Wednesday 7th October
Balaam is back!
‘‘Some of you hold to the teaching of Balak’ Rev 2:14
I am sure you have heard the quote ‘History repeats itself’. Clearly this is scientifically untrue but it carries a sentiment that is so often true. George Bernard Shaw puts it like this;
“If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience”.
The implication is that we fail to learn from our mistakes and so the same things seem to happen again and again. This is the accusation Jesus makes to the church in Pergamum. In these letters some of the characters that played a part in Israel’s past come back to haunt them! History repeats itself – so to speak! Just as King Solomon said, there really is ‘nothing new under the sun’ (Ec1:9) and this includes include the tactics of Satan himself. The church in Pergamum faced the same age-old problem that generations had faced before. The story goes that King Balak of Moab hired the prophet Balaam to curse Israel. Balaam found he couldn’t curse them – direct spiritual attack didn’t work! However he still wanted King Balak’s promised reward so he encouraged the King to use a different tactic – sexual temptation. He encouraged him to send Moabite women to entice the Israelite men into adultery. Through this means they were drawn into idolatry, worshiping gods other than YHWH. Job done! The erosion of the boundaries clearly established by the Lord for His people through sexual temptation resulted in the nation’s captivity.
The pagans in Pergamum likewise were encouraging the Christians to join in their pagan feasts and the sexual immorality that accompanied them. It seems that the believers in Pergamum were falling for the same temptation as the people of God in the story of Ballam and Balak. History was repeating itself – the people of God had not learned from their past. The ‘Nicolatians’ (v15), regarded these sins as acceptable under the pretence of Christian liberty – no wonder Jesus hated the deeds of the ‘Nicolatians’
This brings us to the question: Is history repeating itself?
There seems to be a prevailing ‘Nicolatiian’ style theory about at the moment and it goes something like this: “We all do wrong stuff, yep I get involved in a bit of stuff now and again but God’s grace covers it all”. Does it? Is that what the bible teaches about grace? Can I live just how I want to and trust that all will be swept under this big heavenly carpet called grace? The bible teaches a resounding NO. It is grace that enables the lifting of the carpet, it provides us with the will and strength to see the depths of sinfulness BUT it also empowers us to make right choices and live faithfully and distinctively as true followers of Jesus.
Jesus makes it clear; ‘Therefore repent: or else’ Sounds like my Dad!