This is That

Acts 1:3 To whom also He shewed Himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

The word infallible is not in the Greek. The Greek word for ”Proofs” is Tekmerion  which means: A fixed mark, a sign, or  a clear proof. Lets be very plain about this, the risen Christ Himself was the proof. Christ showing himself, manifesting himself, and fellowshipping with the disciples was the proof.

In looking up the word Tekmerion we can see a dozen or more verses that would indicate what Christ and the Apostles considered the clear proofs of our faith. One of those clear proofs is already mentioned, that Jesus Christ manifesting himself to his disciples after the resurrection.  Other clear proofs are God bearing us witness with signs, wonders, and diverse miracles, the gifts of the Christ given through the Holy Spirit to believers. Other clear proofs are the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our spirits. And in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers the most particularly of the clear proofs in the ek-klesia and the life of a believer were the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy uttering forth.

We will examine some of these quotes as well as make a through examination of this in scripture , the gospels, and the epistles 

We need to see the proofs clearly detailed in the Bible are in counter-distinction to the woeful man-made proofs that the Church has been putting in their place over the last 1800 years.  Man-made proofs that we are told to put our faith and trust in., these false proofs in particular are a Levitical styled priesthood, and a ruling priesthood above that Levitical styled priesthood. (For details read in Ancient Writings, Origen’s commentary on the Gospel of John Book One.)

Other false proofs are the church buildings namely ancient Basilicas and Cathedrals, the false Levitical altars, the arrangement of its pews and furnishings. The false offerings and other false sacrifices; which men say the church needs to give unto God.  Need I say that these sacrifices and offerings fly in the face of Christ having offering himself for once and for all. These false sacrifices cannot and do not supplement Christ our peace offering, Christ our morning and evening sacrifice, Christ our sin offering,  Christ our drink offering, Christ our burnt offering. Any offerings given to appease God or to curry favor with him in place of Him sending His only begotten son are a complete and utter abomination to Christ and to the Father.

Other false proofs are the endless array of the teachings and doctrines of men, and the pomp, ceremony of those traditions that they have created out of whole cloth over the last 1800 years. Then there is the boasting of the false proof of churches and ministries filled corrupt earthly riches , and their love and embracing of the things that belong to the god of this world. And we can add to this list of false proofs the size of a congregation or denomination and or the influx of masses of people into their congregations, denominations and movements.

The above false proofs are cited daily in books, tapes, on radio and television ministries and from virtually every pulpit, to show/prove that God is with a particular denomination, ministry or preacher,  and these false proofs are bandied about to show that what they teach is true. They who do such are followers of their forbearers the false prophets and confidence men who follow their master the father of lies in order to beguile from the faith as many as they can into the powerless hopeless religion of this day. Being enslaved to a preacher, or a ministry, or a denomination, for your “salvation” is not the Salvation spoken of by Christ and the Apostles at all.

Consider now the words of Justin Martyr 160 AD one of the foremost authorities in the Church of his day. "For the prophetical gifts remain with us, even to the present time. And hence you ought to understand that the gifts formerly among your nation (Israel) have been transferred to us (The church).

Speaking to Trypho the head of a Jewish Synagogue in Rome Justin Martyr is saying that this transference of the Holy Spirit ie the gifts of the Holy Spirit; tongues, healing, miracles, prophecy, etc. from Israel to the church was one of the most important signs that God has rejected Israel and taken for himself another people – the church. 

Say what you will but since John the Baptist and Jesus Israel has had no prophet. This has continued for over 1970 years. Israel has had no King from the tribe of Judah for well over 2100 years.  And Israel has had not temple for over 1930 years.

It seems more than a little odd to me that we hold the last few generations of pastors, preachers, teachers, in higher regard than the founders of our faith in the second, and third centuries. Only in the later half of the 2Oth century did Fundamentalists, Evangelicals Pentecostals and Charismatics begin to treat the writings of the early church as untrusted sources. But you don’t have to go too far back in church history to find that most of these same groups not only referred to the writings of the Apostolic Fathers for doctrine in times of great controversy, and they also taught freely from these founders of the faith as well. 

So by what authority did Justin Martyr come up with the astonishing doctrine that the spirit of the prophets and signs and wonders of the prophets were the proof that God had rejected Israel as his bride and selected the ek-klesia in her place?

Acts 2:14-18 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words --This Is That -- which was spoken by the prophet Joel:" And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath:

What was Peter talking about when he said This Is That?

Acts 2:1-12 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs--we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?"

Acts 2:38-39 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.

Is there any precedence in the Old Testament for what happened on the day of Pentecost? Is there something in Scripture that we can compare this experience to?

Numbers 11:16-16 –17 And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

What is the purpose of Pentecost? I will take of the spirit which is upon thee (Christ), and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

Numbers 11:24-29 And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle. And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp. And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the LORD'S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put His spirit upon (all of) them!

The word in the Greek Septuagint for Prophesied is Propheteusan the root of which is -- Prophetes or Prophet.   Propheteusan  is actually a compound word in the Greek Pro which means – from below or from the depths, or from concealment.  The second word is Phemi, which means -- to utter, to speak or to say. We are told that together the words Pro and Phemi mean a spokesman or interpreter. A spokesman being one that speaks for another, but interpreter carries to connotation of a person making an interpretation of one tongue to the tongue of the hearer and this is very significant. But from our closer examination of the Greek we see something somewhat different, we see to Prophesy is  to utter forth from the depths, to speak that which is in concealment.

In Hebrew 11:1 The bible says: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.." The current English meaning of the word substance (to make solid) is misleading, as the Greek word for substance does not say Faith solidifies the things hoped for. The Greek says Faith is the unseen support of things hopped for, or more exactly: Faith makes visible or manifest those things that cannot be seen.

Look now again at word Prophesy in the Greek:  The speaking out of that which is in concealment.  This is an uttering forth of the unseen or the invisible.  Faith is listed as a gift or operation of the Spirit. Hope is not. Faith is an operation of the Spirit of Revelation and Understanding. and In the Hebrew in Genesis 15 we find that: Through Faith Abram saw the coming one “In Jehovah” and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.    

This is akin to when Peter said thou are the Christ the son of the living God and Jesus said blessed art thou Simon Bar Jonas for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto you but my father which is in heaven.   God blessed Abram for seeing the coming one in Jehovah and Jesus blessed Peter for seeing Christ was in the father.

The words prophet, prophesy, and prophecy, are all transliterations of untranslated Greek words. These words did not exist in English but were created by the translators and like many other word inventions of theirs they are consistently found in virtually all English bible translations – (I discus this more fully elsewhere.)

From the English we would understand based on the word prophet that these 70 elders were foretelling events concerning Israel and the coming one. However that is not what was being said.  What was happening was these 70 men  were speaking as the Spirit gave utterance.  The Spirit of God was inhabiting their mouths (As was spoken to Moses by God at the burning bush) So what was coming out of their mouths was something apart from themselves. They were speaking forth praise and glory to the Lord, they were speaking forth illumination about His laws and His works and maybe even foretelling events to come. But even that was not the thrust of what was happening to these men and Moses. The Spirit of God has indicated to me that this “God inhabiting their mouths” was what we call speaking in tongues or speaking in the languages of men and angels. So that these 70 were giving utterance in languages they did not understand magnifying and glorifying the acts and works of God among men and of His coming salvation.

How can I determine these things? Well of myself I know nothing it is only the Lord that can illuminate. But when He illuminates He also give means of verification in scripture. What was the purpose of this prophetic exercise? Why did God take of His Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders? To Share the burden of Moses the ministration of the Glory of God to all people nations and tongues –or as Peter put it THIS IS THAT speaking of speaking in tongues. There can be no mistake these 70 men were the forerunners and they indeed did have the same Spirit that Joel spoke of almost 1000 years later.

Now lets look at the Hebrew word for prophesy. The root word is Nabu –To speak or to sing.  Literally it was to tear away, or to be lead forcibly. Hence to Prophesy figuratively means: To be carried away in divine frenzy or in ecstasy. 2^nd Definition Nabu  -- to utter a low voice or sound – this is especially spoken of the sound as of a dog. (Incidentally the term “Barking up the wrong tree” and “Barking” comes from the Tennessee revival in the 1700-1800’s where Baptists, Presbyterians and people from other denominations would speak in unknown tongues called barking. And one preacher witnessed barking while holding himself up against a tree.) So we have the prophets groaning on a low voice and barking speaking sharp indiscernible words and phrases – why are they indiscernible because they are the tongues of men and of angels, and no man knows of understand angelic laguages.

Numbers 11:11 And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers? -- I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. -- And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

If these 70 men were to stand in the place of Moses over thousands to sit in the seat of judgment do you suppose that the Lord would have instructed them in some way as to what they should say?

Interestingly enough throughout the word of God when see the Holy Spirit speak and when we see Holy Angels speak both glorify and magnify the Lord. And we are told that they proclaim things to men and angels – therefore as Paul the Apostle affirms in the book of 1 Corinthians when one is speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance they are speaking in the tongues of men and of angels, proclaiming to what is visible and invisible the mighty works of God. 

.

Exodus 4:10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

 And Moses said to the Lord I pray thee Lord I have not been sufficient in former times neither from the time that thou has began to speak to thy servant I am weak in speech and slow tongued

From this sentence it appears that Moses is saying that God has been speaking with Moses for an ongoing  period of time. And Moses is saying that even with God’s training he has still found himself to be insufficient. This would seem to mean that when God spoke to Moses, he would then go and speak it to Reuel his Father-in-law, Zipporah his wife, and perhaps to some others. And as Moses would try to relate the things that God had spoken to him to these other people -- it appears that it did not go over particularly well. And even with Moses trying this time and again. So Moses decided that he was not improving and more particularly he was not sufficient for the task that the Lord gave unto him.

Paul the apostle refers to this verse in
1 Corinthians 1:25-29 ²⁵Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.  ²⁶For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:  ²⁷But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; ²⁸And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: ²⁹That no flesh should glory in his presence. As in when Moses was called, he was not called because he was wise, mighty, or noble, According to Moses he was a slow learner slow of speech and slow of tongue in other words he would have been considered a fool – and God chose Moses to confound the wise men of Egypt, he took a weak man to confound the might of Pharaoh  God chooses those with no discernable talents, and the nothings of this life to bring down the things that are.

One might ask why does God do that?  It is because these people will not brag in His presence of their works, or brag before men about what they have in God or of their accomplishments in God.  Moses was great in selflessness. God acknowledges that trait when He said Moses was the meekest man in all the earth. Whereas the ministers of our day are great in selfishness and the Spirit testifies against them that they are prideful and stiff-necked.               

I see by the spirit also that when Moses said that  he was weak in speech and slow tongued, Moses was saying he in fact had a language barrier. Moses was raised in the courts of Egypt and then after he fled he lived in Midian for 20 years. It appears Moses could speak fluent Egyptian and Midian  but that Moses could only speak haltingly in Hebrew.  So that is why Moses wanted Aaron to be his prophet and translator.  

And the Lord said who has given a mouth to man? And who has made the hard of speaking and who has made the very heard of hearing and the deaf the seeing and the blind? Have I not God? And go now and I will lay open your mouth and will instruct they in what you will say.

And so God gave Moses more than the gift of tongues God spoke through Moses mouth and as God spoke through Moses mouth, He would instruct the prophet Moses by speaking to him “mouth to mouth.” This is the Nabu Spirit of God.  I want to draw your attention to that fact that Moses was not the first in scripture to experience this –Adam was. And later scripture records the Nabu Spirit of God fell upon Abram the father of faith. This is no small thing. – The small thing am I referring to is God inhabiting ones mouth and their speaking in the tongues of men and angels. This NABU EXPERIENCE. This is what Peter cited when he said This Is That. – This is the hallmark of  Adam, Abram, Moses, and the Prophets. – This is the sign of the covenant when men shall speak in tongues of men and angels proclaiming the mighty works of God.

When Peter spoke those words in Acts chapter 2 This Is That, I want you to see that no prophecies were given. No one was healed. No devils were cast out. No water was turned into wine.  And yet every Jew that day that heard Peter's voice absolutely understood what was wrought in their midst that day for all knew taht the seventy elders that had been with Moses had the Spirit of Moses fall upon them. And the Jews that were outside the upper room that day understood that these 120 elders thatstood before them had been with Christ and taht the Spirit that was upon Christ had fallen upon them. And with the 120 elders speaking in tongues and proclaiming the mighty acts of Christ in the tongues of men and of angels proclaiming the glories of God to that which was invisible and the visible 3000 believed that day.

Isaiah 50:4 The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary:

Isaiah testified that he knew of this same Nabu experience, this same experience of God using his mouth and tongue to speak to the people of Israel. While he spoke great amd mighty things that thou knowest not.

 

(God Said to Moses) And go now and I will lay open your mouth and will instruct thee in what you will say.

The words “Go Now” are in the wrong tense. In the Septuagint these words are in the present imperfect tense and as such would be translated “to go and go and go.”

Is there another passage in scripture where this NABU experience is described?
1 Samuel 10:1-12 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said: "Is it not because the LORD has anointed you commander over His inheritance?” -- And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying. ⁶Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. ⁷And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you. ⁸You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do." And all those signs came to pass that day. ¹⁰When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. ¹¹And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that he indeed prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one another, "What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?" ¹²Then a man from there answered and said, "But who is their father?" Therefore it became a proverb: "Is Saul also among the prophets?" ¹³And when he had finished prophesying, he went to the high place.
Here we have no less than Samuel saying Saul is the man that God has chosen. He anoints him with a horn of oil. Saul is prophesied to and given instructions to do certain things. Saul walks alone to serve God, Saul gives the word of God to strangers and is given food and drink by strangers. – Saul is told to meet up with the prophets and God’s Spirit falls upon Saul and he is taken over by the Holy Ghost of God for hours if not days. During which time Saul rants, raves, shakes, falls out, barks, groans, sings, and weeps, while proclaiming the glory of God and his mighty works in the tongues of men and of Angels. And Saul makes a complete spectacle of himself,  so much so that people that knew him came out and saw him being overwhelmed by the Spirit of God along with the prophets. And they made a joke of it.

But as we know Saul sins and God’s Spirit departs from Saul even though he has been anointed by Samuel the Prophet and even though he received this “Gift of tongues and prophecy” (All of which the made up doctrines and traditoins of the Pentecostal Movement says are impossible.) And scripture says later that the once clean swept house in Saul became a habitation or demons and that Saul was tormented by an evil Spirit. And Saul at even later under the influence of this evil spirit tried multiple times to kill David.
I Samuel 19:20-21 Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. ²¹And when Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. Then Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.  These messengers Saul sent were not ambassadors they were armed soldiers sent to arrest him and bring him to Saul for execution. Scripture records that David had such overwhelming support among the people and soldiers. And because of this these men chosen for this mission would have had o have been some of Saul’s most trusted men men from his personal guard and inner circle.  So when these hand selected men came upon Samuel and the prophets we cannot say that they were holy or righteous men because such would have refused such a mission. We cannot say that they came seeking God with hungry hearts. These men had probably not made the necessary sin offerings for themselves and probably not even celebrated a single Passover. In other words they like King Saul would have been considered apostates or reprobates. Doctrinally with what is currently preached today in Fundamentalist and Pentecostal churches about God and the Holy Spirit what scripture says next happened is deemed impossible. The word of God says that these carnal men were completely overwhelmed by the Spirit of God, that they were made to unwillingly NABU and that while this NABU Spirit of God was upon them they not only lost control over their speech but that they lost control over their bodies as well. 

What I am trying to point out here is that these men were unrepentant and sinful and yet the Spirit of the Lord fell upon these men.

After this first failure to arrest and have David killed, Saul then sent a second group. Recognizing the demonic savagery of Saul in Scripture we can be quite sure that the first group was either put to death, or beaten within an inch of their lives. In either case the second team Saul sent was not going to allow themselves to be taken by surprise like the first group had been.  They probably tried to keep their distance. They probably tried not to speak with the prophets and they probably tried to avoid their gaze lest they fell under their power. We can rest assured that these people did not want the Spirit of God to fall upon them, and they would have resisted any attempt that the Holy Ghost would have made to touch them.  But with all this effort and the full knowledge of what had happened to the first group scripture tells us that these men were also completely overwhelmed not only in mouth but in body by the same NABU Spirit of God that came upon the first group of soldiers and these soldiers were also involuntarily incapacitated for an extended period of time.

In looking at this we can not help but see Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane When the Soldiers came and Jesus said: Whom seek ye. And they Said Jesus of Nazareth and He said I am he and they fell backward. For as God had incapacitated the Soldiers that came for David with the NABU Spirit of God, God likewise did incapacitate the soldiers that came to arrest and put to death Christ the son of David.

So after the failings of the first and second group Saul then sent a third group and they probably incorporated even further counter-measures to insure that the Nabu Spirit of God would not prevent them from accomplishing their mission to capture David and take him to Saul who wanted to kill. I can only imagine that they stopped up their ears to make themselves deaf to the voices of the prophets voices and their music, they probably put something over their eyes to make themselves blind to the prophets, they might have even covered their mouths that they would be prevented from speaking. However they might have prepared themselves, the bible says that these soldiers like the other two groups before them were completely unable to resist the NABU Spirit of God and that God took over their mouths speaking forth the mighty acts of God, singing the Glories of God in the tongues of men and of angels, barking, the Nabu spirit also affected them bodily causing them to shake and quake, to staggering about drunken men, to falling over as dead men, to sway as a reed in the wind, to have the jerks and they were humbled. as the others before them before almighty God.

Is there another example of someone being overwhelmed by the Nabu Spirit of God in Scripture?
Numbers 22:18 Balaam replied 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.
While we see here that Balaam speaks that he as a man of God can not be compromised we know in fact from scripture that he as a man was complete compromised.  But had Balaam resisted the twinge of temptation, had he but walked the other way this story would have had a far different outcome. The lesson here is that Balaam continued to fellowship in sin and that he was corrupted by the corrupt communications of others.

Numbers 22:38 So Balaam said to Balak, "Behold, I have come now to you! Am I able to speak anything at all? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I shall speak."

Numbers 23:5 Then the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus."
The Scripture says the Lord put a word in where? In Balaam’s mouth – Balaam spoke God’s instructions to himself.  When He spoke in Balaam’s mouth, which Balaam then heard and obeyed.
 
 ⁶So Balaam returned to Balak, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. ⁷Balaam 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!' How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? As I see him from the top of the rocks, And I look at him from the hills; Behold, a people who dwells apart, And will not be reckoned among the nations. ¹⁰"Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, And let my end be like his!" ¹¹Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? ⁾I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!" ¹²Balaam replied, "Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?" Balaam acknowledges that the words of God flows from his mouth, that is the word that proceedeth from the mouth of the Father. Now I must mention that when I was young I was taught that Balaam was a false prophet (We know this from numerous passages in the bible) and that those who taught me claimed that every word that came out of Balaam's mouth was from the devil not from God. Yet this passage DOES NOT SAY or infer any such thing. Nor does it in any other passage in the bible.  We need to read what is in the bible and put aside all the Pentecostal and Fundamentalist traditions and superstitions regarding the word of God and the workings of God in the life of a believer.    

Numbers 23:13 ¹³Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there."  I want you to consider something that is overlooked by the people that preach the bible does not mean what it says in this passage, That not only is Balaam a prophet of the Lord and speaking the word of the Lord in like manner to Moses and Aaron but that Balak also knows something about God. For example He knows as Abraham did how to build an altar and call upon the name of the Lord.  He also knows what types of sacrifices to offer. And I want to point out He does not call upon the Heavenly Host, Baal, Dagon or any other false god of the Canaanites . This should strike you more than a little odd.  Let me further elaborate that when Moses flees Egypt and goes to the wilderness of Midian who does God bring him to? Reuel the priest of God in Midian – This name Reuel is a Hebrew name for the “Friend of God” And on thesubject of Priests of God and Friends of God bible says a few surprising things:

Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Just as Melchizedek was the priest of the Most high God at the time of Abraham some three hundred years later the Bible says there were still those who believed in God other than the children of Abraham.:

Exodus 2:16-18  ¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.¹⁷And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. ¹⁸And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?

So this man is the priest not a priest of all of Midian His name is Reuel the friend of God and not only that they live at the foot of what they call the mount of God where Moses later Goes to get the ten commandments. There is more that is going on here than meets the eye. These are a people that knew the Lord they had priests and prophets of God for hundreds of years before the Israelites did. 

Deuteronomy 9:13-15  Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.
Was God pretending and or Lying only to make Moses grovel before him? Again the preaching community is virtually silent about this passage and its counterparts in the five books of Moses, and that is because they do not believe it. Here God says I will blot out all of Israel and Give Moses another people greater and mightier than Israel.  

Who were those people that God was speaking of a people whom God called greater and mightier? I would put it to you that God had a ready-made people on the sidelines in the Midianites.  When Balaam is first introduced we see the elders of Midian and Moab going to him – consider that the elders of Midian did not go to Reuel Moses father in Law and the priest of Midian, instead they went to Balaam one that probably did not personally know Moses or what God was doing in Israel. 

I perceive by the Spirit that the elders of the Midianites knew the hand of God was passing from Midian to Israel. I perceive by the spirit that Reuel the priest of God in Midian probably spoke of what God was doing with Israel in glowing terms and rejoiced in the work of God. Balaam on the other hand probably head heard these things and I perceive that Balaam although he was a prophet and knew God intimately, and he did not want to his people to lose out to another people to he intentionally positioned himself to try to take out Moses and the Children of Israel. 

I feel strongly to talk about what I see here. Had the Midianites looked with faith at God and His calling Israel unto himself, had they chosen instead to join Moses and Israel how different might things have been?

Instead what we see in this passage is a terrifying image. One who were formerly chosen by God, one who in times past had walked with God, and one who became filled with vanity and corrupted by wealth and a love of the things that belong to the god of this world. (We see this same striking image in the Martrydom of Isaiah posted also on this website -- I have added these comments almost a year later after this articles initital writing.)

And when God raised up another, instead of falling on their face before God and going into deep repentance for their corruption and evil, that they might again gain some measure of approval from God; they instead conspired together to use their own strength and power to regain what they believed to be rightfully theirs. In other words they believed they had the custody of the power of God as in like manner many corrupt ministries and denominations make that identical claim today. And so they sought to first to persecute in an attempt to shake the Ek-klesia up and frighten them into abandoning what they had been given.  And if that failed they would them pull out all stops to utterly destroy them either by lies, rumors,  to draw other in to do the dirty deed for them or if that failed then they would engage in the use of the sword themselves.

Israel was a savor or life to some but to Midian., Moab and the children of Canaan they were a savor of death. Those in power will not and take sitting down the loss of their power, their wealth, and their prestige. So also in this hour when the klesia – the church built by hands is faced with final removal they shall fulfill all the words spoken by Christ and the Prophets and fill ye up your measure.

Matthew 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son (of promise), they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

The first time this occurred in scripture was when Cain slew Able – Because Able by faith offered a more righteous offering Cain sought to slay his brother so that God would have no choice but to respect him.

There was an element of this with Esau and Jacob. When After Jacob had obtained Esau’s birthright and blessing of Isaac.  Esau felt that if he slew Jacob that he could regain both and gain standing in God but God prevented that.

This same thing was done was done to Joseph. When his brothers saw that that he had the Jacob’s favor being aware of what their father did to Esau they had great concern that this Lad would be chosen over them. Further when God began giving Joseph dreams they knew that God was with him so they began to plot how they would destroy the child of promise and you know what later transpired.

So we have this same thing now with the Midianites and Balaam except this is on the scale of one nation seeing that their sacrifices are no longer respected by God, and that God has instead turned his face to “The Lad.” with the tokens of God in all manner of dreams visions and signs and wonders.  

This is terrifying. It jolts my heart and my spirit because this same thing is what Israel did with the prophets and later with Christ.

Matthew 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

And this is what the fallen, sinful, and corrupt church did beginning in the third century with those that walked with God and had his tokens, and they further sinned in that they began an organized effort to destroy the Jews. They did not do it because of the reason publicly espoused that the Jews had killed Christ and needed the churches wrath and vengeance, but the truth is that which called itself  “the Church” were by that time sinful and corrupt and had been rejected by God. Knowing this and knowing that it was prophesied that God as would turn again to the Jews they sought to remove any possibility of that coming to pass.

This is terrifying because we have come to the fullness of the gentiles. and God shall cut down all the corrupt and barren braches that call themselves the Church.

Deuteronomy 9:13-15  Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.

I have heard corrupt preachers suggest that God said only said this to Moses because He knew what Moses would say -- so that He could back off.

The words of Balaam will testify against all those who teach such things

Numbers 23:19 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 it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Before we move on from verse 13 I want you to consider that King Balak is like many preachers of this hour. In this passage we see that Balak decides that it is not the content of his prayer request that is corrupt, but it was that the method of his offering to God that had failed. 

To which the Apostle James responds:
James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Numbers 23:13 Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there." 

Numbers 23:14 So Balak took Balaam to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵And Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offerings while I myself meet the LORD over there."
Consider now that even though Balak increases his offering and sacrifices seven-fold unto the Lord, it does not change his request from being corrupt to being righteous. God’s head is not turned by Balak’s bribes and neither is God head turned by ones tithes and offerings that the children of Balak call this day the Prosperity Gospel.

"Stand here beside your burnt offerings while I myself meet the LORD over there."
Instead God has Balaam walk away from the altars and offerings and meets Him apart from them. That would be akin to God telling you that He will meet you outside your church that He has no respect upon the worship, the sacrifices and the offerings that are offered therein.

Number 23:16 Then the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak."  ¹⁷ Balaam came to Balak, and behold, Balak was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?"
So we see Balak standing there "in faith" and "in obedience" to the word of the prophet and he "expectantly asks for the word of the Lord" believing now that by the magnitude of his sacrifices and offerings that he has gained control over God. 

Numbers 23:18-19 18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: 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?
Balak is reproved here by the prophet of God in hopes that he might repent.

Balaam continues in Numbers 23:20 "Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.
Balaam rightly confesses that he as even the prophet of God cannot revoke either the written word of God nor the word that proceedeth from the mouth of the Father. The evil and corrupt practive of revoking and amending the written and the word that proceedeth was not preached by Christ nor the Apostles it was preached by the Pahrisees and later Roman Catholic Church, and then it was carried into the Protestant Church by Luther, Calvin, and Menno Simons, all of whom were Roman Catholic Priests and all of whom beleived they wer empowered to cut and divide the word of truth as they say fit.

But this was not so with Ballam for after he had his little run in with the Angel of the Lord Balaam has suddenly developed more than a healthy dose of the Fear of God. And he felt compelled not to stray one iota from the word of God. All that down though Church History have altered Gods word or taugh the doctrines and traditions of men as being equal or on level with scripture shall suffer a fate worse tahn that of Balaam.

Numbers 23:21-24 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. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. 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! Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

What Balaam is saying to Balak is; “If you persist in this perverse request of yours you shall not devour Moses and Israel, but Moses and Israel shall devour you.  

Numbers 23:25-29 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!" But Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not tell you, Whatever the LORD speaks, that I must do'?" Then Balak said to Balaam, "Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there." So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which overlooks the wasteland.  Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here."

In just the verse previous Balaam warned Balak that if he persisted in his perverse request for God to destroy Isreal that he himself and his people were in danger of being destroyed. We can see that Balak paid no mind to a warning in the sternest language. The warning of the prophet did not recieve the least consideration. This leads me into a general discussion of eternal security, the current madness regarding that every promise in the word of God regardless of to whom it was given or the circumstances with which it was given or the conditions that were given -- that God owes all of that to me personally, and high and boastful speaking of our personal standing in God. God despeises, no God hates the proud and arrogant -- there seems to be quite some confussion as to who belongs to who in the church today. God is dealt with as a candy machine into which we can toss a few coins and a few slugs and get the desire of our heart. The whole faith movement is formula oriented its always just a question of getting the formula right so we can get what we want. There is no cry to love God for who he is. There is no cry to remove sin and iniquity in our lives that we could fellowship with God. There is no desire to cast asside everything of outselves and the would that we might obtain the pearl of great price. There is no fear of God whatsoever. So consequently God is dealt with in a manner that he accept us just as we are with all our sin or corruption or he can have his religion by himself. The Key to understanding salvation is that it is not encombant upon your judgment or your approval that God can come near it is that Jesus Christ died on the cross and purchased your salvation with his life -- in other words you are either a slave to sin and the devil or you are a slave to righteousness and Christ. There is no room here for independant agents. Paul the Apostle declares you were bought with a price -- and all the current teaching and traditions tell us the opposite that God has to qualify for us, God has to give us whatever we ask, God has to give us the riches of this world, God has to heal us. He owes that to everyone and the list goes on and on. Well naturally when one would believe all this prideful and arrogant talk -- we then develope this deceiful view of salvation namely that anything we do Christ will natually cover for me. Many churches preach that they and their followers have special rights no one else has that they are people of priviledge -- this is not the Gospel of Christ and the Apostles -- this is not humbing ones self and making themselves of no reputation, this is not being a servant or disciple of Christ. All of this is of another spirit and Balak it appears was feeling very special, he probably had verses that he would have quoted of his standing and the midianites standing with God. He probably had a few scrolls containing some promises of God with his people, he may have well felt that since he had been a beleiver since his youth or since he was the king and the annointed of God over the People that God need to heed his words more than with anyone else of his day. These are all notions that are all to common in the church today. The things was that the midianites had long before this moment violated God's promises and God's word and I am sure that they had prophetic warnings beyound just the words of Balaam. I'm sure that Reuel had somethings to say to the king and his people. but just as sure as there was a fullness of the iqnquity of the amorites as sure as there was a fullness of the Jews and there shall be a fullness of the gentiles -- there came a fullness of the midianites. And being mindful that were are actually studying This is That -- the church of Rome and it's predicessors lost "This" some 1800 years ago and it was passed on to another. the Jews Lost :"This" way before John the Baptist and Christ appeared before there and likewise also the Balak and his people Lost "This" way before he stood on the mount with Balaam.

There is something else happening here also that one might not plainly see. The fate of a nation. As Balak and Balaam persist in their evil mischief against Moses and Israel. God speaks, God reproves this king and the prophet but they will not repent instead they stiffen their necks and harden their hearts and plow ever forward in this thing. This kindles the wrath of God and they still persist. This is precisely Pharaoh in Egypt – And fearful destruction came upon the land because of Pharaoh’s acts of self-will. This is precisely what happened to the children of Israel in the wilderness when they chided God and Moses time and again – and that entire generation was destroyed. And this is precisely what is going to happen with Balam and Balak and the nation of the Midianites. God is not to be trifled with and when one does the freight train of judgment is set in motion and will grind all that is in its path to dust. For this reason I have great fear for the Church of this day. With the rise of this corrupt confession teachings and the prosperity Gospel many have sealed their doom.  Judgment is coming and none shall stop it.

Oh but Jesus loves me and he will protect me. You fool, have you not read the words of Christ where he time and again tells us that it is HE that will come and mete out this destruction and judgment?  Have you not read in revelation where he tells us He now as the keys of hell and of death? – It is He that will cast you into the fire of eternal damnation. And this will come upon all that are disobedient, and love the things of this world.

The Christ that is preached of this day in the Protestant Church is the Mary of the Roman Catholic Church.  Jesus is not blocking and preventing the Father from executing judgment and vengeance as Catholics are told that Mary does in their behalf. Jesus and the Father are one, Jesus does not His will, but the will of the Father.        

So Balaam orders Balak to double the last offering making two offering on each altar.

Hosea 8:12-14 I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing. They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
What are the great things of the Law? Is it not the great commandment to love God with all your heart all your soul all your mind and all your strength?  Is it not that they were call to be a kingdom of priests unto God? And were we not given the same calling? 

It should also be apparent to the reader by this point that this event took place over several days if not over several weeks. The time that it took for the king and his entourage to move from hill to hill around the encampment of Israel the logistics of getting all these altars erected and the greater and greater number of sacrifices that are given as well, the time that it takes to burn a whole cow through and through,  as well as the time that Balaam needed to seek God is something that could not be done in a afternoon or a single day. 

Numbers 23:30 Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 24:1  When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to seek omens but he set his face toward the wilderness.
For the first time since Balaam had his run in with the Angel of the Lord we find that Balaam had actively been seeking to put omens and curses on Israel. In other words Balaam was obedient only to the letter of what God spelled out and was seeking to find a way that he could claim to be obedience to God while accepting the rewards for destruction of Israel from Balak.

This is the true definition of being double minded. It is not as men have suggested a benign halting between two opinions .Do I do this or don’t I?  It is not being confused or unsure of which way to go. None of these are being double minded. – Being double minded is feigning complete obedience to the Lord while, actively seeking to engage in and partake of things that are clearly belong to the god of this world, being double minded is having blessing and cursing coming out of your mouth towards the a person or ministry or entity. Being double minded is feigning to be ones friend or to help someone while trying to undo them at the same time. Balaam was double minded and the entire faith movement has greedily run after the duplicitous error of Balaam.    Judgment is coming.

James 4:7-9 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

Note here that being double minded is associated with the devil, it is associated with not drawing neigh to God but instead being on the outer edge, it is associated with having unclean hands, being laden with sin, having an impure heart   

So time ago I discerned that many believers I knew were not seeking to love the Lord with all their heart, all their soul, and all their mind, and all their strength. – but instead they were seeking to walk on the outer edge of salvation. Endeavoring to receive the benefits of being a believer, while partaking of the things of this world.  30-35 years ago this was something that could and should have been clearly preached against. But today if one were to call this half-hearted lack-luster type of walk “sin” their words would be trodden under foot.  Instead the word are heralded from every house top “Is not God’s will for a believe to be poor.  It is the will of God for me to have nice, (That means expensive and trendy) clothes. It is God’s will for me to have a nice house. It is the will of God for me to have nice things. Where did Jesus say these things.  Did Christ suffer, was Christ scourged and dis Christ suffer the agony of dying on the cross that you can live better than the kings and rulers of His day? Can you say with a straight face He was scourged that I could have a new dress? Can you say with a straight face Jesus had nails driven through his hands and feet that you could have a loaded Lincoln? Can you say with a straight face that Jesus blood pouring out of his wounds was shed that you could live in a nice house? If you have the slightest touch of God in your life – in your heart you know this is blasphemy; this is trodding the sacrifice of Christ underfoot. If you have the slightest bit of the Holy Spirit in you, you know that your spirit and soul swist when you read such words. Can you now see that all these that teach such things are damning to hell all that speak such words.

Numbers 24:2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

   
³He took up his discourse and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened; ⁴The oracle of him who ⁾hears the words of God, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling (coming) down, yet having (with) his eyes uncovered, 
   
⁵How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel!  ⁶"Like valleys that stretch out, Like gardens beside the river, Like aloes planted by the LORD, Like cedars beside the waters.  Look now at what is being said How fair are your tents O Jacob and your dwellings O Israel. This is being spoke to people who dwell in houses and mansions, Balak, his advisors and Balaam. Was Israel in God’s will here. Yes and they dwelling in tents like Abraham searching for a city that was not made with hands. An I need to point out that Christ and the Apostles lived this way all their lives. It was Balaam, Balak and their followers that lived high off the hog. That had “Nice  Clothes” “Nice Chariots” “Nice houses” and that had “the finest food” and these men could hardly be said to have been in the will of God. At one time they were but they became corrupt and now the nation is being weighed in the balances.
 
 ⁷"Water will flow from his buckets, And his seed will be by many waters,
And his king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted. ⁸ God brings him out of Egypt, He (God) is for him like the horns of the wild ox  He (God) will devour the nations who are his adversaries, And (God) will crush their bones in pieces, And shatter them with His arrows. ⁹ He (God) crouches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him? Blessed is everyone who blesses you, And cursed is everyone who curses you."

God again speaks a profound word of warning to Balaam and Balak. God is saying here that these men are not fight Israel but they are fighting Him. That God is now poised like a crouching lion ready to spring in judgment upon Balaam Balak and the Midianites. God says do you dare get in my face and rouse me? Do you dare stir up my ire against you? And God repeats His promise to Abraham Blessed is everyone who blesses Abraham and his seed and cursed is everyone who curses Abraham and his seed.

So how is it that neither Balaam nor Balak repent and walk just away from this?

Mark 4:12  That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

As hard as this may sound: God does not own you salvation. God does not owe you repentance. God does not owe you being able to perceive what is plainly before you. And God does not owe you that you comprehend what you hear in your ear. None of this comes from Christ having had died on the cross for you.

Revelation 3:16-18  ¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. ¹⁷Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: ¹⁸I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
This is a Church who is made up of individuals that: Seeing they see, but do not perceive; and hearing they hear, but do not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

 And who does Christ place the burden on for these believers to see hear be converted and get their sins forgiven? He puts it on them. They need to cry out about their blindness, their wretchedness, their misery in wealth and worldliness, their utter spiritual poverty, their spiritual blindness, and their spiritual nakedness. It is only to those that over come this that anything is promised. If you want to confess something that is going to transform your life start confessing the above and tell God daily that you are wretched, that you are miserable, that you are poor, that you are blind and you are naked. Pray that he opens your eyes pray, he enriches your spirit, pray that he clothes you – and if you seek Him with all your heart you will be changed your heart will be converted and your sins will be forgiven.  This is the underlying principal behind THIS IS THAT. No repentance no conversion and God will not allow you to partake of what Christ and the Apostles walked in. God is not fooled by one’s lying lips talk is cheap, confession is but a whisper in the wind and then gone. God plumbs the depths of our hearts and souls to see if these things be so and when our heart is not upright, when we are double minded god walks away.

¹⁰Then Balak's anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times! ¹¹"Therefore, flee to your place now. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, the LORD has held you back from honor." ¹²Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, ¹³'Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything contrary to the command of the LORD, either good or bad, of my own accord What the LORD speaks, that I will speak'? ¹⁴"And now, behold, I am going to my people; come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the days to come." -- ²⁵Then Balaam arose and departed and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way.

Now to the reader it appears that Balaam has given up but we find that the prophet secretly returns to Balak and tells him I must be obedient to the Lord so I can not and will not speak any curses omen or any such things but I will tell you how you shall defeat the children of Israel. And Balaam begins to describe sending in all the fair maidens that can be found in all of these kingdoms, to bring their idols, bring wine and offer these men their bodies and after they give them a good taste – then pull out the idols and tell them if you want me real bad you need to say a few little words to my idol – this was like crack cocaine to these Israelites and it spread as a contagion within hours of the arrival of the daughters of corruption 30,000 had been taken in their snare and the number increased by the hour.

In the end the madness that Balaam and Balak blindly ran after cost them not only their lives but the lives of the people of their nation as well.

What can we say of Balaam? When I grew up there was a lot of teaching regarding false prophets, false anointings and the spirit of deception.  There was a maxim that was used time and a gain with all new converts. “Two much word and you dry up, two much Spirit and you blow up but with the right amount of each you grow up – and of course men were there always to designate what were the right amounts of each. 

Even in Pentecostal and Spirit –filled house meetings the administration and use of Baptism of the Holy Spirit; particularly the Gift of Tongues, the Gift of Prophecy, and the Guidance of the Spirit are treated with suspicion and some level of contempt except when the users is the leader or one of his or her hand selected few. There are a number of reasons for this, all of which are bad and show a general distrust in God and a shunning of the Holy Ghost in our midst.

The issues all center around control. The contention of any corrupt Pastor or Teacher is that they not Christ are the gateway to God. Therefore in word and deed they make it known that all “true teaching” must come from them or through them. -- And these people are only truly happy when one parrots their words, swears allegiance to them, and tells them they are the only one with the truth.

The office of Teacher in the Protestant Church has taken upon itself the mantle of the prophet.  It is taught by word and by deed that all spiritual revelation resides in the Teacher, and as God’s anointed vessel he alone can discern light and darkness, and good and evil for the flock. And the Pastor who is above the teacher has taken upon himself the mantle of the Apostle that is he is the dispenser of all spiritual gifts and operations within the flock and any dispensing of gifts and operations that are not done through him are deemed suspect .  

So if God were to call the child Samuel, If God were to call the child Joseph, or God were to speak the child David, or the Child Christ. Or if God were to bypass the known order and select a prophet or apostle that has not been tainted by the corrupt doctrines and traditions that have taken over the ministry of the day. Starting at the level of the local Pastor and Teacher they will do all that is their power to put down anything that threatens to rock their world – with truth or revelation that is not officially sanctioned by them, or the ministry they belong.  Is it any wonder that God has withdrawn himself from these?  Is it any wonder that God does not perform signs and wonders in these places?  

See if the child Samuel in a charismatic church or meeting learns that what he is indeed hearing the voice of God and learns obedience to the word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Father  -- This is a game over for Charismatic Eli’s and their sons of belial. No Pastor or Ministry wants people that truly know God and truly hear from God in their congregation, because this would disrupt their business and lucrative career. And once a true prophet comes on the scene – judgment comes on all those that would corrupt God’s word and use their office for their own benefit.

So there is an absolute preference among preachers and teachers to keep their sheep blind, dumb, in the dark, and apart from really reading the word of God, apart from really praying and seeking God, and apart at all cost from really coming to a knowledge of the Holy Spirit.

What I am articulating here should be nothing new to you. You have seen it in a hundred different forms, but perhaps you have dismissed it as your being judgmental of the enemy trying to stumble you. The truth is the Holy Spirit has been trying to speak to you and reveal to you what is the typical fare in the house of the Klesia. If we stop up our ears to prevent us from hearing what the Spirit is saying unto the Ek-klesia how will we ever grow? And if we never grow how can God ever entrust to us our true inheritance?