We're concluding the first section of Numbers 22 today regarding the transaction King Balak of Moab proposes to Balaam the prophet. The king sent messengers to Balaam with money and a request for him to curse Israel so the king can drive the Israelites out of the land. The king knows his troops are outnumbered by Israel's troops; he can't win a war with Israel by strength alone. He also knows that God is on Israel's side, but he thinks he can overcome Israel if a spiritual curse can be pronounced against her to cause her to sin against God enough and anger Him enough that He'll take His protective hand from her. The king is wrong, though he doesn't know it yet, because God has already promised the land of Canaan to Israel and He will not break His promise. He won't allow Balak or anyone else to drive her away from her destiny.
Balaam didn't say no to the messengers right away like he should have. Instead he invited them to spend the night at his house while he consulted the Lord. Only he didn't consult the Lord. I think he was wrestling with temptation but he was wrestling all on his own because He didn't invite the Lord into his house that night for counseling. Instead the Lord had to come to him and forbid him to say anything against Israel. The next morning Balaam regretfully sent the messengers back to Moab, saying, "The Lord has refused to let me go with you."
I can't help hearing him say this in the voice of a petulant child whose friends have come over but whose mother has told him he can't go out and play. He wants to go. He would go if the Lord said yes. His desire for money and perhaps also fame is greater than his desire to be at peace with Israel who has done him no harm. At this point we might be wondering why he doesn't just saddle up and go along with these men since he wants to so badly, but in a moment we'll see that it's simply because the fee offered to him isn't quite enough to override his fear of the Lord. King Balak is a very shrewd man and he will smell Balaam's greed and sense his weakness. He will send a more impressive entourage of dignitaries the next time with the promise that the sky is the limit in regards to payment for the prophet's services.
The messengers return to Moab and relay Balaam's answer to the king. "So the Moabite officials returned to Balak and said, 'Balaam refused to come with us.'" (Numbers 22:14) I think they are surprised and offended that Balaam would refuse their king's request. But the king is not offended or particularly surprised. He believes every man---including Balaam---has a price. Balak is likely quite used to bargaining back and forth when he works out deals for goods and services and favors and treaties. He thinks Balaam is just waiting for a better deal to be offered, and that very well may be the truth. But Balak doesn't have a lot of time to lose because in his paranoid fear of the Israelites he wants them out of his region of the country as quickly as possible. He's not interested in going back and forth with offers and counteroffers so he selects some of his top officials to return to Pethor to present Balaam with an offer he can't refuse.
"Then Balak sent other officials, more numerous and more distinguished than the first. They came to Balaam and said: 'This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Do not let anything keep you from coming to me, because I will pay you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me.'" (Numbers 22:15-17) The king says, "Name your price, Balaam. I'm willing to heap money and honors upon you---whatever you ask for! Only don't delay any further. I'll give you anything you want; how can you say no to an offer like that? What could possibly keep you from saying yes? Now come immediately and curse these people for me so I can drive them away."
When Balak says, "Do not let anything keep you from coming to me," he's asking Balaam to defy the Lord. Balak doesn't worship the Lord and doesn't revere the Lord. Balaam's religion means nothing to the king and he knows he can overcome Balaam's scruples if he throws enough money at him and offers him enough honors and status. Prophets of the Lord were not always highly regarded even by the Lord's own people and it could be that Balaam desires to be a man of great power and influence. It could be he craves recognition and wants people to bow down as he passes by in a splendid carriage with dignitaries and servants of his own. Balaam listens to the king's new offer and again doesn't send the messengers away. Instead he tells them to remain overnight while he asks the Lord what to do. He doesn't refuse to accept the offer but warns the men that if he accepts the offer he will be compelled only to do and say what the Lord allows him to do and say. "But Balaam answered them, 'Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God. Now spend the night here so that I can find out what else the Lord will tell me.'" (Numbers 22:18-19)
Balaam puts on a righteous air and piously states, "I can only do what the Lord says." But the Lord has already said he must not go with the men or put a curse on Israel. Balaam already knows the Lord's answer. In his greed he wants to bargain with the Lord, to persuade the Lord to tell him to go. How do we know for sure Balaam is in the wrong spirit here? Because in tomorrow's passage we'll be told that the Lord is angry with him over the condition of his heart.
We don't know what Balaam says to the Lord during the night or if he says anything at all. I think his mind is already pretty much made up to go. One thing is for certain: he doesn't initiate conversation with God. He doesn't get down on his knees in his room and ask God for instructions or ask God to help him resist this temptation. Just as He did on the previous occasion when men came to Balaam from Balak, God has to make the first move. And when He does He tells Balaam to go ahead and do what he really wants to do anyway. "That night God came to Balaam and said, 'Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.'" (Numbers 22:20)
Why does God do this? I'm reminded of times when I was a child and would keep begging and pleading with my parents to let me do something or have something to which they'd already said no. Sometimes they'd eventually say, "Fine, go ahead then!", knowing I wasn't going to enjoy whatever the thing was or that the thing would cause me aggravation or inconvenience. Experiencing the consequences of our foolish actions is often the best teacher. The Lord says to Balaam, "Fine, go ahead then!", but He's going to straighten out Balaam's attitude along the way and He's going to show the Moabites that no one can curse Israel against His will. God is on Israel's side and that means no king or prophet, and no amount of money in the world, will keep Israel from inheriting the land the Lord promised to her long ago---long before she even existed. Before Abraham even had a son, the Lord promised him as many descendants as the grains of sand along the seashore. The Lord kept His promise to give Abraham a son and descendants; He intends to keep His promise about the land of Canaan too.
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