Numbers 22:1

Many have wondered where Moses received all of the remarkable details in these chapters about Balaam and his "cursing" of Israel, but there is no need whatever to suppose that Joshua, or some later writer, "added" the account here. The detailed records of Balaam's unhappy excursion were probably in the archives of Moab, and when Israel completely defeated them, their archives, or library, naturally fell into the hands of the victors. In exactly the same manner, historians today find many items of interest concerning the fall of Adolph Hitler's Third Reich. They were taken from that defeated nation in World War II. We reject as untruthful and undependable the speculations that deny either the date or the origin of these materials contained in the Fourth Book of Moses.

W. F. Albright, a celebrated Bible scholar, published an article in 1944 from which the following declarations are quoted:

"The Greek text (of these chapters) differs repeatedly from the Masoretic tradition in its use of divine names, and no attempt to distribute the prose matter between J and E has succeeded without a suspiciously large amount of emendation ... There is nothing in the matter of the poems that requires a date in the tenth century (B.C.) or later. The Baluah Stele (from the twelfth century B.C.) proves that there was already a well-organized monarchy in Moab. The name Balaam is characteristic of the second millennium, and has survived in at least two place names, one of which goes back to the fifteenth century B.C., and there is no reason why they may not be authentic."[1]

With regard to the critical efforts to divide the material between J and E, it should be noted that there are not merely two names for God in this account, there are at least FIVE. Not only that, there are two other names of God with suffixes, making SEVEN in all! How do they get around that? Well, as Gray said, "The last three names (actually five) may be dismissed from consideration"![2] Indeed! That simply ignores five names that contradict their theories, and arbitrarily allocates the whole passage to the two names of their choice. This is only one of hundreds of examples where such unfair, unscientific, and arbitrary devices are utilized by critics who were purposely blind to the mountains of evidence against them.

BALAAM

Since Balaam is the principal actor in these chapters, we shall take a little closer look at this Biblical character. That he was indeed a historical person is attested by the place-names which memorialize him, dating from the mid-second millenium B.C. But actually, who was he? Was he a true prophet of God who went wrong, or was he a mere charlatan soothsayer whom God used as a special vehicle of the prophecies he uttered? There is no conclusive evidence either way.

His name, Balaam, means "devourer, destroyer, or devourer of the people."[3] In 2 Peter 2:15,16, Balaam was referred to as having "forsaken the right way," indicating that certainly, at one time, he was in the right way. Also, it is clearly declared in the narrative before us that "the Spirit of God" enabled him to deliver valid prophecies. Thus, there was surely a period of his life when he walked in the truth, even praying that his "latter end" be like that of the faithful. Peter also called Balaam a prophet (2 Peter 2:16).

However, upon the occasion of Balaam's death, when he was slain along with the enemy opposing Israel, Joshua referred to him as "the soothsayer" (Numbers 13:22), a description that fits both the beginning and the final period of Balaam's life. Soothsayers were proscribed under the law of Moses, and the practice of that art was utterly forbidden to Israel.

Despite God's use of this prophet in the matter of frustrating the desires of Balak, however, this favor of God was insufficient to keep Balaam in the right way. The reason for this stated in the N.T. is that "he loved the wages of the unrighteousnesss." Balaam evidently thought to make amends for his failure to give satisfaction to Balak, and this he did by advising Balak to accomplish the destruction of Israel by seducing them to commit adultery with the daughters of Moab. The manner in which this seduction was carried out is reported in Numbers 25. Balaam also joined forces with the Moabites against Israel and died in the battle that resulted in their defeat. The account of this evil counsel which originated with Balaam is in Numbers 31:16. That this was one of Balaam's greatest sins is evident in the fact that in the message of the Holy Spirit to the church at Pergamum (Revelation 2:14), one finds this:

"But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there some that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication."

Thus, the total picture of Balaam reveals a man who by disposition and desire was a pagan, but who nevertheless had a knowledge of the true God of Israel, perhaps handed down to him from his remote ancestors of primal times. His name suggests a descent from that Beor who was the father of Bela, first king of the Edomites (Genesis 36:32). Edom (Esau) was of course a brother of Jacob, the son of Isaac, and from that source, certainly some knowledge of the true God still remained among all the connections of the family. There also appears in the prophetic utterances of Balaam, during that period, a strong desire of Balaam to follow the Word of God, but, like Demas of the N.T., the allurement of riches and his unholy desire to compensate Balak for the performance of a task that he could not accomplish resulted, at last, in his total departure from the truth. Alas, this also has been the record of many a Christian in our own times.

"And the children of Israel journeyed, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho." This verse actually concluded the preceding chapter, placing Israel during the times of the episode about to be related as poised upon the banks of the Jordan before beginning the assault on Canaan at Jericho. The incident centering around Balaam was one of the very greatest importance to Israel, for it was at Baal-Peor that they formally rejected God and "joined themselves to Baal," a decision that would finally result in the destruction of both Israel and of Judah, following the turbulent days of the monarchy.