Joel M Bradshaw

31Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. 32The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. 33The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”–Numbers 22 (emphasis)

1. THERE ARE TWO TENSIONS IN THIS CHAPTER.
2. THE FIRST TENSION IS DOES GOD ALLOW BALAAM THE PROPHET TO BE HIRED BY THE ENEMY KING?
3. IT APPEARS THAT GOD SAYS YES, BECAUSE HE HAS A BIGGER MOVE TO MAKE.
4. AND YET, HE CALLS BALAAM’S PATH “RECKLESS.” THE RARE HEBREW WORD COULD MEAN “PERVERSE” OR “CONTRARY”.
5. THE ANGEL LITERALLY OPPOSES BALAAM IN A LIFE OR DEATH MATTER.
6. THIS SERVES AS A WARNING AGAINST BALAAM AND HIS PERVERSE HEART. DID HE SECRETLY LONG TO BE PAID EVEN IF IT MEANT OPPOSING GOD? BALAAM’S HEART IS THE SECOND TENSION IN THIS CHAPTER.
7. WE SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO OUR OWN MOTIVATIONS. BALAAM SAID THE RIGHT THINGS, BUT HE WAS STILL OPPOSED BY GOD. THE NATURAL PATH OF THE UNREGENERATE HEART IS A RECKLESS ONE.–JMB