The spirit of Balaam is hasty, presumptuous and greedy whose sole aim is to make a profit. People who are possessed by this spirit has forsaken the right way and gone astray. They love the wages of unrighteousness. They are like well without water and like clouds carried by the tempest. (2 Peter 2:12-17; Jude 1:11)

The Balaam spirit is the fourth in the series of demonic spirits that are operating as stumbling blocks in the Church. So far we have identified the religious spirit, the Jezebel spirit and the sin of witchcraft. The Bible warned us not to believe every spirit but to test the spirits to see if they are of God. (1 John 4:1-3)

The Origin of the Balaam Spirit

There was a war between the Israelites and the Moabites. Balak, the king of Moab, was afraid of the Israelites because of their previous victories. The king sent for Balaam, who was a diviner to place a curse on the children of Israel to help him win the war. (Numbers 22-24)

According to the English dictionary, a diviner is a person who practices divination. They try to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by the occult or supernatural means.

The above definition means that diviners operate with a mixed spirit. They are not genuine and pure prophets of God, but they dabble in witchcraft and the supernatural world to predict the future. They will also call upon the name of the Lord to boost their practices.

In Jamaica, the older folks called these diviners, “Reader Man or Woman.” Many people including Christians would visit them so that they can predict their future or diagnose and treat their illnesses or problems.

In our modern day society, we can see many of these diviners in the society in the form of psychic, spiritualists and astrologers. Some of them are also false prophets and evangelists who dabbled in witchcraft to enhance their ministries.

King Balak sent his men to hire the service of Balaam. Note that the job that the king wanted Balaam to perform was illegal. God had already made a covenant with Abraham that his seed (Israelites) will be blessed and whoever God blessed no man can curse.

Balaam told the king’s men to wait until the following morning to receive his answer. The Lord visited Balaam in the night and informed him that he could not curse the Israelites because they were blessed so he should not accompany king’s officials.

King Balak was persistent and sent many of his noble princes to Balaam promising to honor him greatly if he would curse the Israelites. Balaam was greedy for the wealth and riches so instead of refusing the job he told the princes that he wanted to hear from the Lord first so they should wait until the following morning.

In a dream that night, the Lord decided to teach Balaam a lesson.

And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.” So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. (Numbers 22:20-21)

The following morning Balaam hurriedly saddled his donkey and went with the king’s men. He was in such a haste that he did not enquire of the Lord the words which he should say to the Israelites.

Balaam was greedy and loved the wages of his unrighteous job.

As Balaam rushed to his unlawful mission, he did not notice that an angel carrying a sword in his hand was blocking his pathway to evil. Balaam had no spiritual vision, but his donkey did and turned away from the path into the field to avoid the angel.

Three times the angel blocked Balaam’s way and three times he struck his donkey who tried to avoid the angel. Finally, the Lord opened the mouth of the ass to reprimand Balaam. The Lord then opened Balaam’s eyes so that he could see the angel of the Lord.

And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” (Numbers 22:32-33)

The Lord was displeased with Balaam’s perverted heart and He would have destroyed him if it was not for his donkey. The Lord preserved his life and told him to continue on his journey.

When Balaam arrived at his destination he went up in the high place of Baal to utter the curses on the Israelites. However, when he opened his mouth, he found himself pronouncing blessings instead of a curse upon them.

The first prophecy stated in part,

“How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? (Numbers 23:8)

An excerpt from the second prophecy stated:

“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? Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. (Numbers 23: 19-20)

For the first two prophecies, Balaam had tried to use sorcery to curse the Israelites, but the Lord placed blessings in his mouth instead. On the third attempt to curse the Israelites he decided that he would not seek the help of sorcery but he looked towards the wilderness and said,

“How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel! Like valleys that stretch out, like gardens by the riverside, like aloes planted by the Lord, like cedars beside the waters. He shall pour water from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters.

‘He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him? “Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.” (Numbers 23: 5-7, 9)

King Balak became increasingly angry at Balaam prophetic blessings on the Israelites and refused to honor him with his wages. But Balaam had already resigned himself to the fact that he could not go beyond the words of the Lord for any amount of money.

Finally, the fourth and last prophecy of Balaam sealed the deliverance of God’s people and the judgment of the enemy. It was a prophetic word of the Messiah Jesus Christ.

I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult. (Numbers 23:17)

The words of the Lord was final, and no one not even King Balak or a corrupt diviner could stop it.

Manifestation of the Balaam spirit in the Church

The hasty spirit of Balaam is evident in two forms in the body of Christ. First, the premature deliverance of a prophecy. When God gave you a prophetic word if you are in a rush to release it to the church without first applying the word to your life, you are not working in alignment with God.

The second manifestation of the Balaam spirit is the rush to invest in a secular business without seeking advice from God and waiting for His directions. For many years, I was guilty of this type of impulsive behavior until the Lord revealed it to me and eradicate it from my life.

If you are only guilty of a part or one of the characteristics of the Balaam spirit, take heed because you are still displeasing the Lord so repent before it is too late.

If you refused to repent the Lord will send His angel with a flaming sword to block your pathway to evil. The purpose of God must come to pass, and if his leaders and pastors lack visions, He will allow the ‘donkey’ to speak to fulfill his purpose.

When you are walking in the will of the Lord no one can curse or harm you, and you have the authority to condemn every weapon that formed against you.