Clean Transcript

Twin Sisters or Sister Sins

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• All right, if you will look in your Bibles to the book of Numbers chapter 25. We're going to read the first nine verses. The reason I'm preaching this message today is just in the providence of God. I had a good friend asked me about a question and I decided, well, I'll just preach a message on it. And so, I prepared the message for today, and lo and behold, he texted me last night and said they would not be in church because their family—they have a lot of kids too—are all with the sniffles and all feeling poorly. And so I thought, you know, that's fine, but the Lord just gave me this message yesterday, and so I was impressed rather to preach it.

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• So, notice if you would please, the title of the message is "Twin Sisters or Sister Sins." So look in Numbers chapter 25 verse 1: "And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people into the sacrifice of their gods, and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Take all the heads of the people, hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.' And Moses said to the judges of Israel, 'Slay ye everyone his men that were joined unto Baal Peor.' And behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son

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• of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand. And he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand." So reminding you that the title of the message is "Twin Sisters or Sister Sins." So most of you know, if not all of you, are aware of the fact that Alice and I have identical twin girls.

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• Of course, now they are grown. They not only have children, but also grandchildren of their own. But yet they still remain identical twins. And there's a number of things that are interesting about them. One is when one twin calls the other, they say they know when the phone rings, it's the other twin calling. Now, they don't know when I'm calling them, but they know when the twin is calling them. When the phone rings, they can just pick up and say, "Hello, Leah" or "Hello, Laura," because they know it's there. And so when they were young, we were riding horses and no one had said anything for a long period of time. We were just—the horses were walking and we were riding side by side—and Leah

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• made this statement: "I really like her." And Laura on the other side of me said, "Yes, Cheryl is a very nice girl." I looked at Laura. I said, "How did you know who she was talking about?" She said, "I don't know. I just knew." And she was talking about Cheryl. And I've read interesting things about twins, especially identical twins, how one might have an attack of appendicitis and the other may be 500 miles away, and yet she begins to hurt like her sister. And of course, she doesn't have appendicitis, but she still begins to hurt. So there's a lot of interesting things about twins that we really don't understand. I used to joke with our twins, and I would use a spoonerism.

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• Now, a spoonerism is when you change the first letters of two words, for instance, like "Lance Packing Company." You would change the first letters of the first two words and it would be "Pants Placking Company." Okay? So, I would, instead of calling our girls twin sisters, I'd call them "Sin Twisters." So, this is exactly what we're talking about today. I was not telling you that just to tell you something about our twins, but what I was telling you is that there are sins that are twins. There are sins that go together, and there are sister sins in the sense that you cannot have one without the other. Now, in order to understand the sister sins or the twin sins, you have to understand the context.

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• So, I want you to go back in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Numbers chapter 22. Actually, what I'm going to be sharing with you is from Numbers 22 all the way through Numbers chapter 25. So, I want you to look Numbers 22 beginning there with verse 1. "And the children of Israel set forward and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was so afraid of the people because they were many. And Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And Moab said unto the elders of Midian." Now Moab and Midian are together.

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• "Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. He sent messengers therefore to Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, 'Behold, there is a people come up out of Egypt. Behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me. Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people, for they are too mighty for me. Peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, that I may drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.' And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand, and they came into Balaam and spake unto him the words of Balak." So Israel now has come into the land of Moab and Midian is there as well.

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• And they are absolutely terrified of Israel. And so Balak then sends for Balaam, who was a false prophet, that he might come and curse Israel for the intent that he might smite them in war and drive them out of the land. So Balaam then was a false prophet and yet the truth is he was used of the Lord in this instance and God used him to bless Israel instead of cursing them.

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• Now Balaam is called a soothsayer in Joshua 13 in verse 22. The Bible says, "Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer."

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• Now the word soothsayer happens to be the word chasam in the Hebrew. And it means one who practices divination. And of course, this would refer not only to all false prophets, but also the false prophets that happen to be in Israel. Now, if you will very quickly turn over in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 28, and look, if you would please, at verse 8, you will see that this is the exact same Hebrew word that is used when King Saul went to the witch of Endor and asked her to divine up Samuel. So in 1 Samuel chapter 28 and verse 8, "And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and went unto men with him.

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• And they came to the woman by night, and he said, 'I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.'" So he said, "Divine unto me." So this woman had a familiar spirit, which would be demonic. But notice if you would, the word divine and the word soothsayer are basically the same Hebrew word. So here's a question that should automatically appear in your mind: How could God use a false prophet? Balaam was indeed a false prophet. The answer is really rather simple, because God is quite able to use a crooked stick to draw a straight line. And God is just as sovereign over wicked and ungodly men as He is the godly and the righteous men as well.

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• You must remember Proverbs 21 and verse 1, where the Bible says this: "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as rivers of water He turneth it whithersoever He will." So God then is absolutely, totally sovereign.

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• Now, God will use wicked men, but He does not listen to them. The Bible tells you in Joshua 24 and verse 10, God said, "But I would not hearken unto Balaam, therefore he blessed you still, so I delivered you out of his hand." So God used him, but God certainly refused to listen to him.

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• Now, there are four truths that I must share with you in order to give you the message that I want to give you. And these four truths are basically between Numbers 22 and Numbers 25. So the first one that I want to give you is this: The unsaved, especially worldly materialistic men, believe that everything may be bought by money, and everything may be accomplished with money. That's how we get the old saying, "Every man has his price." You may see this attitude expressed in governments, and especially in our government. So, their attitude is this: if there is a program, it doesn't matter if it's unbiblical, doesn't matter if it's unconstitutional, such as the Department of Public Education, their philosophy is this: "Well, if it's not working, what we need to do is throw more money into it, put more money into it. Therefore, it's going to work." No, not necessarily so. But that is exactly what worldly materialistic men believe. So look in verse 7 of Numbers 22 again.

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• "And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand. And they came into Balaam and spake unto him the words of Balak." Why did they come with the rewards of divination? Because Israel was in their land. And they wanted Balaam to curse them so that they may defeat them in battle. It's just that simple. So they came then with money in their hand.

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• Now, I want you to note what happened. Numbers 22 beginning there with verse 8 and reading through verse 12. Balaam, when he was offered all this money, inquired of the Lord. So he says in verse 8, "And he said unto them, 'Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me.' And the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. And God came unto Balaam and said, 'What men are these with thee?' And Balaam said unto God, 'Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent unto me, saying, Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse me them, peradventure I shall be able to overcome them and drive them out.' And God said unto Balaam, 'Thou shalt not go with them. Thou shalt not curse this people, for they are blessed.'"

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• Now, it could not be stated any more plainly, or any more concisely, or any more pointedly. God said to Balaam, "You're not to go with these people. And you're not to curse Israel because they are blessed." In reality, this should have ended the issue right here. It should have ended the situation. However, wicked men believe, "Well, you just throw more money at this, or you give a little more honor, and then we're going to end up getting exactly that which we want." So, look in verse 13, "And Balaam arose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, 'Get you into your land, for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you.' And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, 'Balaam refuseth to come with us.' Now watch, 'And Balak sent yet again princes more and more honorable than they. And they came to Balaam and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me.'

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• "For I will promote thee unto very great honor." Now look at this. "And I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me. Come therefore, I pray thee, and curse me this people." So now Balak says to Balaam, "You come do what I'm asking you, and you just name your price. I'll give it to you. Just name your price." Now, he said, "I will promote you to great honor, and I'll do whatever you ask me." Now, Balaam already knew that God said, "Don't go with them." He already knew that God says, "Do not curse this people." But yet now more honorable princes came, so if you'll look in verse 18, "And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, 'If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less or more. Now therefore I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more.'" Why do you need more, Balaam?

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• God's already told you. But here it is. "And God came unto Balaam at night and said unto him, 'If the men come to call thee, rise up and go with them. But yet the word which I shall say unto thee thou shalt do.' And Balaam rose up in the morning and saddled his ass and went with the princes of Moab." Wow. Now, I want you to know, God said, "If the men call thee, then you go with them." The men did not call him. He just simply rose up and went with them. So look in verse 21, "And Balaam rose up in the morning and saddled his ass and went with the princes of Moab." Wow. So most worldly men believe that everything can be settled with money. Here's the second truth: Most men will do anything for money, even fly in the face of God, violate his law, and break his commandments.

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• You have to ask yourself this question: How is it that Balaam, who knew the express commands of God, arose and went with the princes anyhow? The answer is not just because he was a false prophet. He was a false prophet. But here's the answer: He valued money and the praise and honor of man more than he valued the one true and the living God. So, I want you to listen carefully to these passages of Scripture. The first one is found in 2 Peter 2, verse 15. Listen carefully. Balaam is mentioned in the New Testament several times. Here's one of them. 2 Peter 2, verse 15: "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." Who loved the wages of unrighteousness. And then in the book of Jude, verse 11: "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah."

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• So we often speak of men who were willing to sell their soul for money. And Balaam was certainly one of those individuals. He was willing to do that, and those men today who are willing to sell God out for money are said to be following the way of Balaam by loving the wages of unrighteousness. And Jude says they're the ones who run greedily after the error of Balaam for reward.

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• Now, I want to just show you the absolute blindness and stupidity of such men. And I'm using the word stupidity purposefully. I want you to look at Numbers chapter 22 and let's begin reading with verse 22 and read through verse 33. I'm going to point something out I hope will be very helpful to you. But look in verse 22: "And God's anger was kindled because he went.

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• And the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand. And the ass turned aside out of the way and went into the field. And Balaam smote the ass to turn her into the way. And the angel of the Lord stood in a path by the vineyards, a wall being on this side and a wall on the other side. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself into the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall, and he smote her again. And the angel of the Lord went further and stood in a narrow place, for there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam, and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.

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• And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, 'What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?' And Balaam said unto the ass, 'Because thou hast mocked me, I would there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill thee.' And the ass said unto Balaam, 'Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? Was I ever wont to do so unto thee?' And he said, 'Nay.'

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• I'm going to be honest with you. I smile every time I read this, because I can just imagine this conversation. Can you imagine a man talking to his ass? The ass has never spoken before in his entire life. And yet now he's carrying on the conversation. You're talking about someone actually dumb and not recognizing something. But watch if you would in verse 31: "Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand, and he bowed down his head, and he fell flat on his face. And the angel of the Lord said unto him, 'Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times?'

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• 'Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me. And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times. Unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee and saved her alive.'" I want you to understand something here. This is absolutely astounding. The ass, the animal, saw the angel of the Lord with the sword drawn in his hand.

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• And understood that there was danger. Balaam, the prophet, the diviner, did not see the angel of the Lord. He was totally, absolutely blind and totally, absolutely stupid to this. So herein reveals what you and I would call the blindness of man by nature. Also herein reveals the righteous and just anger and wrath of God against such men who love the wages of unrighteousness.

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• Now, I want to show you something. Whole Numbers 22, but turn right over, if you would, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32. And I want you to look at verses 34 and 35. Deuteronomy 32. And look, if you would, at verse 34. Look at the question that God asked. Look at this: "Is not this laid up in store with me and sealed up among my treasures?" Now, what's laid up in store with God? What is sealed among His treasures? Verse 35: "To me belongeth vengeance and recompense.

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• Their foot shall slide in due time, for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste." Note, if you would, it's only a matter of time, until the men of this world that sell themselves for the love of money and honor, the honor of men, shall meet the righteous judgment of God. You look at the billionaires today, who are so insane in the sense that they're trying to destroy people everywhere, and control the world. And yet God says it's just a matter of time, their foot shall slide in due time.

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• Now, if you will go back to Numbers chapter 22 and verses 34 and 35, Balaam does acknowledge his fault, but he does not repent. So in verse 34, "And Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, 'I have sinned, for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me.'

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• 'Now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.' I'll go back. And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, 'Go with the men, but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak.' So Balaam went with the princes of Balak." Now, you actually know the rest of the story, and I'm not going to take you through this, but Balak took Balaam to three distinct positions to see Israel. Each time Balaam had Balak build an altar and they sacrificed upon that altar and each time Balaam instead of cursing Israel ended up blessing Israel. So Balak is very, very upset. So if you look in Numbers chapter 23, and look, if you would, at verses 18 through 21. This is one of the prophecies that Balaam gave. "And he took up his parable and said, 'Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor.'" So now he's preaching to Balak.

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• He says, "God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless, and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it."

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• Now, I want you to pay attention to verse 21: "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them." So, listen carefully to this. God will not curse where there is no wickedness, perverseness, or iniquity. God curses sin. You've heard me say this thousands of times by now. God has ordained that blessings always follow obedience, and curses always follow disobedience. Now, I want you to look at Numbers 23 and verse 23.

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• Here's another truth we need to understand: "Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. According to this time, it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'What hath God wrought?'"

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• Now note what he said: "There is no enchantment against Jacob. Neither is there any divination against Israel." Let me just spell this out for you. He is saying that we do not have to be fearful of curses, of hexes, of the rantings and ravings of wicked individuals. You can't put a hex upon that which God has blessed. You cannot curse that which God has blessed. I never will forget that there was a teacher that I had in 11th grade.

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• She was a very attractive woman. She was tall, stately. Every teenage boy in the school was in love with her. But she was married. And I never will forget the time that I really lost all respect for her. And I was not even a Christian at the time, but I did have a little sense because my father and mother had taught me quite well. But her husband happened to be a revenue agent. And he was, when I say a revenue agent, he fought against the moonshiners.

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• He'd go out and break up stills and that kind of thing. Well, he was in training in some school, and she was supposed to go up and meet with him that weekend. And she told us that she was going. And then when Monday came and we were back in school, she told us she didn't go. And I asked her, "Well, why did you not go to meet your husband?" "Well, on the way out of town," she said, "I stopped at a fortune teller and the fortune teller told me that if I went, it would end up in tragedy. So I didn't go."

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• And I thought, "And I thought you were an educated woman. I thought you had better sense than that." But, you know, that's the way people are. They will trust anything and they will fear anything other than God and other than his word. May I remind you of Romans chapter 8 and verse 31 and 32. The Apostle Paul said, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?" So there is no enchantment, there is no divination that can be used against the people of God when they are obedient unto God. When they serve Him and love Him, no, nothing is going to work like that. You cannot curse those whom God has blessed.

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• Now here's the third truth, and it's vitally important. You must remember that Balak wanted to war against Israel. So if you look back in verse 6 of Numbers chapter 22, here's why he sent for Balaam to begin with. He said, "Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people, for they are too mighty for me. Peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land.

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• For I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed." So when Balaam then ended up blessing Israel instead of cursing Israel, Balaam knew at that point, and Balak knew at that point, that Israel could not be defeated in battle. Because all Balaam did was to bless Israel and he did not curse them.

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• Now, we have a little problem. We have a situation now that exists between Balaam and Balak. And that problem is this: Balak now knows that he cannot defeat Israel, he cannot drive them out of his land. And Balaam now knows he's not going to get the rewards of his divination because he hasn't done what Balak wanted done because he ended up blessing instead of cursing. Now look in Numbers chapter 24 beginning there with verse 10. Watch this: "And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together. And Balak said unto Balaam, 'I called thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. Therefore now flee thou to thy place.' You better get out of my sight.

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• 'I thought to promote thee into great honor, but lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honor.' And Balaam said unto Balak, 'Spake I not also to thy messengers which sentest unto me, saying, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord to do either good or bad of mine own mind, but what the Lord saith will I speak?'" Wow.

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• Well, I want you to note something. Here is the dilemma. Balak wants Israel cursed. Balaam wants his rewards of divination. But it appears like neither one of them is going to get what they want. Well, here's an interesting thing. Balaam, in one sense of the word, understood the situation. And so what he does is he counsels Balak. So I want you to look, if you would, in Numbers chapter 24.

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• And notice, if you would please, in verse 14. Look what Balaam says to Balak: "And now therefore, behold, I go unto my people. You want me to leave? I'm willing to go. Come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days."

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• Now, the word advertise is the Hebrew word yats, and it means, listen carefully, to advise, to consult, to give counsel, and to deliberate, and to devise a plan. So, what Balaam has done in order to receive the rewards of divination, is he has devised a plan and counseled Balak what to do in order to get Israel cursed. Now how do we know that just from the word advertise?

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• Well the answer is because there's other passages that tell us so. So if you look in Numbers chapter 31 and verse 16. To begin with Numbers chapter 31 look in verse 16 and here it is spelled out very plainly: "Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor. And there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord." Note if you would, "Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam."

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• If you would turn right on over to the little minor prophet Micah. Looking after Jonah, you have Micah. Micah chapter 6, and look if you would at verse 5. Micah 6 and verse 5. God says, "O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal, that you may know the righteousness of the Lord." So he said, look, Balak asked and Balaam answered. One more. If you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Revelation, chapter 2 and verse 14. Revelation 2 in verse 14. Look what God says: "But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication." Notice what he said, "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam." What was the doctrine of Balaam?

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• He taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to get them to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. Now the word stumbling block is the Greek word skandalon. It is where we get our English word scandal. And so a skandalon was the trip stick in a snare. And when the animal tripped that stick, then the animal was ensnared or captured. And so God is saying what Balaam did was he counseled Balak on how to ensnare the children of Israel. Now look, if you would remember this, Balaam wanted his rewards and Balak wanted Israel cursed. So Balaam then comes up with a plan. He counsels Balak how to accomplish this. So what was the plan? It was very simple: Be neighborly. Invite Israel to your feasts. Seduce them to fornication and idolatry, and God will judge them Himself.

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• Now, I want you to go back to Numbers chapter 23, and look if you would please at verse 21. Look at what Balaam said in one of his prophecies. Look at it. Numbers 23 verse 21: "He, that is God, hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them." God would not curse Israel, because he had not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither had he seen perverseness in Israel. Wow.

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• So Balaam then advises Balak to be kind and neighborly, invite them to the feast and their sacrifices to let their women entice them to fornication and get them to actually worship Baal Peor. And when this happens, God himself will curse Israel. You will have what you want. I'll have what I want.

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• Now, I'm going to give you three quotes. I want you to listen. The first one is from Matthew Poole. He said, "The Moabites being now neighbors to the Israelites and finding themselves unable to effect their design against Israel by war and witchcraft, they now fell another way to work by contracting familiarity with them and perceiving their evil and lustful inclinations that they, in other words, their daughters, last mentioned, invited them to their feast."

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• So we've got some pretty young women that are inviting the men, the Israelites, to their feasts. Free meal. Lots of food. John Trapp, the Puritan, says this: "Gluttony is the gallery that lechery walketh through." Full stomach. Now, therefore, lechery. So, the twin sisters, or the sister sins, in Numbers 25, are fornication and idolatry. You cannot have one without the other. They go hand in hand and they are always together.

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• Now if you look in Numbers chapter 25 and verse 1, "And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab." Now the word whoredom there would refer not just to physical fornication and adultery, it would also refer to spiritual adultery and fornication. It may surprise you that the term adultery in the Bible, while at times it does refer to physical acts, most of the time it refers to spiritual acts. The same thing with the word whoredom as well.

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• I want you to listen because I'm going to give you a rather lengthy quote from John Calvin. It's several paragraphs long, but it is a valuable quote. So listen carefully. Calvin writes, "From this narrative, we learn assuredly that the people were no more able to bear prosperity than adversity."

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• Now let me just stop right there. Most people fail in prosperity. In adversity, we usually stay strong. Why? Because we're crying out to God for help. We're in pain or we're in need and we cry to Him. But when we get into prosperity, oftentimes we forget God. That's what Deuteronomy chapter 8 is all about. Don't forget God when He blesses you.

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• Now, listen to what else he said: "Heretofore, either worn out by fatigue or rendered impatient by abstinence and famine, they'd often rebelled against God.

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• Now, when they have entered a habitable land and are resting in the midst of fruitful fields, they are incited by their more comfortable dwelling places and more pleasant mode of life to lasciviousness and the indulgence of filthy lust. Moses relates how, when they had given way to their lust, they fell at the same time into whoredom and idolatry. We shall presently see that this arose from the counsel of Balaam." We've already seen that.

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• "That the Moabites should prostitute their women to the Israelites in order to entice them by their blandishments to unholy worship. Balaam had learned by experience that God's favor was an invincible safeguard to protect the people from all injury. He therefore invents a plan whereby they may destroy themselves by not only depriving themselves of God's protection, but also by provoking his wrath against them. By this fan, then, Balaam stirred up the fire and impelled those poor wretches inflamed by blind lechery to another crime by which they might arouse against themselves the enmity of God. Consequently, Paul, referring to this history, informs us that the punishment which will be mentioned immediately was inflicted upon them for fornication. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 8. For although it was God's design to avenge the violation of his worship, still it is fitting to examine into the origin and source of the evil.

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• Just as if a drunken man has killed a person, the murder will be imputed to his drunkenness. So Paul, seeing the Israelites impelled by fornication to idolatry, sets before us the punishment as a warning to deter us from fornication, which was the primary cause of their chastisement, and the means of their corruption. One sin leads to the other. Since then, the fall from one sin to another is so easy,

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• let us hence learn to be more watchful, lest Satan should entangle us in his snares. Let us also observe that he creeps upon us by degrees, in order to entrap us. The Moabitish damsels did not straightway solicit the Israelites to worship their idols, but first invited them to their banquets and thus tempted them to idolatry. For if the mention had been made at first of idol worship, perhaps they might have shuddered at the atrocity of the crime to which they allowed themselves to be beguiled by degrees.

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• Now, to be present at a feast which was celebrated in the honor of false gods was a kind of indirect renunciation of the true God. And when they had been attracted thus far, they threw aside all shame and abandoned themselves to that extreme act whereby they transfer the honor due only to the one true and the living God to false and imaginary deities."

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• Now, let me make a statement. And I want you to listen to me. I said that fornication and idolatry are twin sins. They're sister sins. They go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. You say, "Now wait a minute, Brother Weaver. I know individuals who have committed fornication or adultery. And they never bowed down to an idol." Yes, they did. Yes, they did. Because that idol happened to be themselves.

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• They were preferring their will over God's will. Their lust over God's command. What they wanted more than that which God ordered and commanded. And so their fornication was indeed a type of idolatry, because they place themselves above God.

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• Now I want you to listen. Colossians 3 and verse 5: "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, listen, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." So all of these things that are mentioned in Colossians 3 and verse 5 is idolatry. Fornication, inordinate affections, uncleanness, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. So if I covet anything that Brother Clay has, I am an idolater. If I'm a fornicator, I'm an idolater. If I am lascivious, if I am licentious, if I have evil thoughts, I am an idolater. I'm placing what I think above God.

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• In 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 7, when the Apostle Paul is writing in that passage what happened in Numbers 25, he says this in verse 7: "Neither be ye idolaters, as some of them, as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.'" Neither be ye idolaters, as some of them, for the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. The word play is the Greek word paizo, and it's translated in the Bibles, it means to play, to sport, and to jest.

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• Now this kind of playing is not playing volleyball. It's not playing basketball. It's not playing croquet. No. It has reference to sex. So, if you will look in your Bibles, back to Genesis 26 and verse 8. Let me just show you this momentarily. You remember when Abraham went out of the land because of the famine, he told Sarah, "You're going to have to say that you're my sister, because you're so beautiful, men will kill me that they might have you." Well, she was his half-sister. But, she agreed, and you remember Abimelech took her. And God came to Abimelech by night and said, "If you touch her, you're a dead man, because she's another man's wife." And Abimelech said, "In the innocency of my hand, in the integrity of my heart, have I done this?" And God said, "Therefore, have I held thee from sinning against me.

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• He said, "I knew that." Now, so, when Isaac went down, he did the same thing with Rebekah. He said that she's my sister. Well, just like Abraham got caught, Isaac gets called as well. Look at this Genesis 26 in verse 8. Genesis 26 look at verse 8: "And Abimelech called Isaac." That's verse 9. Verse 8: "And it came to pass when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out the window and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac and said, 'Behold, of a surety, she is thy wife. How saidst thou, She is my sister?' And Isaac said unto him, 'Because I said, Lest I die for her.'" What was Isaac doing? He was acting in a way that very obviously, Rebekah was not his sister. He was sporting with her.

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• He was playing with her. It was a sexual thing. And Abimelech says, "You've lied to me. This woman happens to be your wife." And so likewise, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. The interesting thing in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 14, when Paul concludes what he's talking about from Numbers chapter 25, he says, "Wherefore, dearly beloved, flee from idolatry." He doesn't say flee from fornication. He says flee from idolatry. Because fornication and idolatry always go hand in hand. And fornication always leads to idolatry. Idolatry then encompasses the sin of fornication as well as all the other sins that happen to be mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. One sin always leads to the other sin. And fornication and idolatry always go hand in hand. They're twin sins. They are sister sins. You cannot have one without the other. In fornication, you end up worshipping yourself and your lust over and above God.

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• Now, let me try to tie this together and make some applications and show you the whole point that I want to emphasize today. The first one is this. This is not the whole point, but it is a point. If the fornicators and idolaters of this world think that they shall escape the righteous judgment of God, they're deceived because the righteous judgment of God will always catch up with those who sell themselves for money and those who sell themselves for sin and unrighteousness. You cannot commit fornication and idolatry and escape the righteous judgment of God. Remember now, it was Moab and Midian that came together with the rewards of divination for Balaam. Listen to this.

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• Numbers 31 and verse 8: "And they, that is the Israelites, slew the kings of Midian beside the rest of them that were slain, namely Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, five kings of Midian. Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword." Wow. Joshua 13 verse 22: "Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with a sword among them that were slain."

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• Do you remember that passage in Deuteronomy 32? "Their foot shall slide in due time. And the things that shall come upon them shall make haste." God, when He judges, will bring it upon them very quickly.

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• Now, the Bible tells you in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, that this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you may know how to possess your vessel in sanctification and honor. And he's talking about abstaining from fornication. And then when you get down to verse 8, he says it like this: "He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God." Now, here's the point. I hope this sinks deeply within your minds. Here we go.

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• It is true we're in a warfare. But right now, we are not in a physical warfare in the sense that we're shooting at each other.

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• Now, there are some Christians that are being shot at, that is for sure. There are some being killed, that is for sure. But it's not an open warfare. I will tell you this, I believe if Satan thought, if the wicked thought that they could kill every Christian and get away with it, they would do so. It could come into an open warfare. I understand that. But why in the world would you go to open warfare if all you had to do was seduce professing Christians into sin and get God to judge them?

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• I want you to stop and think about this. What Balaam counseled Balak to do to Israel is exactly what our flesh and what the world does to us. Little by little. It makes us think that we can do this and it has no effect. We can do something else and it's really not going to hurt us that much. And you keep going and keep going and keep going until all of a sudden, you're in open sin and rebellion against God. And you have been seduced into your sin. There are lures to the flesh. There are lures to the world. Do you remember what God said? "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Why? For all that is in the world is the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. And the world and lust thereof pass away, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." But you remember what Paul said about Demas in 2 Timothy chapter 4?

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• "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world." You look at the pleasures of the world. You look, if you would, at... Well, our Lord said it in Matthew chapter 13 about being concerned with the world and with the supplies of the world. In other words, it doesn't necessarily have to be worldly attractions that's pulling us away. It could just be the fact that we have to make a living, we have to work, and we have to have a better car, and we have to have a better TV set, or something like that, and we are so intent on that, and we neglect our Scriptures, we neglect prayer, we neglect worship, we neglect God. We're just seduced. We're drawn aside by the lust of our eyes, the lust of our flesh, the pride of life, and the world. And we end up in spiritual whoredom against God.

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• Balaam was a false prophet. But he did understand. You can't curse whom God has blessed. But if you can get people to sin against God, God's going to judge them. And if you're a child of God, He'll chastise you. And the world and the flesh will do everything it can to seduce you and draw you away. That was Balaam's plan. That's Satan's plan. That's the world's plan. That's the plan of the flesh. Stay away from the counsel of Balaam, it will destroy you. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask that you would help us and teach us and build us up in the most holy faith and give us, Lord, wisdom, understanding, that we may avoid the counsel of Balaam and avoid falling into the trap that has been set for us by our flesh and by our world and by our enemy. Give us, Lord, your mercy, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.

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• so so

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T19:04:31Z