The story of Balaam is instructive - and at the same time it raises many questions. It is clear how and why it entered the Bible: here there is such vivid testimony "from outsiders" that it would have been both impossible and unreasonable to ignore it...
The story of Balaam is instructive - and at the same time it raises many questions. It is clear how and why it entered the Bible: here there is such vivid testimony "from outsiders" that it would have been both impossible and unreasonable to ignore it. Indeed: a man who is asked to curse the people of God ends up blessing them! There is something here for everyone to ponder, whether he is a Yahwist or a pagan. What is especially remarkable is that this is not a Yahwist; it is a pagan prophet who, in all likelihood, had never even heard of YHWH before. How could it happen that God said something, revealed something, to this pagan prophet? How, most important of all, was he able to hear Him?
To us today, inwardly limited by the boundaries of familiar religions, confessions, and denominations, this can appear strange. We have somehow inwardly accepted the idea that everyone has his own faith, and that each receives, as we usually say, according to his faith. In essence, that is so - except that faith is not so simple. For us today, faith is often reduced to symbols, confessions, worldview, dogmatics - in short, again to something confessional. Meanwhile experience, genuine spiritual experience, is not confessional. God is God; He does not belong to any religion, any confession, any denomination.
He speaks as He speaks, and He speaks to whomever He considers necessary. Did God know that Balaam had not truly heard of Him? A strange question: of course He knew. Yet God's knowledge is never reduced to form. What could Balaam have known at all? What does it mean to be a prophet, even a pagan one, a prophet, for example, of Shamash or Adad, of whom there were many in Mesopotamia? To know these gods? To hear them? Who stood behind them if Balaam truly heard their voices? There is still no answer to these questions.
One thing is clear: to hear anything at all, one must know how to listen. One must know how to hear. One must at least minimally be aware of the experience one has. Otherwise one cannot become a prophet, even a pagan one. But if a person knows how to hear the many voices sounding in creation, he will all the more be able to hear the voice of God - if, of course, he wants to and remains spiritually honest with himself. Balaam had enough spiritual sensitivity and spiritual honesty to hear the voice of a God unknown to him - which means he was a real prophet.
22 Balak's fear of Israel, Num 22:1-4.
His message to Balaam, who refuses to come, Num 22:5-14.
On the second message he goes, Num 22:15-21.
He is rebuked by an angel, Num 22:22-35.
His interview with Balak, Num 22:36-41.
22:31 On his face - In token of reverence and submission.