Balaam and his talking donkey

When I came to the story of Balaam I was confused after the first time I read it.

(You can read the story for your self in Numbers chapters 22-24).

Balaak is afraid of the children of Israel and sends his men with a fee for divination to summon Balaam to come and curse them.

Balaam tells Balaak's men twice he can't curse the children of Israel if God has not cursed them. Balaam says he will not budge for any amount of money.

It APPEARED to me that Balaam was obeying what the Lord required of him.

The Lord finally gave him permission to go with the men if he did only what the Lord told him to do. When he sets out to leave on his donkey with Balaak's men the next morning the Lord is angry. This left me confused.

Then the Angel of the Lord (preincarnate of Jesus) blocks Balaam's path. The donkey can see Jesus but Balaam can't. He beats the donkey. The Lord opens the donkey's mouth and he asks Balaam why in the world he is beating him. Balaam tells the donkey it is because he is making a fool out of him. Then the Lord opens Balaam's eyes and he sees the Angel of the Lord. Jesus is telling Balaam if the donkey wouldn't have stopped He would have killed him and let the donkey live. Which is a clear message that the donkey's life has more value than Balaam's. The Lord tells Balaam that his path is a reckless one before Him.

It APPEARS that when Balaam finally sees Jesus he is eager to obey. Balaam says he won't go if He doesn't want him to. Then Jesus tells him to go and speak only what He tells him to.

I am still confused. Isn't he ultimately obeying when disciplined?

Once he gets to Balaak he shows Balaam several different views of the children of Israel but Balaam refuses to curse them. Balaam speaks several oracles of blessing over the children of Israel and finally gets sent home by Balaak with no money.

I almost dismissed it and intended to move right along to the next chapter and leave Balaam and his donkey settled in my mind.

BUT what seemed a bit odd to me was that in the third oracle it mentions that Balaam did not resort to sorcery as at other times. I thought maybe this indicated that he was double minded. All of us can be double minded from time to time. We want what the world has to offer and we want Jesus. I think the key question to ask is which do we want more?

After I finished those 3 chapters I asked Jerome if he knew if Balaam was a known sorcerer since Balaak had sent for him with a divination fee. The text also implied that he had used sorcery in times past. I told Jerome it APPEARED Balaam had changed his sorcery ways if so. I told Jerome it APPEARED Balaam obeyed so why did God keep getting so pissed at him...to the point he wanted to kill him.

Jerome knew of other scriptures that I wasn't familiar with that showed Balaam's character. His conclusion was that Balaam was playing games with God. God sees past our words and actions and into our hearts. He also asked me to think of prophets with a deep passion for God like Isaiah. He asked me to think about what Isaiah's response would have been to Balaak's request compared with Balaam's response. I was still uncertain as to what I thought.

I decided to look up any scriptures I could find about Balaam. Here is what I came up with...

I find out later he was slain in battle as a command by God. He became known as Balaam son of Beor, who practiced divination. How's that for a heritage to leave behind? You can read about it in Joshua 13:21-23.

In the New Testament Peter goes on and on about false teachers and how terrible they are. He likens them to Balaam who he says loved the wages of wickedness. You can read about it in 2 Peter Chapter 2.

In his book Jude talks about the ways of evil godless men and guess who he compares them to? Balaam! You can read about it in the book of Jude.

This is what shocked me. My husband had told me that later on Balaam ended up counselling Balaak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality in hopes that God would want to curse them so he could finally get his money. Sure enough there it is in Revelation chapter 2! Balaam spent himself on seeking dishonest gain instead of seeking the Lord.

So after digging deeper into Balaam's life I re-read Numbers 22-24 again with a fresh new perspective. Here is what I saw.

Balaam at some point used sorcery as a means for financial gain. He obviously had some sort of connection with God and used it for his own advantage. Even though it APPEARED that he was outwardly obeying, God saw what was going on in his heart.

Outward obedience with inward rebellion is not acceptable.

When you do not want to obey but in brokenness you obey anyway it is acceptable and pleasing to the Lord. This wasn't the case with Balaam.

Next I saw that even though in Numbers 22:18 Balaam refers to the Lord as the Lord MY God. He clearly hadn't given God lordship of his life on the inside. This reminds me of a scripture in the New Testament. You can read about a warning Jesus gives concerning false prophets in Matthew 7:15-23. Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Balaam was clearly told by the Lord the FIRST time he inquired of Him NOT to go with Balaak's men. He inquired of the Lord a second time with greed in his heart. He did not want to do the will of God but wanted to convince God to let Him curse the people for money. God saw thru Balaam's manipulation and saw into his heart. He does the same with us. He looks at our motivations and judges us with mercy.

I also recognized Balaam's spiritual blindness. He did not see the Angel of the Lord blocking his reckless path to Balaak. He had tunnel vision. His focus was not on the Lord or doing His will. Instead his heart was set on finding a way to curse the children of Israel for monetary gain. I find it funny that God pointed out that the donkey had more obedience and reverence than Balaam did.

Balaam was trying to manipulate God. Balaam was mad because the donkey was making a fool of him. His focus was on himself more than doing the will of God. God revealed Balaam's pride and double mindedness thru His rebuke.

I love that God reminds the children of Israel in later scriptures that Balaak AND Balaam wanted to curse them. It APPEARED only Balaak did.

Balaak was forthright in his sin. Balaam was deceitful about his sin. Both men had evil intentions.

In God's reminders to the children of Israel I see that despite Balaam's evil intent, God's sovereignty ruled. He MADE Balaam bless them. It wasn't that Balaam WOULDN'T curse the children of Israel but that he COULDN'T curse them. God is ultimately the Blessed Controller of all things. He is sovereign in our lives therefore He is trustworthy.

I have read this story before but it has never come so alive for me. I have read many old testament scriptures. This is the 2nd time I have read thru the Old Testament chronologically. I highly recommend it to be a yearly commitment. God has spoke such powerful things to me in between the genealogies :)

I know this was long. Thank you for bearing with me. I spent days stopping and starting in between the joyful chaos at my house. It was important to me to share my thoughts with you all. God's word is one of the primary tools He has used to change my life. I have a deep love for scripture. I find all the answers I need to any of life's concerns written in His Word. Even in stories about talking Donkeys :)

Let me leave you with a few questions.

• We want what the world has to offer and we want Jesus. Which do you want more?
• When God asks something of you is your response to try and play games with Him like Balaam? Is your response to respond in reverence and humility like Isaiah?
• What do you want to be said of you when you die? What is the heritage you want to leave behind?
• What do you spend yourself on? Is it seeking the Lord or other things?
• Do you struggle with outward obedience combined with inward rebellion?
• Has there been a time recently when you did not want to obey but in brokenness you obeyed anyway?
• Do you find comfort in knowing that God looks into our hearts at our motivations and judges us with mercy or does this scare you?
• When God rebukes you does it reveal pride and rebellion or humility and brokenness over your sin?
• At what times do you tend to focus on yourself more than on the Lord and doing His will?
• Do you find joy in knowing God is sovereign and the Blessed Controller of all things?
• Have you read the old testament thru chronologically ? If so how has it benefited you. If not will you read thru it this year?

These are just some reflective questions to make you think.

I will leave you with this verse:

Hebrews 4:12
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

One of my (mental) New Year's resolutions is to blog more :)

I back tracked in my Old Testament reading to the story of Balaam so I could write this blog. In my current reading in the Old Testament I am in a bit of a boring spot. Is it OK to say parts of God's word are boring :) I will take a break and blog about other things...

I love you all!