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

When Balak’s messengers give Balaam the message that they will pay him handsomely to curse the Israelites, Balaam asks them to spend the night while he consults with God as to what he should do.  God tells Balaam that he must not curse the Israelites.  So, Balaam sends the messengers on their way.  When Balak sends them back, Balaam tells them he can do nothing beyond what God commands.  So far, so good, but then he tells them to stay the night while he sees what else God will tell him.  Notice how this is rather similar to what he did the first time.  If it were not for the story of the angel and Balaam’s donkey I would not think anything of it.  So, what was going on here?  Balaam knew what God had told him regarding the people Balak wanted him to curse, but he was looking for some wiggle room.  Balaam was looking for some way to give Balak what he wanted so that he could get what he wanted: some of the wealth Balak was offering.  We often face the temptation to do similarly.  God has revealed His will to us on a subject, but we don’t like the answer.  So we ask the question another way, hoping God will give us a different answer.

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