The Prophet Balaam. Good Or Bad
Posted: Wednesday, November 26, 2008
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
We have instances in the Holy Bible where some individual appears on the scene, with little or no introduction. And sometimes their exposure is brief and then they vanish from view. The High Priest and King of Salem, Melchizedek, was such a person. We also have an instance of a prophet of God, named Balaam, who appears out of nowhere, has only limited exposure, which seems to the reader to be fairly good. Yet there are records of criticism by writers in several books of the Bible. In order to make some kind of educated conjecture, let us see what we can find out about the man.
First, Balaam was not an Israelite (or Jew). He was a pagan, which was not a derogatory name but simply that the world was comprised of the Israelites and all others were called pagans. The same Hebrew term that is often translated pagan, is sometimes translated "nation" or "nations". We know that there were prophets of God under the Patriarchal era as under the Mosaical dispensation. It appears that he was a fairly good prophet at the point of this scriptural coverage, even though there is some evidence to indicate that his heart, or intent, was not exactly pleasing to God.
Israel was not yet completed with their 40 years wilderness wandering and had settled down temporarily in the plains of Moab. They were very numerous and the Moabites were fearful of them. Let us read a few verses beginning with that thought.
" And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Mo abites at that time. He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me: Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak. And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out. And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you. And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us." (Numbers 22:1-14)
Now, if we take a close look at this episode, it is readily shown that God had no intentions of allowing Balaam to place a curse on the Israelites. That should be enough said and the subject should have been closed. But Balak really wanted to get rid of the Israelites There were too many for him to meet on a level playing field, so he wanted a curse put upon them to help him chase them away. So let's read on.
"And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they. Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more." (Numbers 22:15-18)
It is my personal view of this story, had Balaam stopped right there and said, "Begone for I cannot help you." Everything would have been fine and He would have been in God's favor. But obviously, the promises Balak had made him were gnawing at his weak side so he proceeded thusly:
"Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more. And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do." (Numbers 22:19-20)
I cannot help but believe that there are some words omitted in the preceding scripture. I was already told Balaam earlier that he should not go with them. Now, God told him to go with them and from this point the scriptures do not fit this statement. It may have been that Balaam had asked Got to allow him to go, or more likely perhaps, God knew his heart and that he desired to go. But even though He told him to go with them, you will see in the following, that his decision to go displeased God.
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever won't to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay. Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive. (Numbers 22:21-33)
To try and keep this article from becoming too lengthy, let me explain, that the Angel allowed Balaam to go but with a warning that he was to only say what words were given him from God.
Balak took him up into a high mountain where they could see the Israelites covering many miles of Moab lands and asked Balaam to curse them. Balaam offered sacrifices to God then walked away and asked for God's guidance, came back and rather than curse them, he spoke good of them. This angered Balak and he scolded Balaam and insisted that he try again. He went through the offerings to God three times and each time blessed the Israelites rather than curse them. This angered Balak but it pleased God. Balak and Balaam went back, each to their places.
This story of Balaam is about all of his life that is covered. However, he is mentioned with disdain and ridicule in several books of the Bible. It appears that he had gods other than the Almighty God and we read of several things that he did. Moses in scolding his men of war who brought back women and children from Moab has this to say:
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. (Numbers 31:14-16)
And we also find that in the story of him in the above account, he actually wanted to curse Israel for Balak but was not allowed to by God. Read this:
Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee. (Deuteronomy 23:5)
Peter in in 2 Peter 2:15 comments: They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;(NKJV)
And he is mentioned in Joshua 13:22 and 24:8-10, Micah 6:5, Nehemiah 13:1-3, Jude 1:11 and Revelation 2:14. There may be others but all of these mention him a negative manner, showing that he was not at all pleasing to God. So it is apparent that his heart was not right even in the one long episode above. Our God is omniscient...knows all things.
This Article has been viewed 1,576 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)Do we not all place our interpreatation on the Words God gave us? In this case he was speakinga s if God was revelaing to him. Yet we see that in man's opinion, interpretation , belief, based on what God provided. It is only when we imply God is talking directly to us as many say do we get in trouble. Gods word speaks to us and so as you have when using Gods word it is up to all of us to understand individually. I called it in my first article "The view from the pew". Good job.Thanks for commenting Robert. Yes you are right, people would rather listen to wee small voices or their own consciences and let everything be accepted as God's teaching. But it just isn't taught that way. Hebrews 1:1-2 tells us: ""God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;"That says it all. We are to hear Him, no one else. And the New Testament is His Testament (covenant)."Yes you are right, people would rather listen to wee small voices or their own consciences and let everything be accepted as God's teaching. But it just isn't taught that way. Hebrews 1:1-2 tells us: "Hi Joel,Yes, I agree if I am understanding you correctly. I also must say that I feel that it is not right when people use Jesus's plead for compassion to be an excuse for us to not be held accountable for anything. It think that this is much of the problem in the world today. People are thinking that everything they do is OK , and are following this "pop" psychology culture.Agreed...you are understanding me correctly.
Oh, forgot the star rating..Thanks, I needed that. :o)
Thanks, Joel, for your insight and study. I always learn something when I read your articles.Thanks Lorrie, I appreciate your comments. Believe it or not, I also learn something each time I research and prepare one of the articles
Joel,As with us mere humans, the individuals in the Bible are as diverse as the lessons we are to gain by their examples. Thank you for a very informative article.Blessings,Star LynThank you Star for your kind comments, I do really appreciate them.
Hi Joel, bravo, obviously well thought and I suspect prayed over before posting. I agree that God knew Balaam's heart and therefore said go, but remember what I told you. I a sure you have heard of God's perfect will and permissive will. In this case we see God';s permissive will. He gives man free choice. This story also shows us that our hearts can be divided and it displeases the Lord that we would continually question him even after he has made his perfect will clear. So in Balaam dancing around the issue and going off, he only brought unnecessary torment to his own soul. Because ultimately, God's perfect will was done in that he did not curse the israelites. He is a picture of too many people wanting to be with God and still wanting to be of the world. It doesn't work. Thanks again for a well-written article. TeresaYes, great! I wish I'd said that.
I really appreciate your sciptural references to bring balance to my perspective of Balaam
Thank you so much for reading and commenting. I appreciate your kind words
This is yet another excellent example of God looking out for the wayward nation of Israel. Time and time again He had to step in to prevent them from making major mistakes that would have delayed His timetable for the coming of Christ.God's plans cannot be deterred. He always has a way of turning lemons into lemonade whether we like it or not!Thanks for the comment, Jim. Yes, God's ultimate will, will be done. That is not to say that all will be saved because He wishes they would, but ultimately those of whom obey His will are the ones he wills to be saved.Right, Joel.God is not willing that any be lost but He gives us the choice.In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus talked about the road and gate to destruction being wide and the road and the gate to salvation being narrow to prophecy the future of the human race as it relates to salvation. He says "many" will choose destruction and a "few" will choose salvation.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.