Message: Numbers 22 is one of my favorite stories to read simply
because I’m amused that God made Balaam’s donkey talk to him, and I’m even more
amused that he carried on a conversation with him with no mention of it being
unusual. This story is so much bigger than this though. Israel was traveling
through to the promised land, but God had them defeating people in several
other lands in order to take their promise. Kings were catching wind of them
and nobody wanted them to pass through their land. They saw their enormous
number and were fearful of them because of what God had done through them. I
had always read about Balaam with the assumption that he was a prophet of God
because of his encounters with God and the angel of the Lord through this story,
but after reading this story again and reading the footnotes in my bible I see
he was actually a diviner. He consulted spirits of all kinds and put blessings
and curses on people for a fee. This is exactly what the king of Moab was
trying to pay him to do to Israel. I find it interesting that even though he
consulted with all kinds of other spirits, he consulted with God before giving
an answer. I could go in circles through this whole passage trying to figure
out Balaam, but what I really took notice of, is that God protected Israel to
the point that even a diviner obeyed him, and when he tried to travel toward
Israel God literally sent a warrior angel with sword drawn to intercept his
path.
Application: What I really got out of this is that God will
work through and speak to anyone to fight on behalf of those he has called
blessed. The enemies of Israel had plans to destroy them, but God interrupted
those plans. Even the plans of darkness will fall in line when God speaks.
Their plans will not be carried out. This also means that have to be careful too
that we don’t find ourselves fighting against something or someone that God has
blessed. The Israelites weren’t blessed because they were good. They were blessed
because God chose to bless them. Anyone fighting on the wrong side of that
blessing will find themselves face to face with an angel of God and we may not
even know it. Balaam may have been a diviner but he had the wisdom to inquire
of God and heed to the warning.
