John Kitto Morning Bible Devotions: May 12

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John Kitto Morning Bible Devotions: May 12

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Balaam

Numbers 22

Somewhere among the highlands of Mesopotamia, upon the Euphrates, eighteen or twenty days distant from the plains of Moab, was a place called Pethor, where abode a diviner named Balaam (more correctly Bileam), whose fame was widely spread through all this region. It had even reached the land of Moab, whose king, Balak resolved, notwithstanding the distance, to secure his services, in laying a curse upon the host of Israel, at whatever cost. He accordingly sent to him ambassadors, with the rich “rewards of divination” in their hands. Arrived upon the banks of the Euphrates, the messengers presented themselves before the soothsayer, and declared their errand, closing with the strong expression of their master’s confidence—“For I know that he whom thou helpest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.” This declaration, in connection with the attending circumstances, clearly shows that Balaam was deemed to possess very peculiar qualifications for the task he was invited to undertake, and for rendering the curse efficient. This is further shown by the fact, that among the herd of soothsayers, he alone is desired, he alone is deemed equal to the occasion. Keeping in mind the points brought under notice yesterday, it may not be difficult to discover the nature of this qualification. It has been seen, that for the purpose of efficient invocation, it was always deemed necessary that the diviner should know the god and his true name, who presided over the destinies of the people upon whom he was required to act. This knowledge of Jehovah, who was regarded as the national God of the Hebrews, Balaam was supposed to possess; and this must, in those days, have been a very rare qualification indeed, and one that constituted his peculiar fitness for the office which the king of Moab now wished to devolve upon him. How he came to be supposed to possess this knowledge it is not difficult to understand. Distant as the region of the Euphrates was, there was much communication between it and the country east of the Jordan and Dead Sea. There are ulterior indications that Balaam was personally known among the Midianites, and had connections among them; and as we learn from the very verse (Num_22:4) preceding that in which Balaam is first mentioned, that the king of Moab had been in communication with the Midianites, it is highly probable that he obtained his information concerning him from them. In the list of Edomitish kings, given in Gen_36:37, there is notice that one Saul of Rehoboth upon the Euphrates became king of Edom. It is likely that, if not recently, yet at some time during the forty years since Israel left Egypt, this remarkable man had been in these parts, where, as we know, the mysterious march of this people had struck all the neighboring nations with astonishment. Such being the case, the wonders of Egypt, of the Red Sea, and of the wilderness, mast have been a frequent and untiring subject of conversation in society, and must often have been discussed in his presence. It is certain, that on such occasions, all that was marvellous in their career was ascribed to the power of their God; and it is probable that Balaam had then, more than once, been heard to speak of their God, as knowing him far better than those with whom he spoke. Or we may reverse the line of indication, and suppose that persons from these realms visiting the place where Balaam abode, had discoursed of these matters, and had heard him so speak. It comes to the same result either way. As his peculiar fitness arose from his intimacy with the affairs of the Hebrews, and his knowledge of their God—the fact of that fitness could only be known through his own declarations, heard in such a way as to become notorious in the land.

Now the question arises, Was this knowledge a reality or a pretence? If we take the narrative in its plain meaning, and that is the meaning in which we think that all historical Scripture should be taken, there can be no doubt that he actually had this knowledge—that he not only held the truth, or much of truth, though he held it in unrighteousness—but that God did in subservience to his own high purposes, actually communicate with him. Any other explanation, however ingenious, is but a continuous and painful distortion of the whole narrative, which revolts the understanding more than do even the strong facts which it tries to mitigate, in deference to the tastes and tendencies of the age. Besides this, the deep attention that Balaam had given (and was doubtless known to have given), to the affairs of the Hebrews, and his acquaintance with their early history, their existing condition, and their future hopes, is shown in the noble prophecy which he was eventually constrained to utter.

How be became possessed of the knowledge he held—and held with so little advantage to his own soul, is a question that looks more difficult than it is. May he not have owed something to such remains of the patriarchal religion as still existed in Mesopotamia when Jacob was there, and which his residence for twenty years in that quarter may have contributed to maintain? But the only supposition, which accounts fully for the knowledge which Balaam possessed of Jehovah, whom he generally mentions by that high and peculiar name, is the one which adds to whatever knowledge he possessed from other sources, that which he owed to the Israelites themselves. The way in which this knowledge might be acquired is clear. There could not but be many reports concerning the Israelites during their forty years’ wandering in the desert. With a mind awake to everything which concerned his profession, he would be naturally attracted by the reports of the deliverance effected by the Lord for this people who had come out of Egypt, and whose parentage could not be unknown to him. He had surely heard of the passage of the Red Sea, of the waters of Meribah, of the miracle of the brazen serpent; and, as in the case of Simon Magus, a new source of celebrity and of emolument seemed to open up before him, most enticing to his besetting sins. He then, we may conceive, adopted Jehovah as his God, and named himself as Jehovah’s prophet. Nor, it may be, was this wholly with views of worldly advantage. It is quite possible, as a learned writer supposes, Note: Dr. Hengstenberg, of whose ingenious and learned disquisition on this subject there is an excellent translation by Mr. J.E. Ryland of Northampton, under the title of History of Balaam and his Prophecies. that there was a mixture of a higher order of sentiments, a sense of the wants of his moral nature, which led him to seek Jehovah, and laid the foundation of his intercourse with Him. This is all the more probable fact, as we feel bound to understand that the Lord did, in the accomplishment of his own great purposes, vouchsafe unto him peculiar manifestations of the Divine character.

According to the view which we take of Balaam’s character, it is not so peculiar as it seems. Separated from the external accidents of time, of country, and position—we may go into the streets, and find a Balaam in every third man we meet. He belonged to that still numerous class who theoretically know God, and who actually do fear him—but the love and fear of whom are not the regulating and governing principles of their minds. They are convinced, but not converted. They can prize and strongly desire the privileges of God’s elect—they long to “die the death of the righteous,” but are unwilling to live their life. They would serve God; but they must serve mammon also: and in the strife between the two contending influences, their lives are made bitter, and their deaths perilous.

Speaking of this man, an able and pious writer Note: Rev. R.P. Buddicom, Christian Exodus, ii. 213. says: “It would be vain to assert, in opposition to the whole course of his history, that he had no acquaintance with the character, the will, and the dealing of Jehovah. It is indeed certain that he was a diviner, and a pretender to those magical arts and incantations so common in his age and country. But, with these abatements, he possessed, from whatever source derived, knowledge of a higher and nobler character which, improved to its legitimate end, would have gifted him with distinction immeasurably transcending every dream of worldly avarice, or all the wealth and power which the king of Moab could bestow. Unreal as his divinations and sorceries were, he had communications from the God of heaven, which might have made him wise unto salvation, and a diffusive blessing to all around him. But, alas! the illumination of the mind is by no means necessarily associated with the conversion of the heart. There are many who know God, yet glorify him not as God by a sanctified use of their attainments to his honor. He only knows God aright whose will and affections are overruled to obey him. ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments.’ He whose knowledge of divine truth is merely theoretical, resembles the ill-assorted image of Nebuchadnezzar, whose head was of fine gold, but his feet, part of iron, and part of clay.”