Numbers 22:1-21--Balak Summons Balaam

Numbers 22:1-21
English Standard Version

Balak Summons Balaam
22 Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. 2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. 4 And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, 5 sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. 6 Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message. 8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” 12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” 14 So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

​15 Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these. 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me, 17 for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.’” 18 But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more. 19 So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.” 20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.

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I'm going to guess that most of my audience is unfamiliar with this story, though you may remember the name Balaam and remember the next part of the story when we get there tomorrow (I'll try not to spoil it today).  This story is going to take up several chapters in the narrative of the book of Numbers, making it one of, if not the longest narrative in this book.  Because of the amount of time dedicated to this one story there is probably some indication that God has something He wants His people to pay attention to (and we will see this story referenced in other parts of Scripture as well as a warning to the people of God to watch out for what happens here).

Israel is coming off of some major victories, and now they face a major people called the Moabites.  As you might recall, they have already asked for permission to pass through Moab and were denied.  Do you remember where the nation of Moab came from?  It's one of the nations that came out of Abraham's nephew Lot (the nephew that was never supposed to come with him on his journey to the Promised Land).  We'll see that God ultimately will make something good come out of this evil nation (and we'll see the same with the Canaanites too) as both Rahab the Canaanite and Ruth the Moabite would be in the genealogy of Jesus.

Balak, the king of Moab sees what has happened to King Sihon and King Og and fears that he and his kingdom are next.  He decides that he needs to consult with a renown seer (a name sometimes used for a prophet and sometimes for one who practiced divination).  We'll see that Balak's intent is to get the gods on his side as he knows that this is not a battle that he will simply need to fight in the physical realm, but will need to have fought for him in the spiritual realm as well.  Note here that Balaam will call God his Lord and his God even though he is not a Jew.  However, we will later see Balaam's heart is divided and as Jesus would warn his disciples of later, "You cannot serve both God and materialism."

Balak calls on Balaam to curse the children of Israel so that he may defeat them in battle and promises Balaam a large sum of money for doing so.  Apparently Balaam has some history of success with his blessings and curses, most likely because we will see that he appears to be a God-fearing Gentile (maybe not that different from say Job).  We again should not assume that God is only speaking to and through Jewish people.  We'll see that God can speak to and through anyone or anything He wants to here shortly.

God comes to Balaam and warns him that he should not go with these men and stay out of this situation--it doesn't concern him.  Notice that Balaam recognizes the voice of the Lord and that he heeds the Lord's command (for now).  The messengers return to Balak the king of Moab with the message "Balaam refuses to come with us."

The king's assumption is that clearly he had sent the wrong message that Balaam's accompanying his envoys was optional, so Balak sends even more diplomats (called princes here) who are more powerful than the first group and this time tells Balaam to name his price--that nothing should keep him from coming along with these men.  If power and intimidation could not persuade this prophet, then perhaps a bribe would work--again, this sounds like what we would expect to see from a pagan king who would think that everyone would want to do his bidding and if they would not then they threaten them or bribe them--whatever it takes.

Balaam again refuses and says that there is not enough silver or gold to make him disobey the command that the Lord has given--even a house full of silver and gold would not change his mind.  He would be able to do no more or no less than what God tells him to do.  So far, Balaam seems to be like someone that maybe should be listed in Hebrews 11.  He's not of Jewish descent and still believes in and serves the LORD, he's refusing to take a bribe, and he's saying that blessings and curses belong to the LORD and that he will not say any words which the LORD does not put in his mouth and will not go where the Lord does not command him to go, but now we see a problem.

Balaam should have again sent these men away, for the Lord had already spoken to him and told him to have nothing to do with them.  The command of the Lord is not going to change simply because the king has sent more powerful princes and told you to name your price (assuming that you have one, which should have been offensive to any prophet of God).  But Balaam invites these men to spend the night with him so that he could once again inquire of the Lord to see if he might possibly get a different answer this time.  I think this is probably because he was afraid of these men, and he probably genuinely desired to show them some hospitality.

Interestingly enough, it seems that God understands Balaam's fears and tells them that it's okay to go with them, but to only promise them that he will speak the words that the Lord puts in his mouth.  So Balaam rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and headed out from his home on the Euphrates River for the plains of Moab where the nation of Israel was encamped.  It's possible this journey could have taken several weeks as this is quite some distance from Moab.  Again, so far, everything seems okay--other than he probably should have just sent them away a second time, but we know there is much more to this story and we'll continue as we study it over the next several days.