5 sent messengers to call Balaam son of Beor, who was living in his native land of Pethor[a] near the Euphrates River.[b] His message said:
“Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt. They cover the face of the earth and are threatening me. 6 Please come and curse these people for me because they are too powerful for me. Then perhaps I will be able to conquer them and drive them from the land. I know that blessings fall on any people you bless, and curses fall on people you curse.”
7 Balak’s messengers, who were elders of Moab and Midian, set out with money to pay Balaam to place a curse upon Israel.[c] They went to Balaam and delivered Balak’s message to him. 8 “Stay here overnight,” Balaam said. “In the morning I will tell you whatever the Lord directs me to say.” So the officials from Moab stayed there with Balaam.
9 That night God came to Balaam and asked him, “Who are these men visiting you?”
10 Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent me this message: 11 ‘Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come and curse these people for me. Then perhaps I will be able to stand up to them and drive them from the land.’”
12 But God told Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed!”
13 The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak’s officials, “Go on home! The Lord will not let me go with you.”
14 So the Moabite officials returned to King Balak and reported, “Balaam refused to come with us.” 15 Then Balak tried again. This time he sent a larger number of even more distinguished officials than those he had sent the first time. 16 They went to Balaam and delivered this message to him:
“This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Please don’t let anything stop you from coming to help me. 17 I will pay you very well and do whatever you tell me. Just come and curse these people for me!”
18 But Balaam responded to Balak’s messengers, “Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of the Lord my God. 19 But stay here one more night, and I will see if the Lord has anything else to say to me.”
20 That night God came to Balaam and told him, “Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But do only what I tell you to do.”
Balaam and His Donkey
21 So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials. 22 But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the Lord to stand in the road to block his way. As Balaam and two servants were riding along, 23 Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood at a place where the road narrowed between two vineyard walls. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord moved farther down the road and stood in a place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all. 27 This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff.
28 Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.
29 “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”
30 “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?”
“No,” Balaam admitted.
31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him.
32 “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the Lord demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. 33 Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.”
34 Then Balaam confessed to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned. I didn’t realize you were standing in the road to block my way. I will return home if you are against my going.”
35 But the angel of the Lord told Balaam, “Go with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.” So Balaam went on with Balak’s officials. 36 When King Balak heard that Balaam was on the way, he went out to meet him at a Moabite town on the Arnon River at the farthest border of his land.
37 “Didn’t I send you an urgent invitation? Why didn’t you come right away?” Balak asked Balaam. “Didn’t you believe me when I said I would reward you richly?”
38 Balaam replied, “Look, now I have come, but I have no power to say whatever I want. I will speak only the message that God puts in my mouth.”
Footnotes:
22:5a Or who was at Pethor in the land of the Amavites.
22:5b Hebrew the river.
22:7 Hebrew set out with the money of divination in their hand.
And we wonder how people get confused in God's Word. We start with the prophet Balaam being summoned to help a king get rid of God's people. But God tells him not to go so Balaam sends the messengers back home empty handed. But the king doesn't give up that easy so he sends even a larger entourage in hopes of a different response. This time God responds differently, telling Balaam to go ahead and go, but not to say/do anything without God's guidance.
So off goes Balaam. But the very next thing we're told is that God is miffed because Balaam went. Didn't God just tell him to go?? So he listens but this makes God mad? Are we sure God isn't a woman? Says one thing but means something else? ... and Balaam should have known the difference?
So... Balaam's poor donkey keeps seeing the angel of the Lord with a sword in his hand, messing with him at every turn and what happens to the poor donkey? He gets beaten. Three times. But to confuse the matter even more, God allows the poor animal? He is allowed to speak and when he does, his owner responds like it's no big deal. I mean, Balaam comes back with an off the cuff answer, but cheez whiz! Isn't he shocked that his lifelong animal servant is speaking?!?
So God opens Balaam's eyes and allows him to see not only the angel blocking the way and deterring his donkey, but also that God didn't mean it when he said to go ahead and visit the king.
The point of this story? [sigh...] I don't know. It makes God look indecisive, unfair, and almost psychotic. I don't say any of this to mock the God I love. I just don't get this text.
And why should God NOT be a woman? As if men were always so decisive. Ha, Myself? I believe God is not limited by *any* gender, let alone one. But the talking donkey? I got nothin'.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree on God not being limited by any gender... was just reaching for straws on that one... Read something later that said that God knew Balaam was out for the money he would make and therefore changed his mind. Where is THAT in the text? If God knew that, then he also knew that before saying "yes" for him to go...
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