Culture Wars Infiltration – Unequally yoked

“I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.  I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.” The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua. Judges 2:21-23

The old testament describes in detail why God has allowed us to be surrounded by other ungodly cultures, this cultures are used to test and refine us. To confirm to God that we truly are who we claim we are, true salvation is always measured against real life encounters and experiences. The script has not changed even for the new testament believer we have to encounter ideas, concepts and believes that contradict the teachings of our lord Jesus Christ. How we respond to this tests leads us to bondage or freedom, blessings or curses.

Balaam’s Strategy

Balaam was a renowned diviner living in the land of Moab. The bible tells us of how many consulted him and used Him to curse their enemies, top in his list of clients was Balak the king of Moab. When he saw Israel camped near his Kingdom he procured the diviner’s services to curse the children of Israel. This attempt failed miserably and instead of cursing Israel Balaam blessed them. This narrative teaches us many lessons, but foremost is that it impossible to curse a true child of God, this is not possible! at the end of the story Balaam laments

But how can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I condemn those whom the LORD has not condemned? Numbers 23:8

After this failure Balaam devised a new strategy

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them. Numbers 25: 1-3

The result of this sin was a plague that God orchestrated, the sin had turned God’s anger against Israel and the plague eventually killed 24,000. The story brings out an important concept that is also repeated in the new testament, that we should not be unequally yoked to those who are not aligned to our believe system. The interesting fact is that the architect of this onslaught on Israel was Balaam,

Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD Numbers 31:16

The Devil’s Strategy

The devil’s strategy is always to separate us from God through sin, the story of Adam and Eve, Judges 3 and the exodus has repeated this theme. The devil uses the influence of ungodly culture’s and teachings to entice us to sin using deception, that is why the first step to restoration is reformation i.e. restoring godly teachings and practices. The sin cost Israel unnecessary pain and stagnation, fortunately Balaam’s victory was short lived because of the unwavering courage and loyalty of a reformer called Phinehas son of Eleazar, who executed a couple involved in Balaam’s deceptive sin. This act pleased God so much that He made a covenant with him because of his demonstration of zeal and passion for the things of God.

New testament

But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teachings of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. (Revelation 2:14)

The church addressed in this passage was under the influence of the teachings and believes of the Nicolaitans. The Spirit of God reminded them

Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Revelations 2:15

Real repentance always starts with reformation and reformation starts with identifying teachings believes that contradict what Jesus taught, at times it involves uprooting the key leaders behind heresy in the body of Christ. The key lesson in Balaam’s story is that the greatest threat to God’s promises that God has given us is the cultural influences of other believe systems that led us to sin. Paul warns

As a fair exchange, I ask you as my children: Open wide your hearts also. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness?Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 2 Corinthians 6:13-14

Anything that leads us to sin or to walk away from God should be treated as an enemy, the zeal to break from ungodly cultures and believe systems is demonstrated in this conversation between God and Moses

The Lord said to Moses, “Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them. They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident involving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of that incident. Numbers 25:16-18