And God came to Balaam at night and said to him,
If the men have come to call you, rise up,
with them and say only the thing that I speak
to you--it you shall do. And Balaam rose up
in the morning and saddled his ass and
went with the leaders of Moab. And the anger
of God glowed because he went.
Numbers 22:20-23a
Now the real Balaam begins to be seen for what he was and why the Doctrine of Balaam is abhorrent to God. Balaam was told by God the first time he inquired of God (verse 9) that he was not to curse Israel but this did not end with this visit by God. Balaam kept accepting those who came to him from Balak and hearing all that Balak was willing to give to him if he would come and curse Israel. The gifts were getting bigger and better with each visit from the men of Balak. Why continue to accept those men from Balak and even have them stay the night? It seems good if you only read the verses concerning this, but was it, are those who are children of God supposed to have them in your home? NO! The Apostle John enlightens us about this: "Whosever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the Doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds" (2John 9-11). Some people come to your home to get you to become one of their peoples and do not teach the true doctrine of Christ and some will invite them into their home hoping to win them over to their belief. We are, as Authentic Christians, not to do this. It is ok to speak with them somewhat at your door, but never in your home. Do not do what Balaam did and for why Balaam did what he did.
God did not allow Balaam to go and to curse Israel but Balak would not take no and sent more to entice Balaam to come and do this dirty work. First Balaam only uses the word Elohim (God) as to whom he was getting his answer of no, then he uses the word Jehovah (the tetragrammaton) so he did know something about the God of Israel and if he did no this, then he more than likely knew of the promises to Israel by God. Balaam did not stand on what the will of God was towards Israel and he kept getting those enticements and here it seems as if God changed His mind and allowed Balaam to go with the men from Balak.
At first seemed commendable that Balaam response according to what God willed but Balaam kept things going and in time Balak offered Balaam to "Name your own price." Does it not sound that Balaam said that he would not come and any price? It seems so but is this true? It seems that Balaam was using time and using God to further his own interests. In fact Balaam even says that Jehovah is his God (verse 18). Yet if this was true why then invite the delegation from Balak to spend the night? Balaam did this under the guise that he would inquire of God for further instructions as if God would change His mind and allow him to go and curse Israel. Really? What more did Balaam need? If Jehovah was his God then why not just do what God demanded of him? Did Balaam expect God to reverse His will towards Israel, if so what profit would there be to continue to negotiate with Balak and this is what Balaam was doing by inviting the delegation from Balak into his home. Did not Balaam have a clear "NO?" Yes!
Now God allows Balaam to go but not to say anything that was not of the will of Jehovah. Was God changing His mind? No! Let us apply this to our lives: God will, if you continue to not do what He has said to do, to do what you really want to do and by His allowing this God then will use your sinning against His will to further His purpose. We do not sin to get God to further His purpose for if we sin we will reap what we sow and yet God will not take that consequence from us and will use it, and you will not get any benefit from it, to do His good pleasure. Balaam knew the will of God and yet he was not willing to do it. God has His permissive will but God's permissive will is not His eternal will and this permissive will allows you to be a human: God does not take your humanity away just because you believe in Him. Divine punishment is often delayed so that sin would be fully developed so that the wickedness of sin can be clearly seen.
The "real" Balaam is now manifesting itself by Balaam's continue use of God for his own profit and saying that it was God who he was obeying but he was not for if so then it would only take the one time when God said "NO!" Balaam is now on his way to see Balak and the story of the talking donkey will be the lesson on the next blog. Do you believe that a donkey could talk? Do you believe that this narrative is a true narrative? How can you and I understand this story and know if it is true or not? This will be discussed and we will see how the Doctrine of Balaam is abhorrent to God.
Howbeit thou art just in all
that is brought upon us;
for thou hast done right, but
we have done wickedly:....
Behold, we are servants this day,
and for the land that thou gavest
unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof
and the good thereof, behold, we are
servants in it:
Nehemiah 9:33,36
God's patience is not His permission
Richard L. Crumb
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