Numbers 23-24

Numbers 23-24

After everything that Balaam had been through, he was finally committed to God. He was where God wanted him, with Balak, and he was there to show Balak who God is. Balak wanted nothing more than to see Israel cursed. He was afraid of what Israel could do to his country. But Balaam knew that Israel was God’s chosen people, and he knew that he could not go against God’s commands. Balak took Balaam up on a mountain, where they offered sacrifices to God. Balaam then spoke with God, only to find that God desired him to bless Israel rather than curse them. So that is what Balaam did, and as a result, Balak was not pleased. From Balak’s perspective, Israel was the enemy, so he could not understand why one of his most trusted people would defy him. What he did not understand was that God’s authority far surpassed him. Balaam was adhering to a higher authority that Balak did not recognize. There are times in our lives in which we are called to do the same. When someone is asking us to do something contrary to God’s word (whether that be a close friend or an authority figure in our lives), we are to follow God’s commands over theirs.

Not recognizing God’s authority, Balak puts Balaam to the test again. They go to another portion of the mountain where they see another fraction of the people of Israel. Remember that Israel was a large nation at this point, and the fact that Balak and Balaam could only see a portion of them at any point of the mountain speaks of their great number. Indeed God had truly blessed Israel, fulfilling His promise to Abraham about how they would be as many as the number of stars in the sky and the number of grains of sand on the beach. This size is what frightened Balak, so he asked Balaam to once again meet with God. In Balaam’s second meeting, God gave him another word. This time God spoke out against Balak, telling him that He does not change His mind. He had already stated that He would not curse Israel, that He had told Balaam to bless them.

Yet as Numbers 24 opens, Balak is testing Balaam and ultimately God, a third time. Balak asks Balaam to go through the entire process again, offering up sacrifices and meeting with God to see if he can curse Israel. Balaam, however, refuses to listen to Balak. He had already questioned God twice and was not willing to ask a third time. He knew that God had spoken and would not change His mind, so he stood up against Balak. God then spoke through him a third time once again blessing Israel. In fact, God promised that Israel would rise up in the land, overtaking the lands around them, which could very well include Balak’s land. Through Balak’s constant desire to curse Israel, he ended up cursing himself. If he had left Israel alone, not trying to provoke them, he may have never had to of dealt with them. But after testing God these three times, he in essence cursed himself and his own nation. Balaam is a great example of one who stood for God no matter what he was offered. He did not allow fear or money shake his faith. He struggled along the way, but in the end, he was sure to stand for God. It might not always be easy to do what is right, but when God calls for us to stand against the world (whether it is that close friend or authority figure), we have no other option.

This portion of the story of Balaam concludes with a promise against the other surrounding nations. Moab would indeed to fall to Israel. Israel had already defeated both Arad and Og, and God promised that Moab would be next. Furthermore, Edom, who had prohibited Israel from passing through their land, would be conquered as well. Then, several other nations would fall. One might question why God was allowing Israel to have all this success when He had previously cursed the current generation. Despite their faults, God was using His children for His glory and His purposes. He was making Himself known to the surrounding nations. Remember that He is not and was not just the God of Israel, but the God of the entire world. His desire is that all men would come to know Him. Moab had now experience who God truly was through Balaam, and the rest of the nations would soon see Him as well. But despite all this success, Israel was still going to be punished. The generation that failed to trust God would ultimately not see the Promised Land.

Matt