Numbers
22 The Way of Balaam
Balak,
King of the Moabites, had witnessed what had happened to the Amorites and to Og,
the king of Bashan. He didn’t know what
to do, so he decided to engage the services of a prophet. He sends for Balaam. Balak wants to hire him to come and curse the
children of Israel. He sent messengers down to Balaam who has quite a
reputation. The messengers bring their
rewards, or the pay, for the diviner.
Balaam is a fortune teller. He apparently is in touch with God. It is
very interesting that God chose to communicate with him. Balaam seems to be a
sincere and honest man of God, but Balak was a persistent man. When Balaam
refuses to go with the messengers after speaking to God, they offer him a
better price. The price does not seem to affect Balaam. He turned it down. Balaam speaks of a house filled with silver
and gold. He said it because that is
where his mind is heading. He proves to
be a very covetous man and that is the direction he is taking. Balaam has made
up his mind. God gives in to Balaam but
not only for him. He does it for you and
me. It is not good, but God permits us
to do what we want to do. God is saying,
“alright, you want to go and before it is through you will go, but if you go,
you are to say what I want you to say.
Be careful of that.” We learned
earlier that God granted the request of the children of God for food, but he
sent leanness to their souls. Sometimes
He also grants our requests and sends leanness to our souls. He had God’s
direct answer, but he didn’t like that.
God permits him to go. Now God
sends His angel, but this prophet does not have the mind of God at all. We can see that he has no spiritual
discernment, not even of the animal. So, the Lord opens the mouth of the ass,
and she spoke to Balaam, asking why is he hitting her. This is a miracle of course. God is using this method to get His message
across. The angel warned Balaam again that he was to speak only the word which
the Lord will tell him. Balaam goes on
his way and arrives at the location where Israel is encamped. Balak takes him
to the top of a mountain where he can see the camp of Israel below.
It
is a dangerous thing to bargain over the will of God. Using one’s gifts to make
money is “the way of Balaam” (2 Pet. 2:15-16), a sin that God condemns.
Please
read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.
If
you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.
J.
Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.
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