THE story of Balaam happens to be a favorite
of mine. It appeals to children of all ages, from 5 to 105. Balaam is famous
for his accurate prophesying, as well as his greed. But perhaps most of all, he
is famous for his amazing talking donkey! [1]
By the way, please do not dismiss this story as and Old Testament "fairy
tale." Shimon Kefa (Simon Peter) verifies the
truth of this story, as well as the fact that Balaam was a prophet in 2 Peter
2:15-16.
Rav Richard 'Aharon' Chaimberlin |
Balaam
belongs - along with Melchizedek, Job, and Jethro - to the scattered ancient worshippers
of the true God that are unconnected with Israel. Balaam was from Pethor, near the Euphrates River in what is today modern
Iraq. He is the only Gentile prophet mentioned in the Bible. Unfortunately, his
character flaws have earned him a less than admirable reputation. It might be a
bit troubling that a disreputable person could be a prophet. However, Rav
Sha'ul (Paul) tells us: "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance
(Romans 11:29)." Gifts are not necessarily earned by good conduct.
"God
in His wisdom, ordained that the gentile nations should have a prophet who
would be comparable to Moses... so that they would not be able to contend that
if only they had someone who could communicate to them the will of God, they
would have been as righteous as Israel. Balaam was that prophet." [2]
The
Israelites were close to entering the Promised Land, within sight of their
goal. The Moabites and Midianites were rightfully concerned
about the progress of the Israelites. No doubt they had heard about the
supernatural plagues that had come upon the Egyptians just prior to the exodus
of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. They were also aware of the parting of
the sea that had enabled the Israelites to pass through, but which closed up
afterwards, drowning the Egyptian army, which had sought to recapture and
re-enslave the Israelites. They heard of Israel's victory over Sihon, king of the Amorites, and also over Og, King of Bashan.
The
Moabites and Midianites were both related to Abraham.
The Moabites were descended from Lot,[3]
Abraham's nephew. The Midanites were descended from
Abraham and Keturah, who married Abraham after Sarah
died.[4]
The
Moabites and Midianites were eager not to suffer
fates similar to others who opposed Israel. Therefore, they entered into a
conspiracy, in which they sought to hire Balaam to curse Israel.[5]
According to Rabbi D.H. Hertz, Babylonian theology had already spread
throughout much of the ancient world.[6]
Babylonian theology was heavily rooted in demonology. It taught that certain
persons had the power to direct or even change the decrees of the gods. Balak,
King of Moab, no doubt felt that Balaam was one of these individuals.
Balak
sent messengers of Balaam to entice Balaam to come and curse Israel. God spoke
to Balaam - perhaps in a vision of the night - warning him, "Do not go with
them (imahem)! You shall not curse the people, for they
are blessed." [7] Balaam was
obedient to HaShem at this time, and sent the messengers back to Balak.
Balak then sent more elders - more distinguished
than the first ones - promising richer blessings if Balaam would curse Israel.
Balaam replied, "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold,
I cannot go beyond the word of YHWH my God... Now therefore, tarry also this night, that I may know what else Adonai will speak to
me." [8] Balaam was perhaps hoping for permission from
Adonai to go down to curse Israel.
Balaam
was eager for riches. He knew it wasn't God's will for him to go with the
king's messengers. Yet his "prayer" was to go with them, and perhaps
return as a rich man.
We
humans have a habit of sometimes praying for something that might not be good
for us, kind of like the kid who begs for candy that his parents know might
make him sick and eventually rot his teeth. As we get older, we might pray for
a particular mate, even though we may realize in our heart that this person is
contrary to the will of the Almighty, or for something else that our Heavenly
Father knows is not good for us. If we keep on persisting, God might even grant
the request, even though He knows it is not best for us. (Sometimes we should
thank God for unanswered prayers!) Balaam eventually won permission to
go with them (itam).[9]
Please
note something very important: Numbers 22:12 and 22:20 both say "with
them" in English. However, the Hebrew uses different words in both these
verses for with them: (imahem and itam). "The first, imahem,
indicates full agreement as to purpose, which was forbidden to Balaam; the second,
itam, refers to accompaniment without convergence
of minds, which was permitted. In the Hebrew, there is no contradiction between
Numbers 22:12 and 22:20. Therefore, when Balaam went with mr, the officers of Moab (vs. 21) connoting the
forbidden commonality of purpose, we understand the flaring of the anger
of God in verse 22." [10] However, HaShem[11]
warned him, "Only the word which I speak to you shall you do (Num.
22:20)."
At
this point, the story gets real inter-esting! God was
angry at Balaam for going "imahem - with
them," and "the angel of YHWH took his stand in the way as an adversary
(satan) against him." Balaam's donkey
apparently was more attuned to spiritual things than the prophet Balaam, and
saw the angel with a drawn sword, and refused to pass by the angel. Balaam
struck the donkey with a stick to force it back onto the path. The donkey saw
the angel on the path, and pressed herself against the wall, squeezing Balaam's
foot against the wall. Again Balaam struck the donkey.
At
this point, "YHWH opened the mouth of the donkey." [12] The donkey said, "What have I done to
you these three times?" Rashi claims that
"animals are allowed to see spiritual beings that are blocked from the
human eye, because human intelligence would cause people to live in constant
fear if they could perceive everything around them."
The
spirit world is actually more real than the physical world that we perceive
with our senses, because the unseen spirit world is eternal, whereas everything
we perceive around us is temporal.[13]
Cats, donkeys, and other critters (according to Rashi)
can see into this spirit world, which is why your cat might be looking very
intently at something that you can't see. To our senses, nothing is there!
But Fluffy will disagree, because Fluffy sees it!
Some
of you may know that I talked to my cat, but she never talked back to me. If my
cat had talked back to me, you can be sure that I would take notice and listen!
However, Balaam actually argued with the donkey, which kind of makes you
wonder: Which one was the real jackass? However, after a little conversation
between man and beast, Balaam's spiritual eyes were opened, and he also saw the
angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn. Balaam bowed himself to the
ground. The angel of YHWH (who I believe to be the pre-incarnate Yeshua)
chastised Balaam for striking the donkey, and told Balaam that had not the
donkey turned aside, he would have killed Balaam.
Rabbi
Burt Yellin of Roeh Israel
in Denver made an apt com-parison between Rav Sha'ul
(Paul) and Balaam. Both were riding their asses on the road to curse a people
that God had blessed. (See Acts 9.) Both continued on, and ended up blessing those
whom they originally meant to curse.
Balaam Prophesies Over Israel
Balaam finally arrived to meet Balak, and told
him, "The word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak (Num.
22:38)." Seven altars were erected, and seven bulls and seven rams were
sacrificed at the altars as burnt offerings to Adonai. To the great displeasure
of Balak (and no doubt to Balaam as well), the words that came out of Balaam's
mouth were blessings instead of curses to Israel. "How can I curse whom
YHWH has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom YHWH has not denounced? Behold, a people who dwells apart, and shall not
be reckoned among the nations (Numbers 23:8-9)."
Balak
was obviously displeased that his enemies were being blessed instead of cursed.
But Balaam responded, "Must I not be careful to speak what YHWH puts into
my mouth?" We also see that it is against the will of the Almighty for
Israel to assimilate into the nations. "Behold, a people who dwells apart,
and shall not be reckoned among the nations." We are thrilled when
Jews recognize Yeshua as Messiah. However, we do not want to see these Jews
assimilate into Christian churches. In Romans 11:17-24, we see that the Scriptural
ideal is for Gentiles to be grafted into the Jewish Olive Tree, not for Jews to
be grafted into the church's "Christmas tree."
Balaam
didn't quit here, however. He had Balak prepare seven more altars with more
sacrifices. Who knows? Perhaps God will change His mind! However, the word that
Balaam received and spoke was, "God is not a man that He should lie, nor a
son of man that He should repent... God brings them out of Egypt. He is for
them like the horns of the wild ox. For there is no omen against Jacob, nor is
there any divination against Israel." [14]
If
at first, you don't succeed, try, try again. So Balaam
had an additional seven altars prepared with additional sacrifices. And the
words that poured out of Balaam's mouth were more blessings, including,
"Blessed is everyone who blesses you, and cursed is everyone who curses
you (Num. 24:9)." Balak, of course, became very angry at Balaam, who tried
again. This time he said, "A star shall come forward from Jacob, and a
scepter shall arise from Israel, and shall crush through the forehead of Moab,
and tear down the sons of Sheth (Num. 24:17)."
This is definitely not what Balak wanted to hear!
These
prophecies of Balaam are of course recorded in the Tanakh (OT), so they are
part of the sacred canon of both Jews and Christians. Balaam was also a prophet
in the religion of Zoroaster, which was at one time the dominant religion of
Persia (Iran). Some "wise men" (perhaps of the Zoroastrian faith) who came
to visit Yeshua when He was a young child were familiar with the prophecy about
the "star" coming forth from Jacob. When they saw the star, they knew
that a king had been born in Israel. They said, "Where is He that has been
born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and have come to
worship Him (Matthew 2:1-2)." By the way, at the time that the magi
came to see Yeshua, we see in Matthew 2:11 that Yeshua was no longer a baby
in a manger, but is now a child living in a house. This is a
radical departure from the fiction of the Nativity scenes in which the baby
Jesus is being greeted by the magi. They never arrived until about two years
later.
Curiously, that same prophecy about the
star was used (actually misused) to "prove" someone else was
the Messiah. During the Israeli revolt against Rome in 132 to 135 CE,[15] Rabbi Akiba
felt that the time was ripe for the Messiah to come and deliver Israel from the
hands of the oppressive Roman occupation. The only candidate (in his opinion)
was General Bar Kosiba. Akiba
changed the general's name to Bar Kochba ("son
of the star"), and applied Balaam's prophecy about the star (Num. 24:17)
to Bar Kochba. Regretfully, Bar Kochba's
revolt led to the utter destruction of Israel. Over half a million Jews were
killed, and many tens of thousands of Jews were sold into slavery in Europe.
Bar Kochba goes down in history as one more false
Messiah.
Curses
come upon Israel
Balaam didn't succeed in cursing Israel. However,
he knew that if he could get Israel to break the Commandments and ignore Torah,
then HaShem's hedge of protection around Israel would evaporate.
"While
Israel dwelled in Shittim, the people began to play
the harlot with the daughters of Moab. For they invited the people to the sacrifices
of their gods, and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods. So Israel
joined himself to Baal-Peor, and the anger of YHWH
was kindled against Israel." [16] As a result, a plague came upon Israel which
killed 24,000 Israelites before it was stopped by Phineas.
Balaam
was apparently finally able to "earn" the rich reward offered by
Balak, although I doubt that he lived long enough to enjoy it. When the
Israelites defeated the people of Balaam (the Midianites),
they also killed Balaam (Numbers 31:9).
Legacy of Balaam
Despite the obvious corruption of Balaam, he
did leave us with an important legacy. In most synagogues around the world, one
of the opening hymns is the "Ma Tovu." In
English, it reads, "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, and your
tabernacles, O Israel." In transliterated Hebrew, it reads, "Ma tovu, ohalekha Ya'akov, mishkinotekha Yisrael." (In some synagogues, the
worshippers say this words privately as they enter the synagogue.) This is a
direct quote from Balaam, in Numbers 24:15. This is just one of many wonderful
things that Balaam said about Israel when he was prophesying, so a word of
thanks is in order both to him and to the Almighty who put those words in his
mouth, and into the Bible!
However, in his heart of hearts, Balaam did
not have Israel's best interests at heart. God promises to bless those who
bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.[17]
Although Balaam could not personally curse Israel, he was able to bring curses
upon Israel by causing Israel to break God's holy commandments. However, Israel
was restored to God, and then went on to defeat her enemies. "And (the Israelites)
killed the kings of Midian, along with the rest of their slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five
kings of Midian;[18] they also killed Balaam,
the son of Beor with the sword (Num. 31:9)."
Then we read in Numbers 31:16, "Behold, these caused the children of
Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against YHWH in the
matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the
congregation of the LORD."
Apparently
Balaam's doctrines lived on for many centuries. We read in Revelation 2:14-16:
"But I (Yeshua) have a few things against you, because you have there some
who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block
before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit
acts of fornication. 15So you have also them who hold to the
doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16Repent;
or else I will come to you quickly, and will fight against them with the sword
of my mouth."
This
is really unfortunate. Here we have what is perhaps the only Gentile prophet in
the Bible, and he suffered a terrible death for his sins against Israel. And
now, as Paul Harvey would say, you know the rest of the story.
HEBREW PRONOUNS
I = ani (pronounced ah-nee')
You = ah-tah' (m) or aht (f)
He = hu (pronounced hoo)
She = hi (pronounced hee)
They = hem (m) or hen (f)
We = Anakh'nu
(guttural kh as in Bach)
Who = mi (pronounced mee)
What = ma
Where = eifo' (rhymes with may
toe)
[1] This talking donkey was a
real live critter about 3500 years before the talking donkey in Shrek!
[2] As quoted from Interlinear
Chumash, Me-sorah Publications, Brooklyn NY (c)
2007, p. 154.
[3] B'reisheet (Genesis) 19:37.
[4] Genesis 25:1-2.
[5] B'midbar
(Numbers) 22:5-6.
[6] Penteteuch
& Haftarahs, Soncino
Press, (c) 1960, p. 669. Unfortunately, Babylonian theology has also infected
many modern religions as well, including Christianity and even Judaism. RAC
[7] Numbers 22:12.
[8] Numbers 22:18-19.
[9] Numbers 22:20.
[10] As quoted from Interlinear Chumash, Me-sorah Publications, Brooklyn NY (c) 2007, p. 977.
[11] "The Name" (of God).
[12] Numbers 22:28.
[13] 2 Cor. 4:18.
[14] Numbers 23:19,22,23.
[15] "Common Era,"
equivalent to A.D.
[16] Numbers 25:1-3. See also
Num. 31:16.
[17] Num. 24:9; Gen. 12:3;
Ezekiel 28:26, etc.
[18] Not all Midianites
and Moabites were wicked. Moses' father-in-law Jethro (Reuel) was a Midianite
(Exodus 2:16-19). And Ruth was a Moabite!