I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 22-24.

I have never quite understood why the angel was sent to kill Balaam on the way.  After all, God had told him to go with Balak’s second set of messengers.  I just realized today that God did not intend for the angel to kill Balak, because He knew that the donkey would act as it did.The angel was sent to remind Balaam that he could not say anything other than the words God gave him concerning Israel.  Balaam had three encounters with the angel and later made three attempts to curse the Israelites.  Despite his encounter with the angel, one could read the passage as suggesting that Balaam intended to pretend to curse Israel on the third attempt.  On his first two attempts, Balaam conducted a divination ritual through which he received God’s message.  On the third attempt he did not conduct the ritual, but God’s Spirit took him over and spoke through him anyway.  I have long thought that the reason Balaam did not conduct the ritual the third time was because he planned to say what Balak wanted to hear in order to get paid.