The Enigma of Balaam
Parshat Balak / Numbers 22:2–25:9
THE READING
It’s not uncommon for me to come away from reading the scriptures with the distinct impression that I don’t comprehend God as well as previously thought. In fact, that seems to be the norm. Still, I get into a rhythm sometimes where I think everything fits neatly into an organized, theological box. A+B=C…always. God thinks this way about this thing or that. If someone does something bad, they will be punished. Prophets aren’t evil…you know, that sort of stuff. I came away from Parshat Balak scratching my head.
Balaam is an enigma. The apparent facts; he is a prophet. He charges fees for handing out blessings and curses. He has some sort of relationship with the God of Israel. He is well known in his country for his services. He has a certain level of understanding of God. He doesn’t know God’s plan for Israel. He knows he has to speak what the Lord tells him. He calls Adonai “the Lord my God”. He had to go through the rest of his life knowing that his donkey might talk back.
My mind wants to put Balaam in a box, tape it up, and label him “False Prophet”. And that’s what he is, to be sure. He is a false prophet who uses his gifts for evil. But its God’s actions in this portion and everything in Balaam’s life leading up to this point that make my brain hurt. I can wrap my head around the idea of a false prophet, sort of, but it’s the fact that Balaam has apparently had some sort of relationship with Adonai for a long time, so much so that he says to Balak’s representatives, essentially, “hold on a sec, I’m going to go ask God what I should do here.” Balaam has an expectation that he has God’s ear. That implies to me that he’s used to this. What?!
THE TAKEAWAY
A lot of this stuff doesn’t make sense to me, but that’s okay. If I fully understood the mind of God and his methods my brain would explode. In scripture, we often come across things that are mysterious, confusing, or just hidden for a time. If we’re honest, some things we read might not even seem right or fair. Scripture is supposed to be challenging, to be humbling. There are those who will read Torah and conclude that God isn’t fair, or that his actions are morally wrong. This thinking comes from a place of pride, putting the creation above the Creator. It says my morality, my understanding, my beliefs are higher than God’s and I won’t humble myself before a God whose theology doesn’t match my own. Instead of changing their understanding to accept God’s position, they either make a new god that doesn’t offend them, or they become a god to themselves, creating their own morality. It’s our responsibility as God’s children to humble ourselves and accept God’s providence; to know that in the end, he knows better than us.
Also, don’t count somebody as worthy or blessed just because they exhibit spiritual gifts. How someone can operate with spiritual gifts and use them for evil is a mystery - to try to understand it would be to understand the methods of sorcerers, which is forbidden knowledge – but Balaam’s life is proof that it can happen. Just because something good comes out of it doesn’t mean that God approves, or that you should follow that person’s council. God used Balaam to bless Israel four times. That doesn’t mean that God was alright with him being there. It’s possible that Balaam may have once been a man who had a good relationship with God, who operated in righteousness, but eventually decided to walk down the path of evil. We don’t know. But we do know that at some point he decided to use his gifts for his own benefit, and not for God. We’re allowed a glimpse at what that decision ultimately turned him into. Here’s a hint; there are actually two talking donkeys in this portion.
J. Burke
