God Speaks

Last week we met King Balak and a false prophet named Balaam. Balaam was summoned by King Balak to curse the nation of Israel so they wouldn’t destroy Balak’s country of Moab. Balaam actually heard from the one, true God and was told not to go to Moab to curse Israel because they were under God’s protection. Balaam persisted in his desire to go to Moab to be consulted by the King and God let him go. 

God was very angry with Balaam who was on his way to Moab (Numbers 22:22). The angel of the Lord stood in the road, opposing Balaam according to the second half of the same verse. Wait a minute; didn’t God tell Balaam to go?  Why was He mad?  Why did He oppose Balaam? God told Balaam to go with them but only do what God tells him. (Numbers 22:20) The reason that God was angry with Balaam and opposed his trip to Moab was because God knew Balaam’s heart and knew that he was not planning to do only what God told him.  Imagine Balaam on his way. He is probably starting to think as he travels.  While thinking, he is probably looking forward to meeting King Balak. Not only that, he is most likely thinking of a way to gain from this transaction.  He is sure to be remembering the riches and power the king offered to him.   

God’s angels are messengers. They are also ministering spirits serving believers (Hebrews 1:14). God sent His angel to stop Balaam from cursing Israel. Balaam was riding a donkey to Moab. He had two servants with him. The angel opposed Balaam with a drawn sword. The donkey could see the angel, but Balaam could not. The donkey went off the road to avoid the angel. Balaam beat his donkey for going off the road. 

“Why does God not hold Balaam to his earlier answer [permitting him to go](Numbers 20:12)? We could ask the same question about why the Lord was angry with the Israelites at Kibroth Hattaavah when they gathered quail he had sent for them to eat (Numbers 11:31-33). It appears that in both cases the Lord is testing people by giving them what they want in order to see whether they will show some restraint in accordance with what they already know to be right.  The Israelites and Balaam both flunk by single-mindedly gravitating to self-gratification.  In Balaam’s case there is an additional aggravating factor: He is setting out to enrich himself at the expense of God’s people, who are divinely blessed. Understanding the firm nature of the blessing, he should have taken God’s ‘no’ as the final answer.” (Numbers Commentary) 

Balaam goes with the second set of messengers, but God opposes him.  Balaam would be struck down by the angel of the Lord if it wasn’t for his donkey. After three beatings and being terrified of the angel of the Lord, the donkey is given the ability to speak.  This is absolutely amazing! A donkey speaking! The first animal to speak in Scripture was what type of animal? The serpent was the first animal to speak in the Bible. Satan appeared to the first humans in the form of a snake to tempt them to sin.  This second creature was much larger and known to be an unintelligent, stubborn animal.  God gave the donkey the ability to speak to further teach Balaam a lesson.   

The donkey asks what he has done to make Balaam beat him three times. (Numbers 22:28) Balaam was in such a rage, that he answered the animal, breathing out murderous threats!  He cannot see the angel in the road opposing him.  The seer cannot see, but the dumb animal can! And their conversation continues without Balaam seeming to register in his mind that his donkey is speaking! 

After Balaam answered in the negative to the donkey’s second question regarding his past experience with the beast, God opened Balaam’s eyes to see the angel of the Lord opposing him with drawn sword. This must have been an awesome sight!  “In some ways the opening of the eyes of the pagan prophet to see the reality of the Living God was the greater miracle.” (Expositor’s Commentary p. 894) Balaam bowed before the angel.  From the fact that the angel accepted this worship and expressed God’s anger to Balaam in the first person, we can infer that this angel of the Lord is a theophany or visible appearance of Jesus Christ.  Since a man cannot look at God and live, God sends His visible form, His Son, to appear to humans.  Jesus appeared in the Old Testament a number of times. One of the most memorable visits involved Jacob whom God renamed  Israel. On the occasion of the renaming of this patriarch, God wrestled with Jacob and eventually touched his hip, causing him to limp the rest of his life. (Genesis 32:22-32) 

Balaam and his donkey had a conversation back and forth over the apparent disobedience of the donkey. God opened the seer’s eyes and he saw the angel with the drawn sword opposing him. He bowed down to the ground. The angel told Balaam that he would have killed him by now if it hadn’t been for his donkey’s actions. (Numbers 22:31-33) Balaam said he had sinned and offers to return home. God told Balaam to go but repeats that he needs to only say what God says. There are times that we can hear the rebuke of the Lord from unlikely places. Our hearts need to be humble and open to God's correction. 

“If Balaam had unconditionally surrendered to the Lord as Saul/Paul later surrendered to Christ under somewhat similar circumstances while on the road to persecute Christian believers in Damascus (Acts 9), he would have insisted on returning home at once. But earthly reward blinded Balaam to the needs of God’s people.” (NIV Application p. 694) 

In the last few verses of Numbers 22, Balaam arrived in Moab.  Balak was a little put out that Balaam had not come sooner.  Balaam responded to him that he was there now and could only say what God tells him. The king and the seer sacrificed animals. Many pagan rituals involve animal sacrifice. These sacrifices are not to God. The next day, Balak took Balaam to a place where he could view the outskirts of the Israelite camp. 

The next two chapters will be full of messages from God spoken by Balaam.  From what is said in these oracles and the visions the Lord gives to Balaam, one would infer that he was a prophet in good standing with God.  However, at the end of chapter 24 we will look at other scripture references to Balaam and find that he is another example of God using an unbeliever for his purposes. Has that ever happened in your life?  I mean, has God ever used an unbeliever to speak into your life or walk with Him? If we humbly evaluate what is said to us, we can learn much in this life.

God has used unsaved family members to convict, correct or encourage me many times.  We must not think that Balaam is a genuine follower of God from what we read in the next two chapters.  This chapter gives us a conflicting, even mysterious message about Balaam and chapters 23-24 make him seem godly, but once we look at the statements made about Balaam in other books of the Bible, you will see that he was a phony.  Having a donkey correct Balaam adds a rich, humorous element to Balaam’s story and teaches us to recognize that “God can use whomever or whatever he chooses, including even stones (Luke 19:40). It is God who is superior, and none of us are excluded from service to him.  Here is a call for humility and for treating each other with respect (1 Cor. 12:21-25).” (NIV Application page 696)