Chapter 22
Balak, who lives in Moab, is in dread that Moab is next on Israel's list. They are in fear of Israel. Israel is camped on the plains of Moab at the time. Balak sends for Balaam, so Balaam will curse them, and maybe give Moab enough advantage to defeat them. Balaam is a highly paid diviner.
The princes of Moab and Midian tell Balaam what they want. That night, God speaks to Balaam and tells him he can't curse Israel. So he sends the princes home.
Has always amazed me, confused me, that God speaks to a man who makes his living by divination. Guess the example should be that God can and does use whomever and whatever he chooses to accomplish his will. Eventually, all Israel ends up blessed by Balaam, not cursed.
They send more and better princes to talk to Balaam. This time, God tells him to go with them, but only to do what God tells him to do. Then it says that God was angry because Balaam went. There was a condition in what God said. The verse is here:
20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you." [Num 22:20 ESV]
If God was angry that Balaam went, Balaam must have somehow gotten cross ways with the "If" in the verse above. Would be worth looking into what "call" means in the original language. Also, the next verses make it clear that Balaam and his two servants are traveling alone. They did not "go with them", they went separate from them. Maybe this is the error....
No, because it says this:
21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. [Num 22:21 ESV] So what was God angry about?
MSB says that the problem was, Balaam had argued with God this second time because he was anxious to go to Balak. Balaam had dollar signs in his eyes about the possibilities for this job. So Balaam went with the men, as God had told him to go, but Balaam was not yet in a submissive frame of mind to adhere to the condition God gave him. Balaam is still plotting as to how he can do Balak's bidding and earn tons of money without getting afoul of God's condition. He is devious and a plotter and very greedy. This attitude is what God is angry about.
In any case, we now get the story of the talking donkey. I note with interest that the donkey is female. That is, the Hebrew noun as used here is a feminine noun.
When the donkey does talk, Balaam just answers back. Then he says if he had a sword, he would just kill this talking donkey. Very odd.
Then we get vs 35:
35 And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you." So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak. [Num 22:35 ESV]
Here, the angel reiterates that Balaam is not going on this journey to enrich himself, but to do as God tells him to do. And he better not be doing anything else.
There was also this explanation of why the Lord was angry:
32 And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. [Num 22:32 ESV]
Once the truth of the donkey's behavior is made clear, and Balaam realizes the consequences of disobeying God, and realizes that were it not for his donkey he would now be dead because of his plotting to circumvent God's words, Balaam finally gets his attitude right. This change to a submissive attitude is reflected in this verse:
34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back." [Num 22:34 ESV]
The angel repeats God's permission for Balaam to go with the men, and also repeats the caveat. And from here on, Balaam intends to follow God's instructions exactly.
Balaam meets Balak. After some preliminaries, Balak takes Balaam up on a high hill where he can see some of the people of Israel.