Joy in the Messiah

Balak / Destroyer
Numbers 22:2-25:9
HafTorah Portion Micah 5:6-6:8
Brit Chadasha Romans 11:25-32   

     Balak’s name means destroyer or devastator. He thought that by using the prophet Balaam, he could curse the people of God. The curses were meant as a form of evil inclination to bring destruction upon God’s people. 
     On the surface, it might seem that Balaam was obedient to God, cared about God’s people, and was a prophet of God. After all, the famous words, “A star shall go forth from Jacob,” were not spoken by Moses but by Balaam.
      The sages teach that when “God put a word in Balaam’s mouth” (Numbers 23:5) to bless the Israelites, it was like a hook. These words of blessing caused Balaam pain, like a fish getting hooked. The words were God’s, not Balaam’s, and because of his arrogance, he wanted his own words spoken, which led to the four prophecies or oracles. If he were truly of God, he might have stopped after the first prophecy and left Balak, yet he had a desire to curse the Israelites, as we learn from Joshua 24:9-10.
     Numbers 31:16 really shows the evil of Balaam’s character, as it states that he was responsible for encouraging the Moabite women to seduce the Israelite men at Baal-peor. 
         In Pirkei Avot, the disciples of Abraham and the disciples of the wicked Balaam are compared. ‘Whoever exhibits these three traits is a disciple of Abraham our patriarch, and whoever exhibits three other traits is a disciple of the wicked Balaam. The disciples of Abraham our patriarch have a generous eye, a modest spirit, and a humble soul. The disciples of the wicked Balaam have an envious eye, an ambitious spirit, and an arrogant soul.’
     The evil character of Balaam is also confirmed in 2 Peter 2:15, Jude 1:11, (a prophet for hire) and Revelation 2:14.  These passages use Balaam as an example of false teachers who prioritize personal gain over God's word.  In Joshua 13:22 Balaam is described as a soothsayer.  Anyone, even an evil character like Balaam, can follow directions or go through the motions of service to God. However, Balaam failed to understand that spirituality and a relationship with the Creator are not achieved solely through external actions, but through faith and genuine love, not only for God but also for His people. Especially, one must know that those actions are not a means for man to control God. 
      Numbers 22:18-19 also reveals the character of Balaam. Was it necessary to inform the servants of Balaak that he wouldn’t take profit?  Why not just say ‘no, I won’t’? But his reply reveals the truth about his inner desire – riches.  He also allowed the second set of ambassadors to stay the night. There was no reason to enquire of the Lord again, for he knew the word of the Lord, but he hoped in his heart the Lord would change His mind. ‘And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, ‘If the men have come to call you, rise, go with the men but only what I bid you, that shall you do’. Numbers 22:20. 
     Before the first prophecy, Balaam is confronted by the angel through his donkey and in Numbers 22:28-29, his arrogance is revealed again. After he beats the donkey, which was protecting him, the donkey opens his mouth to speak and asks Balaam why he beats him.  Instead of pondering the situation – a donkey speaking? – he immediately blames the animal and accuses the animal of abusing him! ‘Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”  And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”
    Another view of Balaam’s presumptuousness is Numbers 23:1, as in the four prophecies, where Balaam, not God, sets the stage and tone for the offerings.  The instructions, as in other offerings to God throughout Scripture, did not come from God but rather from Balaam himself. Balaam communicated his prophecy through his own faculties, through a self-centered outlook.
          Balaam tried to lay waste to God’s people, but God has blessed His people with His covenants- if we are in covenant. Our disobedience, presumptuousness, and arrogance will keep us from His covenant kindness.
     Many negative spirits can influence people today. The Jezebel spirit, the Absolom spirit, the divisive spirit, the critical spirit, and also the Balaam spirit. The character traits that define the Balak spirit include the premature delivery of a prophecy. When God gives a prophetic word, are we in a rush to release it without first applying the word to our lives? Second, Balaam set up the worship/altars according to him and Balak, both pagan men.  Worship this way might be likened to false holidays, random ways to worship that are out of the order of God; 'for God is a God of order not chaos. These chaotic systems randomly and without order speak in tongues, flashing, flaying, holy laughter, being slain in the spirit, barking, running and even the worship with snakes.
     Scripture is clear about the importance of genuine prophecy; it is also clear in giving us several warnings about false prophets. One example of this comes from 1 John 4:1 –‘Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.’ 
     Not just a few, but many false prophets have gone into the world. We are not to accept every prophecy as from God or receive everyone who carries the self-imposed title of prophet or words of ‘Thus sayith the Lord’. 

 

בָּלָק
Balak / Destroyer
Numbers 22:2-25:9
HafTorah Portion Micah 5:6-6:8
Brit Chadasha Romans 11:25-32

    After this parsha, later in the prophets and Brit Chadash, we read of Balak and Balaam. 
    Joshua 13:22 ‘Balaam also, the son of Beor, the one who practiced divination, was killed with the sword by the people of Israel among the rest of their slain.’
    Joshua 24:9-10, when Joshua came to renew the covenant, gave a summary of Israelite history, singling out this event for attention: “ Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. ¹⁰ But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand.’
     The prophet Micah said; “O My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab counseled,
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from Acacia Grove to Gilgal, that you may know the righteousness of the Lord.” Micah 6:5
      Nehemiah, after the Babylonian exile, had the Torah read to the people, reminding them that an Ammonite or Moabite may not enter “the assembly of the Lord” because “they did not meet the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them. Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.” Nehemiah 13:2.
     The Doctrine of Balaam: Revelation 2:14 ‘But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.’ 
    The Way of Balaam: 2 Peter 2:15-16 ‘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.’
    The Error of Balaam: Jude 1:11 ‘Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion.’
     What is a spring without water? It is a natural well that fails to give forth the waters of Life. Wells, springs, and water are all idioms for the Holy Spirit, wisdom, and the pure bride. The spirit of Balaam brings death rather than life. Mists driven by a storm give us a similar picture. Jude uses equivalent expressions in his warning.
      Cheshbon HaNefesh (Accounting of Our Souls) teaches: “In the path that man wishes to follow, he is led.” The entire chapter of 2 Peter 2 refers to this type of character, especially 2 Peter 2:17 ‘These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.’ And 2 Peter 2:20-22 ‘For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Yeshua HaMashiach, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. ²¹ For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” 
    Peter bases this on Proverbs 26:10-12 ‘The great God who formed everything
Gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages. ¹¹ As a dog returns to his own vomit,
So a fool repeats his folly. ¹² Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.’ The spirit of Balaam is hasty, presumptuous, and greedy whose sole aim is to make a profit. People who are possessed by this spirit have forsaken the right way and gone astray towards the idol of their heart. 
    This spirit is hasty in prophesizing over people, ‘God gave me a word for you…’ This lofts the Balaam spirit into authority because it was given the Word from God, bypassing the receiver altogether. God spoke to him or her rather than to you. They often stop you to pray over you right then and there as to what they think they need to pray for. The person with a Balaam spirit becomes the spiritual authority, or so it thinks. 
    It is written that the greatest force against the Yetzer Hara is awareness. When one has a clear and solid awareness of the truth about the purpose of life and his spiritual state, the soul is strengthened and the Yetzer Hara is weakened.
     What are the paths that our flesh might follow?  3 John 1:11 ‘Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.’ 
     What is the path that we should follow?  
     Psalm 119:105 ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.’
     Proverbs 3:5-6 ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.’
    Psalm 16:11 ‘You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.’