House of Hope Online

August 10, 2025

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Last week we spent time in 2^nd Peter 3 reviewing the promise of the Lord that the present heaven and earth are reserved for destruction by fire, and a new heaven and earth will be established for our eternal abode with Jesus.  The Apostle encourages us to live in eager anticipation of this day, and to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus as you wait.  Peter also teaches us to be on guard against getting carried away by the error of unprincipled men.

Today, I want to continue with the danger of following the thinking and beliefs of unprincipled individuals within the mainstream of our society.  The leaders of nations, the elite citizens in those nations, as well as world leaders of science, medicine, and educational systems can all be perverted by the thoughts and recommendations of unprincipled people, who secretly put forth ungodly doctrine or practices.

Interestingly, Peter addresses the topic in 2^nd Peter 2 when he discusses the dangers of false teachers among us.

2^nd Peter 2:

 1 ¶ But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;

 3 ¶ and in [their] greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

Notice in verse 1 that false teachers “secretly introduce destructive heresies…”  Heresy is defined as an opinion, doctrine, or practice that is contrary to the truth.  Within the context of 2^nd Peter 2, heresy is contrary to the word of God, which is truth.  The false teacher secretly introduces the heresy, which means parents may not be aware of what is being taught.  Sound familiar?

Also note that Peter calls them “destructive heresies” that deny the Master, referring to Jesus.  So, clearly, the Apostle is referring to leaders and teachers, and school systems, and even some church leaders, who deny Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Verse 2 says they will follow their sensuality, which is self-gratification of the senses, deficient in morality or spirituality, and as a result, the way of the truth (the Gospel) will be maligned.  This means that secular wisdom seeks to gratify self and harshly criticize the word of God.

All of that makes sense, right?  To gratify self, one must put down the word of God.  The Bible teaches us to humble ourselves in the presence of the Lord, and God is opposed to the proud.  Therefore, false teachers must secretly introduce heresies that seek to destroy the wisdom of the word of God.

Verse 3 says: “…in their greed they will exploit you with false words…”  Use of the word “exploit” here is interesting because in the original Greek, it refers to financial manipulation in the buying and selling of merchandise.  This is a clear reference to the global elites, who will use false teachings, contrary to the word of God, to profit themselves as they manipulate the populace.

More Unprincipled Guidance

There is more to guard against when it comes to the error of unprincipled men.  Today, the leaders of many nations are unprincipled in establishing the policies and positions of their nation regarding Israel.  Recently, Canada, the UK, France, and Australia have taken anti-Israel positions with respect to pro-Palestinian interests.  We have also seen, for some time now, anti-Israel positions in United Nations resolutions, and even within a growing faction in the United States.  Pro-Palestine protests are becoming increasingly common at universities in this country, as false teachers continue to profess destructive heresies that malign the word of God.  More of the mainstream are intent on cursing Israel, instead of blessing her, as the Bible instructs.

Even a Donkey Knows That!

This same unprincipled guidance is illustrated in Chapter 22 of the Book of Numbers, which tells the story of the Old Testament Prophet, Balaam, who had to be told by his donkey that He was transgressing the word of God.  2^nd Peter 2 refers to it briefly.

2^nd Peter 2:

 15 forsaking the right way they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the [son] of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,

 16 but he received a rebuke for his own transgression; [for] a dumb donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.

The context of the story of Balaam the Prophet is interesting.  The people of Israel were in the wilderness and encamped in the plains of Moab.  This caused King Balak of Moab to become fearful because of the number of Israelites, and because Israel had recently defeated the Amorites.  Balak therefore sent a contingent of elders to ask the prophet Balaam to curse Israel so the Moabites could defeat them and drive them out of the territory.

Numbers 22:

 7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the [fees for] divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam and repeated Balak’s words to him.

 8 And he said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring word back to you as the LORD may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam.

 9 Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”

 10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent [word] to me,

 11 ‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I may be able to fight against them, and drive them out.’”

 12 And God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people; for they are blessed.”

Notice that the Moabites had the fees of divination in their hands, which means they were intent on the prophet using witchcraft against Israel.  While Balaam may have been motivated by the promise of cash, he nevertheless vowed not to do or say anything unless the Lord directed him.  Note that God said: “you shall not curse the people; for they are blessed.”

Despite the word of the Lord that Israel shall not be cursed, Balaam found himself carried away by the error of unprincipled men and the promise of riches.

Numbers 22:

 13 So Balaam arose in the morning and said to Balak’s leaders, “Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”

 14 And the leaders of Moab arose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

 15 ¶ Then Balak again sent leaders, more numerous and more distinguished than the former.

 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘Let nothing, I beg you, hinder you from coming to me;

 17 for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Please come then, curse this people for me.’”

 18 And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD my God.

 19 “And now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the LORD will speak to me.”

 20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up [and] go with them; but only the word which I speak to you shall you do.”

 21 So Balaam arose in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the leaders of Moab.

It is interesting that, although God permitted Balaam to go, He was not happy that Balaam was allowing himself to be exploited by the promise of riches.  Here is where the donkey comes in.

Numbers 22:

 22 ¶ But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

 23 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off from the way and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back into the way.

 24 Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, [with] a wall on this side and a wall on that side.

 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed herself to the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck her again.

 26 And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right hand or the left.

 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his stick.

 28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

 29 Then Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now.”

 30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”

 31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed all the way to the ground.

 32 And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was contrary to me.

 33 “But the donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, I would surely have killed you just now, and let her live.”

 34 And Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back.”

 35 But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word which I shall tell you.” So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak.

An important principle here is when we are doing something against the will of God and the people of God, He will send an angel to restrain us.  This is something the kings of the earth had to learn the hard way.

So, Balaam continued to go with the Moabites, and he met with King Balak.  Once again, even though Balaam knew the Lord would not curse Israel, he asks King Balak to set up seven altars and to sacrifice animals on each altar.  Once again, Balaam approached the Lord, and God instructed him on what to say.

Numbers 23:

 5 Then the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.”

 6 So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab.

 7 And he took up his discourse and said, “From Aram Balak has brought me, Moab’s king from the mountains of the East, ‘Come curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!’

 8 “How shall I curse, whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce, whom the LORD has not denounced?

Numbers 23:

 11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!”

 12 And he answered and said, “Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

You can see from this story the error of unprincipled men and how we must be on the alert to avoid being carried away by their error.  Balak, King of Moab, wanted to come against Israel by exploiting the prophet to use witchcraft against the people of God.  It was a failed strategy, and not only that, but it failed repeatedly.  Balak continued to take Balaam to different vantage points to see Israel’s camp, thinking that he might be able to get the prophet to curse Israel.  Each time failed because you cannot curse that which God has blessed.  You cannot denounce that which God has not denounced.  The blessings of God on Israel cannot be revoked.

Lesson for Today

Here are the follow-on words of the Lord given by Balaam after repeated attempts by Balak to come against Israel.

Numbers 23:

 20 “Behold, I have received [a command] to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.

Numbers 23:

 23 “For there is no omen against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel; At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what God has done.

Numbers 24:

 8 “God brings him out of Egypt, He is for him like the horns of the wild ox. He shall devour the nations [who are] his adversaries, And shall crush their bones in pieces, And shatter [them] with his arrows.

The unprincipled leaders of today would be well-served to understand the following:

1. They cannot revoke God’s blessing on Israel,
2. They cannot curse what God has not cursed,
3. They cannot denounce what God has not denounced, and
4. God shall devour nations who oppose Israel. 

Jesus said in Matthew 24:28 that where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather, and later in verse 30 that all the tribes of the earth will mourn when they see Jesus coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.  These references are to the Battle of Armageddon when the kings of the earth and their followers will be defeated by Jesus, and the birds of the air will feast on their flesh (Revelation 20:21).

Our Inheritance

As Christians, we inherit the blessings of Father God on Israel because we are grafted in by the blood of Jesus.  Further, Jesus took on our curse for sin as He hung on the cross. 

Galatians 3:

 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us–for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”–

 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Jesus redeemed us from the curse of sin, so we are no longer cursed and cannot be cursed by unprincipled men.  As we prepare for His coming, we should remain on guard against the error of unprincipled men, knowing that some will even distort the Scriptures to their own destruction.  Peter summarizes the point in 2^nd Peter 2.

2^nd Peter 2:

 9 [then] the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for blessing Israel, and we praise You that no nation can curse what You have not cursed.  No one can revoke what You have blessed.  Thank You for empowering Jesus to remove our curse of sin, and for grafting us into the blessing of Israel.  We pray for the peace and protection of all Your people in these trying days.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.