The Prophet & the Diviner’s Fee: The Balaam Spirit
“And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: ‘Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.’
“So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. And he said to them, ‘Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.’ So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam." (Numbers 22:4-8)
Upon reading this passage, I have two questions:
- Why would you bring a "diviner's fee" to a prophet of God?
- Why would a prophet of God accept a "diviner's fee"?
I could go into depth on this (but I won't because I teach a course on entitled "Understanding Jezebel" which includes teachings on Balaam), yet all I'll say is that in the prophetic, what you accept is what you become. When you accept a diviner's fee, you will eventually act like a diviner. And this is precisely what happened to Balaam. He allowed greed to sway him from Truth which is a Spirit and even though in the Book of Numbers we see him prophesy accurately by the Spirit of God over the Children of Israel and still preach his words to this day saying:
"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19)
...he still died a diviner's death. The Angel of the Lord almost slew him in the process of giving the accurate prophecy from the Spirit of the Lord, yet not long after, he allowed greed to cause him to transition from being a true prophet to an authentic prophet, laid a snare for the men of Israel because a curse causeless does not alight (Prov. 26:2), and eventually met his death by the sword when he fully gave himself over to divination and soothsaying (Josh. 13:22).
And Balaam becomes a byword and a warning to those who think themselves spiritual and prophetic because the Prophet Micah (Micah 6:5), Apostle Peter (II Peter 2:15-16), Apostle Jude (1:11), and even Christ Himself (Rev. 2:14-16) speak against this spirit. In fact, in Revelation 2, Christ warns the Church of Pergamos (the "Compromising Church") against the Spirit of Balaam in almost the same exact words as He warns the Church of Thyatira (the "Corrupt Church") against the Spirit of Jezebel four verses later!
So my admonition to all who are or desire to be prophets is this: even if people try to treat you like a diviner and a personal psychic - and they will!! - do not bow, do not acquiesce, do not give into it. Guard the anointing on your life and do not transgress the parameters that the Living Word has given us to operate within.
Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh (John 1:14) and according to Revelation 12:10, the testimony of Him is the spirit of prophecy. And the Spirit of God which is the Spirit of Truth will only ever testify of the Son Who testifies of the Father. No Word, no prophecy. No Spirit, no truth. No submission, no purity.
Guard your anointing. People can and will pull on you, but never allow the needs and wants of the people to manipulate you into a place where you try to manipulate God and wind up with a spirit that is not like nor from Him!
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches!
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