follow. They liked ‘ being grafted into’ the Vine but refused the festivals and they all along with the priest declined in Abundant Living because they refused to yield to His Ways. I have learned through great pain and suffering personally from their opposition and anti-Semitic interactions. I learned in 1 John 5:6-8 how they foolishly deny worship to Him in spirit and Truth when they are shown to follow His Way and Truth. The recovery is still happening and it’s been a battle to trust and I no longer have fellowship with in any congregation.
Thanks for sharing James. Hashem’s Will shall be done all in good time.