Balaam is one of those instances which meet us in Scripture of persons dwelling among heathens, but possessing a certain knowledge of the one true God. He was endowed with a greater than ordinary knowl- edge of God; he was possessed of high gifts of intel- lect and genius ; he had the intuition of truth, and could see into the life of things- — in short, he was a poet and a prophet. Moreover, he confessed that all these superior advantages were not his own, but de- rived from God, and were his gift. And thus, doubt- less, he had won for himself, among his contemporaries far and wide, a high reputation for wisdom and sanc- tity. It was believed that he whom he blessed was blessed, and he whom lie cursed was cursed. Elated, however, by his fame and his spiritual elevation, he had begun to conceive that these gifts were his own, and that they might be used to the furtherance of his own ends. He could make merchandise of them, and might acquire riches and honor by means of them. A
BALAAM
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BALAAM
custom existed among many nations of antiquity of devoting enemies to destruction before entering upon a war with them. At this time the Israelites were marching forward to the occupation of Palestine; they were now encamped in the plains of Moab, on the east of Jord in liy Jericho. Balak, the king of Moab, bav- in- witnessed the discomfiture of his neighbors, the Amorites, by this people, entered into a league with the Mldianites against them, and despatched messen- gers to Balaam with the rewards of divination in their hands. We see from this, therefore, that Balaam was in the habit of using his wisdom as a trade, and of mingling with it devices of his own by which he im- posed upon others and perhaps partially deceived him- self. When the elders of Moab and Midian told him their message, he seems to have some misgivings as to the lawfulness of their request, for he invited them to tarry the night with him, that he might learn how the Lord would regard it. These misgivings were con- firmed by the express prohibition of God upon his journey. Balaam reported the. answer, and the mes- Bengers of Balak returned. The King of Moab, how- ever, not deterred by this failure, sent a-ain more and more honorable princes to Balaam, with the promise that he should be promoted to very great honor upon complying with his request. The prophet again re- fused, but, notwithstanding, invited the embassy to tarry the night with him, that he might know what the Lord would say unto him farther; and thus, by his importunity, he extorted from God the permission he desired, but was warned at the same time that his ac- tions would be overruled according to the Divine will. Balaam therefore proceeded on his journey with the messengers of Balak. But God's anger was kindled at this manifestation of determined self-will, and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. The words of the Psalmist, " Be ye not like to horse and mule which have no understanding, whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle, other- wise they will not come near unto thee" (Psa. xxxii, 9), had they been familiar to Balaam, would have come home to him with most tremendous force ; for never have they received a more forcible illustration than the comparison of Balaam's conduct to his Maker with his treatment of his ass affords us. The wisdom with which the tractable brute was allowed to " speak with in ins voice," and " forbid" the untractable " madness of the prophet," impalpable and conspicuous. He was taught, moreover, that even she had a spiritual percep- )i on to which he, though a prophet, was a stranger; and when bis eyes were opened to behold the angel of the Lord, "he bowed down his head and fell flat on Ills fiee." It is hardly necessary to suppose, as some do, that the event here referred to happened only in a
" '■!"■ ' vision, though such an opinion might seem
to be supported by the fact that our translators render tie- word hz: in xxiv, ■!, 16, ^falling into a trance," Whereas no other idea than that of simple falling is 1 by it. Tin- Apostle Peter refers "to it as a real historical event: " The dumb ass, speaking with man's voice, forbade the madness of the prophet" (2 Pet. ii, 16). We are not told how these things happened, but that they did happen, and that it pleased God thus to int srfere ,,n behalf of His elect people, and to bring forth from the genius of a self-willed prophet, who thought thai his talents were his own, strains of poetry bearing upon the destiny of the Jewish nation and the Church at large, which are not surpassed throughout the Mosaic records. It is evident that Balaam, al- though acquainted with God, was desirous of throwing an air of mystery round his wisdom, from the instruc- tions lie gave Balak to offer a bullock and a ram on
•i"1 seven all « I verywhere prepared for him; but
he -rem- to have thought also that these sacrifices would be of some avail to change the mind of the Al- mighty, because he pleads the merit of them (xxiii, 4), and after experiencing their impotency to effect such