Numbers · chapter 22 of 36
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Numbers 22 introduces Balak, king of Moab, who fears Israel and sends for the diviner Balaam to curse them. God tells Balaam not to go and not to curse the people, but later allows him to go on one condition. On the way, the angel of the Lord opposes him, Balaam's donkey speaks, and he ends up before Balak with orders to say only what God tells him.
With Sihon and Og defeated, Israel camps on the plains of Moab, across from Jericho. Until now Israel's enemies have fought with swords; in Numbers 22 a king tries something different, a spiritual curse. The chapter opens one of the most unusual accounts in the Pentateuch, showing that no one can reverse what God has blessed.
Balak, son of Zippor and king of Moab, sees all that Israel did to the Amorites and is terrified of this numerous people. Moab and the elders of Midian join forces, and Balak sends messengers to Balaam, son of Beor, who lived at Pethor by the river, offering payment to curse Israel. Balaam hosts them, and that night God tells him not to go with them and not to curse the people, because they are blessed. Balaam refuses the invitation.
Balak insists with princes who are more numerous and more honorable, and offers more. Balaam answers that even for a house full of silver and gold he could not go beyond the word of the Lord, but he asks the messengers to wait another night. That night God permits him to go, on condition that he do only what God tells him. Balaam rises, saddles his donkey and leaves with the princes of Moab, though God's anger is kindled because he goes.
The angel of the Lord stands in the road with a drawn sword, and only the donkey sees him. She turns into a field, presses against a wall and crushes Balaam's foot, and finally lies down in a narrow place. Balaam strikes her all three times. The Lord opens the donkey's mouth, and she protests the mistreatment; then he opens Balaam's eyes, and he sees the angel and falls on his face. The angel tells him that the donkey saved his life and that he must speak only what he is told. Balaam admits his sin, offers to turn back, and finally meets Balak, who takes him to Bamoth-baal, from where he sees the edge of the camp.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God tells Balaam plainly not to go with the messengers or curse Israel, because the people are blessed. Before anyone tries, God has already declared the outcome.
The Lord opens the donkey's mouth and she speaks to Balaam. The man who claimed to be a seer did not see the angel; an animal did. The episode exposes the blindness of one who claims to know the spiritual realm.
The Lord opens Balaam's eyes and he sees the angel with the drawn sword, and he bows down. Only God can give true sight, and it humbles him.
The angel lets Balaam continue but commands him to speak only what he is told. That rule will govern the next three chapters: God controls Balaam's words, not Balak.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Because he feared Israel for its numbers and for what it had done to the Amorites. — Numbers 22:2-6
Answer: That he should not go with them or curse the people, because they are blessed. — Numbers 22:12
Answer: That even so he could not go beyond the word of the Lord his God. — Numbers 22:18
Answer: The angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword. — Numbers 22:23
Answer: She spoke to Balaam and protested that he had struck her three times. — Numbers 22:28
Answer: To go on with the men, but to speak only the word God gave him. — Numbers 22:35
Balaam knew what God had said, and still he kept asking, drawn by the pay. The text is serious about that temptation: one can know God's will and still look for a side door. In a small group you can talk about the times we ask God something whose answer we already know, hoping to hear something else.
The chapter also encourages: no curse can undo what God has blessed. Believers can rest in the fact that their security does not depend on how many powers rise against them, but on the faithfulness of the one who blessed them.
Numbers 22 ends with Balaam standing before Balak, ready to speak only what God puts in his mouth. In chapters 23 and 24 come Balaam's four oracles, which instead of cursing bless Israel again and again.
The text does not fully explain it. It is usually understood that Balaam was driven by the reward and that his heart was not aligned with God's command, even though the permission was conditional. The New Testament recalls his way as an example of greed (2 Peter 2:15).
He was the son of Beor and lived at Pethor, by the river. He was known as a diviner, but in this story God speaks to him and uses him to bless Israel. The text does not present him as a prophet of Israel but as a man whom God controls.
The text says plainly that the Lord opened the donkey's mouth. It is an act of God, not a natural ability. The detail humbles Balaam and teaches that God can use whatever he wants to communicate his will.