Why did 23,000 Jews have to be put to death in the Balaam account?
God allowed judgment to fall because Israel had lost her separated character. Balaam could not curse them, since God would not permit it, so he devised a satanically inspired plan: Moabite women would seduce Jewish young men. The scheme worked, and 23,000 Jews had to be put to death.
Les explains that Israel was to be a separated people, and whenever they lost that separation, God's judgment fell. In the Balaam account, Balak, king of Moab, brought Balaam the false prophet to curse Israel because he knew he could not defeat them militarily and God would not let him curse them. Balaam then had another satanically inspired thought: the Moabites should put out their prettiest girls so Jewish young men would be seduced. It worked. God let judgment fall, and 23,000 Jews had to be put to death because they had lost their separated character. Les stresses this was not because the Jews had become bigoted or proud; God had mandated that they stay separated from the Gentiles.