See my comments on Numbers, chapter 25;
“Numbers 25:1 ¶ And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people
began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2 And they called the people unto the
sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
3 And Israel joined himself unto
Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the
heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the
fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. 5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel,
Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.
The Israelites begin consorting with Moabite women. This also
included the worship of their gods.
Here is what Balaam was able to accomplish against Israel. He
would not curse them. He could not. But he could lay a stumblingblock in their
path to service to God, a sexual stumblingblock as we have already learned
about the sexual content of ancient religion. First, the point at from where
this began would be when Balaam was with Balak who was demanding a curse but
getting a blessing.
Numbers 23:28 And Balak
brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.
Numbers 31:16 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.
Revelation 2:14 But I have
a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine
of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of
Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
Baalpeor means
obviously ‘god of Peor’ or ‘lord of Peor’, a physical location we have seen in
the text. The context indicates the sexual nature of the worship of this local
god which, unfortunately, like all of the hypersexualized worship of the
Canaanites we’ve already looked at was a stumblingblock to this race of former
slaves of Egypt. This is not a case of, “oh, them local girls sure are pretty,”
considering what you and I have learned about religious customs in Canaan so
far. God orders Moses to execute every one who fell to this very sensual
worship of this local Canaanite god.
Once the Israelites began enjoying physical relations with the
Canaanite women spiritual decline was inevitable.
1Kings 11:1 But king
Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women
of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
Nehemiah 13:26 Did not
Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no
king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all
Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.
Put it in a modern perspective. You tried to raise your son or
daughter right. You permitted them to go away to school. They announce to you
at some point that they have fallen in love with a local girl or boy where they
are. Marriage follows and then children, hopefully in that order. But you
notice that the children seem to be raised with a different standard than the
one you set for your child. Your grandchildren act very differently than your
child did growing up, usually with less impulse-control and perhaps even acting
a bit disrespectfully. You realize that if your child’s spouse was raised in a
more liberal environment with less order than your child this will be reflected
in your grandchildren’s behavior. We cannot underestimate the power of a child
raised with a lower standard has on even a young person who you think is firm
and solid in their beliefs and standards. It can be very disheartening. While
you raised your child to be respectful of other’s property and a good guest in
someone else’s home your grandchild acts like a Vandal sacking Rome when they
visit. Maybe you notice that the family does not attend church faithfully or
even, in some cases, bear any resemblance to a Christian family.
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