The "Doctrine of Balaam"

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus instructs John to write letters to seven different churches. These letters speak prophetically to the Church today. To the church at Pergamum, Jesus says this,

“Nevertheless I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.” –Revelation 2:14

So who was Balaam, and what did he do? We read about Balaam in Numbers 22. He was a prophet who used his gift for personal gain. King Balak tried to pay Balaam to corrupt God’s people by cursing them. God wouldn’t allow that. So Balaam came up with a crafty plan. 

He sent Moabite women to infiltrate God’s people, marry with the men, and led the Israelites astray through the men. It worked. The men followed their wives to worshipping other gods and God’s people became corrupted.

So what is Jesus warning us about today? Who are those on the outside who have tried to get the Church to abandon Christ’s teachings but have failed and are now trying to infiltrate the Church? I believe one of these “Doctrines of Balaam” is evolution. For years the world has tried to get the Church to abandon theGenesis account of creation and embrace a more naturalistic evolutionary view of the origins of the universe.

That hasn’t worked out so well. So now what has happened is the world has convinced a few Christian leaders to embrace atheistic evolution and they are now infiltrating the Church leading God’s people astray that way… Just like Balaam did. 

But what’s the big deal? Why is it important that Christians hold fast to what is written in Genesis 1 and 2? I mean, would it really be a big deal if in fact, the Genesis account of creation is not true and human beings truly are just animals that have evolved from primates? Consider these observations.

If the Genesis account of creation is not true then our entire faith begins to become unraveled. If the creation story is just a parable, then that means death and suffering happened before The Fall in the Garden of Eden. The Bible tells us that before Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, there was no suffering, disease, or death. 

In fact, Genesis tells us that The Fall is the cause of suffering, disease, and death in the world. If the earth has existed for billions of years and life forms have been evolving for billions of years, then obviously there has been disease, suffering, and death long before any man or woman came on the scene or any “forbidden fruit”. If that is true, then everything we believe about sin is false, and so is your salvation.

That would also mean that Adam could not have been a historical person, and his subsequent fall could not have been a historical event. That means that many crucial passages in the New Testament must be false and the Word of God is a lie. For example,

“Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was the pattern of the one to come.  –Romans 5:14

“So it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life giving spirit.” -1stCorinthians 15:45

“For Adam was formed first, then Eve.” -1st Timothy 2:13

Adam being a historical person and The Fall in the Garden of Eden being a historical event are crucial foundations in the doctrine of sin, Jesus, and the resurrection. If the Genesis account of creation is not true, then that means Jesus was a liar. A naturalistic evolutionary view of creation says that the universe has existed for billions of years as has the earth, and that mankind came billions of years after the beginning of creation. Jesus says something different.

“But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female.” –Mark 10:6

Jesus didn’t say that mankind; male and female were made billions of years after the beginning of creation. Jesus said that the human race was made AT THE BEGINNING of creation, not billions of years after the fact. Not only that, but Jesus also says in Matthew 23:35 that murder began with a literal person; the murder of Abel.

Now, if Jesus considered Abel to be a historical person, then Abel’s father must have been a historical person too. Abel’s father of course was, Adam. In fact, if we say that the first six chapters of the Bible are myth, story, hyperbole, allegory, etc, then that means thatmuch of the genealogy of Jesus listed in Matthew and Luke are myths too. That would make everything our Lord and Savior claimed He was a myth. Jesus was and is a real person, and He is not the descendant of myths.

That would also mean a lot of people in the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11 are myths too. You see, you just can’t explain the first six chapters of Genesis as stories. They are crucial and they are the foundation for our entire faith. If we change or erode the foundation, the rest of the house is sure to collapse.

That is what the teachers of this “Doctrine of Balaam” want however. They want to lead the Church astray.They couldn’t do it from the outside, so they have sent people to infiltrate the Church to lead us astray from the inside. Leave these churches that deny Genesis and teach evolution behind. They are false churches led by false teachers. Return to God’s true Church.