THE ACCOUNT OF BALAAM
A narrative on Numbers 21-25
Readers who have been engaged in trying to understand Scripture in the Old Testament Book of Numbers will know the story of Balaam stretches many people’s credulity. The charming naivete of these stories disguises a brilliance of literary composition and a profundity of theological reflection. The text is at once both very funny and deadly serious.
Balaam is also known from an inscription in the Jordon valley dating from about 700 BC. He did not worship God (Yahweh) but knew of him.
The incident we encounter in these chapters is an example of a person being captivated by God’s Spirit and speaking spontaneously words from God which they have not previously thought. It is the “prophetic gift” seen in action.
The account of Balaam is presented as a story to be read, enjoyed and learned from. It is not presented as a fly-on-the-wall documentary. If we accept that it has a historical basis, four things can be said.
First, animal divination was standard procedure in Mesopotamia, fortune telling by observing animals. So, the donkey’s obtuseness was a natural way in which God could communicate to Balaam in terms he readily understood.
Second, people and animals do develop a relationship which includes an intuitive two-way communication. The Bible pictures a close relationship between humans and the animal kingdom both before the fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:19) and after the new creation (Isaiah 11:6-9). It would be surprising if that is not sometimes foreshadowed now, seeing that other aspects of it are. (The Holy Spirit is a foreshadowing of what will be fulfilled later, in Ephesians 1:14).
Third, most people use the image of “something spoke to me” very loosely. A beautiful sunset, an ugly rubbish tip, a work of art can all “speak” to us. Balaam could be waking up to what God is saying through the donkey’s action: “It was as if he said . . . “
Finally, if God diversified language (Genesis 11:1-9), there is no logical reason (apart from scepticism) as to why he should not do the unusual thing which a literal reading of 22:28 suggests.
The point of the story is that Balaam was as obstinate as the donkey, and that God broke through his pride to achieve his purposes. The story is a commentary on the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).
Podcast ends
22 September, 2023
SNAKE CHARM
– Numbers 21:4–9
THIS unusual form of “healing” is often dismissed as a piece of tribal fetishism. But the snake (which may have been pure copper, more red than bronze, the colour of atonement) was a focus for faith.
To look up at the image (which was beyond reach) was a sacramental act. The worshipper said, in effect, ‘I trust the God I cannot touch to achieve by his chosen means that which I cannot do.’ It provided John with a picture of Jesus’ death on the cross, the effect of which cannot be understood and only accepted by faith (John 3:14f).
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