We begin Chapter 22 today and meet two men we've never heard of before: King Balak of Moab and a prophet named Balaam.
"Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho." (Numbers 22:1) In Chapter 21 we found the Israelites conquering Amorite territory on their way to the promised land because two Amorite kings (Sihon and Og) refused them peaceful passage and engaged them in battle instead. Now the Israelites continue their journey toward the promised land and camp near the Moabites. The Moabites have heard of Israel's great military victories and their king, Balak, wrongly believes he is going to be attacked by Israel's soldiers. He thinks the Israelites are about to mount a military campaign against him, but nothing could be further from the truth because when Moses recounts in the book of Deuteronomy much of the doings of the book of Numbers he will reveal that the Lord instructed Israel not to disturb the Moabites in any way, for, "I will not give you any part of their land". (Deuteronomy 2:9)
The Moabites are the descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot. This makes them kinsmen of the Israelites, since the Israelites are descended from Abraham. We speculated that King Sihon and King Og went on the offensive against Israel due to prejudice against people of a different race and culture. We can't say the same for the Moabites because they share a genetic heritage with the Israelites, although the Moabites have fallen into idolatry by now and have stopped serving the God of their forefather Lot. Their chief god, Chemosh, is one they've adopted from the Ammonites. Very little is known about Chemosh or about Moabite religious practices. There are a few mentions of Chemosh in the Bible, such as in the book of 1 Kings in which King Solomon of Israel sinfully builds sanctuaries for pagan gods in order to please his many foreign wives. Solomon will build a sanctuary in honor of Chemosh in 1 Kings 11.
The Moabites have fallen away from the one true God by the time Israel camps near them. In Numbers 22 the king of the Moabites fears the people whom God has given great victory in battle. Having no relationship with the Lord himself, King Balak is unaware that the Lord has commanded Israel not to do any harm to Moab. Having no relationship with the Lord himself, Balak is unnecessarily afraid of the people of the Lord, but instead of offering these kinsmen his friendship or consulting with the Lord about Israel's intentions, the king decides to bribe a prophet of God to curse Israel so Israel can be defeated in battle. Balak will state his desire to drive the Israelites from the land, indicating that he intends to go on the offensive just as King Sihon and King Og did. He intends to attack Israel even though Israel has no ill intentions toward him or his people. Not only is the king afraid of the Israelites, but in our next portion of text below we'll see that the citizens of Moab and Midian (Midian being the region where Moses lived for forty years and where he met and married his first wife) are in a panic because such a great multitude is camped near their borders. The people of Midian have a kinship with Moses by marriage but none of the Midianites send emissaries to Moses to ask his intentions or to offer a handshake of friendship.
"Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites. The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, 'This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.' So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River, in his native land." (Numbers 22:2-5a) As we get further into Numbers 22 we'll see that Balaam is not a false prophet. He's no charlatan who puts on a show or makes predictions and prophecies in exchange for money. He's also no prophet for some heathen religion in which he engages in occult practices and operates under some type of demonic influence. He is a prophet of the one true God even though he is not an Israelite. He's not the first person we've met in the Bible who is not of Israel but who worships Israel's God. We don't know how or when he became familiar with the Lord but when we get into tomorrow's text it will be clear to us that he does know Him. That fact makes it an especially abominable sin when Balaam is greedily eager to take money in exchange for cursing God's people Israel.
The Moabite king sends messengers to Balaam, with money in hand, to present his request to the prophet. "Balak said: 'A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and they have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.' The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination. When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balak had said." (Numbers 22:5b-7)
In tomorrow's passage we'll find Balaam asking the messengers to stay overnight and wait while he consults the Lord. I don't think it was necessary for him to consult the Lord at all; anyone who knows the Lord knows He doesn't want anyone pronouncing a curse upon fellow believers or causing harm to come to fellow believers. But Balaam is motivated by greed and he hopes the Lord will tell him to take the money and issue the curse. When the Lord says no, Balaam will regretfully dismiss the messengers. King Balak will respond by sending more impressive messengers back with offers of enormous wealth. These messengers will basically say to Balaam, "Name your price and the king will pay it. He's willing to pay whatever it takes to put Israel under a curse." King Balak is operating under the assumption that everyone has a price and that he just has to offer the right price and the deed will get done. It's not true that everyone has a price, but Balaam does. Join us tomorrow as we find the prophet falling prey to avarice and proving that, "The love of money is the root of all evil", and that loving money too much can cause a person to wander from the faith. (1 Timothy 6:10)
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