The character of Balaam

Num 22:19  Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more. 

                                                                                 

The children of Israel have at length finished their wanderings in the wilderness, out of which they went up and are now encamped in the plains of Moab near Jordan. Their presence frightened Balak, the king of Moab, and the Moabites. They had heard of the victory of the Israelites against the Amorites. Actually, they need not fear the Israelites because God had instructed Israel not to contend with the Moabites, nor to use any hostility against them (Deuteronomy 2:9). But Balak didn’t know and feel threatened by their presence. So, he sent for Balaam, a prophet of God, to curse these people.

The character of Balaam provides an interesting study. What do we know about him?

1. HE WAS A PROPHET OF GOD. Balaam was from Pethor, a city on the River, probably referring to the Euphrates. That means, he was from the land of Mesopotamia, the same place where Abraham came from. Hence, it is no surprise that Balaam knew the God of the Israelites because he frequently referred to their God as “Jehovah” (Numbers 22:8, 13, 18, 19).

2. HE FEARED GOD. He was a prophet who would seek counsel from God. He said to the messengers sent by Balak: “Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me” (Numbers 22:8). And when they returned again, he said: “I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more” (Numbers 22:18). He also said to Balak when he met him: “The word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak” (Numbers 22:38b).

3. HE WAS ALSO A PROPHET FOR SALE OR RENT. Well, every man has a price. Balaam was known as a prophet who “loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Peter 2:15). Balak came to him with a great reward and he fell for it. Jude later wrote of him calling him a prophet who prophesied for reward (Jude 1:11).

                                                

And, when the messengers returned the second time with a greater reward delivered by more noble princes, he said: “Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more” (Numbers 22:19).

His reply is interesting. He was saying: “You wait here tonight. I will find out if the LORD has something else to say about this.” Did he think that God would perhaps change His mind?

Men are doing precisely what Balaam did every day. Men who love their sins will overlook those passages which condemn those sins and look for “Perhaps, some other passages say differently. Perhaps, God has more to say concerning this matter.”

Proponents of social drinking have been known to ignore every passage that condemns drinking alcoholic beverages but turn to some obscure passages to justify their habit. They even make Jesus their drinking partner and make Him a drunkard. The scriptures emphatically say that the drunkards cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:10; Galatians 5:19-21).

There are only two kinds of people who read the Bible.

1. Those who honestly want the truth and allowing the Scripture to speak for itself.

2. Those who want validation. They are seeking to justify what they already believe.

That night, God spoke to Balaam and He said: “If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them” (Numbers 22:20a).

Either, Balaam didn’t hear God properly or he assumed the answer was a YES, because he left happily with the men the next morning. The fact that God was angry that he went implied that the princes had not called him, thus he should not go with them. That was the LORD’s will, and Balaam knew it.  Yet, in deliberate disobedience to God’s command, he got up, saddled his donkey, and rode to where the men were to go with them to Balak.

Like Balaam, many will go where their hearts desire, knowing it to be the wrong way. They assumed it was alcoholic wine that Jesus was making in John 2 and He was also drinking it too. They ignored all other passages that condemn drinking. It is a deliberate picking and choosing what the heart desires.

True believers stick to a “Thus saith the LORD.” Let us not become like Balaam who loved his sin and disobey God’s commandments.

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.