The Israelites, Balaam, and me- Pt2

(This is a continuation of the blog entry "The Israelites, Balaam, and me- Pt1. You should read that one first if you hope to understand this one.)

For the past 2-3 years, I've been doing devotionals by just read through the bible fro start to finish. It's a great way to do devotionals for me because I don't lose my place as easily as I would in a devotional guide, and I don't have to worry about misplacing my guide or getting off schedule. While I was reading, I came across a certain passage from the book of Numbers. It is the kind of story that brings up a lot of questions and accusations in my mind about God's character(see Pt1 ). It reminds me of another passage that has puzzled me, the story of the prophet Balaam. For him, God provided direction instead of food. He, like the Israelites, was dissatisfied with what God provided initially.

See, prominent delegates from a nearby kingdom came to him with gifts and a message from the king:

"A people that has come out of Egypt covers the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps then, I will be able to fight them and drive them away. But God said to Balaam, 'Do not go with them..."(Numbers 22:11-12)


After Balaam refused them they went away for a while, but the king sent a larger contingent of higher level dignitaries back with a better offer. This was obviously very important to his majesty. The king thought enough of Balaam's abilities that he promised that Balaam would be rewarded with honor, wealth, and whatever else he asked for. In essence, he told him he would do whatever it took to get Balaam to render his services. In light of the new offer, Balaam went back to God to see if God would allow him to go:

"That night God came to Balaam and said, 'Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you' "(v. 20)

We see that God told him to go. Yet, two verses later, it seems that God just goes off on the guy:

"Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him." (v. 21-22)

The word "oppose" in this context apparently means to kill, end the life of, execute, or relieve from breathing. I know this because the angel says so:

"And the angel of the Lord said to him, ...Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was contrary to me...I would surely ave killed you just now..."(v32-33)

Again, this passage has often caused me to wonder, "What the @&#?!" Balaam prayed, heard from God, and obeyed. Then, God gets enraged and orders a hit on him. How am I going to trust a God who abuses people when they obey him?