The conduct of false teachers - Part 2

Part two of three parts to the false prophet syllabus. All right, so what we're going to do today is, I'm going to begin with verse 12, which is, I think, where Jeremy left off. Let me show you another text today. It's 13 through 16. So let's read 12 down through 16. We're talking now about false teachers.

So this is relevant to us to some extent. I think it probably does help. We're somewhat protected here. But nevertheless, these people still exist, I'm sure. And Peter has a lot to tell us about them. But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand. and will utterly perish in their own corruption." Now, this raises an issue. Are these saved people that have gone astray? In fact, these are, if you will, charaders who are really not part of the body of Christ. We can come back to that today.

All right, in verse 13, "...and will receive the wages of unrighteousness as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime." There are spots and blemishes carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you. having eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls.

And they have a heart trained in covetous practices and are accursed children. And they have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. But he was rebuked for his iniquity. A dumb donkey, speaking with a man's voice, restrained the madness of the prophet."

Now that verse 16 Rebuke. It's a word about rebuking unsaved people. I mean, I think you can take a pretty strong position on one end of these false teachers, and I think you can take a position on the other end of these false teachers. So let's keep that in mind as we look at the verses before us. All right, verse 13. And we'll receive the wages of unrighteousness. We're talking about the false teachers now.

As those who counted pleasure to carouse in the daytime, their spots and blemishes carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you. So we read verse 12 and I'll read it again, but these like natural brute beasts, doesn't sound too pleasant does it? Made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand and will utterly perish in their own corruption. This sounds like an unbeliever to me.

But yet profit and rebuke? Well, I guess you could rebuke an unbeliever too. Anyway, let's go ahead and move forward. And we'll receive the wages of unrighteousness. Receive is passive. It means they're going to be the recipients of this. There's nothing active involved here. The reception of the wages of unrighteousness represents living a luxurious life in the daytime, meaning sporting themselves, which is one translation here, sporting themselves in the daytime. A consequence of the money they get from those when they lead astray into false doctrine.

So ultimately what we're talking about here is the way of Balaam. We're going to come back to that in verse 15. But the way of Balaam is misleading people for profit in terms of the truth of the word of God, basically. So the way of Balaam is not the error of Balaam. And Verne very carefully distinguishes those two. We'll get to that when we get to verse 15.

So what are the wages? Another translation would be the reward of unrighteousness. What are these wages? Tom, what are these wages? Ultimately death, right? Are there earthly wages that unrighteousness brings? Sin? Many times, yes. Consequences of the law. I mean, the earthly law. Or consequences of sin. So is this wages of death, is this like lack of fellowship? Because that term is used. Well, the wages of unrighteousness, if you're talking about a believer, it's loss of fellowship. But is this a believer? These false teachers, are they men, women of God? I really don't think so.

But I mean, you could, you know, keep in mind that Balaam is called a prophet here. And prophets could be prophets of other not necessarily of the truth of the word of God. Balaam is a complicated guy and I kind of drilled down on this and we'll come back to that in a few minutes. But the Balaam story is really an interesting one and it's multiple sections of the Old Testament with some New Testament reference to this guy. So he's clearly in evidence of someone whose wages of unrighteousness will pay out and have paid out at this point in time.

Philippians 3.19, whose end is destruction, Tom, death, right?

Whose God is their belly, and whose glory is their shame, who mind earthly things. So if this is not what we're talking about here, these false teachers are all about themselves. And it's probably the profits they're gaining. I mean, think of today's world in terms of the mantra of evangelism and some of the touches you see there. I can't judge people's salvation or not, but boy, there's a lot of profits in some ministries, isn't there? And you have to wonder whether this is the way of Balaam that's even being played out today. And again, I can't speak to the salvation of these people.

But nevertheless, this is something to keep an antenna out for in terms of what we're being exposed to today. So whatever these wages are, they're equated with those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. I mean, in context, these are people who are out about their business and enjoying life, luxuriously, presumably. That's the implication here. And are these wages paid out here?

I mean, we've kind of raised the question already, and or eternally. And if eternally, do they relate to the magnitude of the unrighteousness? So people who go to hell, who are not saved, do we have evidence that the extent of their destruction or wages really relate to the degree of their unbelief and unrighteousness here? What are your thoughts? Isn't there something? that there is a degree of punishment?

Yes, there is and I tried hard to find it. If you want to look up as overcharged, you'll find a reference. Look it up, can you do that? Alright, I just pointed out two things. By the way, the Old Testament is full of this kind of thing, and I just picked one verse.

Isaiah 3.11, Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hand shall be given him. That could be an earthly result, or it could be an eternal result. This is the verse that I turn to, thinking about, if it were better for him, I'm talking about children, abusing children. It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea that he should offer one of these little ones.

So offend one of these little ones. So that I mean in a sense that sounds like a pretty severe punishment. But there's another place and I just couldn't find it. And so you overcharged is the word. Does anybody have a you know a thesaurus or anything that we can look up overcharged. But there is some evidence.

I think it's in the gospel account, though, isn't it? Do you think it's in the epistles? I think it's in the gospel someplace. And the question is, does that apply to the church age? Anyway, I'm raising a question that's a bit uncertain, but I'm just thinking about this. To be saved, to be unsaved, are there degrees of punishment based on unrighteousness?

All right, let's move on. I found one in 2 Corinthians. What do you have there? 2 Corinthians 2.5. But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part, that I may not overcharge you all. Okay, that's not the one I would make. That's not the one? That's the only... There was an instance in the negative sense by a sinner.

All right, I'm going to give the class homework. So your homework between now and next week is to find evidence for gradation of punishment for the unsaved. I'm teaching next week so I'm going to be here and I know who is here today so I'm going to see how many people got their homework done. You're not going to fail if you don't do it.

Be aware here they are spots and blemishes carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you. This is really a very good description of these individuals. By the way, spots are faults. And if we look at Ephesians 5.27, that he might present her to himself a glorious church. Now we're talking about someone not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So we're talking about the church. We're without spot or blemish. And blemish is interesting. Ultimately, it means disgrace. It's the only biblical use of this term is here. speaking about the false prophets or false people. Carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you.

Now, what came to my mind when they feast with us, what are we thinking about in terms of feasting of the body of Christ? The Lord's table, perhaps. I mean, while I'm asking the class, can you describe what this might look like? Do you think it could go beyond the Lord's table, just talking about having a dinner party? Would believers in one of these guys, or women presumably, could show up? What about... I've got Luke 21, 34. For what? Overcharge also.

Okay, why don't you read that? And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with serviting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that they come upon you unaware. Read that again, please. And take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life and so that they come upon you unawares. You think that's a verse, Tom?

That's the one I was thinking of. But do you think that really speaks to the question I ask? Well, it would not necessarily condemn you in that context, but it would set you so far aside that it would be a struggle for you to try to get back on the right track unless you had insight from a fellow believer that, you know, you need to bring this to the Lord. Okay, so is that Presently, or is that eternally?

No, just a temporary restriction. I mean, we have a few examples of people who, in fact, the Lord just left behind. I mean, Pharaoh would be one, right? In the Old Testament. And obviously, Judas Iscariot. I mean, there are examples of individuals who, presumably, and perhaps they still had options, but those weren't played out. But God turned his back on Pharaoh, clearly, right? Well, anyway, we can, again, the homework still is there for you. Let's see if we can build on that any further. All right, so the Lord's Table. I think 1 Corinthians talks about this.

Therefore, whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. I mean, so, I mean, we tend to think about that as the typical unsaved individual who's taking communion. But, you know, a lot of times that's ignorance or naivete and doesn't really relate to something that really is guilty of the body or blood of the Lord. I mean, Scripture is Scripture.

But I'm thinking of these false teachers who may be participating in this, who in fact are clearly and repeatedly representing the truth incorrectly. And that's probably part of their charade, to be part of the body of taking the Lord's statement. Other thoughts about this? Alright, so again, they're carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you. I think the Lord's Table is a simple potential example of that. There could be others. Keep in mind, deception is what these people are about, and it's for their own gain, their own financial gain, presumably. And that's what most commentators say. This is a lifestyle that represents money in the back pocket to live a life that's really scripturally separated from the Lord.

Alright, moving on, verse 14. We okay, everybody? Alright, having eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, they have a heart trained in covetous practices, and they are accursed children. Pretty strong verse. having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin.

Is there any other way that we can interpret this? I mean, adultery is adultery. Those kind of people at the Lord's table would be making it really bad, I think, turning it into an orgy or something, because they obviously couldn't control themselves. and their responses equal responses to me. I'm also looking at this thinking eyes full of adultery. Adultery can be a term that could be applied to many things. Adultery also could be what you were already talking about that they're saying they're believers but in fact their adultery truly is they're not. their heathens and their pagans in Christian clothes and that's adultery too of a belief system.

Yeah you know I drilled down on this and The commentators and the thesaurus, et cetera, couldn't leave any other interpretation of sexual sin. Sexual sin. Interesting. So these are sexual predators. They're full of never ceasing, which is what the verse implies. They're full of sensual sin that never ceases in practice and or in mind. And it reminds me, you know, what about our own thoughts when they wander in this direction?

I mean, Matthew 5, 28, you look at a woman with lust at your heart, you've committed adultery with her, right? That's law, but that law is a principle of God that I think the cross takes care of that. So I think when us guys, I guess gals can go there too, there is therefore now no condemnation on them that are in Christ Jesus. So confess, restore fellowship, and move on.

I mean, this is just an example of the fleshly nature. I mean, guys have more of a problem here than women, I think. But nevertheless, this is an issue. And I think that's exactly what we're talking about here. These individuals, if you will, their sex is really predominant in their minds and their acts. But believers, we have a fleshly and earthly nature. It comes up periodically.

Get on with it, get in front of the Lord and move on. Your new creation is in Christ Jesus. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, not I, but the Lord Jesus Christ lives in me. Keep in mind, the Adam nature never changes. But we are put in a position of no condemnation. Our position is true and firm and one of righteousness. Move on. The flesh is still there. Confess. Restore fellowship and move on.

Enticing or beguiling or laying bait for us. Kind of throwing some bait out into the river or the lake and see what comes up. Unstable souls. Now, ultimately, notice what types of souls are being beguiled or baited. Unstable souls. And this is a good example because I think the unstable souls here with the sexual sin and desire are mostly women. We are going to see in the way of Balaam that ultimately that is what ensued.

1 Timothy 3.6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts. I mean, that really is kind of a verse pulled out of context to relate to this type of behavior. But ultimately, as we're going to see in the next few verses, I mean, the way of Balaam ultimately utilized women of Moab, in fact, where the Israeli nation went into those women and effectively prostitution was common in those days.

Tom. I know you're doing your best. You just mentioned first Timothy, but it really according to the screen and the scriptures, it's second Timothy that you're referring to the first. No, I think it says second Timothy. Is that wrong? You mentioned first Timothy. Oh, OK. Second Timothy. All right, good.

We've got that clarified. Are we susceptible here? I mean, unstable souls could be men or women. And the example here is women. Sure. I think people are well farmed up in the ways of the Lord and living by grace through faith are less susceptible. Those are stable souls.

But the unstable souls could be new believers or even longstanding believers who are not well found in the Word of God. But also if they're being given, I mean if false teachers are in their midst and they're teaching the wrong thing and they're not learning the truth, they are unstable souls. Let me give you an example and clearly I'm going to do this very anonymously.

There was a place where I attended. way back where there was a junior pastor who was the pastor for youth in that church and he counseled many women in that church and ultimately became guilty of this whole offense on multiple occasions. So is he saved? I think he's saved. I knew the family and I knew him. But obviously these women here were the predators who were unstable souls being led astray by a man who was of the cloth, if you will. or a pastoral and mentoring role in the body. So, I mean, this happens.

I don't see how these could be believers because it says they never cease from sin. And in 1 John it talks about, you know, you're habitually sinning. You're not a real believer. And I'm not claiming that these are not... I know you're not. Yes, but I think, well, you're questioning this pastor. No, no, I'm not. I'm just saying these folks that he's talking about...

Never cease. There's been some discussion about whether these were believers or were not believers, and I don't see how they couldn't... No, I think these false teachers are not believers. Balaam's a little tricky, we'll come back to that, but nevertheless I think the false teachers are not believers. However, I'm saying the body of Christ can be susceptible to this behavior. I just gave you a good example. That's many, many years ago, but it's still an example.

Who is they who are enticing those with unstable souls? Sorry for the oar. I should have gotten the oar out of there. Who are they? Are these the false teachers? Or are those the unstable souls that are being influenced? I mean, the results of this. Who do you think these people are?

So having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, they have a heart trained in covetous practices and are accursed children. They're the people that he's talking about, the ones full of adultery. I think it's pretty clear that's who we're talking about.

And their heart is trained in covetous practices and are accursed children. Now notice this behavior is more than just the eyes. They're heart trained. So these are men, presumably, with evil hearts. So it's eyes and heart. It ingrains deeply and John just mentioned that. This is a continuous type of predomination in the thought process and in their deeds. And then how do you look at the statement that they are accursed?

Well, that seems to relate to the fact that they're already identified with hell as a future, right? Non-believers. And the sin nature is unveiled, and the way I stated this, and I think it relates to what John just said, they're positioned in sin. I mean, all unbelievers are positioned in the sin nature and a life full of sins. We still have sins, but our position is not here. But this group of people, their sin nature is not only unveiled for what it is, they are positioned in sin.

And I think that relates to their ultimate fate. The wages of unrighteousness here is destruction, death, and hell. So back to the point I just made, I think the believer can be put in a circumstance where this type of behavior can be exemplified unfortunately to unstable souls by men who in fact have gone astray. But what we're talking about here in this false teacher are people that are using the word of God for their own profit and ultimately are unsaved.

All right, verse 15, way of Balaam. I've promised this several times. Which have forsaken the right way and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. Now, look at the verse very carefully. So if Balaam is for profit, and he, in a way, interacted with God in what we would consider a prophetic manner, This verse pretty much indicates that even though that may be true scripturally, he loved the wages of unrighteousness. So keep in mind we're talking about these false teachers as being unbelievers. Although Balaam is kind of a curveball a little bit in terms of his relationship with God. God interacted with him personally by the way. Which is not true of many believers, I mean God confronted Pharaoh multiple occasions.

Alright, have forsaken the right way, did they ever know it? I mean, do people who modulate their behavior in this manner, did they ever know the right way? Or have they known the right way and just purposely avoided it? Or abandoned it? Tom, what do you think? I would say they didn't really care in the first place, even if they were presented with it. They would just go right by their eyes and they wouldn't receive it.

Which is the human nature, right? It's part of the human soul. No one chooses God, no, no. No, so the graces have been an important question we all probably ask ourselves periodically. Why am I saved? Why am I so privileged to have the Lord come into my life? That's a question you have to respond by faith with the grace God presents you to. But why did I decide to come to the Lord? Why did I have enough faith to get saved? I mean, it's a profound question, isn't it? We're privileged people.

We really are. And presumably, the way of Balaam is a way where, in fact, they love unrighteousness more and have rejected the truth, or haven't known it. Yes? To me, forsaken means that you've made a choice. To me it involves a conscious choice. Alright, what about people who haven't heard the word of God? I don't know. To me, it's not talking about that. No, that's true.

I'm just raising that as an additional question. That's another issue we all are concerned about. People are saved by the cross and they need to hear the cross to get saved. Forsaken would appear to me like you said, it's really a decision to abandon what's given in the way of truth. Other opinions or thoughts about that? So these people have heard the truth. Balaam had plenty of truth given to him. But forsaken appears to be informed of rejection, right?

And have not chosen to go in that path. But keep in mind the Christian life. I don't look at our lives as believers, as making choices. Now you can simplify that we make good choices or bad choices, but the world can make good choices and bad choices. Even in terms of the things of God.

We have a life in Christ Jesus, Spirit led. It's not a choice, it's a life. And I think it's really important to think when we're making choices, well I would contend that when we make choices we're looking at the consequences of a bad choice rather than having that ultimately Christ's life which is energized from above where in fact the choice becomes really redundant, it's not necessary. The Christ's life is led by our faith, by God's great grace. So choices, you're at the point of making choices. You're not sinning.

But the choice is, I think, a lower level of the life in the believer. We live a life by faith through the power of the Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ, the new nature we have. So kind of an aside here. All right, present active parcel, it can mean to abandon or actually not to accept. So the translation is mostly abandon, what you already know. Or, so Balaam would probably do it, or it could mean not to accept it, one or the other. Who is Balaam? Boy, and I can't do justice to who Balaam is because it's a complicated deal. All right, numbers 22, 4, and 5. We're going to read some numbers here in a few minutes.

So Balaam, son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, Moab basically not of the Lord, sent messengers to summon Balin, son of the Ur, who is at Tipur, near the Euphrates River in his native land. So that tells us who he is. It just means that Balak, who was the son of Zipporah, called for this Balaam guy. So Balaam must have a reputation of some sort as a messenger or a prophet of some sort that had ultimately the capability of enacting what Balak thought should be done. What we're looking at is really the crossing of the river Jordan into the land of Canaan here. So Israel's just defeated a couple of kings and are getting ready to enter into the promised land. and Balaam is concerned about hearing these people coming on board and he is a little concerned about his own people. So he is asking Balaam to give him some help here and Balaam is the guy that has been identified to ultimately do some work on behalf of Balaam.

So what is the way of Balaam who loved the wages of unrighteousness? Well, let's look at that. The way of Balaam basically is defined as the introduction of licentiousness into Israel. So numbers 25, 1 through 9. Let's go ahead and turn to that. And if anybody gets that, please go ahead and read that before I get to it, because I'm on my iPad. This may take a little bit more time for me. And if you're reading it, I'll come by you so you can. To stay in numbers, by the way, we're going to go there again. Behold these caused the Israelites by the counsel of Balaam to trespass and act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Peor. Is that numbers 25? No. I was in number 31, I'm sorry. Numbers 25, 1-9 is what I'm looking for. 1-9?

I was in the wrong. My apologies. Well, Israel remained at Shittim. The people began to play the harlot with the daughter of Moab. Is that where you want to go? I think that's where I am. Where they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.

So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor and the Lord was angry against Israel. The Lord said to Moses, take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel. So Moses said to the judges of Israel, each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor. Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. When Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand. and he went after the man of Israel into the den and pierced both of them through the man of Israel and the woman through the body so the plague of the sons of Israel was taken. Those who died by the plague were 24,000. Sounds like ISIS nowadays. So the consequence of this behavior ultimately in the part of Israel really was the plague that followed. So that really sets the stage for where we're going here.

Numbers 31-16, by the way in the book of Numbers from chapter Chapter 4, but off and on, particularly in the 20s and early 30s, we have a lot about this situation. Numbers 31-16, look, these women caused the children of Israel through the counsel of Balaam to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.

That's what, Winnie, you just referred to in the text that you just read. And Balaam was suddenly claiming he answered to a higher power. And if you look at Numbers 22, 18, and 38, it defends that with an earthly prophet as a result of this behavior. Jude 1, 11.

Woe to them, for they have gone in the way of Cain and have run greedily in the error of Balaam. Notice this is the error of Balaam, not the way of Balaam, for prophet, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. And the error of Balaam is not the way of Balaam. The error of Balaam really relates more to the fact that he felt that God would give up his promises to Israel effectively. So the Arab veil was to try to educate people that God is so unhappy with the behavior of the Israelites in terms of their prostitution and their going into Moab and Moabite women, etc. That's the Arab veil. I'm thinking the Lord is going to ultimately retract his promises that he made to Israel. Not true. God's promise to Israel is still there today. And his promises at that time were there. The promised land was before them. And that would ensue.

Now, Revelation 2.14 I think relates more to the way of Balaam and to the church at Pergamos. Now this is the Lord Jesus Christ addressing the behavior at the church of Pergamos. And Margaret and I have had the privilege of being at the church of Pergamos in that area of the Middle East.

Remember up on the hill and there wasn't much there. But I have a few things against you, Christ said, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam. who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Pertamon, a church, the error or way of Balaam had entered into that body of believers. Now, were these people saved?

Presumably, it's a church. So back to the point I made 20 minutes ago, it's possible for the way of Valen to enter into the congregation of the body of Christ. And I gave an example of that about this young pastor who unfortunately fell into this trap.

And love the wages of unrighteousness. Love here is agape. When you think of the Lord Jesus Christ and his love for us, this is an unconditional love not based on anything we do. We're saved, we're positioned above, declared fully righteous and holy. And that's the love the Lord Jesus Christ gives each and every one of us as believers. If we think of agape love, we're thinking, I can love all of you perfectly in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm just making this as a statement. You don't have to be someone I like a lot, but the love of the Lord Jesus Christ looks at everybody that we cross in our daily walks with that unconditional love that they're created by God, capable of being saved if they're not, and that's the love of the Lord Jesus. We cannot create that in the Adam nature or the sin nature. So this agape love, now we're talking about Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness. You know, again, he's positioned in sin to his own benefit.

1 John 2.15, Do not love the world. Same agape for us. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Now, we all love having heat in our houses and having an automobile to transport ourselves from one place to another or having jobs and having children. and even a Christmas gift. I mean the point is, this is not the love of unrighteousness. Agape is an unconditional love positioned in sin and that's what we're talking about here. So these are false teachers.

But keep in mind the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ went to the church at Pergamon with an observation of this type of behavior He doesn't say in the verse in Revelation 2.14 as to whether these are unsaved people that are part of the body or not. He's just saying that this behavior can enter into the body of Christ and that really makes the church of Pergamum less than optimal in terms of their behavior.

All right, last verse today, 2 Peter 2.16.

But he was rebuked for his iniquity, a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained, the madness of the prophet. All right, so this is always a fun place in scripture, particularly with kids, right? The donkey talking to Balaam. So why is was rebuked in the active, aorist, indicative tense?

OK, let me try to help us here. Active tense means he was rebuked. Let's go back. But he was rebuked for his iniquity. Presumably bail on it, right? He's rebuked for his iniquity. A dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice. And so I'm saying, why was, was rebuked in the active, meaning he's part of the rebuke. No, he's actively being rebuked.

What do you make of that? Eros tense means it happened once, has long lasting implications and indicative. This is a fact. Anybody figure that one out? he was actively meaning involved in the rebuke. Well, I guess if in fact your position is entirely sin, that you've contributed entirely to that rebuke and so you're actively involved because this is you who in fact are the one who's being accused and the iniquities that you're living out day in day out.

I don't know. I found that verb tense kind of interesting. Tom? Well, if he was that deeply committed to it, in spite of the rebuke, he would try to discredit the one who's rebuking him. Okay. Say that again first so everybody can hear it. He would try to discredit the mule or ass that was speaking to him. And he was ready to do it anyway. He couldn't care less what that animal said.

Okay. I like that. And you know, here's this donkey that's been carried by a female donkey, been carrying him around all this time. Then this angel shows up. We're not going to go into all those details because you can go back and read that if you want. I'm just laughing because I know the story. Imagine some ass speaking to you, never mind. This is what's going on here.

Who's doing the rebuke? Balaam himself and what we just indicated is in fact what Tom just said. Yes, in a sense his behavior, his position is one in fact he is in fact ignoring the kind of rebuking that comes from the Lord that in fact is self-inflicted.

Now, A or some person say the dumb donkey. It's not any old donkey, it's the dumb donkey that in fact he's riding on. Speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. Dumb means absence of speech. An example might be an idol. Idols don't talk, old donkeys don't talk. I wish my dogs could talk to us once in a while. They probably wouldn't talk to Margaret would they?

So now we're going to do another numbers thing and I'll read that for us. It's kind of a long passage. 22 what? 2330. All right, we'll move quickly through this. I think it's important to read the whole section to give you an idea of exactly what's taking place here.

And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, if the men come to call you, rise and go with them, but only the word which I speak to you that you shall do. Okay, so God's communicating with Balaam here. If they come to you, you can go with them, but only speak what I'm telling you to speak. So Balaam rose in the morning and he saddled his donkey and went with the princess of Boeh.

Then God's anger was aroused because he went and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. Now the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road. And then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. And when the donkey saw that the angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall. So he struck her again. Then the angel of the Lord went further and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.

And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she laid down under Balaam. So Balaam's anger was aroused. And he struck the donkey. This poor donkey is the third time this donkey has been struck. And then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey and she said to Balaam, what have I done to you that you struck me three times? Interesting, three times.

And Balaam said to the donkey, because you have abused me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you. And so the donkey said to Balaam, am I not your donkey on which you've ridden ever since I became yours to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?

And he said, no. And you can read on, then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, etc. So this poor donkey just transporting Balaam here and there and everywhere down to Costco and up to get some gas and all that kind of stuff. Anyway, you get the picture. Why do you think God rebuked Balaam in this manner? Why would he have this donkey speak to Balaam? Balaam was just as stubborn as a mule. Are those thoughts? I guess if a donkey were speaking to you, that would get your attention. Is this Disney World or something?

There is a person about who says they rebelled with their eyes wide open. rebelled with our eyes wide open. This is one of those fun things that the Lord allows us to look back on and enjoy in the correct manner when I say enjoy. How does this relate to Peter's message to the church? Remember we're in the New Testament, this is the church age and Peter is addressing the body of Christ here about false teachers. How does this relate? Does the fact that that the donkey spoke to Balaam, relate to us today, what do you think about that?

In a way, paralleling what happened in the Old Testament, you don't really need to go to this length to be so sin-filled that you have to act the way Balaam did, or be put into that position. You have the word of the Lord in your heart, and this is what's going on, and this is where You need to stop and think and turn away.

I think Tom hit the nail on the head. This is such an exaggerated version of what this lifestyle really looks like. By the way, be warned. These false teachers are out there. You unstable souls, get more stable in the word of God. Recognize that this is still possible. to be led astray.

And by the way, this example is ultimately a way that the Lord used to bring attention to you today. We're not speaking to you through donkeys anymore, but we're speaking to you by scriptural truth historically and what the outcome was in relationship to this behavior. Like Vernal says, faith in the facts, like the train on the tracks. Faith in the facts, like the train on the tracks.

Sounds like you ought to be teaching the children. And you have in the past. Madness is actually insanity. And it's the only biblical use of this term. Madness. Insanity. So if this were someone in a courtroom and they're pleading insanity, this behavior, if you will, would be called insane. Suggest Balaam knew what was right. I think ultimately what we just read in numbers would implicate that he had the knowledge of what was right and forsake what in fact he had done.

Prophet, is prophet of God? If we're calling this man a false teacher, which he is, and he loved unrighteousness, this is not a prophet of God, although God spoke to him directly. and raises the point of what did God hope to accomplish here? I think what God hoped to accomplish, and I don't have the mind of God, I'm positioned there, but I don't have the perfect mind of God, ultimately to show Israel how faithful he was. And that the error of Balaam was to say God's not faithful. We're not under the air, we're under the way. And the way of Balaam we'll summarize in a second. What a contrast, a dumb beast forbidding an inspired prophet. No way. I mean, this is not a prophet of God. And ultimately, today's lesson is to summarize the way of Balaam, which relates to the text before us about false teachers as someone who hires himself to religious work entirely for personal gain.

Sourced in sin, behavior exemplifying that source, and ultimately a love and a righteousness for personal greed and benefit. I think that's a warning maybe for today in terms of Again, believers, we all fall short at times. Sometimes the sin nature plays out and we regret those sins and we confess them and move on. But this is a different kind of performance here. We have to be cautious, I think, in the day in which we live in. Obviously, in the new church that Peter is writing to, the lay of the sea in ways ultimately gave the capability of this type of behavior existing in the new church. People had the question. Am I really saved? And here's an example of what an unsaved life looks like. Beware. Okay?

The way we used to find him that he was a highly profit who commercialized his gift. And he did well on it too. Boy, there are a lot of those on the TV, too. They do well if they're good. I just kind of touched the surface of Balaam. I mean, there's a lot in Numbers, particularly, but there's some in Deuteronomy. And of course, he's referenced in the later, I think, a couple of minor prophets in them in the New Testament. So Balaam is not an insignificant figure, biblically. And I didn't do him justice today, but it's an interesting study in its own right.

So that's yes, that's just in context. Right. So you're only referring to false teachers versus just say friends that could be available. That does not apply. We are specifically talking about false teachers. Is that right? False teachers in context are people who use the word of God for personal gain and are not believers.

So these are, I think charaders is the best example. Claiming charades. But of a higher authority versus just your common relationship with I think so because Balaam was a messenger or prophet defined in his time. So I think we are looking at people more in a leadership role. I don't think it could possibly apply to a more flexible circumstance. It would not be exactly in that position.

But the church is being warned that there are these kind of people out there and again remember this is written to the early church and I tried to indicate it could still have reference to us today. I mean, remember, Peter's writing to the body of Christ and we're just as much a member here now today as they were 1,950 years ago. Let's close in prayer. Tom, close us please. We can clear what this exploiter of souls can be doing even today, even as he was clearly delineated back there in Numbers, that this same attitude can be present in other people in our day and into a game for game, physical monetary game and nothing more. Keep us alert and aware of all this moment by moment, not just every so often when we are at least expecting it and are unprepared. In Jesus' name, Amen.