Dp – Balaam’s First Encounter with God 22: 7-14

Balaam’s First Encounter with God
22: 7-14

Balaam’s first encounter with God DIG: What did the offer of the payment for sorcery imply? Why did Balaam refuse to go with the princes in this first encounter?

REFLECT: In what ways are God’s people to be separate from the world? How do you work this out in your own life? How can we do this and still reach out to the world?

You are not to curse the Israelites, because they are blessed.

Convinced of Mo’ab’s military weakness before Isra’el, King Balak resorted to unconventional warfare. He sent messengers to Balaam, asking him to come and curse Isra’el, because “they are stronger than I am” (22:6a). As the story unfolds, the irony of Balak’s final words in his message will come back to haunt the king, “. . . for I know that whoever you bless is in fact blessed, and whoever you curse is in fact cursed” (22:6b).

The princes (22:7): The messengers that Balak sent to summon Balaam were not mere servants sent to run an errand, they were the princes of Mo’ab and Midian. In doing so, Balak treated Balaam like he was a head of state. The actual details of such a meeting would have entailed the standard hospitality process of formal greetings, the sharing of preliminary gifts, the sharing of a meal, and probably an extended discussion of the events leading up to the visit, and then a formal presentation of a letter.⁴⁶² They also took with them the payment for sorcery, a common practice in ancient times (1 Samuel 9:8; 1 Kings; 2 Kings 8:8-9; Micah 3:11), and relayed the message sent by King Balak. They assumed that paying him for his services would guarantee that he would say only what they wanted him to say, namely, to put a curse on their supposed enemy Isra’el.

The Midianites were a semi-nomadic people who also claimed Abraham as their ancestor. Midian was a son of Abraham’s second wife Ketura following the death of Sarah. Since then, the Midianites were seen in the Torah as the merchant caravan that purchased Joseph from his brothers and brought him to Egypt (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Jb – Joseph’s Brothers Sold Him for Twenty Shekels of Silver). Moses had lived among a clan of the Midianites during his forty years living there. His first wife Zipporah was a Midianite. But now, we find the Midianites conspiring along with Balak.

Joshua 13:21 explains that the princes of Midian were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba, representing Sihon, who probably appointed five Midianite warlords as administrators over the territory he had conquered. The Midianite forces were probably something of a militia army under Sihon. So, after the Israelites defeated Sihon and the Amorites (see Dk – The Defeat of Sihon of Heshbon), the Moabites and the Midianites thought that they were the next target. Thus, they banded together and weighed their options. You know that things are desperate when relying on sorcery is your best bet.⁴⁶³

The negotiations (22:8): Balaam said to them, “Stay here tonight, and I will bring you back whatever answer ADONAI tells me.” So the princes of Mo’ab and Midian stayed with Balaam. Notice the name Balaam uses: ADONAI. This means that intellectually, he was familiar with God therefore and went to Him. It seems probable that Balaam was a polytheist who regarded the LORD as one god in the pantheon of gods. But why did he go to YHVH and not some of the other gods he obviously worshiped? That was because of a pagan concept which was that a people’s own god’s had the greatest power over them for good or bad. In theory, had he been hired by Isra’el to curse the Moabites, he would have inquired of Chemosh, the god of the Moabites. Thus because Balaam knew that ADONAI is the God of Isra’el, he went to Him.⁴⁶⁴ However, Balaam was about to encounter YHVH in a way that would transcend any other deity that he had ever experienced; and in addition, he was about to become an unwitting instrument of God for revelation and the blessing of Isra’el.⁴⁶⁵

Not only was Balaam familiar with ADONAI, but he considered himself to be the premier prophet of God. He referred to himself proudly as the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, and who sees the vision of the Almighty (24:15-16). Balaam is the model of spiritual pride. He thought he had God figured out. He thought that he had the corner on spiritual truth and revelation. The story of Balaam is further evidence that it is possible to be utterly self-deceived about one’s relationship with God. Balaam was like the patron saint of spiritual pride. And, as we shall see in his story, spiritual pride equals spiritual blindness.⁴⁷⁰

The divine revelation (22:9-11): That night, Elohim, the powerful One, came to Balaam. It is important to realize that it was Elohim who came to Balaam, not Balaam who brought himself to Elohim. And just because Elohim came to Balaam, it did not mean that Balaam was a prophet of God. Because we know at certain times, that YHVH revealed Himself to pagans. He did so with Abimelech (see the commentary on Genesis Fe – Then God Came to Abimelech in a Dream); He did this with Pharaoh (see Genesis Jr – Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams); He did this with Laban (see Genesis Hr – Laban Pursues Jacob); and twice we see this in the book of Dani’el, first with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (see Dani’el Ak – Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream), and secondly with Nebuchadnezzar’s vision (see Dani’el Bf – Nebuchadnezzar’s Vision of a Great Tree).⁴⁷¹

ADONAI asked: Who are these men with you (22:9)? The question posed to Balaam was rhetorical, since YHVH obviously knew who those men were and why they were there. This method of beginning an encounter with God and man recalls similar expressions in Genesis 3:9 between God and Adam, and in Genesis 4:9 between God and Cain.⁴⁷² The questions in Genesis were to get Adam and Cain to admit what they had done; here, however, the question was to get Balaam to think about what he was doing. Balaam said to the God of Isra’el, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Mo’ab, has sent me this message: ‘The people who came out of Egypt have spread over the land; now, come and curse them for me; maybe I will be able to fight against them and drive them out’ (22:10-11).”

God’s blessing (22:12): But Elohim answered Balaam, and made His will very clear: You are not to go with them; you are not to curse those people, because they are blessed (22:12). That is quite a statement to make in light of the fact that Isra’el had been under divine judgment for the preceding thirty-eight years. But this shows the difference between Isra’el’s position and her experience as related to YHVH. Positionally, Isra’el had always been in a place of blessing because of her conventional standing (see the commentary on Genesis Dt – I Will Bless Those Who Bless You and Whoever Curses You I Will Curse), but experientially, she could experience cursing for disobedience (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Ff – Curses for Disobedience). The story of Balaam is thus an example of the madness of attempting to destroy the eternal blessing of the children of Abraham. And those who oppose Isra’el today, and wish for her destruction, should take note.

God’s rejection (22:13-14): Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s princes, “Return to your own land, because ADONAI refuses to give me permission to go with you.” The princes of Mo’ab got up, returned to Balak a month later and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.” Balaam responded obediently to the revelation granted to him by God, but Balak only knew that the sorcerer had refused the invitation, not that it was Isra’el’s God who prevented him from going. Balaam was on the horns of a dilemma, trapped between the demands of Balak and the commands of ADONAI. It is this conflict that sustains the whole drama that follows.⁴⁷³

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that when there is drama and uncertainty for what the future holds, You are completely omniscient, loving and Almighty. Those who love You can hold tightly to Your hand, look up into Your wise face, and trust completely that You are totally in control in all situations. Your Almighty power is greater than any evil force that may try to come against You or Your children. Your omniscient wisdom already knows the plan of anyone who may try to harm Your children and you have already moved with precision the right people and events into place to ensure that Your will is ultimately done.

You are a holy God (Isaiah 6:3) who cannot tolerate evil. You timed everything perfectly when you brought out Your people from Egypt. You who knew all that would happen in the future, and waited till the sin of the Amorites had reached its full measure. Your timing was neither too early nor too late, but your timing was just right! But I am going to judge the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will go out with many possessions.  But you, you will come to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they will return here – for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete (Genesis 15:14 and 16).

You disciplined Isra’el for their refusal to obey You and enter the Land. You made them wander a year for each of the forty days the spies were in the land (Numbers 14:26-35). Their years of wandering were coming to a close and the new generation was ready to follow and obey You. Your heart of love was about to bring the new obedient generation into the Promised Land. No way would you allow them to be cursed.

What comfort it is that the power of victory is not in who is the enemy, but the power of victory is in Your hands of our Loving and Almighty Heavenly Father. It is Your power that wins battles and Your love and power that gives eternal life to all trust You as their Lord and Savior. For if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart it is believed for righteousness, and with the mouth it is confessed for salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever trusts in Him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11). Your powerful hands hold Your children tightly.   I give them eternal life! They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand (John 10:28). Thank You for being such a wonderful Heavenly Father that we can trust when there is drama, for we know it is all in Your Almighty hands! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen