...Now he was riding upon his ass,
and his two servants were with him.
And the ass saw the angel of the LORD
standing in the way, and his sword drawn
in his hand: and the ass turned aside out
of the way, and went into the field:
and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her
into the way. But the angel of the LORD
stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being
on this side, and a wall on that side.
Numbers 22:22b-24
Balaam is a man of opportunity as can be seen that he opposed the will of God, first by continuing to seek some new word for God, and second by wanting enrichment from King Balak and to do this he went solidly against what God had said to him, "not to go." Balaam was not to take no even from God. God then allowed Balaam to get on his ass and to go if this is what he wanted to do, but not by approval from God. So then, Balaam go up and started the trip to see King Balak. Balaam was not alone for he took his two servants along with the dignitaries and their entourage of servants. Balaam must have been basking in all this celebrity acclaim towards him, to think that he was getting all this attention from King Balak. The real Balaam is now manifested that he was not a believer in Jehovah, even though he must have known something about him, in fact Balaam was not a believer, nor a Hebrew, but a seer of false gods. Balaam was using God for profit. God then, even though allowing Balaam to go to King Balak became an adversary to Balaam.
Now this story becomes a very interesting story that many do not believe or give it only some analogy. Think upon this: A donkey speaks! Really? A donkey speaks? Yes! Hard to believe? Yes! Is it really true? Well, let us examine this to see if it is possible to be true.
Balaam does not see the angel of the LORD but the ass does and even is frightened so that he jerked to one side to get away. This angered Balaam for he had not seen the angel so he beat the donkey to get her, for it was a female donkey so the word "ass" to get her back on track. Then the donkey saw the angel of the LORD again and did damage to Balaam's foot: "And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself against the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again" (Numbers 22:25). If this was not enough the angel of the LORD went further and stood in a narrow place to hinder the progress of Balaam. The ass saw the angel of the LORD again and fell down under Balaam and Balaam was very angry and smote the ass again.
Now the story turns weird: "And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times" (Numbers 22:28)?
This is a lesson for us: it is an amazing and terrifying thought to deliberately and purposefully oppose the will of God. Balaam had received the truth from God but would not accept it carte blanc. If we keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of God of the truth, God will remove His hand from you and will not allow any further sacrifice for sin: (Hebrews 10:26). This does not mean you lose your salvation, but it does mean that you have made God your adversary and you can only expect judgment from Him. How much punishment should you expect from God for making Him your adversary? God put to death those who rejected the law of Moses if there was testimony from two or three witnesses. Think on this: to make God your adversary is to "spit" on the blood of the covenant, to have contempt for Jesus Christ who died, paid your punishment on the cross. The writer of Hebrews succinctly gave us this: "26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after
receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is
left for us, 27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God’s enemies. 28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who
has contempt for the son of God, and profanes the blood of the covenant
that made him holy, and insults the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the
one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:26-31).
Balaam began his journey to King Balak but God sent His angel to stop him. Who is this angel of the LORD? At best we can say that he was sent by God, and this God had done several times before to the nation of Israel to speak in behalf of God. We who are Authentic Christians are an angel of the LORD and we too are sent to speak in His behalf, to go into the world bringing the truth about Jehovah and Jesus Christ, the Gospel. Some will say that this angel is the preincarnate Jesus Christ. There are arguments to be made on both sides, I prefer to just read and know that God sent an angel to oppose Balaam.
Balaam does not see the angel of the LORD but the donkey does. I know this: my German Shepherd dog sees things long before I do, smell things before I do, seems to know about things that I cannot see. He stops, listens, even at times barks at things that I cannot see. Animals seem to have a special sense that man does not have so as to be able to survive in a harsh world. Just because an animal becomes domesticated does not mean that he has lost this sense. God uses the donkey to speak to Balaam and Balaam must have been very surprised: a donkey is speaking to him? God is God and can use living and non-living things to accomplish His purposes and in this case He uses a donkey to bring a word to Balaam. Balaam would not listen to God when God spoke to Him, now God uses a donkey: this got Balaam's attention. God will use whatever means that will be affective to oppose you in your sin: do not make God your adversary, you will not be blessed, and furthermore, you will suffer not only chastisement but harm. For instance: Be a man who has sexual union outside of marriage with anyone who will have that union with you and you will have a high probability to have at least one of the 22 STD's. Did God give that to you? NO! You gave it to yourself by your sin. Can God use this to bring you back into the fold of God? Yes! If you will let Him.
The Doctrine of Balaam is becoming clear: Greed, false use of God, not following the commands of God and even more associating with those who oppose God or even worse want you to speak against God. Balaam feigned that he knew God but he did not, but he did know something about Jehovah as did all those who know the history of the Hebrews. Knowing something about God is not enough for God to save you, you must in true faith convert to God and follow His commands. This we are coming to understand why this narrative is in the Bible: to teach us something of what it means to be an Authentic Christian, a child of God, to be of the bride of Christ.
Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD;
that walketh in His ways.
Psalm 128:1
Do not make God your adversary: follow His commands
Richard L. Crumb
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