Reflections on Numbers 22

Numbers 22 (Contemporary English Version)

1. Israel moved from there to the hills of Moab, where they camped across the Jordan River from the town of Jericho.
   
2. When King Balak of Moab and his people heard how many Israelites there were and what they had done to the Amorites, he and the Moabites were terrified and panicked.
   
3. (SEE 22:2)
   
4. They said to the Midianite leaders, "That bunch of Israelites will wipe out everything in sight, like a bull eating grass in a field." So King Balak
   
5. sent a message to Balaam son of Beor who lived among his relatives in the town of Pethor near the Euphrates River. It said: I need your help. A huge group of people has come here from Egypt and settled near my territory.
   
6. They are too powerful for us to defeat, so would you come and place a curse on them? Maybe then we can run them off. I know that anyone you bless will be successful, but anyone you curse will fail.
   
7. The leaders of Moab and Midian left and took along money to pay Balaam for his work. When they got to his house, they gave him Balak's message.
   
8. "Spend the night here," Balaam replied, "and tomorrow I will tell you the LORD's answer." So the officials stayed at his house.
   
9. During the night, God asked Balaam, "Who are these people at your house?"
   
10. "They are messengers from King Balak of Moab," Balaam answered. "He sent them
    
11. to ask me to go to Moab and place a curse on the people who have come there from Egypt. They have settled everywhere around him, and he wants to run them off."
    
12. But God replied, "Don't go with Balak's messengers. I have blessed those people who have come from Egypt, so don't curse them."
    
13. The next morning, Balaam said to Balak's officials, "Go on back home. The LORD says I cannot go with you."
    
14. The officials left and told Balak that Balaam refused to come.
    
15. Then Balak sent a larger group of officials, who were even more important than the first ones.
    
16. They went to Balaam and told him that Balak had said, "Balaam, if you come to Moab,
    
17. I'll pay you very well and do whatever you ask. Just come and place a curse on these people."
    
18. Balaam answered, "Even if Balak offered me a palace full of silver or gold, I wouldn't do anything to disobey the LORD my God.
    
19. You are welcome to spend the night here, just as the others did. I will find out if the LORD has something else to say about this."
    
20. That night, God said, "Balaam, I'll let you go to Moab with Balak's messengers, but do only what I say."
    
21. So Balaam got up the next morning and saddled his donkey, then left with the Moabite officials.
    
22. Balaam was riding his donkey to Moab, and two of his servants were with him. But God was angry that Balaam had gone, so one of the LORD's angels stood in the road to stop him.
    
23. When Balaam's donkey saw the angel standing there with a sword, it walked off the road and into an open field. Balaam had to beat the donkey to get it back on the road.
    
24. Then the angel stood between two vineyards, in a narrow path with a stone wall on each side.
    
25. When the donkey saw the angel, it walked so close to one of the walls that Balaam's foot scraped against the wall. Balaam beat the donkey again.
    
26. The angel moved once more and stood in a spot so narrow that there was no room for the donkey to go around.
    
27. So it just lay down. Balaam lost his temper, then picked up a stick and smacked the donkey.
    
28. When that happened, the LORD told the donkey to speak, and it asked Balaam, "What have I done to you that made you beat me three times?"
    
29. "You made me look stupid!" Balaam answered. "If I had a sword, I'd kill you here and now!"
    
30. "But you're my owner," replied the donkey, "and you've ridden me many times. Have I ever done anything like this before?" "No," Balaam admitted.
    
31. Just then, the LORD let Balaam see the angel standing in the road, holding a sword, and Balaam bowed down.
    
32. The angel said, "You had no right to treat your donkey like that! I was the one who blocked your way, because I don't think you should go to Moab.
    
33. If your donkey had not seen me and stopped those three times, I would have killed you and let the donkey live."
    
34. Balaam replied, "I was wrong. I didn't know you were trying to stop me. If you don't think I should go, I'll return home right now."
    
35. "It's all right for you to go," the LORD's angel answered. "But you must say only what I tell you." So Balaam went on with Balak's officials.
    
36. When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went to meet him at the town of Ir, which is on the northern border of Moab.
    
37. Balak asked, "Why didn't you come when I invited you the first time? Did you think I wasn't going to pay you?"
    
38. "I'm here now," Balaam answered. "But I will say only what God tells me to say."
    
39. They left and went to the town of Kiriath-Huzoth,
    
40. where Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep and gave some of the meat to Balaam and the officials who were with him.
    
41. The next morning, Balak took Balaam to the town of Bamoth-Baal. From there, Balaam could see some of the Israelites.
    
    

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    Following Israel's military victories, she returned to camp in the plains of Moab across from Jericho. The time was approaching for Israel to enter her Promised Land which would take place with a crossing of the Jordan river and an attack on the city of Jericho. God was preparing Israel for entering the new land with some battle experience and knowledge of victory under her belt.
    
    Balak, king of Moab, knew of Israel's victories and assumed her presence at Moab's border was in preparation to enter and conquer his country. Due to Israel's size he had no expectation his army could overpower that of Israel. Had Balak been a worshiper of  God, he would probably have known that he had no cause for concern. Because the Moabites were distant relatives of Abraham God did not plan to give any of their land to Israel and forbade her from showing any hostility toward Moab. But Balak was not aware of this so he sought ways to close the gap in the military prowess of the two countries and give more advantage to his own army. This he chose to do through divination. Therefore, Balak sent for Balaam, a pagan prophet with a reputation for giving blessings and curses that worked. Balak's thought was that if Balaam pronounced a curse on Israel his own army might be able to defeat her. This is an interesting account of God's interaction with a pagan people.
    
    Pagan worshipers did not tend to be monogamous in their worship of a single god. Therefore when requested to go to Balak to curse the Israelites Balaam sought the counsel of the God of Israel. God, Himself, appeared in a dream to the prophet telling him to go to Balak but speak only what God told him to say. That portion of the account will be given in succeeding chapters. On Balaam's journey to king Balak, he and his donkey encountered an angel of God. Although God had told him to go to Balak, Balaam's intentions were evidently not in line with God's instructions. This journey came after a second request from Balak with an offer of a large reward. Balaam would have known this reward was offered only if he did what the king wanted. He no doubt had an angle of which God was aware and encountered him on the road to stop him unless he went with true intentions.
    
    How often are we like Balaam giving the appearance of obeying God while our intentions are more inline with our own selfish desires? Often we fool even ourselves into thinking we are being "religious" and true to God when what we are really doing is attempting to manipulate God for our own purposes?