DOCTRINE OF BALAAM: The faithful held fast to the name of Christ while others embraced the doctrine of Balaam. This doctrine becomes apparent when comparing this text with Numbers, chapters 22 to 24, and Peter and Jude.
When the Moabite king, Balak, could not stop the Israelites from crossing his territories en route to Canaan, he hired Balaam, a prophet, to curse Israel. Balaam was a genius with a commanding intellect. He knew the God of Israel in the course of prophetic history. God warned Balaam not to curse Israel, so he initially refused Balak's offer. Yet, the prophet devised another plan to receive the monetary reward offered to him. For the right price, Balaam revealed to the king a secret that would cause God to curse Israel. Balak paid for the information, and Balaam informed him that if he could get Israel to commit fornication with the Moabite women and eat their unclean food, God would destroy those people. Balak put his plan into action. The narrative in Numbers chapter 25 shows that the Israelites took the bait and fell into the trap. God killed 24,000 of them. Balaam convinced the people that they could serve God and worship idols; they could serve God and live in sexual promiscuity. The people of God lost the blessings of God when someone in the name of God taught them that they could sin against God's commandments and still have God's blessings. This type of doctrine became prevalent in the Pergamos church. Historically, the people of this city were committing fornication and eating abominable food. These actions are not surprising considering the pagan influence in Pergamos. As noted earlier in Historical Pergamos, these peopl
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