Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:42:51 — 25.3MB)
Subscribe: RSS
Everyone loves a story about talking animals, especially smart ones. But the account in the Torah reading בָּלָק Balak isn’t just fodder for a fun animated kids’ movie. It’s an important lesson that God wants us to recognize false prophets and not follow them.
Balaam is from Syria near the Euphrates River. This is not far from the homeland of Abraham, Rebecca, Laban and Jacob’s wives. He may have learned something about the Creator/El-Shaddai from these neighbors. Their knowledge of Him and what He wants from them is limited, however.
Balak knew that his “god” did not have the power to take out the Israelites. They knew the stories of how God rescued Israel from Egypt and they knew their gods could not do what God did. That is why Balak was so desperate to commission Balaam to curse and weaken them.
The Amorites had taken some land from the nation of Moab a few generations before and Moab wants that land back. When the Amorites attacked Israel, Israel gained their territory. This put fear into the nation of Moab and they thought the nation of Israel was going to attack them next. This is the geopolitical context of Balak’s desperation to weaken Israel.
When Balak sends servants to get Balaam, on the surface, it seems like God is flip-flopping on the issue of permitting Balaam to go with them. God first says “Don’t go,” but then God says “Go but only if they come back again and only say what God says.” But it appears that Balaam didn’t wait for them to come back and he got on his donkey to go after them.
But there is a play on words in the Hebrew. There are two different ways to go with someone. One way is to go “in agreement” with someone. There’s also the sense of going the same direction, but not necessarily in the sense of companionship.
God told Balaam to walk along side with Balak but not to go in agreement or fellowship. But Balaam wanted to go in fellowship with Balak, which angered the Lord.
Balaam is not a true seer. He doesn’t see the angel, but the donkey does. The donkey is the true prophet in the story.
Balaam is being called on to curse Israel and make their lives difficult, hard and to ultimately kill them. Balaam is being called to use his mouth to kill, the donkey uses her mouth to bring life. He uses his knowledge to kill. The donkey uses her sight and speech to save his life three times.
The donkey rebukes Balaam, the false prophet. A false prophet does’t mean they lie but they manipulate the truth to make those around them ignore the truth.
Balaam is a mercenary, his profession is to curse people. His existence causes destruction under the pretense of God’s name. He knows who God is but uses God for his own personal gain.
Balaam was so blinded by his own rage, arrogance and pride, he doesn’t even comprehend how ususual it is for a donkey to speak.
God wants us to recognize false prophets and not follow them.
The donkey saves Balaam’s life three times. The angel didn’t have to stay put. The angel could have moved over and blocked the donkey’s path the first two times but he didn’t. The angel honored the donkey’s efforts to save Balaam’s life.
The donkey’s story, the angel and the three times are Messianic references.
There were also three attempts by Balak to send Balaam to curse Israel to cause their death but Balaam blesses them instead. Balaam words, which he used for death, were now used to save the upright.
The Messiah converts death to life after three days for those who believe, for those who are upright.
What does it mean to be ‘upright’?
Micah 6:1-8 explains what being upright means.
“Has it been told to you, O man, what is good or what the Lord seeks from you, but to do judgment and to love mercy and to be ready to walk with the Lord, your God?” (Micah 6:8 NETS)
When Balaam says that he wants to end is life like Jacob? Jacob walked uprightly with God. Jacob was righteous, merciful and humble. Balaam is none of those things. Israel has done him no harm. Israel has done nothing against Moab either yet he is going out there to curse Israel. Balaam loved money and power. He massaged his own ego and spoke with arrogance.
Balaam actually tells Balak the source of Israel’s knowledge of the Creator God.
“For there is no omen (nachash H5173) in Iakob nor divination (qesem H7081) in Israel; opportunely it shall be told to Iakob and to Israel what God shall accomplish.” (Numbers 23:23 NETS)
Diviners and sorcerers take what is unknown and make it known. Balaam is a sorcerer, but there was no witchcraft in him. Samuel was a “sorcerer” but He did not commit witchcraft either. Balaam is telling Balak that Israel has no evil sorcery.
How do you get God mad at someone who hasn’t done anything wrong? Balaam can’t bring God’s wrath or curse on a people who haven’t done anything wrong.
The first offering Balak offered up was a peace offering, which everyone was able to eat. Men will work for food, especially a good BBQ. God doesn’t want BBQ, He wants whole offerings, which men do not eat. They are totally consumed in fire.
Blesser gets cursed
Balaam blessed the children of Israel in three ways. He blessed their past, their present and their future.
God hears the prayers of those who sin, who make mistakes, but He doesn’t hear the prayers of sinners, those who lives in sin and brag about their life of sin.
Balak’s burnt offerings were to cover the sins of his people. Balaam wasn’t a righteous intercessor, althought Balak didn’t know that. Balak just knew that Balaam was more righteous than most of them.
Balaam has made his entire career cursing people for money. This is not righteous.
Balaam prayed that his death would be like Jacob but that was not to be. Jacob died at peace surrounded by his sons and grandsons but Balaam, as recorded in Joshua 13, did not. By the time Balak brought Balaam into curse Israel, Israel had conquered most of the territory of the Amorites.
“The sons of Israel also killed Balaam the son of Beor, the diviner, with the sword among the rest of their slain.” (Joshua 13:22 NAS95)
How was it that Balaam was killed by the tribe of Reuben in Amor if Balak had sent him home? It appears that Balaam turned around and returned to Balak and told him how to seduce Israel to anger the Lord and put themselves under God’s curse.
“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this: ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. ‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’” (Revelation 2:12–17 NASB)
Balaam loved money too much to die the death of righteous Jacob. Balaam knew what righteousness was and he wasn’t righteous. Balaam did not “judge righteously, love mercy or walk humbly with the LORD.” Balaam didn’t know enough about YHVH to treat Him differently than he treated the false gods.
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:15–20 NASB)
Balaam’s fruit was rotten to the core. He did such a “good job” at inoculating evil into Israel that they suffered from this “infection” for a long time. This was an introduction of worshiping God in a different way than how God told them to worship Him.
3 different deaths after the sin at Baal-Peor
- Leaders executed
- 24,000 died in a plague
- Man with Midianite woman killed by Phineas
Banner Photo: Painting “Landscape with Bileam” by Joseph Anton Koch (1768–1839), owned by the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Photo via Wikipedia Commons.
Summary: Tammy.