If you didn’t know, the book of Numbers is a wild ride. There are so many moments where I need to back up and go, hold on a minute, what just happened? Before it’s all going crazy again. Into this wild, crazy time, we get the story of Balaam. You know, the guy whose donkey suddenly starts talking to give him an earful when he’s on his way to talk to Balak, an enemy of Israel. Balak has summoned Balaam to him in the hopes that he will curse Israel so he can destroy them, and he’s promised to shower him with riches for his service. After resisting Balak’s messengers at first, Balaam saddles up his donkey and heads on his way.
What follows on this trip is a well-known and rather fantastic episode. In this interlude, Balaam’s donkey, after stubbornly refusing to go forward on the road, begins to speak. The donkey gets on Balaam’s case for beating him when, as the donkey explains, he was just trying to avoid the angel in the road that would have obliterated them if he kept going. Balaam recognizes what’s at stake here and listens carefully to what God instructs him to do when he reaches Balak. We get so wrapped up in the wild episode that is the talking donkey (who I struggle not to hear in Eddie Murphy’s voice for that very reason) that we gloss over everything that comes next in the story.
When Balaam finally shows up before Balak, Balak is stoked. He’s sent for this well-known prophet, and now he’s going to get him to curse the Israelites for him so he can destroy them. “The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could see some of the people of Israel spread out below him. Then Balaam said to King Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.” Balak followed his instructions, and the two of them sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar. (Numbers 22:41-23:2)
But what happens instead is God gives Balaam a message blessing the people of Israel. Suffice it to say, Balak is not happy. He tries three more times to curse Israel through Balaam, offering seven altars and seven bulls and seven rams for sacrifice each time. But every time God blesses Israel until, after a fourth attempt where Balaam cuts to the chase and still blesses Israel, Balak absolutely flies off the handle and turns on Balaam in a fury of a man who cannot get his way.
It’s a wild story, but as I read through it recently, there were three key takeaways I found about God in this episode.
1- God’s will can never be twisted to suit our purposes
Honestly, there’s a lot to this story that genuinely makes me laugh cause Balak is such an idiot.
Here’s Balak running around, thinking to himself “This is it! This is the time my enemies will be cursed!” And all the while God is taking his twisted sacrifices and pouring out blessings on his people. Never mind how much this had to be hurting the cow and ram economy of Balak’s people; this is a total humiliation of Balak’s power as a leader.
History is rife with examples of wicked men who thought they had God in their pocket or were spitting in his face, only to find out that their actions had been unwittingly advancing God’s purpose. From the arrogance of Pax Romana to our own modern times, no one is able to control God. Man may think he can bend God’s will to his own, but when has a creation ever been able to change its creator? We can no more change God’s will to suit ourselves than a cake can instruct a baker to make brownies instead.
God will hear us out and take our prayers and petitions to heart. He’s a loving God who cares deeply about us and the cares of our hearts. But he will not be twisted for self-gain or evil intent. He is not a genie in a bottle that you can make demands of. He is your creator. You answer to him, not the other way around.
2- If we value our mission over God’s glory, we’ll always be blind to what he’s doing
The Bible is full of examples of people who were so intent on what they were doing that they missed everything God was accomplishing. And this is not just people who stood against him. Even the apostles fell into this trap, and rather spectacularly at times. Remember the apostles arguing about who would get to sit next to Jesus in heaven? Or Peter trying to scold Jesus for speaking doom and gloom about his own death? We are constantly missing out on the glory of what God’s doing because we are so focused on our own. What a waste.
We see how badly Balak is misunderstanding the scope of the situation in how he treats Balaam after he blesses Israel yet again. “King Balak flew into a rage against Balaam. He angrily clapped his hands and shouted, “I called you to curse my enemies! Instead, you have blessed them three times. Now get out of here! Go back home! I promised to reward you richly, but the LORD has kept you from your reward.” (Numbers 24:10-11)
Oh Balak… You idiot… He actually thinks he’s withholding the greater reward from Balaam, who has just acted faithfully to God’s commands. Balaam was not without his faults, believe me, but at least he got this right. He understood that there was nothing Balak could offer him that would outweigh the rewards of faithfulness to God. In that light, Balak was mocking him over a withheld penny while God was offering a vault filled to the ceiling.
If we focus on God’s glory instead of the world’s, we won’t be thrown by the things that seemingly don’t go our way or stand against us. We will know where the true goal is and what we’re meant to be holding onto.
3- God is gracious enough to give us the chance to change course, but we have to recognize and accept the invitation
It is genuinely funny how many times Balak’s wicked schemes are thwarted. It’s almost cartoonish in its failure, and I can’t help but giggle. And yet, there’s an element of tragedy at play here too.
Every time Balak failed to defeat his enemies, he also failed to repent and turn to God. The offer was always there. At any given moment, he could have stopped, acknowledged God’s power, and repented, but he never did. God was showing off his power in big ways, and all Balak could see was his own failed attempts to defeat his enemies. He missed the big picture that actually matters. Balak had every opportunity to stop what he was doing and recognize the power that completely eclipsed his own, but he didn’t. God was protecting his people with each failed attempt, but he was also holding a door open for Balak that this stubborn king never walked through.
We have other examples of outsiders to the people of Israel whose country comes into conflict with the Israelites, but they immediately recognize, revere, and respect God’s power. These people were in direct opposition to God, and when they recognized his power, they performed dramatic about-faces and gave themselves up to him. Later on from Balak’s time, we’ll meet Rahab. Rahab, a lowly prostitute on the edge of the city, sees what the leadership of Jericho cannot and immediately steps into God’s plan for her. She rescues the spies sent ahead and hides them in her house at great risk to herself and her family, because she’d been paying attention to what God had been doing.
“I know that the Lord has give you this land. We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.” (Joshua 2:9-11)
Like Balak, Rahab had multiple examples of God’s glory and power, but unlike Balak, she chose to recognize and respect them. And as a result, Rahab and her family were not only spared the destruction of their city, but she was rewarded for her faithfulness, being one of only four women named in the Bible in the lineage of Jesus. None of this would have happened if Rahab had doubled down on stubbornness and held on to her city’s crumbling walls instead of God’s love.
We need to reject Balak’s blind foolishness and embrace the thoughtful faithfulness of Rahab. God will give us plenty of chances to join in with what he’s doing, but at some point, if you are determined to stand against him he will honor the free free will he has given you and you will get your way. Nothing could be worse for us. God is gracious, and loving, but he is also on a rescue mission and nothing will stand in the way of him completing his mission. Not even you.
Let’s be Rahabs, not Balaks and join in with what God is doing at every opportunity. Nothing could be better for us.
Let’s find some joy,
A
Avalon Robinson Author 