A couple weeks ago I was pondering two Bible stories and had some thoughts about them I’d like to share. I feel there is an important lesson to be learned from each of these.
The first story is about Balaam. I’ll start by giving a brief re-cap of the Balaam story, most of which is found in Numbers 22-24:
While the sons of Israel were on their way to the Promised Land and were camped by Moab, Balak, the king of Moab, sent for Balaam to curse the sons of Israel so he could defeat Israel in battle. Yahweh, however, did not permit Balaam to curse the sons of Israel. An interesting series of events then followed, whereby Yahweh sent and angel to block Balaam’s path and spoke to Balaam through the mouth of a donkey. When Balaam finally reached Israel’s camp, Yahweh made Balaam give a blessing, rather than a curse, to Israel!
What an awesome passage about Yah’s protection…but is that the end of the story? Actually, there is another part this story that is not often told. If you continue into Numbers 25, you’ll read the following: “While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. 2 For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and YHWH was angry against Israel.” This was a serious event. Because of Israel’s disobedience, Yahweh sent a plague among Israel, and many died.
How is this tied to the story of Balaam? The answer is in Numbers 31:16 — “Behold, these [the women] caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the YHWH in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the YHWH.” Here we are told that it was Balaam who counseled the Moabite women to entice the sons of Israel! We see that no matter how hard Balaam tried, he could not curse the sons of Israel, so it seems he turned to a different tactic — one of seduction.
There is an important lesson to be learned here: No matter how hard Satan tries, he cannot defeat Yahweh’s children by brute force. Brute force is not a battle we need to worry about — if Yah is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)? What we do need to watch out for is seduction. The only real power the enemy has is the power we give him when we fall prey to his seduction. After all, Satan is “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
The other Bible story that ties in with this lesson is the story of Samson (Judges 13-16). We see that Samson could not be defeated by any amount of brute force, because Yahweh was with him. The only chance the Philistines had of defeating Samson was to find a way to seduce him into disobeying Yahweh. This is exactly what the Philistines did when Delilah seduced Samson into allowing her to cut his hair, thus breaking his Nazirite vow.
To conclude, the reason these lessons are so important is because the enemy wants us to fear what’s going on outside so he can come from behind and seduce us from the inside. Yahweh, on other hand, tells us not to fear what’s around us and instead focus on obeying and fearing Him (Matt 10:28). Let us remember that the real battle not against any amount of brute force the enemy sends our way. The real battle is against seduction. If we win that battle, then all other battle’s are already won because Yahweh Himself fights for those who walk in obedience to Him. HalleluYah!
Ephesians 6:10-12 — “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
(All Bible passages NASB unless otherwise indicated — Hebrew transl. added.)
Exhortation Station 
A needed reminder, Jonathan. This brings to mind Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” If we are truly and fully delighting in our Father it’s soo much harder for the enemy to seduce us because what he seems to be offering totally pales in comparison to what we know Yah has in store for us.
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Amen. Well said.
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In think you’ve nailed it.
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Correction…
I think you’ve nailed it. (!)
…and I’ll add that the process of seduction works in increments, taking us from innocence to subtle shades of compromise to full disobedience as our vision gets increasingly clouded by wrong choices. This quickens my heart to be careful to make right choices from the get-go…and to repent quickly if I see I’ve engaged in compromise.
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Yes, that’s a really good point. Makes you want to be all the more vigilant when you know the seduction is going to be subtle and possibly difficult to discern.
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Whole heartedly agree, Jonathan!
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Hey Jonathan , I loved reading what you had to say, I must agree with Hadassah in that it is such a needed reminder for our daily lives. Sometimes, (most times), it seems the enemy goes around roaring like a lion in our ears trying to drown out our Fathers gentle voice, and it can be much to easy at times to get distracted and let one of the enemy’s seeds to to take root in our hearts or minds and begin to grow and cause corruption.
This reminds me of Luke chapter 4 about Yeshua, as the enemy was trying to tempt Him. It was like no matter what angle the enemy tried to play at (and it does say that he tempted Him in every way) that Yeshua didn’t budge for a moment. He just kept using Scripture to refute the enemy, and sent him away. I think this is such a rich passage in this part of scripture for 2 reasons in particular that pertain to your point.
Number one, we all know that all of the kingdoms of the world (and so much more) already belong to Yeshua already, so the enemy trying to tempt or seduce Yeshua into bowing to him to gain what is already Yeshua’s, is a classic example of how the enemy tries to seduce us into doing something wicked to get what we desire now, even though the enemy knows that as heirs of the living God that through His son Yeshua we already have access to everything we could ever want or need. So like Yeshua being tempted with something that is already His, why should we be seduced with things that are less than what we already have (or what He is willing to give us) in Him!?
Reason #2, I’ve always loved how Yeshua deals with this situation, in that He’s not just taking the defensive, but that He takes the offensive against the enemy using Scripture and won’t back down, just like I believe He is calling us to be doing in our daily lives against all such attempts against ourselves. I think this leads into an incredible discussion about the Spiritual Athority that has been given to us through the Holy Spirit, but that’s a whole other “can of worms” so to speak. I suppose what I just find so uplifting about all of what you had to say is 1 Corinthians 10;13 and how YHVH never allows us to be tempted beyond what we are able, but gives us a way to endure it. All of which is why it is so important, just like you said to put on the armor of Yah and be on our guard and aware against the enemy’s schemes so that we can readily combat them for the glory of YHVH our Father.
I really appreciate you writing this post, it’s really got me thinking the last few days, and I thought that you made some very excellent points. I look forward to reading more from you in the future!
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Amen, brother. I really like your point about the enemy trying to seduce us with things lesser than what we already have through Yahweh and His Son Yahshua. That’s an awesome perspective to have when the enemy comes against us. We can just say to the enemy, “No thank you. I already have far more in Yahweh than you could ever offer me.” 2 Peter 1:3,4 — “…His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
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Your insights are so timely. Thanks for sharing them faithfully.
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What an important message, Jonathan!
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