Study in the Epistle of Jude # 51: Verse 11

by Chris McCann

EBible Fellowship (http://www.ebiblefellowship.com)

Welcome to the Electronic Bible Fellowship’s Bible study. We are currently going through the book of Jude. We have come to verse 11, where God is admonishing those who would go in the way of Cain and who run greedily after the error of Balaam for reward. We have begun to look at Balaam and discuss whether he was a true child of God, as some seem to think, or whether he was a false prophet. Some of the language used about him does seem to point in the direction of him being a child of God, but clearly, we have seen that he was not a saved man. He is used by God in the Bible as a picture of someone who is bringing another kind of a gospel; he typifies false prophets. That is why he is found in the context of Jude verse 11, along with Cain and with Korah’s rebellion.

In Numbers 22, we find the historical account where Balak the king of Moab seeks to hire Balaam to curse Israel. We read in Numbers 22:2-6:

And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore 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 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 unto 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 out from 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, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

In this account, Balak the king of Moab is very much afraid of the Israelites. He has heard reports of their victories, and as it says in verse 2, “He saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.” He and his country of Moab were afraid of Israel and feared that Israel would take their land. They desired to somehow stop this invading army. Yet Israel seemed impossible to stop. They were overcoming greater nations than Moab. Balak thought that the answer to save his country and to prevent Israel from overcoming them was to hire a man named Balaam.

Balaam had a reputation as a prophet. He was in the land of Mesopotamia in Pethor, and there it was that Balak sent some of his princes, some of his honorable men, to find him. They were to bring him back so that he could pronounce a curse upon the Israelites who came out of Egypt—this was the plan. They felt that Israel’s power lay in spiritual things. After all, they had heard the reports of how God had blessed them mightily in bringing them out of Egypt. This was a spiritual battle, the king of Moab thought, so he needed a spiritual force on his side, which Balaam represented.

Historically, Balaam does come eventually. He does try to pronounce the curse, and we will look at that later. Spiritually, though, what could be in view by the nation of Moab and this king Balak as he seeks to hire Balaam to come and curse Israel? What is the spiritual picture that God is drawing for us?

One of the things that we know is that Moab is a type of the corporate church along with its brother Ammon. Moab, the progenitor of the Moabites, and Ammon, the progenitor of the Ammonites, were sons born to the daughters of Lot not long after God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. The daughters of Lot thought that perhaps the world was destroyed since the destruction of these cities had been such a terrible destruction. The language indicates that they thought there was not a man upon the earth other than their father. They arranged to lay with him in order to have a child by him. One of the daughters bore Moab, the other bore Ammon. Thus these two nations began.

We can know the historical beginning point of the Moabites and the Ammonites. It would have been around the year 2068 or 2067 BC. That we can know because Abraham was born in the year 2168 BC. When he was ninety-nine, God gave him the promise that in the next year he would have a son. At that very same time, God appeared to Abraham to indicate that he was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. It was the same year of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah that Lot would have fled to the mountains and his daughters would have arranged for him to drink wine and would have lain with him in order that they might be with child. It would have been nine months later that the children were born, so it could have gone into the next year, but it was right around 2067 or 2068 BC that the children Moab and Ammon were conceived and born into the world. From there, they grew and had marriages and bore children. From this, the nations of Moab and Ammon began to flourish and develop. God worked these things out. It was a part of His will that these two sons would become nations.

Now it is the time after Israel has come out of Egypt. It is many hundreds of years later than the time when Moab and Ammon were born and Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, just less than six hundred years later, and they have grown into nations themselves. Now Moab is sore afraid of the Israelites. They recognize that this is a spiritual battle.

Balak is a very interesting name. The Hebrew name here, the Hebrew word “Balak,” is identical to another Hebrew word that is translated as “waste” in Nahum 2:10. It says there:

She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth…

“Waste” is the word “Balak.” This word is found in one other place and that is Isaiah 24:1. It is basically the same idea there—that something is waste. Therefore, Balak is one who makes waste. We will see as we go along that it is very obvious that he is a type of Satan himself—Satan, who is the king of the Moabites. Moab is picturing the unsaved in the corporate church. The ultimate ruler, the king, of every unsaved person is not the Lord Jesus Christ, but it is Satan. The unsaved are under the power of sin and of Satan.

Balak is the king of these Moabites. His constant obsession to curse Israel fits exactly with the character of Satan. This is Satan’s constant desire; this is his all-encompassing purpose as he goes about to bring destruction on the churches and congregations of the world, as He comes as an angel of light and his emissaries as ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). The sole purpose for Satan’s attack upon the church is to make it desolate, to make it barren of life, and to take away any green grass, because God’s desire is to feed His people with green pastures and still waters (Psalm 23:2). Satan desires to destroy the land. He desires to cause a famine to be in the land where none can quench their thirst spiritually and where none can find spiritual bread. This is Satan’s character; this is his nature. He is always the adversary, and he is always against the people of God.

Here we have the Israelites coming out of Egypt. What does Egypt represent in this context? It is a picture of the world itself. These Israelites who are coming out of Egypt are the ones whom God has elected to salvation. The picture is that God is saving these people; they are the people of God. He has drawn them to Himself and forgiven their sins and covered over their transgressions, and He is bringing them out of Egypt. They are coming out of the world. They were in the world, they were in Egypt just like others, but now they have met with God and God has, through a mighty miracle, delivered them from Egypt, just as God through a mighty miracle of salvation delivers each sinner from the world and then draws them out of Egypt to Himself.

Where are these Israelites going? First, they are coming here to Moab. Let us remember what God said in Nehemiah 13:1-2. We read there:

On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever…

Why would God pronounce so drastic a condemnation on the Ammonite and the Moabite (there are two nations because “two” typifies the church)? What was their grievous sin? What terrible thing did these Ammonites and Moabites do that they should have an eternal curse declared against them? Nehemiah 13:2 says:

…Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.

“They met not the children of Israel with bread and with water.” This was the sin of Ammon and Moab—they did not provide bread and water for Israel.

How could it be that God could condemn someone for an eternity? How could it be that someone cannot come into the congregation of God forever? Right away we realize that this is not talking about the local church or the worldwide corporate church, but it is speaking of the eternal church—that is the only church that endures forever. It is talking about the congregation of the elect of God, of those who find salvation in this life and then go on to become part of the Jerusalem above, the Heavenly congregation, the body of believers.

The Ammonite and the Moabite will never enter into this spiritual Jerusalem. They will never become saved; they will never be one of God’s elect. The reason is that they did not provide bread and water. Now the Ammonites and the Moabites are a picture of the church. God is looking at those who have been in the churches throughout the Church Age.

God has saved a sinner from this country and from that country; He has saved one here and saved one there, and they have come out of Egypt. Then they go to their local church and they hear the Gospel. They know that God, during the Church Age, encouraged His people to gather together in the churches. This is where God would feed them. This is where God would nourish them by raising up pastors and elders who would break the bread of life and disperse the water of the Gospel.

The church is where the Israelites, the poor sinners coming out of the world, were to meet, and they were to be given bread and water. They were to be fed spiritually; they were to be taught the truth of the Word of God. They were to be taught what God says in the Bible, the whole counsel of God—nothing was to be held back. The pastor never had the right to pick and to choose what he would teach. He was to tell the congregation the whole truth, everything that God said regarding their sin and Hell and salvation. Everything was to be declared.

Yet what happened? The Ammonites and the Moabites did not meet the children of Israel, who were coming out of Egypt, with bread and water. They held it back; they did not provide the spiritual nourishment necessary for the Israelites. Historically, they did not treat them as honored guests or use hospitality towards them, yet the spiritual situation is that those in the churches who are not saved yet are professing to be Christians and children of God did not provide the Gospel. They did not provide the spiritual blessings of the Gospel. What did they do instead? They hired Balaam. They brought forth Balaam.

Balaam is a false prophet. He is a false teacher, one who would bring perverted drink and other kinds of gospels, other types of meat. He would not bring the pure water and the true bread of the Gospel, but he would come with a curse. This is the sin of Moab, and this was Balak’s desire, Satan’s desire, as Satan is the one who is always ruling the unsaved. Here, he was already working in the churches and congregations. He was working against the people of God who were coming out of Egypt. He was not providing for their needs in any way, but he was seeking to destroy them by hiring Balaam.

Ultimately, who is it who sets up these false prophets in the churches? Yes, it is the congregation—they are at fault and they have permitted this to happen. Yes, it is the elders and the deacons—they are the ones who were not careful enough and have allowed a man to become a pastor and teach things that are contrary to the Word of God. Yet ultimately, the one who is behind it all is Satan, typified here by Balak.

We can see that Balak’s desire is to find someone to curse Israel. He will go out of his way; he will send princes who are honorable to enlist Balaam. He will send money. Even after Balaam rejects the first attempt, he sends more princes who were more honorable than the first. The implication is that there was more promises of riches. Balak is doing everything that he can to get Balaam to curse Israel.

This is what Satan is all about; this is his constant desire. These are the forces that Satan brings to bear just to enlist another false prophet, someone who will possibly bring a curse upon those whom God has blessed.

Let us look once again to Deuteronomy 23:3-5. We read:

An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation…

Here is another proof text for the number “ten” representing completeness. How long will the Ammonite and the Moabite not be able to enter into the congregation of the Lord? Up until their tenth generation it says here. However, in Nehemiah 13:1, it says “for ever.” Therefore, the number “ten” is indicating that the completeness not only of time but also of eternity is in view. Once again, God is consistent in His use of numbers in the Bible. The passage continues:

…shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever: Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee.

This is the constant battle throughout time and especially throughout the Church Age. Satan working overtime, doing all he can to curse just one of God’s elect, to curse those Israelites, to curse those who are experiencing the salvation of God. However, God is turning the curse into a blessing. The wonderful thing is that it is an impossibility, a total and complete impossibility, for someone whom God has blessed to be cursed. Even though Satan is doing everything he can to stop God’s salvation plan and to hinder one of God’s elect from becoming saved, it will never work; he will never succeed. He will never be able to twist the Gospel sufficiently or hire enough false prophets to bring about a curse upon one whom God has blessed, because “the LORD thy God loved thee.”

God has loved His people. He has loved them with an everlasting love. He has loved them by paying for their sins on the Cross. He has paid for all their sins and He has bought them and redeemed them. He will save His people, each and every one of them, to the uttermost. He will save them and protect them from Satan’s attacks and his assaults and his attempts to interfere with God’s salvation. Satan is always the loser. This is why we say that the Lord Jesus Christ was victorious and that Satan is a defeated foe. He cannot stop the plan of God as it goes forth.

In our next study, Lord willing, we are going to look further at Balaam.