A Warning About Deceivers, Would Your Thoughts Or Actions Cause A Donkey To Stop. Series

A warning about Deceivers, would your thoughts and actions cause a donkey to stop.

Numbers 22 is an interesting chapter of scripture, in fact it’s a bit obscure and leaves us with a few questions, an important one gets answered by Jesus on the Island of Patmos, hold onto that thought. It also tells the story that may have inspired Mr. Ed the Talking Horse, young people, google Mr. Ed the Talking Horse when you get home. You could say it’s based on a true story. It may have also inspired this character (Donkey from Shrek).

Let's have a look at Numbers 22. I’m not going to read the whole chapter, there will be a bit of paraphasing, but this will give you a heads up on the situation. I am hoping that you followed up on my post and watched the link on the Corps FB page.

22 Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho.

2 Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, 3 and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.

4 The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.”

So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, 5 sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River, in his native land. Balak said:

“A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. 6 Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.”

7 The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination. When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balak had said. (NIV)

Then God talks with Balaam and he asks Balaam about who his visitors were and tells him not to curse the Israelites because they are blessed. Balaam tells the visitors that he can’t do what Balak wants, they tell Balak, he sends in another group of Nobel people to ask Balam to curse the Israelites. Why, because his curses have power, plus there will be a handsome reward for undertaking this service. Balaam had a reputation for speaking curses that worked. Balaam however refuses because God told him not to curse the Israelites.

At this point it appears that Balaam is doing exactly what God wants. He waits to hear what God will tell him.

Verse 20: That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.” So the first half of the chapter we see exactly what we would expect to happen. Balaam the prophet was not of Israel but of Moab, who God has a relationship with is doing the right thing by God. Note here that God had relationships with not only the people of Israel.

Balak: “Curse the people of Israel.”

Balaam: “No sorry King Balak, I can’t God has blessed these people.”

Balak: “There’s a great reward in it for you, curse these people.

Balaam: “Sorry even for all the gold and silver in the palace I cannot curse the people of Israel.”

God tells Balaam, go with these people but do only what I tell you to do. It appears that Balaam is in this place with God, where he agrees to the constraints that God places upon this journey. This was a 400-mile journey, from Pethor to Moab, it would take about three weeks.

The next morning Balaam, gets up and goes with the princes of Moab, Balak’s nation. However God is very angry that he went, verse 22.

22 “But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.”

Just a minute; God had told him to go with them. What had occurred here? My thinking is that Balaam had decided at some point in the night that he might gain personally out of this journey, silver and gold or even not upsetting the King may have been the reward Balaam was after, he had a plan, a cunning plan. R.D Cole states; “The rabbinical tradition in the Targumic literature interpreted this sequence as evidence of Balaam’s personal rebelliousness in embracing the idea that he might eventually be successful in pronouncing a curse on Israel........The verse would refer to God becoming angry with Balaam while he was on the journey because he still thought he might curse the people of Yahweh. That Balaam was lacking spiritual insight at this point in the journey narrative is evident from the context that follows. (Cole, R. D. (2000). Numbers (Vol. 3B, p. 389). Broadman & Holman Publishers.)