Ryan: There is a lot of really good poetry that comes forth from the mouth of Balaam during today’s reading. Now Balaam was a pagan diviner, but even so, God used him as a messenger to spread the news about Israel’s favor in the eyes of the Lord. There are so many stanzas we could look at: “How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!” (24:5), and “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should change his mind,” (23:19). But, being a lover of the prophecies, I was drawn to Numbers 24:17, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” When taken in context with the following verses, it’s clearly a reference to King David, who “[slew] his tens of thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7). Unfortunately, both Jews and Christians alike extend the prophecy to include the Messiah; the Christians think the “foreheads of Moab” and Edom and Seir are talking about Satan, so it’s a prophecy about Jesus, and the Jews were/are looking for an earthly king who would destroy their enemies. That’s the problem with prophecies (and oracles): if they are not explicit about their meaning, people will make it mean whatever they want it to mean.
Samantha: When I was little we learned about Balaam’s talking donkey in Bible class. We learned that the donkey saw the angel of the Lord and tried to stop three times, but Balaam was mean and beat the donkey for stopping. When you focus on just the donkey it makes for a nice 10-minute Bible story for children. I mean, really, what child doesn’t like talking animals? It wasn’t until tonight that I learned the context around the story–it isn’t about the donkey at all! In fact, the donkey is only a small part of the story. Balaam was a pagan seer (prophet) who used divination to find and interpret omens from the gods (Archaeological Study Bible, p.277). He read animal entrails like astrologers read the stars–looking for signs that mean something. In this case his assignment was to curse Israel, so he started by sacrificing bulls and rams. It is interesting to note that divination isn’t just about reading slimy animal entrails; there was also dream interpretation. Both Daniel and Joseph interpreted dreams, but the interpretation came straight from God. The same is true in Balaam’s case; God worked through Balaam’s divination by sending his Spirit to give blessings to Israel.
Tags: Prophecy
