We know there are spiritual
forces that we cannot see. They are both good and bad. Paul speaks of these
things in his letter to the Ephesians, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places,” (6:12). In this we see the hierarchy of the spiritual world from
princes of kingdoms such as the one of Persia who fought against Gabriel who
had the help of the Prince of Israel, Michael, (Daniel 10) to governors and
viceroys, down to Satan's lowly foot soldiers. We would do very well to
remember these are very real creatures in a very real spiritual battle that we
are sucked into on a daily basis.
Nothing illustrates this better than the story of Balak,
Balaam, and Balaam's donkey in Numbers 22. This is the first in a study.
Balak
(means devastator) was the king of Moab, the nation which sprang from the
incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter. Also the nation from
which came Ruth the mother of Obed, the grandfather of David, and mentioned in
Jesus' lineage.
The
Children of Israel were camped outside the border of Moab filling the horizon
with all the peoples which terrified Balak and made the people of Moab sick
with apprehension. He had a great deal to gain by ministering to God's Chosen
People due to the triumph of the Israelites over the Amorites (vs. 2). News of
their continued military success had preceded them, and we can safely assume
that Moses had sent a herald to inform Balak that God had forbidden the Israelites
to contend against Moab (Deuteronomy 2:9) when he asked permission to traverse
the country. Yet, Balak trembled in fear and sought the help of Balaam, some
400 miles away, to curse the Children of Israel. It is a well known fact that a
person who is prone to a particular type of behavior such as lying will assume
everyone else is prone to the same habit. It is common for those who are bent
on deviltry to presume the devilry of others. Balak must have assumed this was
a ploy to lull Moab into a false sense of security. Balak's fear is voiced in
verse 4: So Moab said to the elders of
Midian, "Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox
licks up the grass of the field." Instead of rejoicing to be freed from the oppression of Sihon,
king of the Amorites, Moab refused to hear the Word of God, and set out to
curse God's children.
Nothing quite riles up the LORD God Almighty more than
touching the apple of his eye which is what Balak did when he summoned Balaam
with the words, “He whom thou curse is cursed and he whom thou bless is
blessed.” Balak clearly believes in powers greater than himself, and believes
in asking the powers for something to be done. Yet, he looks toward a false
power rejecting the true God of his forefather Lot for lesser occultic powers.
(We know this because of the words “diviner's fee”.)
So the princes
of Moab set out to Pethor with a hefty diviner’s fee to seek out a curse upon
God's people. Anyone with half the sense of a wit knows how this endeavor turns
out without reading the end of the story. So goes most of those who do not
believe in the all powerful God, but look to the created beings to worship such
as the demons Chemosh of Moab or Molech of Ammon. Both of these demonic idols
required human sacrifice for their appeasement.
Balaam receives these princes from Moab. Hearing the plea of
Balak, he must have known who the “people coming out of Egypt” were and therefore, if Yahweh were truly his God, then he
would never have entertained the request for a moment much less have taken the
fee, most especially after God Himself spoke to him that they were blessed.
Balaam tells the princes he can't do what they want, so they leave.
Bearing in mind that the 400-mile journey would have taken
the entourage about a month, it would have been two months that the Israelites
would have been camped on the edges of Moab. Would it not have given Balak
enough time to realize Moses and the Israelites were abiding with the command
of God not to contend with the Moabites? How much food and water could more
than one million people consume in two months time? Balak's claim that they
would lick up everything about them like an ox had been proved false. Yet,
Balak sent the princes back again, more honorable princes and more numerous
than before (let's make note that because of Balaam's mention of money they
probably had brought another diviner's fee).
For the sake of money, Balaam spoke as he should have but
his actions spoke volumes from his mercenary heart. Outwardly, he said no
amount of money could make him go against what the Lord had told him to do.
Yet, once again he told them to wait a night while he “consulted” God. How much so today's psychic
fakers do the same thing. They will tell you what you want to hear, feeling you
out, dragging you along, taking your money. How incredibly sad that these
fakers listen carefully to the indrawn breath, start a sentence leaving a blank
for you to fill in, or just stroke your ego with one hand while cleaning out
your wallet with the other. How much the astrologers will try to foretell the
future with educated guesses and with widely general terms so that you can “see” what you want and “read”
events as you please.
Make no mistake, God does use these fakers when it suits His
purpose, (the Bible expressly shows us this by this story) but why would anyone
give hard-earned money to a person when God offers His counsel for free? To me
it is the height of foolhardiness to trust that which God calls an abomination.
Balaam proved his mercenary
intent, but within his heart there was no denial of the honor Balak offered. He
said offer me a house full of gold and silver and I'll withstand it to not go
against what the Lord says. But he spoke no denial of the proffered honor and
glory from the king. Then even though he knew God's final word on the subject,
he implied God just might have more to say on the subject. When God did again
speak to him, he deliberately disobeyed God's command. How often we treat God
this way! How often we hear His command and then deftly turn aside, hoping He
meant something else entirely. How often we listen to the world's siren song,
our minds and bodies thrumming to it, blind to the dangers and succumbing to
the pleasures. Praise God He gave us the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin.
Praise God He cares more for us that He gave His precious Son so we would be
reconciled to Him. Praise God that Jesus looked past the shame to the joy
beyond the cross. Praise God that we have the Holy Spirit to help us make those
same kinds of decisions that Balaam had to make, may we be worthy to bring God
glory through this coming year. Amen
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