By Jill Roberts and Michael Canalé
Michael describes this week’s blog so well when he says,
“Now, we turn to the story of Balaam who makes a cameo appearance that teaches an unforgettable lesson about both mankind and God. It is another example of how understanding the Bible polishes our minds.”
The setting for how this all unfolded is an iconic one:
“Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho.”
(Numbers 22:1) NIV
From this place, they could look across the Jordan River and see the Promised Land. All the effort of over forty years in the desert, some of it in the wilderness of the soul, had finally all come to fruition. After God’s last instructions, they would cross over the Jordan and fulfill God’s long-ago promise of this land of milk and honey for Israel.
Therefore, it may accurately be said that they were poised to launch. Surely, they must have thought that the danger lay across the Jordan River, not here in this camp beside it. That, however, would have been a false assumption, a misconception entirely.
For, above them, looking down on them, was a person named Balek, the King of Moab. And King Balek was a troubled man, a desperate man. He had heard of the Israelite military victory over the Amorites and now they were on the plains of Moab.
Additionally, King Balek was under great pressure from all of the people of his country, who were consumed with fear of the Israelites. The Moabites were so terrified that they had reached out beyond their own people’s elders:
“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.”
(emphasis added)
(Numbers 22:4) NIV
The fact that the rank-and-file Moabite would cross cultural boundaries to seek the assistance of authorities outside Moab, makes it clear that there was a low confidence vote with regard to King Balek and his own cabinet of elders. Not only was this embarrassing for the King, it had the potential of threatening his very sovereignty. Between the two million plus Israelites camped on his plains and the mutinous noises of his own people of Moab, King Balek was cornered from within his land and from without.
Who was this man, King Balek?
Michael reminds us that,
“In order to understand a person in the Bible, it is important to look at their descendants as to who they were.”
In the case of King Balek, a Moabite, his ancestry is both prophetic and problematic. Moab, Balek’s ancestor, was the son of Lot and his older daughter, while the now-defeated Amorites were descendants of Lot and his younger daughter’s son, Ben-Ammi. As we recall, Lot deeply belonged to and was enamored with violent Sodom. He was saved from destruction only by the largesse of God, based on Lot being the nephew of Abraham. (Genesis 19:30-38) NIV
Also, King Balek was thus closely related to the Amorites whom he knew the Israelites had already destroyed. His connection to them was, of course, through Lot.
Even though, as stated, Lot was a nephew of Abraham, Balek and the other Moabites did not worship the God of Abraham. They worshipped Chermosh, a pagan, violent and false god.
With this backdrop, by the time King Balek saw the enormous number of Israelites, he, no doubt, joined all his country who were “filled with dread.” (Numbers 22:3) NIV Knowing he was outnumbered, conventional battle was quickly eliminated from his mind as an initial option. Perhaps he could prevail against them if he could place them in a weakened state, he apparently reasoned.
Toward this end, Balek had an idea that he greatly liked. It was to place a curse on the Israelites in order to compromise their great power and reduce their numbers. Balek believed in the power of curses and he felt he knew just the man possessing the skill set for the job. Enter our central protagonist, Balaam.
If ambiguity tends to make a story interesting, and certainly it does, then we could find no more fascinating character than Balaam. He had many different and often seemingly contradictory aspects to his thoughts and beliefs.
Balaam was a mystic, a seer, and well known as such. If a King, like Balek, wanted the very best in mysticism, and surely he did, Balaam would be the first person he would call. Balaam was known for his good results in both curses and blessings.
Looking at the above profile, it might be tempting to pigeonhole Balaam as simply pagan and a gun for hire in being so. Certainly, he had left the impression in King Balek’s mind and world that he was not at all opposed to bribery in exchange for his mystical wares of curses and blessings. But, simplicity is not what this story is all about. As just stated, there is ambiguity at the heart of this fascinating Biblical narrative.
For, as we will see in-depth next week, Balaam, the soothsayer, who plied his trade in the spiritual realms, held himself out as one who tempered his actions within the will of God Almighty, the LORD of Israel. That said, Balaam was not an Israelite himself.
We can safely infer that King Balek had thoroughly vetted Balaam and had certainly not found him as having a reputation for following the God of Israel. If this had been part of his résumé, Balaam would have been the very last person King Balek would have solicited to place a curse on Israel. And yet, he was his first choice.
As Michael says,
“Balek went to a mystic to bring other gods to the battle.”
How were King Balek and Balaam to meet? How does their story and interaction begin?
“So King Balek…sent messengers to summon Balaam, son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River, in his native land. Balek said:
‘A people has come out of Egypt: they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. 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.’
The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination. When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balek had said.”
(Numbers 22:4-7) NIV
Balsam’s response and the page-turning story that follows will be continued in next week’s blog.
As a preview, Michael and I will be writing about a nuanced Balaam as he interacts with King Balek, who puts all of his destiny in the hands of this itinerant mystic of curses and blessings. Further, and more importantly, we will be telling the story of Balaam and his encounters with the God of Israel, the very people a greatly determined King Balek wants Balaam to curse.
We will showcase Balaam as Everyman faced with the moral dilemma of his life.
Ok, you got my attention.