|
Post by mystic on Aug 6, 2021 3:45:20 GMT -8
God told Balaam to go so I am not understanding why the next events?
God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If these men have come to call for you, arise and go with them, but the word I speak to you-that you shall do." 21In the morning Balaam arose, saddled his she-donkey and went with the Moabite dignitaries. 22God's wrath flared because he was going, and an angel of the Lord stationed himself on the road to thwart him, and he was riding on his she-donkey, and his two servants were with him.
|
|
|
Post by alon on Aug 6, 2021 11:35:33 GMT -8
God told Balaam to go so I am not understanding why the next events? God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If these men have come to call for you, arise and go with them, but the word I speak to you-that you shall do." 21In the morning Balaam arose, saddled his she-donkey and went with the Moabite dignitaries. 22 God's wrath flared because he was going, and an angel of the Lord stationed himself on the road to thwart him, and he was riding on his she-donkey, and his two servants were with him. The peshat reading is that Balaam was trying to find a loophole in the prophecy so that he could curse Israel and profit as a prophet. He possibly had a calling from God, as the Moabites were descended from Lot’s firstborn of his daughters, the product of incest. The term/name “Amaw” means “the people of his kindred.” So they were related, but the line there was seriously perverted.2 Peter 2:15-16 (ESV) Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. He wanted to use God’s gift for personal gain, which brings us to the first of the principles in this story:- obviously do not use your gifts for profit- this was a spiritual battle on many levels— having a gift or calling from God does not make one a good person nor a prophet of the Most High —- the Moabites feared the Hebrews because their God was mighty and was with them—- the Hebrews fell into sin, worshiping other gods and fornicating with the Moabite women— many failed spiritually and the people paid a price and almost lost the blessings altogether-- the only way to win this battle is with Spiritual weapons2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (ESV) For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.- God’s will cannot be changed either by fearful kings, a treacherous people, nor by a wayward prophetBalaak means “waster,” and the name “Balaam” is itself an interesting study. It can (according to Strong’s) mean “not of the people.” I’ll leave you to ponder all the possible ramifications of that meaning. But if you break the word down and take the meanings of each letter you get :בִּ house לְ shepherd, leadership עָ eye, viewpoint, outlook ם power, destructionSo we have the house or family/people whose outlook/inclination leads them to destruction. Even these meanings represent different aspects of spiritual warfare. Another source gives a possible meaning of "a detestable thing before God," which the above desciption would also indicate. There is also a play on the messengers sent by Balaak sent to aid in the destruction of God’s people and the “angel (messenger) of the Lord” sent to stop Balaam so that he could instead bless them. However had Balaam persisted in going forward either on the trail or in cursing the Hebrews the messenger of the Lord was willing, and sword drawn able to kill Balaam. He was willing however to spare the donkey which was both smarter and more obedient, as well as more eloquent. This in itself is a picture of spiritual warfare in that God is able to use the one whose braying is often irritating and seldom instructive to confound the most eloquent among us, even a prophet! But only if we walk in obedience:Psalm 119:105 (ESV)Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
|
|
|
Post by mystic on Aug 7, 2021 3:22:58 GMT -8
I am not sure you've understood my question. Since God had told Balaam to go then how could his anger flare against Balaam? That's like me telling you to do something then get angry when you do it, contradictory isn't it?
|
|
|
Post by alon on Aug 7, 2021 5:36:01 GMT -8
I am not sure you've understood my question. Since God had told Balaam to go then how could his anger flare against Balaam? That's like me telling you to do something then get angry when you do it, contradictory isn't it? Sorry. Working under a sleep deficit all week, so I am not always as clear as I should be. Numbers 22:20-22 (ESV) And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. But God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. Balaam had already been told it was God's will to bless the Hebrews, but the king, Balaak kept offering him wealth and notoriety, so he kept going back to God hoping to find a loophole so he could curse them and collect the reward. God was not commanding Balaam to go; He was more saying "You're going to go anyhow, so go, but tell them what I say." It's like a wife telling her husband "You're going to go, so go! But I better not hear ... !!!" Really, at that point the husband might want to reconsider his plan going forward. Flowers, chocolates, and a chick-flick and a miserable evening spent convincing her you is sorry are probably the much better option. Likewise, just giving in and not trying to outsmart God, as well as a good dose of repentance are much better than chasing wealth you already know you are not allowed to acquire anyhow.
|
|
|
Post by mystic on Aug 8, 2021 2:03:45 GMT -8
Oh I see, makes sense, thanks.
|
|
|
Post by jimmie on Aug 10, 2021 13:41:36 GMT -8
Num 20:20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.
21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
To me the KJV is clearer on this passage. The "if/then" statement makes sense. Earlier Balaam went to the men, after asking the LORD if he could go, and told them he could not go with them (Vs 13). Now God wants the men to come to Balaam to ask him to come with them. Instead Balaam gets up and saddles his ass to go with the men without them approaching him first. Thus Balaam does not follow the word of god in that he should have waited for the me to come to him to ask him to go. So God stands up as an adversary/devil to Balaam.
This is similar to Moses hitting the rock twice when instructed to hit it once, or the un-named prophet eating while in Israel, when he had been instructed not to eat while there, and the priest who tried to stabilize the ark that was being carried on a cart instead of by staves.
|
|