Day 46: Numbers 22, 23 and 24

What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"

 
Balaam: "You have made a fool of me!" (Numbers 22:28,29)

I love this story. We have the Israelites camping on the Plains of Moab (north end of the Dead Sea – east side of the Jordan opposite Jericho), which is where they will stay until Joshua leads them across the river. While they are camped there, Balak king of Moab sees their large numbers (read this: strategic threat) and decides on a preemptive strike, enlisting the help of an internationally renowned diviner named Balaam.

When Balaam gives in to Balak's demands, he protests that he cannot do anything counter to what God tells him. However, that doesn’t mean Balaam served Yahweh God of the Israelites. To Balaam, Yahweh was just another tribal god who could be manipulated by magic arts.

Even though Balaam was warned not to curse the people of Israel, he still didn't take seriously the power of Yahweh. The image of his donkey reading him the riot act always makes me smile. Say it with me: Wil – il – il – bur – ur – ur!  I think the conversation should have gone more like this.

Donkey: "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"

Balaam: "You made me look like a fool!"

Donkey: "You look like a fool all right, but I didn't make you look that way!"

Have you, like Balaam, ever misunderestimated God?