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 think we need to spend more time thinking about what happened when Balak’s second set of messengers went to Balaam. The second time, God told Balaam to go with them. Yet, God was angry with Balaam and sent an angel to kill him for going with them. What is going on here? Why did God get angry for Balaam doing what He had told him to do? So, when Balak’s first messengers arrived, Balaam consulted with God and told Him that Balak wanted him to curse some people. God told Balaam that the people Balak wanted cursed had been blessed and could not be cursed. It would have been one thing for Balaam to inquire of God for the second messengers if God had merely told him not to go with the first messengers. But that was not what God had told Balaam. God had told Balaam that the people Balak wanted cursed were blessed. Balaam knew why God did not want him to respond to Balak’s summons. We need to learn to recognize the difference between when God says “No” and when He says “Wait.:
Balaam’s heart wasn’t fully with God. He wasn’t an Israelite, but a pagan priest or prophet. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been willing to accept the bribe to curse the Israelites. I believe he wanted to please Balak but God took control of his mouth to prevent him from cursing them.
While Balaam was not an Israelite, I believe we are intended to learn from his example the kinds of pitfalls which Believers can fall into.