Witchcraft's Deception Part 5

The third standard our precious Lord raises for us is this;

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit want us to overcome: (Rev 2:14-17)

·         “But I have a few things against you, that you have there those holding the teachings of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat idol sacrifices, and to commit fornication. So you also have those holding the teaching of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent! But if not, I will come to you quickly, and I will make war with them by the sword of My mouth. The one who has an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To the one overcoming, I will give him to eat from the hidden manna. And I will give to him a white stone, and on the stone a new name having been written, which no one knows except the one receiving it.”

What are the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans and are we holding to them? The teachings of the Nicolaitans included a Gnostic doctrine that included approval of a community of wives, it taught that adultery was not sinful and eating meat sacrificed to idols was permissible. 

In the Book of numbers starting in chapter 22, there is a story of the Israelites journeying into the land of Moab and camping.  So, Balak, king of Moab, being scared that the Israelites would do to them what they did to the Ammorites, sent for a prophet named Balaam to curse God’s people.  He offered him fees for divination and waited on Balaam to seek God’s counsel on the matter.  God answered him many times very quickly and put words in his mouth showing that he was a true prophet and was hearing the voice of the Lord.  You might remember it as the story of the talking ass.   Balaam went and blessed the people instead of cursing them because of his fear of the Lord, but he made one fatal mistake due to his desire for the monetary reward.  He told Balak how to get the Israelites to commit sexual immorality and engage in idol worship so that the Lord would curse them Himself.  After that the Spirit of the Lord left Balaam and he was called a soothsayer afterwards.  This was someone who was hearing clearly the voice of the Lord and who blew it because of greed and selfishness .

When the sons of Israel began playing the harlot with the daughters of Moab, the Lord became angry and told Moses to kill all the ones who had joined themselves to the Baal.  The daughters of Moab were of the serpent’s seed and God would not tolerate the mixture of Holy and evil.  It is referred to as a plague on the sons of Israel and 24,000 died by it.

I think it is safe to say that the Lord will not tolerate His people joining themselves to false gods to commit immoralities.  Maybe the Lord wants us to stop tolerating certain things.

·         We cannot tolerate immorality in our people.

·         We cannot tolerate our people following false doctrine.

·         We cannot tolerate our people worshipping false gods, idolatry, or witchcraft.
To be continued...