“So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.” (Numbers 25:3, ESV)
While we learn from Balaam’s words that he could not curse Israel because God had blessed them, Israel could create their own problems by participating in gross idolatry. This is the case here. They yoked themselves to Baal-Peor, the deity worshipped at Peor. It also appears, from the Lord’s words in Revelation, that Balaam had counseled Balak to use this approach to trip up Israel.
“But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.” (Revelation 2:14, ESV)
The approach was simple, appeal to the fleshly lusts of the men of Israel by enticing them to pursue the daughters of Moab for sexual reasons (v1). Then the daughters of Moab would entice the men to bow down to their gods (v2). In this way Israel would slide down the slippery slope of sin and self-destruction. This is exactly what happened. We read that because of their idolatry they experienced a plaque in which twenty-four thousand died (v9).
We learn several things from this account. First, we learn that while curses cannot affect the chosen people of God, the people of God can bring the chastisement of the Lord upon themselves. The purpose of this chastisement is to cause believers to flee from the wickedness of idolatry.
Second, the adversaries of the people of God are cunning. They can find subtle ways to defeat the people of God by exploiting the weaknesses of their fleshly desires. In this case Israel’s participation in sexual sin led to self-defeat. We know that habitual unrepentant sin affects our relationship with God, which renders believers spiritually weak. We must be vigilant, watching for the subtle traps of the enemy of our faith.
Third, Israel had yoked or fastened themselves to the false god, Baal-Peor. However, they began by unequally yoking with Moabite women and the evil practices of Moabite society. Throughout the Scriptures God calls His people to separate from the evil practices of the cultures around them. He commands believers not to yoke with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14).
Fourth, Israel had unequally yoked or fastened themselves to a false god. This is idolatry. We tend to think of idolatry merely as the worship of a graven image. However, idolatry happens anytime we commit our lives to serving anything other than the Lord our God.
There is a parallel between this passage and our culture today. We live in a culture preoccupied with sexual perversions of every sort. God has set the standard for sexual relationships. Sexual union is reserved for a man and a woman who are married to each other. God blesses this type of sexual union. Thus, every sexual activity outside this standard, misses the mark and is considered as perversion. Yet there are “so called” Christian denominations today and believers that have clearly crossed the line. This results in a lack of spiritual power, and participation in idolatry where the world system has taken priority over the will of God.
Renewing the Heart 