Much like ourselves at different times in life, Balaam was thick-headed. That God freed the tongue of a donkey to speak is not nearly as awesome as opening Balaam’s eyes to see the angel of the Lord. Better that her master suffer some bruises than lose his life-and the donkey’s own life as well! So three times she halted, even to the point of injuring Balaam, her master. She knew that Balaam’s life was at stake. Michael the Archangel in the Book of Revelation-she knew that the angel was no one to mess with. But she was a wise donkey, and when she saw the angel with the flaming sword-just like the angel who guarded Eden after the fall or St. Balaam’s donkey really couldn’t talk, at least not naturally. Now, Balaam’s donkey wasn’t like Shrek’s. Just like a television preacher salivating over just how much money he can make, Balaam pushed his donkey to get to Moab. So just like the teen eager to run to an inappropriate party, so Balaam ran hog-wild to Balak in order to make mincemeat of Israel with his curses.
He stood to profit big time if he cursed Israel on behalf of Moab. Balaam knew that big money was wrapped up in his curses. No wonder God’s wrath was turned against Balaam.
The teen replies, “Of course not!” But you, the parent, are being fed lies: no adults will be at this party, and drinks galore will be present. “Will there be drinking? Drugs?” the parent follows up. Perhaps you’ve heard of a teen begging to go to a weekend party: “Will adults be present?” asks the parent. Any curse brought against Israel would simply boomerang back on the curser. Except, what Balak didn’t realize was that God Almighty was behind Israel. What to do? Balak wanted to enlist Balaam’s help-to curse Israel! That would weaken Israel and make her unable to threaten Moab-sounds like a good plan. Balak was alarmed that Israel would invade Moab and steal her crops and wealth. Balak, and his people, the Moabites, were terrified of Israel, since Israel had become a mighty people, strong and powerful and hungry. Israel was about to repossess the promised land, having traveled in the wilderness for forty years. There is power to their words, and on occasion, powerful politicians have sought advice from them.īalak, king of Moab, was one such politician seeking help from Balaam. Like Balaam, they speak and whole worlds listen. They have wide followings-especially of people down on their luck and seeking prosperity. Now, like Balaam, many television preachers are successful. In contemporary terms, Balaam is akin to a television preacher, someone who is out to use faith matters to make big bucks. We need to trust that God will work everything for good, even when it does not always seem so. That means that we can’t always expect to be in control. Instead, what God wants for us is to be people of faith. We seek a security other than in Jesus Christ. God doesn’t like us resorting to witchcraft because when we do so, we use spiritual power in order to secure our own statuses, empower ourselves, even act as gods.
It would be well and good that Balaam knew the Hebrew God, but God did not approve of Balaam’s methods: divination, witchcraft as a way of figuring out God’s will. But he knew the God of the Hebrews, in addition to other purported deities he believed he could summon or charm. Hailing from Mesopotamia, Balaam was what we might call a shaman or a soothsayer. One of the most colorful in the Bible is Balaam. God is used to working with colorful figures.
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