A Double Minded Prophet

 Having agreed to go with Balak’s messengers, Balaam would have been breaking his word to back out, so the angel told him to go along, but not to say anything except what God told him to say.  His coming only reinforced Balak’s idea that he was only concerned about the money he would make, as we see in Numbers 22:36-37.  “And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast.  And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?”The very fact of being an advisor and to the King of Moab would greatly enhance Balaam’s reputation, and Balak’s recommendations would get other engagements.  The advertising would be worth even more than the higher fee he would receive.   

 

Balaam pointed out that in any case, he was there now, and warned that he couldn’t just prophesy what the king wanted but only what God said, in Numbers 22:38.  “And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.”

 

Balaam knew that God had said Israel was not be cursed, but he still hoped to get the reward Balak had offered.  Maybe, if they offered a bunch of sacrifices they could get God to change his mind.  Numbers 22:39-23:3 describes their efforts.  “And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjathhuzoth.  And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.  And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.  And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.  And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.  And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.”

 

God wasn’t interested in all the sacrifices, and he refused the curse Israel despite the efforts to bribe him.  Numbers 23:4-10 describes what Balaam was instructed to tell Balak.  “And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.  And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.  And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

 

And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.  How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?  For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.  Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!”

 

Balak was upset with Balaam’s message, even though he reminded him he could only say what god told him, as Numbers 23,11-12 tells us.  “And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.  And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?”

 

Like a lot of people, Balak regarded God as some kind of corrupt official with no deeply held standards and the prophet as a man with connections to that official.  Surely there was some way of persuading him to do what he wanted.   He tried two more times to Get God to curse Israel, and although Balaam knew the Lord better than Balak, he went along with it because he still wanted the prestige and wealth Balak could give him.   The third time he didn’t even bother to ask God what to say because he knew the message wouldn’t change.  In the process, he told Balak, “He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.  God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.  Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought,” in Numbers 23:21-23.

 

Balak was angry because Balaam blessed Israel instead of cursing them and ordered him to leave, saying that God had kept from getting the rewards he could have had, in Numbers 24:10-11.  “And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.  Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honour.”

 

Later Balak thought about what Balaam had told him about Israel not being cursed because there was no evil in them, and deliberately encouraged the Midianite and Moabite women to commit adultery with the Israelite men in an attempt to turn God against them.  Revelation 2;14 makes it clear it was Balaam’s statements that gave Balak the idea.  As a result, Balaam would be killed along with the kings of Midian who encouraged it. 

 

Jesus used the illustration of a person whose eyes would not focus together, the so called evil eye, talking about people who tried to serve God and other things at the same time, in Matthew 6:22-24.  “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”  James 1:8 warns, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”  Balaam had no intention of going against God, but because his attention was on getting wealth and prestige, he said things he ought not have said.  Unfortunately there are a lot of double minded Christians, who like Balaam, go along with things they know are not right.