“A thoroughly conflicted man”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday July 2, 2024
Numbers 22: 21-38 (Forward, p. 65) CEV p. 148
I’m afraid that the prophet Balaam sounds like so many of us. We want to follow the Lord and do only what He says and say only what He gives us to say. But then, other things get in the way, things like remuneration or convenience or our own ideas or agendas.
In Balaam’s case, in today’s story, it was money, lots of it. He was promised great wealth if only he would curse Israel. Being a servant of the Lord, he was loath to do so—but then there was the money! So, what should he do? By rights, he should have turned down the job offer, pure and simple, and he does just that, a couple of times.
But then the lure of money is too much to resist, and he gives in. He agrees to go with his new employer to the place where he is to utter the curse but agrees to go only on the condition that he will speak what God gives him and nothing else. His employer, Balak, the king of Moab, thinks that surely he will succumb when he is put on the spot. But surprisingly, even then, Balaam does not, and blesses Israel instead.
Now it is most informative how Balaam ‘got’ to this point. Initially, he knows fully well that cursing Israel was not God’s will or purpose. But he doesn’t reply right away, stalling for time, hoping perhaps that God will ‘change His mind’. But God tells him point blank not to do it, not to go with the king’s messengers. But Balaam, seduced perhaps by the tempting lure of the money, intentionally delays, procrastinates even further, and finally God tells him to go ahead. It isn’t that God has changed His mind: only that here He is ‘allowing’ the headstrong Balaam to go ‘in his merry way’ and therein reap the consequences. And isn’t that exactly what God does so often with us. Like Balaam, we are thoroughly conflicted, wanting to do God’s will but torn in the opposite direction as well. And in this, God allows us to go our own ways, even if it isn’t good, and yet, even so, does not give up on us. Thanks be to God.
Forward notes: “Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?’” (verse 28)
“In this unusual story, the prophet Balaam is commanded by a king to curse the people of Israel. God warns Balaam not to ‘curse the people, for they are blessed.’ When Balaam eventually travels with the king’s officials, God sets an angel in their path to stop them. Balaam’s donkey sees the angel and stops several times. Balaam, who fails to see the angel, prods the donkey to continue the ill-conceived mission. Finally, God gives the donkey the power of speech so it can tell Balaam straight out that what he is doing is wrong and in opposition to God’s relationship with God’s people.
“I have been fortunate to experience the jaw-dropping beauty of synchronous fireflies, which blink simultaneously like Christmas lights. Logging, gas drilling, and pesticide use threaten these populations. Fireflies face additional threats of habitat loss, light pollution, pesticides, water pollution, and invasive species. I worry that fireflies are telling us something about God, but we are not listening.”
Moving Forward: “What is God saying to you through the natural world? Is something keeping you from listening?”