And the children of Israel journeyed, and encamped in the plains of Moab on the other side of the Jordan from Jericho.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And Moab was much afraid of the people, because they were many; and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.
Israel has come up out of the wilderness and camped on Moab's border. What Balak sees fills him with dread, and that fear drives everything that follows.
Moab saw a huge camp and a fresh run of victories. The sight matched words Israel had sung at the Red Sea forty years before.
Moses and the children of Israel sang their song of triumph on the shores of the Red Sea. They said: "The peoples have heard; they tremble … trembling seizes the leaders of Moab … terror and dread fall upon them" (Ex. 15:14-16). This came true to the letter forty years later, when the King of Moab and his people saw the Lord's pilgrim host camped on their borders. In the camp of Israel there were 601,730 men able to carry arms. With women and children there were probably at least three million souls — a vast company. Balak was alarmed; all the more because Israel had just destroyed three military powers that dared to oppose their march.
The verse states Moab's fear twice. Yet nothing Israel had done put Moab at risk. The dread grew out of Moab's own dislike of its new neighbours.
There was no real need for Moab to fear Israel. God was not giving the inheritance of the children of Esau or that of the children of Lot to Israel (Deut. 2:5, 9, 19). The hostility toward God's people was not because of anything Israel had done, or threatened to do, to Moab. Balak does not seem to have expected any attack from Israel either. He 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" (Num. 22:4). Moab did not like the thought of having God's people as their neighbours, and they wanted to get rid of them.
Moab was not a stranger to Israel. Moab came from Lot, and Lot was Abraham's relative.
Moab could have claimed kinship with Israel. Abraham and Lot were relatives, and Abraham rescued Lot out of his position in Sodom. But the likeness stopped there. Abraham's sons in the line of faith began with Isaac, who was born to him by a miracle. They were all men of faith and men of power with God. Lot's descendants, Moab and Ammon, were the persistent enemies of Israel. They proved it at every moment of Israel's testimony.
Balak saw a crowd out of Egypt and nothing more. He never reckoned with the God who brought them out. Rahab heard the same news and drew the opposite conclusion.
Balak and his people had little idea that their hostility toward God's people was hostility against God Himself. Balak only thought of "a people come out of Egypt"; but the faith of Rahab said, "we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt" (Joshua 2:10). Forty years had passed since that great event, but Rahab still had not forgotten the mighty power of Israel's God.
Balak's fear sent him looking for help somewhere else.
Balak saw, feared, and hated this people. He was aware that a power greater than his own was leading them, and he lost all confidence in his own might. He seemed to know that no merely human arm could destroy this people. So he does not march out as Amalek, Sihon, and Og did with their armies… But is there not a power on his side? Yes — and he calls on Baal-Peor through Balaam his prophet.
Fereday also reads Moab as a picture of a type of person alive today.
Moab pictures the comfortable, self-satisfied man of the world — "at ease from his youth and settled on his dregs" (Jer. 48:11), and proud and arrogant as a result (Isa. 16:6). God's saints today need not envy such people, for they have a better and more lasting portion.
Israel knew nothing of the plot, and did not need to.
How little did Israel know or imagine what was going on between the Lord and the enemy. It may be that they were grumbling in their tents at that very moment. Meanwhile God was setting out their perfection through the tongue of the covetous prophet. Balak would gladly have Israel cursed; but, blessed be God, He will not allow anyone to curse His people. He may have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things. But He will not allow another to move his tongue against them.
- Sight. Balak looked at Israel's numbers and their victories. What Moses sang at the Red Sea about Moab's trembling came true word for word.
- Fear. The dread had no real basis. God was not giving Moab's land to Israel, and Israel threatened no attack. Moab just did not want them as neighbours.
- Blindness. Balak saw only "a people come out of Egypt". Rahab heard the same news and saw the Lord behind it.
- Hatred. Balak's fear turned into hatred. Instead of marching out with an army, he called on Baal-Peor through Balaam.
- Safety. Israel never knew the plot was happening. God will deal with His people Himself, but He lets no other tongue curse them.
And Moab said to the elders of Midian, Now will this company lick up all that is round about us, as an ox licks up the green herb of the field. Now Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.
Israel had just crushed the Amorites, and now camped on Moab's border. Moab's king pictured the threat as an ox eating a field down to bare ground — but was there anything to fear at all?
One writer notes that God had already placed Moab's land outside Israel's inheritance.
There was really no need for Moab to fear Israel. God was not giving Israel the inheritance of Esau's descendants or of Lot's descendants (Deut. 2:5, 9, 19). The enmity towards God's people was not because of anything that Israel had done, or threatened to do, to Moab. Nor does it appear that Balak expected any attack from Israel... Moab did not like the thought of having God's people as their neighbours, and they wanted to get rid of them.
The fear did have a trigger. Israel was vast, and it had just beaten three armies. Moab's dread fulfilled a song Israel sang forty years earlier at the Red Sea.
When Moses and the children of Israel sang their song of triumph on the shores of the Red Sea, they said, "The peoples have heard; they tremble … the leaders of Moab, trembling seizes them … Terror and dread fall upon them" (Ex. 15:14-16). This came true to the letter when the king of Moab and his people saw the Lord's pilgrim host camped on their borders forty years later. In Israel's camp there were 601,730 men able to carry arms. With women and children there were probably at least three million people — a huge company. Balak was alarmed, all the more because Israel had recently destroyed three military powers that had dared to oppose their march.
The same writer points to what Balak never thought of doing.
When people are in trouble, the right thing is to turn to God in prayer. God cares about the affairs of nations as truly as He cares about the troubles and sorrows of individual men and women. But Balak knew nothing of God.
The verse closes by naming the king: Balak the son of Zippor. The two names pull in opposite directions.
"Balak" seems to mean "waster." The name looks like a deliberate contrast with his family line, since he was only ben-Zippor, "son of a sparrow." What grand titles men take to cover their real insignificance! And they glory far more in the power to destroy — in being a Caesar or a Napoleon — than in the angels' message of peace and goodwill!
Balak would not face Israel alone. One writer sees in his alliance a pattern that still repeats.
He was terrified. The fate of the Egyptians and the Amorites seemed to foretell his own. So his heart filled with fear and hatred, and he wanted to oppose and curse Israel. He allied himself with the elders of Midian. It is nothing less than the history of anti-Semitism in a nutshell. Non-Jewish nations, Christian in name, still hate and fear this people. No Pharaoh and no fortune-teller could overcome them. They are disobedient, judged and suffering, yet always conquering.
Moab's hostility is stranger than it first looks, because Moab and Israel shared a family tree.
Moab, as we know, was a blood relation of Israel. He was descended from Lot, who was a relative of Abraham. So the Moabites were the natural kinsmen of the Israelites. Lot's tie to Abraham was largely a natural, fleshly one. In his descendants' case it was entirely fleshly. Israel had no more bitter and relentless enemies than these Moabites and Ammonites — their own relatives.
Balak thought he was dealing with a border problem. By hiring Balaam to curse Israel, he was doing something far more serious.
Balak and his people had no idea that their hostility towards God's people was enmity against their God. By sending for Balaam to curse God's people, Balak challenged the mighty God of Jacob. God was not slow to accept that challenge. There is no word in Balak's message to Balaam of any evil purpose against him... Balak did not, as Rahab did, connect Israel's coming out of Egypt with the Name of the Lord.
Rahab, who spoke with Israel's spies, heard the same reports and believed. Faith and fear read the same facts in opposite ways.
- Fear — Moab's terror had no basis. God had ruled Moab's land out of Israel's inheritance, and Israel never attacked or threatened Moab.
- Blindness — Balak saw a people out of Egypt and heard of great victories. He never saw the God behind them. Rahab heard the same news and believed.
- Alliance — Moab could not face Israel alone, so it joined Midian and sent for a curse.
- Kinship — Israel's most bitter enemy was a relative. Descent from Lot gave Moab no friendship with Israel, only relentless hostility.
- Challenge — Hostility to God's people is hostility to God Himself. Balak's move against Israel was a challenge God was not slow to take up.
And he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is on the river in the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, a people is come out from Egypt; behold, they cover the face of the land, and they abide over against me.
Balak, king of Moab, has watched Israel destroy the armies in front of him. Now he sends messengers to a distant land to hire one man. Two questions follow: why does a frightened king hire a soothsayer instead of praying, and what does it mean that Israel never knew about the plot?
One writer counts the camp, then weighs Balak's fear against what he should have done with it:
The King of Moab and his people saw Jehovah's travelling host camped on their border. In the camp of Israel there were 601,730 men able to carry arms. With women and children there were probably at least three million people. Balak was alarmed. He was all the more alarmed because Israel had just destroyed three military powers that dared to oppose their march: the King of Arad, Sihon King of Heshbon, and Og King of Bashan. Sihon had earlier fought a successful war with Moab and taken some of her land. How then could Balak hope to stand against a nation which had destroyed his powerful neighbour? When men are in trouble, the proper thing is to turn to God in prayer. He cares about the affairs of nations as much as He cares about the troubles and sorrows of individual men and women. But Balak knew nothing of God.
Balak did not look for help nearby. He sent to Mesopotamia, and one writer explains the thinking behind it:
He was not satisfied that military power would be enough to withstand the conquerors of Sihon and Og. So he sent messengers to a well-known soothsayer — Balaam the son of Beor, who lived in Mesopotamia. Outsiders were already crediting Israel's victories to divine power... In sending for Balaam, Balak sought to oppose the supernatural by the supernatural. People said this Mesopotamian prophet had influence with the invisible world.
The names in this verse carry meaning. One writer sets Balak's name against his parentage, and Balaam's against his trade:
"Balak" seems to mean "waster." The name looks like a deliberate contrast with his family line, since he is only ben-Zippor, "son of a sparrow." What grand titles men take to cover how small they are! Balaam the son of Beor matches this Balak in every way. He is a "devourer of the people," son of the "consumer." Men sought him out for his skill in cursing, and he was ready to take a bribe and destroy a whole nation. No doubt he claims loyalty to Jehovah, but he has no real knowledge of Him, as his actions show. In his efforts to destroy the people of God, you cannot even say he hates them. He would destroy them in cold blood, for money.
Balak's message never names Israel. He describes them by where they came from and how many they are. One writer sees the same fear and hatred repeating long after Balak:
He knew that the people had come out of Egypt. He was very afraid. The fate of the Egyptians and Amorites seemed to foretell his own. So fear and hatred fill his heart, and he wanted to oppose and curse Israel. It is nothing less than the history of anti-Semitism in a nutshell. Nations that call themselves Christian still hate and fear this people, whom no Pharaoh and no soothsayer could overcome — a people disobedient, judged and suffering, yet always conquering.
Balaam did not send a quick refusal. One writer explains the delay:
If Balaam's heart had been right with God, he would have dealt with Balak's message at once. It would not have cost him a moment's thought to send a reply. But Balaam's heart was all wrong... His heart was set on going, because it was set on the silver and gold. But at the same time he made some reference to God — an appearance of religion put on as a cloak to cover his greed. He longed for the money; but he wanted to get hold of it in a religious way.
Israel knew nothing about any of this. One writer draws out what that silence means:
The people of Jehovah were now in grave danger. They had been ungrateful and disobedient all through their wilderness journey. They did not know about the danger, so they did not pray to God about it. But Jehovah Himself took the matter up, and there we are reminded of His unchanging favour. He loved the people, despite all that they were, and He would not allow the enemy to harm them.
- Fear sends. Balak watched Israel destroy three kingdoms. Trouble should drive a man to prayer. Balak knew nothing of God, so he sent for a man.
- Fear buys. Armies had not stopped Israel, so Balak fought the supernatural with the supernatural. He hired a far-off soothsayer said to have influence with the invisible world.
- Fear hates. His message names no nation, only "a people has come out of Egypt" — the fear and hatred one writer calls anti-Semitism in a nutshell.
- The hireling. Balaam's heart was set on the silver and gold. He wrapped that greed in religion, wanting the money in a religious way.
- The unseen defence. Israel never learned of the danger and never prayed. God took the matter up Himself, because He loved them.
And now come, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are mightier than I perhaps I may be able to smite them, and drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.
Balak, king of Moab, watches a nation camped on his border. He reaches for the one weapon he thinks can stop them: a hired curse from a famous prophet in Mesopotamia. His words treat blessing and cursing as goods a man can sell. But can anyone curse a people God has already blessed?
Moab's terror was real. The danger was not. Israel had no orders to touch Moab at all.
There was no need for Moab to fear Israel. God was not giving Israel the inheritance of the children of Esau or that of the children of Lot (Deut. 2:5, 9, 19). The hostility toward God's people was not because of anything Israel had done, or threatened to do, to Moab. Balak does not seem to have expected any attack from Israel. He said to the elders of Midian, "This horde will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field" (Num. 22:4). Moab did not like the thought of having God's people as their neighbours, and they wanted to get rid of them.
Balak could not stand their presence, not any threat they made. Commentators trace that reaction back to its source.
We see the hostility of the world against the people of God brought out, and especially against the power of the people of God. God's power was with His people, and this drew out the hostility of Satan. … When that happens, Satan seeks to force others into open opposition to the people of God. Their presence becomes unbearable to their enemies.
Israel had already conquered Sihon and Og. Balak knew his army was not enough, so he changed weapons.
He was not satisfied that military power would be enough to withstand the conquerors of Sihon and Og. So he sent messengers to a well-known soothsayer — Balaam the son of Beor, who lived in Mesopotamia. Outsiders were already crediting Israel's victories to divine power… In sending for Balaam, Balak sought to oppose the supernatural by the supernatural. People believed the Mesopotamian prophet had influence with the invisible world.
Balak's own rule about blessing and cursing pointed the wrong way for him. God had already said who is blessed and who is cursed.
Balak is in complete and all-distorting darkness. First Israel was forbidden to touch Moab. Next he says, "He whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." He was seeking to bring the curse on Israel when God had said, "Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you." So he was simply bringing it on himself.
Balak's confidence rested on Balaam's name among people. God's verdict on him was the opposite.
Balaam clearly had a great name among men. Balak had said, "I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." But before God he was perverse, self-willed, covetous, and an enemy of His people. There was great religious pretence — the claim to be a servant of the true God — but he was a wicked and foolish man… The same features are not hard to see in some people today. They appear great in the eyes of men, yet they are still perverse, rebellious and foolish.
Balak's request is not finally about Moab's border. The real test comes at the end of Israel's journey, just before they enter the land.
Balak sends for Balaam. The great question in this moving scene is this: "Can Satan succeed in cursing the people of God, so as to stop their entrance into the land of promise?" It is not merely a question of redemption and of the joy of redemption at the beginning of their course. The question comes at the end, when all their unfaithfulness has come out — their unfaithfulness even after the Lord has brought them to Himself. Can Satan succeed then? No.
Moses later explained to Israel why the hired curse came to nothing.
Moses told the people about the danger that had threatened them. He said: "They hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you" (Deut. 23:4-5). Precious words — "because the LORD your God loved you!"
- Fear. Moab dreaded a people who had no orders to harm them. The world resents God's people for their presence and their power, not for any harm they do.
- Hire. Balak could not win by force, so he tried to buy the invisible world and fight the supernatural with the supernatural.
- Boomerang. His own rule about blessing and cursing turned on him. God had already said that whoever curses His people is cursed.
- Reputation. Balaam was great in the eyes of men and perverse in the sight of God. A big name proves nothing.
- Love. God turned the curse into a blessing, and He did it because He loved His people.
And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed, having the rewards of divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak.
Balak, king of Moab, is afraid of Israel camped on his border. He does not raise an army — he hires a prophet. The men who leave in this verse carry the fee in their hands, and the whole episode asks one question: can anything bought prevail against a people God has blessed?
Balak did not send for an army. He sent for a man in touch with unseen powers, and the fee in the messengers' hands gave the errand away.
Balak imagined that he could enlist the aid of Balaam, an agent of Satan, to overcome them. He did not realise that poor Israel could never have been delivered out of Egypt, or brought through their forty years in the wilderness, without their God. It is clear that Balak knew he was sending his princes to one who was in touch with the forces of evil, for they had "the rewards of divination in their hand".
The instinct is older than Moab. Trouble sends people searching everywhere but to God.
Ever since man was driven out of Eden, he has been restless. He is never more restless than when he is in trouble, or when he thinks he sees trouble approaching. He searches north, south, east, and west for help, or for a way of escape. So Balak took alarm when the people of Israel came close to his borders. He sent messengers to neighbouring kingdoms seeking alliances. He also sent messengers to Mesopotamia to bring the famous diviner Balaam. He would have done better to get down before God, who never turns aside the requests of those who feel their need of Him.
The verse calls the travellers "elders" — a title that was not Israel's alone.
In Numbers 22:7 we read of the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian, so the term was not confined to Israel. The word is saqen, which implies "aged man"; they were no doubt also men of repute.
The two peoples travelled together for a reason.
Balaam no doubt was a Midianite, and there was an intimate connection between the Moabites and the Midianites. At the first Balak consulted the elders of Midian, and the elders of both Moab and Midian went together to seek the aid of Balaam and his sorceries.
The ESV calls the payment "the fees for divination"; older wording says "rewards of divination". Balak had studied his man, and sent the fee ahead of his request.
Balak's messengers went to Mesopotamia "with the rewards of divination in their hands". Balak knew that the false prophet "loved the wages of unrighteousness" (2 Peter 2:15), so he sought to make sure of him by sending "cash in advance!" But the treacherous deceiver brought Jehovah's name into it. He lodged the messengers for the night, pretending to seek the mind of God.
Balaam did not refuse God outright. He kept consulting Him with his mind already made up.
If Balaam's heart had been right with God, he would have made very short work of Balak's message. A reply would not have cost him a moment's thought. But Balaam's heart was all wrong, and we see him in chapter 22 in the sad condition of a man pulled by conflicting feelings. His heart was bent on going, because it was bent on the silver and gold. Yet at the same time he still made some reference to God. It was an appearance of religion put on as a cloak to cover his greedy practices. He longed for the money, but he wanted to get hold of it in a religious way.
Every coin was wasted. The prophet himself would later admit it.
Balaam, who used enchantments, had to confess, "Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel." Balak sent the elders of Moab and Midian to him "with the rewards of divination in their hand". And when Balaam claimed to go and meet Jehovah, he went "to seek for enchantments" (Num. 24:1). No natural power could overcome the people of God. No power of Satan could prevail against them either.
Others have walked the same road since.
They have followed the way of Balaam. There is nothing original about their performances. They follow a well-beaten track first trodden by Balaam of infamous memory, who sold his prophetic gifts for money. He was not the first person to prophesy for money; that has always been a custom in religions that worship idols. But he appears to have been the first to offer to prophesy for money in the name of the Lord. With Balaam the supreme question was "Will it pay?"
- Fear hires. Balak's fear sent him searching abroad for help. He should have got down before God, who turns no one away.
- Fear pays. The fee in their hands shows Balak knew the kind of man he was hiring. He paid in advance.
- Fear allies. Moab and Midian were closely tied. Both sent their elders, respected older men, on one errand.
- Fear dresses up. Balaam wanted the silver, and wanted it in a religious way. He consulted God about a matter his heart had settled.
- Fear fails. No enchantment stands against Jacob. The money bought nothing. "Will it pay?" still marks the prophet who is for sale.
And he said to them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, according as Jehovah shall speak unto me. And the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.
Balak's messengers have arrived with payment in hand. They want a famous prophet to curse Israel, and Balaam answers with the name of the LORD on his lips. Is that reverence, or a cover for a heart already sold?
Balaam's words place him on God's side. He speaks as if he takes no step without hearing from the LORD.
But Balaam claimed to be a servant of the LORD. He said to Balak's messengers, "Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me." This false claim made Balaam's position even more serious, as it does with every false servant of the Lord. It is a very serious matter to pretend to be the servant of God while really being an instrument of Satan.
His real trade lay elsewhere. The language of this verse is the wrapping around it.
He sought for Balaam, who had a great reputation as a man who wielded "enchantments." This we see if we turn to Numbers 24:1. If we glance at verses 8 and 18 of Numbers 22, we discover that this man managed to cover his enchantments, which were of course of the devil, with the appearance of reverencing Jehovah as his God. Balak hoped to bring a curse on the people of God by enlisting the help of this professed prophet of God, who was really a servant of Satan.
Balaam promised a night of waiting on God. But payment had already arrived.
Balak knew that the false prophet loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Peter 2:15), so he made sure of him by sending cash in advance. But the treacherous deceiver brought the LORD's name into the matter, and lodged the messengers for the night while pretending to seek the mind of God. The business in hand was hugely important, for he was asked to ruin a whole nation. Did he then spend the night in prayer to God? Nothing was further from Balaam's thoughts. He just went to bed. God was watching every move with the deepest interest, and He came to Balaam with the challenge, "Who are these men with you?"
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He was reaching for the source he normally used, not for the LORD he named.
He could use the Lord's name like this, even though he had no intention of seeking the Lord's guidance. He wanted an answer from the occult power he was used to. Chapter 24:1 tells us this: he was looking for enchantments as a sorcerer.
Inviting the men to stay was itself a decision.
"Lodge here tonight," said Balaam to the men who brought the reward of divination in their hand. Giving a bed to men who came to curse the people of the Lord showed the wicked leaning of his heart. Only God's direct action holds him back.
Israel was camped on the plains of Moab, with no idea that Balak was arranging its destruction.
The people of the LORD were now in great danger. They had been ungrateful and disobedient all through their journey in the wilderness. They did not know about the danger, so they did not pray to God. But the LORD Himself took the matter up, and that reminds us of His unchanging favour. He loved the people, in spite of all that they were, and He would not let the enemy harm them.
Balaam's talk of consulting the LORD did not fool God.
Balaam talks about consulting the LORD in his hypocritical way. This has always been so. Those who have least to do with God often talk about Him most lightly… Balaam was not alarmed, because he was used to an evil spirit. For all he knew, the power that came to him was the same familiar spirit as always. God caught the crafty man in his own net.
The same move comes again when a second group of messengers arrives. Balaam asks for another night, though God had already spoken.
The LORD had already stated His mind. There was nothing left to consult Him about. But Balaam was set on going, and he knew enough of God not to want open conflict with Him… Let us take care never to come before God with our minds already made up. It is a serious insult to God's majesty!
Writers turn this into a warning for ordinary decisions, not just for prophets.
Sometimes we seek God's will about how to act in a situation where His only will is that we should not be there at all. If our conscience were truly awake, its first effect would be to make us leave. Our own will put us there, and still we would like the comfort of God guiding us in a path we chose ourselves.
- Words — "As the LORD speaks to me" claims to be God's servant. Commentators call it a false claim from a man whose trade was enchantments.
- Night — Balaam spent the night set aside for seeking God in bed. God came to him; he never went to God.
- Guests — giving Balak's men a bed showed where his heart leaned. Only God held him back.
- Guard — Israel knew nothing of the danger and never prayed about it. God took the case up Himself, out of unchanging love.
- Warning — asking God about a road you have already chosen is not guidance. It is self-will. One more night becomes the habit of a man set on going.
And God came to Balaam, and said, Who are these men with thee?
Balak's messengers slept in Balaam's house, waiting to hear if he would curse Israel. God came to Balaam that night — so why speak to a fortune-teller for hire, and why ask about men He already knew?
Balaam had told the messengers he would consult the LORD. He was used to hearing a voice, but not this one.
But God did not leave this a matter of demons and deceptions. Balak dared to bring in a power higher than man to ruin the future of God's people. That at once brought out the true God. Balaam in his hypocritical way talks about consulting Jehovah. This has always happened. Those who have least to do with God often speak of Him in the most casual way. It was so then, and it is so now. "God," it is written, "came to Balaam and said, Who are these men with you?" He was not alarmed, because he was used to an evil spirit. For all he knew, the power that came to him was the old spirit he was used to. God caught the crafty in his own net.
God made the first move. Balaam was not seeking Him at all.
Balak's messengers went to Mesopotamia "with the fees for divination in their hand" (Num. 22:7). Balak knew that the false prophet "loved gain from wrongdoing" (2 Peter 2:15), so he made sure of him by sending cash in advance. But the treacherous deceiver brought Jehovah's name into the matter. He put the messengers up for the night, pretending to seek the mind of God. The business in hand was hugely important. He was asked to bring about the ruin of a whole nation. Did he then spend the night in prayer to God? Nothing was further from Balaam's thoughts. He just went to bed. God was watching every move with the deepest interest, and He came to Balaam with the challenge: "Who are these men with you?"
God did not ask because He needed to know. One writer ties this question to the way God opened His talk with Satan about Job.
The great principle of the Balaam story is that God guarded and blessed His people without being asked. He is active for them out of His own grace, and nothing escapes Him. "Who are these men with you?" says God to Balaam. God began as He did with Satan in Job's case, "Have you considered my servant Job?"
Balaam hid nothing in his reply. The same writer asks why he used the LORD's name at all.
Balaam did not get in touch with the spirit he usually consulted. Instead he met the God of Israel, who "came to Balaam and said, 'Who are these men with you?'" Balaam knew exactly why Balak had sent his princes to him. He knew he stood in the presence of God, so he hid nothing of what Balak had told him. You might well wonder why he pretended to serve Jehovah when he had no link with Him at all. No doubt he had heard of all that Jehovah had done for His people, and he sought his own advancement by attaching the Name of Israel's God to his evil work.
In Israel's camp nothing was stirring that night. No one prayed about the danger, because no one knew.
The people of Jehovah had been ungrateful and disobedient all through their desert journey. Now they were in grave danger. They were not aware of it and therefore did not make supplication to God. But Jehovah Himself took the matter up. That reminds us of His unchanging favour. He loved the people, despite all that they were, and He would not allow the enemy to harm them. Oh, the comfort of this thought for ourselves!
Balaam asked whether he should go, and God's clear answer changed his position.
The first time Balaam asked the Lord, "Shall I go?", God answered a clear No. He made the reason for the refusal just as clear. It seems He gave this answer for one of two reasons. Perhaps the fortune-teller was asking Him for advice for the first time. Or perhaps he was not sure it would be wrong to accept Balak's invitation. But once the Lord had told him he must not go, and that Israel was blessed, Balaam's position was no longer the same. He now knew the will of God. Without the possibility of a doubt, it would be evil to go into Moab.
- God moves first. Israel knew nothing of the plot against them. God took it up before anyone asked Him.
- God intercepts. A man waiting for his usual spirit met the God of Israel instead. God caught the crafty man in his own net.
- God exposes. God did not ask for facts. The question pulled into the open what Balaam's religious talk was covering.
- God protects. He loved a people who had been ungrateful the whole way, and He would not let the enemy touch them.
- God settles it. Once God answered, Balaam's doubt was over. What came after was deliberate disobedience, not confusion.
And Balaam said to God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Behold, a people is come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the land. Now come, curse me them perhaps I may be able to fight against them, and drive them out.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And God said to Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed.
Balak, king of Moab, has sent messengers to hire Balaam to curse Israel, and Balaam keeps them overnight while he asks God about it. God's answer is a flat refusal with a reason attached, and that reason says more about His people than about Balaam.
Israel is camped nearby and knows nothing about this deal. No prayer of theirs brings God into the story; He speaks first.
The great principle of the Balaam history is that God guarded and blessed His people without being asked. The plots of enemies go on, and Israel knows nothing about them. So Israel asks nothing from God. But He is active for His people out of His own grace to them, and nothing escapes Him. "Who are these men that come to you?" says God to Balaam.
Balaam worked with spirits, and his offer to seek the Lord's mind was cover. What came to him in the night was not what he expected.
Balaam in his hypocritical way talks about consulting the LORD. This has always been so. Those who have least to do with God often talk about Him most lightly... He was not alarmed, because he was used to an evil spirit. For all he knew, the power that came to him was the spirit he always dealt with. God caught the crafty man in his own net. This is just where the mighty power of God shows what He is against every enemy who dares to oppose His people.
Neither Balak nor Balaam speaks Israel's name. They call them only a people who came out of Egypt.
Neither Balak nor Balaam used the people's name "Israel," because they were probably afraid of that name, which means "a prince with God."
God settles the matter in private. Later Balaam has to say the same thing out loud on the hilltops.
When Balak's delegation came to Balaam, God had said to him, "You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." What God told him there in secret he must now speak in public... How many have tried to curse Jacob and denounce Israel? They have never succeeded. Isaiah's vision has come true in every generation: "No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment." No magic, no voice, no power, no tongue can undo the decree of God.
In the morning Balaam tells the princes only that the Lord will not let him go. He keeps back the reason God gave.
Balaam could have no doubt about God's thoughts of His people, or about what God expected from him. Yet he does not tell the princes of Balak what God's word to him meant. His own words imply that the only reason he did not go with them was, "The LORD has refused to let me go with you." He would have been glad to go and carry out the evil mission Balak wanted. But having just come from God's presence, he knew he could not.
His edited answer left Balak room to try again.
Had Balaam given Balak's princes the word he received from God, it is not likely that he would have been tempted again. He could have told Balak that these were the people of the living God. He could have repeated God's words to him: "You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." That would have settled the matter as far as Balaam was concerned.
Later God tells Balaam he may go, and that change puzzles many readers. Commentators answer that verse 12 had already closed the question.
Verses 12 and 13 show that God had first of all forbidden Balaam to go. Balaam clearly wanted Balak's reward, despite his high talk in verse 18. It was wrong of Balaam to ask again. Yet when he did, God used his going as a witness of divine grace to Israel, and of Balaam's own perverseness.
Darby turns from what Balaam did to what he felt.
The blessing of the people never comes into his mind. He is a complete stranger to the generosity of grace. The thought that they were blessed of God does not move him, and he finds no delight in His blessing on His people.
- God speaks first. Israel never asked for protection. God moved first and questioned Balaam before Balaam could act.
- God gives a reason. God does not just refuse. He says why: the people are blessed.
- The secret becomes public. What God said in the night, Balaam later had to announce on the hills. No magic and no tongue can reverse it.
- Man edits the message. Balaam reported the refusal but not the blessing. That half-answer invited a second attempt.
- Self-will gets its way. Asking again after a clear word was wrong. God let him go, and used even that to show His grace to Israel and expose Balaam.
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, Go into your land; for Jehovah refuses to give me leave to go with you.
God has just told Balaam plainly: do not go with Balak's men, and do not curse Israel, for Israel is blessed. Verse 13 is his answer the next morning. It sounds obedient. Yet it leaves out half of what God said, and it leaves the door open for a second offer.
The words look like submission. One writer hears something else in them — the tone of a man who wanted the trip and lost it.
His words to his visitors next morning carry a trace of disappointment: "The LORD has refused to let me go with you." His heart was not in communion with God about His people. He would gladly have brought them to ruin for the sake of reward; but he was conscious of divine restraint.
God had said two things: don't go, and don't curse, for they are blessed. Balaam passes on the first and buries the second.
Balak's first delegation fails: the LORD refuses, as he tells the messengers, to give him leave to go. He makes no secret that he himself is willing enough. But he hides what God has shown him — that the people are blessed.
Balaam did name the LORD. By the time his words reached Balak, even that had dropped out.
Balaam did say that the LORD refused to give him leave to go with the princes. But the Name of the LORD made no impression on them. When they went back to their master, they only said, "Balaam refuses to come with us." There was no word of the command of God, no word that he was not to curse, and that the people were blessed.
Balak heard only that a prophet had declined, so the temptation came back a second time. The whole word from God would have closed the subject.
Had Balaam given Balak's princes the word he received from God, it is not likely that he would have been tempted again. Suppose he had told Balak two things: that the people Balak wanted cursed were the people of the living God, and that God had met him with the words, "You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." That would have settled the matter as far as Balaam's part in it went.
Balaam's first question to God may have come from real uncertainty. God's answer ended that.
When Balaam asked the LORD the first time, "Shall I go?" God replied clearly No; and just as clearly pointed out the ground of the refusal. It seems He gave this answer for one of two reasons. The fortune-teller may have been asking Him for the first time. Or he may not have been sure that accepting Balak's invitation was wrong. But once the LORD had told him he must not go, and that Israel was blessed, Balaam's position was no longer the same. He now knew the will of God. Beyond any possible doubt, going into Moab would now be evil.
So why did Balaam consult God at all? One writer answers by pointing to what his heart was set on.
His heart was bent on going, because it was bent on the silver and gold; but at the same time there was a sort of reference to God — an appearance of religiousness put on as a cloak to cover his covetous practices. He longed for the money; but he wanted to get hold of it in a religious way.
The refusal was not Balaam's doing. Behind it stood God, who turned the whole plot to His own end.
As we go on we shall see how wonderful God's way was. He turned Satan's own effort against him. He made this most wicked man Balaam work against all his own interests without meaning to. Held in the mighty hand of God, Balaam became the instrument for sealing God's blessing on His people, as far as a man could do it!
- Restraint, not refusal. Balaam does not say no; he reports that he is not allowed. The barrier is outside him, not inside him.
- Half the word. He passes on the ban and hides the blessing — his own willingness is no secret, God's verdict on Israel is.
- Half invites more. Balak hears only "Balaam refuses," so the pressure comes back; the full word from God would have ended the business.
- Already settled. After the first clear No, the question was closed; any further move toward Moab was not uncertainty but a heart bent on its own way.
- God alone the guard. God's own hand held this man back — and the same hand turned the enemy's plan into a sealing of Israel's blessing.
And the princes of Moab rose up; and they went to Balak, and said, Balaam has refused to come with us.
Balak's messengers come back empty-handed. Their report is short: Balaam will not come. What they say is true as far as it goes. But the reason for the refusal has dropped out of the message, and that gap shapes everything that follows.
Balaam had told these men that the LORD refused to let him go. What reached Balak was something much smaller.
Balaam did say that the LORD refused to let him go with the princes. But the name of the LORD made no impression on them. When they returned to their master they only said, "Balaam refuses to come with us." There was no word of the command of God, no word that he was not to curse, and that the people were blessed.
The same writer weighs what would have happened if Balaam had passed the whole message on.
If Balaam had given Balak's princes the word he received from God, the temptation would most likely never have come back. Suppose he had told Balak the truth. The people he wanted cursed were the people of the living God, and God had met him with the words, "You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." That would have settled the matter, as far as Balaam's part in it went.
One writer sets the part Balaam passed on next to the part he hid, and shows what Balak made of it.
Balak's first group of messengers fails: the LORD refuses, as Balaam tells them, to let him go. He makes no secret that his own will is good enough, while he hides what God has shown him — that the people are blessed. Balak has reason to think that more pressure will bring him. Everyone knew that the gods of the nations could be made to give in. So he sends more and more honourable representatives: Balaam must let nothing stop him from coming, for Balak will raise him to very great honour.
Balaam sent the messengers home, but not because he wanted to. The tone of his farewell gives him away.
His words to his visitors the next morning have a hint of disappointment in them: "The LORD has refused to let me go with you." His heart was not in fellowship with God about His people. For the sake of reward he would have been glad to bring ruin on them. But he knew God was holding him back.
The scheme Balak kept pushing did not end where he wanted it to.
As the story goes on, we shall see how wonderful God's way was. He turned Satan's own effort against him, and made this most wicked man Balaam work, without meaning to, against all his interests. Balaam was held in the mighty hand of God, and became the instrument for sealing God's blessing on His people, as far as that could be done by a man.
The decision behind that refusal was made where Israel could not see it.
How little Israel knew or imagined what was going on between the LORD and the enemy! They may have been complaining in their tents at the very moment when God was setting out their perfection through the tongue of this greedy prophet. Balak would have been glad to have Israel cursed; but, blessed be God, He will not let anyone curse His people. He may have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things; but He will not let another move his tongue against them. He may have to expose them to themselves; but He will not allow a stranger to expose them.
- Refused. The messengers' one word to Balak is true and still misleading. Balaam declined — but they never say who stopped him.
- Withheld. God's full word was that no one may curse Israel, because the people are blessed. Balaam kept that half back. Only the half about himself travelled home.
- Willing. Balak did hear that Balaam's own will was on his side. So he read the refusal as a price, and sent greater men with a bigger offer.
- Wanted. Balaam's own tone gives him away. He would have gone gladly, and writers note the disappointment in his words. Only God's restraint held him.
- Withstood. The real refusal was never Balaam's. God may deal with His people Himself about many things, but He lets no other tongue speak against them — and He turned the enemy's own scheming into blessing.
Then sent Balak yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they.
Balak's first messengers came home with a refusal, so he tries again with a larger and grander delegation. The question here is not Balaam's price, but what a man does when God has already spoken and the offer comes back sweeter.
Balak did not treat the first refusal as final.
Balak's first embassy is unsuccessful: the Lord refuses, as Balaam tells the messengers, to give him leave to go. He makes no secret that his own will is willing enough, while he hides the fact that God has shown him the people are blessed. Balak has reason to suppose that with more pressure Balaam will come, for it was well known that the gods of the nations could be made to give way. He sends more and more honourable representatives.
Balaam had told the first messengers that the Lord would not let him go. He did not tell them why. That silence is what left the door open.
Had Balaam given Balak's princes the word he received from God, it is not likely that he would have been tempted again.
The messengers reported only that Balaam declined:
Balaam did say truly that the Lord refused to give him leave to go with the princes. But the Name of the Lord made no impression on them. On returning to their master they said only, "Balaam refuses to come with us." There was no word of the command of God, no word that he was not to curse, and that the people were blessed.
The second group outranks the first, and the king raises his offer with them.
Balak sent a second group of messengers, princes of higher rank than the elders who went the first time. The king offered more tempting bait: he would raise Balaam to high honour, and he would do whatever Balaam asked.
The bait worked because it matched something already in the man:
His heart was set on going, because it was set on the silver and gold. At the same time there was some reference to God — an appearance of religion put on as a cloak to cover his covetous practices. He longed for the money, but he wanted to get hold of it in a religious way. Miserable man!
Each part of God's first answer closed a door.
The answer of God was in three short sentences. (1) "You shall not go with them." This should have been enough to close the matter completely. A man who really knew God would never raise the question again. (2) "You shall not curse the people." So however much his covetous heart might want Balak's silver and gold, he must not try to do what Balak wanted. (3) "They are blessed." A man who knew God would be sure that God would never go back on this.
He claimed the Lord's will bound him, and he still wanted to go.
Balaam protests that he is strictly bound by the Lord's will. Yet he wants his own way, and God leaves him to it, only making him understand that in the end he must speak His word alone. And Balaam goes.
The same test comes to us when new pressure meets a settled answer.
Whenever God has made His will known to us, we are not to allow any later influence to call it into question. That holds even if the influence takes the form of the word of God. If we were closer to the Lord in heart, we would feel that the only true and right position is to follow what He told us at first.
God does not always stop the man who ignores His first word:
How little Balaam knew what the consequences would be of not bowing to God's first word to him! Suppose God has expressed His will, and we still want our own way. God may well allow us to have our way, so that we may learn by experience the folly of our own self-will.
While this bargaining went on, Israel was unaware of the danger.
The people of the Lord, who had been ungrateful and disobedient all through their wilderness journey, were now in grave danger. They were not aware of it and so did not pray about it. But the Lord Himself took the matter up, and there we are reminded of His unchanging favour. He loved the people, despite all that they were, and He would not allow the enemy to harm them.
- Pressure — Balak judged God by the gods he knew, gods that could be bought. So he met a refusal by raising his offer.
- Silence — Balaam passed on only that he could not come, not that the people were blessed. That half-told answer brought the second delegation.
- Bait — higher-ranking princes, promised honour, and a promise to do whatever he asked. Balaam's heart was already set on silver and gold.
- Settled — "You shall not go," "You shall not curse," "They are blessed." A man who really knew God would never reopen a question God had closed.
- Guarded — Israel never knew the danger and never prayed about it. God took the matter up Himself, and He would not let the enemy harm them.
And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus says Balak the son of Zippor Suffer not thyself, I pray thee, to be restrained from coming to me;
Balak's first delegation went home empty-handed. So the king of Moab sends a bigger and grander one. Its message is built to remove every reason Balaam might have for staying home. The words "let nothing hinder you" show how Balak read the situation. He assumed the obstacle was price, not God.
This second group is not a repeat of the first. Balak has raised both the rank of the men and the size of the offer.
Balak sent a second group of princes, of higher rank than the elders who went the first time. The king offered more tempting baits. He would promote Balaam to high honour, and he would do whatever he asked.
Balak had a reason to try again, and it came from inside himself.
Balak judges by the thing every man knows best — his own heart and experience. So he sends princes more honourable than the ones who came to Balaam the first time.
But the deeper problem was not Balak's offer. It was the man receiving it.
It was clear that he loved money — a love that is all too common in our own day too. Balak's gold and silver proved a very tempting bait to the wretched man — a bait he could not resist. Satan knew his man, and the price he could be bought for.
Balaam's first reply named God, but the message that reached Balak did not. The messengers never passed on the real reason for the refusal, so the door stayed open.
Balaam did say that Jehovah refused to let him go with the princes. But the name of Jehovah made no impression on them. When they went back to their master they only said, "Balaam refuses to come with us." There was no word of the command of God, no word that he was not to curse, and that the people were blessed.
When the second group arrives, nothing has changed on God's side. God had already settled the matter, so one sentence would have ended it.
Balak had one desire: the cursing of the people of God. And Balaam had already received God's command, "You shall not curse … for they are blessed." So there was no room for discussion or evasion. Balaam should have given the second group of princes the same answer he should have given the first. If he had told them the whole message God had given him, he would have spared himself and Balak a great deal of trouble and sorrow.
Instead, the reply he gave exposed what he was still hoping for.
Balaam did not simply refuse to go and tell them that God had forbidden it. Instead he says, "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." Does this not show what lay in Balaam's heart — the desire for silver and gold in abundance?
Raising the price makes sense only if God can be bought. Balak's idea of God came from his own religion.
In Balak we see how completely people had lost the knowledge of God. The world by its wisdom did not know Him. Balak's ignorance was no darker than the world's wisdom… His words to Balaam make clear what he thought God was like. He thought God was altogether like himself, or like what he imagined his own god to be.
The same assumption lies behind the pressure itself.
Balak has reason to think that more pressure will bring him; for everyone knew that the gods of the nations could be made to give way.
Israel had no idea that men were bargaining over them. The outcome never rested on Balaam's honesty.
Balak would gladly have had Israel cursed; but, blessed be God, He will not allow anyone to curse His people. He may have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things. But He will not let anyone else speak against them. He may have to expose them to themselves; but He will not allow a stranger to expose them.
- Pressure. Balak meets a refusal by raising the offer: nobler princes, high honour, whatever Balaam asks. He judges Balaam by his own heart.
- Price. The tactic works on a man who loved money; the enemy knew Balaam, and knew the price at which he could be bought.
- Silence. The first messengers reported only that Balaam refused. They never said God had forbidden the cursing. That half-told answer invited the second delegation.
- Plainness. There was no room for discussion. If Balaam had repeated God's full word, he would have spared both men much trouble and sorrow.
- Powerlessness. Balak imagined God was like himself, open to a bribe. But God will not let anyone curse His people, whatever the price.
for very highly will I honour thee, and whatever thou shalt say to me will I do; come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
God has refused Balak once already, so the king raises his price: grander messengers, very great honour, and a blank cheque. Two questions follow — what did Balak think God was like, and why did Balaam not give him a plain no?
The king treats the first refusal as an opening bid, not a verdict. One writer explains why:
Balak has reason to think that more pressure will bring him, for everyone knew that the gods of the nations would give way to pressure. He sends still more honourable messengers: Balaam must let nothing stop him from coming, for Balak will promote him to very great honour.
A second writer points to the standard Balak used:
Balak judges by what every man knows so well: his own heart and his own experience. So he sends princes more honourable than the first ones who came to Balaam.
The offer is not random. It hits exactly where Balaam was weak.
There is something especially dreadful about the case of Balaam. He clearly loved money — sadly, a common enough love in our own day. Balak's gold and silver were a very tempting bait to the wretched man — a bait he could not resist. Satan knew his man, and he knew the price that would buy him.
His greed did more than ruin him. It set a pattern others followed:
He was a greedy religious man (Numbers 22-24). His error was that he used his knowledge of the truth of God to advance the work of Satan, if he could, and to collect a reward for it. The false teachers Jude writes about rushed greedily after the same wrong.
Balak's message invites a deal. But Balaam had his answer long before these princes arrived.
Balak had one desire: the cursing of the people of God. And Balaam had already received God's command, "You shall not curse… for they are blessed." So there was no room for discussion, and none for dodging the question. Balaam should have given the princes who came the second time the same answer he should have given the first ones. A plain statement of the whole message God had given him would have spared himself and Balak a great deal of trouble and sorrow.
Instead of closing the door, Balaam asks the men to stay the night while he consults God again:
This sounds well; but he added, "Stay here tonight as well, so that I may know what more the LORD will say to me." Such an attitude was sheer wickedness. The LORD had already made His mind plain, so there was nothing more to ask Him about. But Balaam was set on going. He knew enough of God not to want open conflict with Him. If he could, he would bend the LORD to his own will.
Balak's whole appeal rests on the honour he promises. By the end of the story he throws that honour back in Balaam's face.
The intended curse had become a threefold blessing. Unhappy Balaam would gladly have secured the wages of unrighteousness and the honour of this world. Now he receives Balak's cutting taunt, as the king tells him to run off home: "The LORD has held you back from honour."
Neither the king nor the prophet is running this:
Later we shall see how wonderful God's way was. He turned the enemy's own effort against him. He made Balaam, a thoroughly wicked man, work against all the enemy's interests without meaning to. Held in the mighty hand of God, Balaam became the instrument that sealed, as far as a man could, the blessing of God upon His people.
- Offer — Refused once, Balak just bids higher. He sends grander messengers, because he assumes pressure will make a god give way.
- Man — The bait fits the buyer. Balaam loved money, and Satan knew both the man and his price.
- Word — God had already said the people are blessed. The only honest reply was to say so again, and it would have spared everyone the trouble that followed.
- Delay — Asking God again, when He has already made His mind plain, is not learning His will. It is trying to bend Him to ours.
- Hand — The honour Balak dangled was never his to give. God kept Balaam from it. He turned the enemy's whole effort into a sealed blessing on His people.
And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, If Balak give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the commandment of Jehovah my God, to do less or more.
Balak's messengers offer Balaam silver and gold, and he answers with words that sound like pure devotion. Yet the same chapter shows him asking them to stay the night — so is this faith speaking, or a bargain dressed up in God's name?
Balaam does not merely mention God; he claims Him as his own. Commentators read that phrase as the mark of a man who had real knowledge of God but no heart for Him.
The history of Balaam is very solemn. While it brings out the sovereign grace of God, it also reveals the elements of religious corruption that prevail in the last days. Satan cannot defeat the saints of God by open attack, so he corrupts instead. In Balaam we have the character of that which corrupts. There was a knowledge of God. He had this — he even says "the LORD my God." He called Israel's God his God, but his heart was busy with covetous practices. He "loved the wages of unrighteousness." Peter describes Judas the same way. Thirty pieces of silver were the reward of wickedness for the man who greeted Jesus as Master. Both men show a feature of religious apostasy that at last perishes in its own corruption.
Balaam cannot give Balak what he wants. So he turns his refusal into a show of devotion.
Balaam sends word to 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." How pious he has become now! If he might have gone, he would. Though he cannot do what he would like to do for Balak, he still keeps up his credit as a prophet of the LORD. Just as if he had the secret of the LORD, he says, "I will know what more the LORD will say to me."
Balaam names the silver and gold in the very act of refusing it. His delay says more than his words.
If Balaam's heart had been right with God, he would have dealt with Balak's message at once. It would not have cost him a moment's thought to send a reply. But Balaam's heart was all wrong, and in chapter 22 we see him in the sad condition of a man pulled by conflicting feelings. His heart was set on going, because it was set on the silver and gold. At the same time there was some reference to God: an appearance of religion put on as a cloak to cover his covetous practices. He longed for the money, but he would gladly get hold of it in a religious way.
Still, what he said was true. He could not cross the line, however much he wanted to.
The greedy prophet replied that if the king gave him a house full of silver and gold, he still could not come without God's consent. His covetous nature showed how strong the restraint on him was.
But his fine answer does not end there. What he adds next undoes it.
Balaam's answer sounds well. But he added, "Stay here tonight too, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me." Such an attitude was sheer wickedness. The LORD had already stated His mind clearly, so there was nothing left to consult Him about. But Balaam was set on going. He knew enough of God not to want open conflict with Him. He would bend the LORD to his self-will if he could!
God did let Balaam go with the men. That permission was not approval.
This was not the course of His holy will. It was God dealing with the stubborn according to his stubbornness. He does this when there is no faith in a man's mind, and no honest, undivided purpose with it. He allows a man to follow his own blind schemes... Where He sees integrity, He graciously meets the trembling heart and the hesitating mind. But there was no hesitation with Balaam. There was self-will, and this in the face of the glorious expression of God's will. At bottom he makes nothing of God or His word.
- Profession. Balaam calls the LORD "my God" and speaks of His command. Knowing about God is not the same as belonging to Him.
- Price. His heart was set on the very silver and gold he claimed to refuse. Religion was the cloak over his greed.
- Restraint. His words were true. He could not go beyond God's word, and his greed shows how strong that hold on him was.
- Pressure. He asked God again about a matter God had already settled. That is not obedience; it is trying to bend God.
- Permission. God let the stubborn man have his way. He meets the honest, hesitating heart with grace. The difference lies in the will, not the words.
And now, I pray you, abide ye also here this night, and I shall know what Jehovah will say to me further.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Then God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, If the men have come to call thee, rise up, [and] go with them; but only what I shall say unto thee shalt thou do.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.