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Balaam the prophet: Good or bad?
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We have instances in the Holy Bible where some individual appears on the scene, with little or no introduction. And sometimes their exposure is brief and then they vanish from view. The High Priest and King of Salem, Melchizedek, was such a person. We also have an instance of a prophet of God, named Balaam, who appears out of nowhere, has only limited exposure, which seems to the reader to be fairly good. Yet there are records of criticism by writers in several books of the Bible. In order to make some kind of educated conjecture, let us see what we can find out about the man.
There is considerable reading which needs to be done in order to understand the situation. The story of Balaam is contained in the 22, 23, 24 chapters of Numbers and the activities of the Israelites falling prey to the whoredoms of the Moabites continues in the 25th chapter. I suggest that anyone who really cares for the facts of the story to first read those chapters. I will attempt to explain it with certain portions of scriptures pasted in.
First, Balaam was not an Israelite (or Jew). He was a pagan, which was not a derogatory name but simply that the world was comprised of the Israelites and all others were called pagans. The same Hebrew term that is often translated pagan, is sometimes translated "nation" or "nations". We know that there were prophets of God under the Patriarchal era as under the Mosaical dispensation. It appears that he was a fairly good prophet at the point of this scriptural coverage, even though there is some evidence to indicate that his heart, or intent, was not exactly pleasing to God.
Israel was not yet completed with their 40 years wilderness wandering and had settled down temporarily in the plains of Moab. They were very numerous and the Moabites were fearful of them. Let us read a few verses beginning with that thought.
"And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Mo abites at that time. He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me: Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak. And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out. And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you. And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us." (Numbers 22:1-14)
Now, if we take a close look at this episode, it is readily shown that God had no intentions of allowing Balaam to place a curse on the Israelites. That should be enough said and the subject should have been closed. But Balak really wanted to get rid of the Israelites. There were too many for him to meet on a level playing field, so he wanted a curse put upon them to help him chase them away. So let's read on.
"And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they. Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more." (Numbers 22:15-18)
It is my personal view of this story, had Balaam stopped right there and said, "Begone for I cannot help you." Everything would have been fine and He would have been in God's favor. But obviously, the promises Balak had made him were gnawing at his weak side so he proceeded thusly:
"Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more. And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do." (Numbers 22:19-20)
I cannot help but believe that there are some words omitted in the preceding scripture. He had already told Balaam earlier that he should not go with them. Now, God told him to go with them and from this point the scriptures do not fit this statement. It may have been that Balaam had asked Got to allow him to go, or more likely perhaps, God knew his heart and that he desired to go. But even though He told him to go with them, you will see in the following, that his decision to go displeased God.
"And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever won't to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay. Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive." (Numbers 22:21-33)
To try and keep this article from becoming too lengthy, let me explain, that the Angel allowed Balaam to go but with a warning that he was to only say what words were given him from God.
Balak took him up into a high mountain where they could see the Israelites covering many miles of Moab lands and asked Balaam to curse them. Balaam offered sacrifices to God then walked away and asked for God's guidance, came back and rather than curse them, he spoke good of them. This angered Balak and he scolded Balaam and insisted that he try again. He went through the offerings to God three times and each time blessed the Israelites rather than curse them. This angered Balak but it pleased God. Balak and Balaam went back, each to their places.
This story of Balaam is about all of his life that is covered. However, he is mentioned with disdain and ridicule in several books of the Bible. It appears that he had gods other than the Almighty God and we read of several things that he did. Moses in scolding his men of war who brought back women and children from Moab has this to say:
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. (Numbers 31:14-16)
And we also find that in the story of him in the above account, he actually wanted to curse Israel for Balak but was not allowed to by God. Read this:
Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee. (Deuteronomy 23:5)
Peter in in 2 Peter 2:15 comments: They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;(NKJV)
And he is mentioned in Joshua 13:22 and 24:8-10, Micah 6:5, Nehemiah 13:1-3, Jude 1:11 and Revelation 2:14. There may be others but all of these mention him a negative manner, showing that he was not at all pleasing to God. So it is apparent that his heart was not right even in the one long episode above. Our God is omniscient...knows all things.
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