What a tangled web we weave when we’re double-hearted. It happens a lot. We want one thing. We know we should want another thing. It’s like those old commercials where there’s an angel on someone’s shoulder. And a devil on the other shoulder. Both tell us what to do. We’d like to get the angel to tell us that what the devil said is OK.
What a tangled web we weave when we try to deceive God - Part 1 is article #1 in the series: Tangled Web. Click button to view titles for entire series
And in the commercial – that can happen. Like with chocolate milk. Unfortunately, in real life – as in a good versus evil scenario – that’s just not going to happen. Why not? Because those aren’t the real life choices.
For instance, most Christians probably know about Balaam and his donkey. It’s a lesson in listening to God. But how many actually have closely read and understand what’s going on in the whole series of passages surrounding that one event with the donkey?
OK – hang on – read closely – and let’s see what led up to the donkey in the alley episode. And then see that Balaam really didn’t learn anything from it. I pray that we can learn a lot.
This is Old Testament – Is it still relevant?
I had to ask this question for you. Balaam and the donkey are so Old Testament. How can they possibly be relevant today? And yet, they are. Yes, the scene will be different – probably not a donkey in an alley. And no, you’re not likely to have princes or other royalty coming to you asking you to get God to curse someone.
However – we all have those times when we want something. And we want God to bless it. And when we know He’s not going to do it, we try to convince ourselves that we can get what we want anyway. That God won’t notice, or won’t care. We pull out one of those verses we all have for justifying what we’re doing. One like:
Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
Of course, that’s what the verse actually says. There’s a condition attached to it that we ignore. Please see here for other articles that speak to the condition.
So yeah – it’s relevant today. As we go through the events related to Balaam, his donkey and Balak, we’ll compare the Old versus New Covenant differences. We’ll see how the tangled web we weave compares and contrasts with the tangled web Balaam tried to weave. Tried and failed, as will we. That kind of thing is always relevant. Maybe more so than we wish?
What a tangled web we weave – Balak and Balaam
So here’s the background. It’s during the Exodus. God has delivered stunning victories for His rag-tag bunch of chosen people as they travel to the Promised Land. And then …
Balak Summons Balaam
Nu 22:1 Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho.
Nu 22:2 Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, 3 and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.
Nu 22:4 The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.”
So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, 5 sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the River, in his native land.
Here’s a bit of info about Balak and Balaam:
Balaam. Beor’s son, a prophet or soothsayer from northern Mesopotamia who was hired by a Moabite king, Balak, to curse the Israelites who had arrived at the Jordan Valley opposite Jericho after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Israel’s defeat of the Amorites (Nm 21:21–25) had instilled fear in the heart of the Moabite king (Nm 22:3). Because curses and blessings were considered irrevocable (Gn 27:34–38), Balak reasoned that if he could hire a prophet to curse the Israelites in the name of their own God, the Lord, he could easily defeat them in battle and drive them away from his borders. Balak sent messengers to Pethor where Balaam lived. 1Smick, E. B. (1988). Balaam. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 252). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
Balak said:
“A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. 6 Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.”
Nu 22:7 The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination. When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balak had said.
Here’s the first part of our tangled web. Balak wanted Balaam to curse the Israelites. This begs a question, especially at is pertains to exactly what Balak wants versus what Balaam will (or might) do. Notice that above, the author wrote: Balak reasoned that if he could hire a prophet. But also notice that the text says they’re going to pay a divination fee. So the question is this: Is there a difference between divination and prophecy? The answer: it depends.
Here’s how the root for the Hebrew word we read as divination is defined:
7080 קָסַם [qacam /kaw·sam/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 2044; GK 7876; 20 occurrences; AV translates as “divine” seven times, “diviners” seven times, “use” three times, “divination” once, “prudent” once, and “soothsayer” once. 1 (Qal) to practice divination, divine. 1A of diviners of the nations, Balaam. 1B of false prophets of Israel. 1C prohibited. 2Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
Balaam is even specifically mentioned as an example of a false prophet. But let’s look at the rest of what’s going on and see how we view Balaam – how Balak views Balaam – and while we’re at it, how we view ourselves. After all, the point of this is to bring it into today, when we weave our own webs to deceive not only others but ourselves. And, oh yeah – when we try to deceive God with our tangled webs of deceit.
It takes time to spin a tangled web
This next verse appears to be quite innocent. But is it?
Nu 22:8 “Spend the night here,” Balaam said to them, “and I will bring you back the answer the LORD gives me.” So the Moabite princes stayed with him.
No, it’s not innocent at all. At this point, there’s nothing in the actual text to point this out. But with a bit of background in the Hebrew culture, it becomes obvious that something’s wrong. How do we know this? Because Balaam should have sent the elders packing. Sent them back home immediately. There wasn’t any need to wait the night and see if the Lord had an answer for Balaam.
Is waiting overnight innocent – point 1
If Balaam was a true prophet of God, he would know about a passage that’s titled “Detestable Practices” in the 1984 NIV. The 2010 version renamed it to “Occult Practices“. Uh oh. Here’s the passage, from the 1984 NIV.
Detestable Practices
Dt 18:9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.
Sure enough – there’s divination right in the list. And in case you’re wondering, which you should be, it’s the same Hebrew word in both cases. If Balaam really was a prophet from God, shouldn’t he know this? Maybe he knew and did it anyway. Or maybe he really didn’t know. Either way, it’s certainly cause for suspicion about why Balaam asks the elders to wait a night to see if the Lord answers him.
Is waiting overnight innocent – point 2
If Balaam really was a prophet from God, he certainly was aware that The Israelites were God’s chosen people. There’s no way a prophet of God would ever ask God to give Him the OK to curse God’s chosen people. Something’s going on here that doesn’t meet the eye.
On both counts, Balaam should have told the elders to go back to Balak and that he’s never going to do what they asked of him.
When we weave a tangled web – God sees it being built
Nu 22:9 God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”
If Balaam was a real prophet from God – he knew this question was coming. Therefore he should also have a good answer ready. Don’t you think?
God sees the web even before we do
Apparently Balaam didn’t have a ready answer, because we read this exchange between him and God.
Nu 22:9 God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”
Nu 22:10 Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message: 11 ‘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.’ ”
Not an excuse. An honest answer? Or is there still something hidden? Sometimes the best hiding place is in plain sight.
Better late than never?
Nu 22:12 But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed.”
Nu 22:13 The next morning Balaam got up and said to Balak’s princes, “Go back to your own country, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”
Nu 22:14 So the Moabite princes returned to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
Again, this all sounds good. But remember, we’ve got two things going on here. Balaam said no, with his mouth. But is he also saying no with his heart?
And the other thing, will Balak take no for an answer and just give up? Or does he know about Balaam and his greed, and will he try again?
Balak tries to get Balaam to keep spinning his web
Nu 22:15 Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first. 16 They came to Balaam and said:
“This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Do not let anything keep you from coming to me, 17 because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me.”
Looks like we have the answer to the previous question. Balak does send more people, more important people, and pretty much a blank check. Balak knows enough about Balaam to expect this to work – and it did.
What about us? What kind of reputation do we have? Is it of a person who will stand up for what’s right? That will stand with God, no matter what? Or is our reputation like Balaam’s, where a high enough price can buy our loyalty and our allegiance to God?
Balaam sounds good, again. But is he really continuing to weave his tangled web?
Nu 22:18 But Balaam answered them, “Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God. 19 Now stay here tonight as the others did, and I will find out what else the LORD will tell me.”
It looks like more web spinning. Balaam already knows how he should answer this request. Even if he truly didn’t know the first time – he most certainly does now. But he still gives the same answer as the last time. He tells them to wait overnight.
As much as I can sit here and write this, I also know full well that I’ve done the same things. Different scenarios. But the same issues going on in the heart and the mind. It appears so obvious when we observe someone else.
But it’s not obvious at all when we have to take a look at ourselves. We put on our blinders, so we can only see the things we want to see. And we’ve got our rose-colored glasses, so the little bit we do look at looks great. Then we convince ourselves that everything’s OK.
This time, maybe no one will notice. Or else we’ll get a different answer. Somehow, it’s going to work out. Someone said that repeating the same thing over and over and expecting a different result was the definition of insanity. DO we think something like: “Ridiculous! They just didn’t try often enough!”
Just like Balaam, we’ll keep trying too. It’s only through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit that we can learn to stop trying. Most of the time, anyway.
Did Balaam really give up this time?
Nu 22:18 But Balaam answered them, “Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.
Did Balaam just price himself out of a job? A palace filled with silver and gold? Apparently he doesn’t think so:
19 Now stay here tonight as the others did, and I will find out what else the LORD will tell me.”
Did Balaam’s new tangled web actually work?
Nu 22:20 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.”
Did Balaam just get what he’s hoping for? It seems like he’s getting a different answer from the Lord!
This is a switch. God tells Balaam he should go with this group of elders.
What do you think is going through Balaam’s mind now? If you were in his place, what would be going through your mind?
Maybe – I’m sure glad I upped the ante from a basic divination fee to a palace full of gold and silver? How about – I should’ve said a palace full of gold? Or – greed is good! But what about – What am I getting myself into? I know I should have told them to just leave, but now I’m getting in really deep.
At this point, every Christian should be asking some other questions too. Not things like: Did God say go along with them because he wants me to be rewarded? Maybe the first time wasn’t enough of a reward, but now it’s really worth it? Is this the so-called prosperity gospel showing up in the Old Testament?
But we should know better than to ask those questions. Something along the lines of – “God’s testing me” – is where we should go. Then, we should be praying that God will give us the strength to come out of this really doing His will.
Conclusion – What a tangled web we weave when we try to deceive God – Part 1
This is a chance to destroy the tangled web we’re weaving.
But will we take it?
Or will we weave more webs?
Part 2 is coming. I’ll put a link here when it’s available. Or, you can subscribe to the site using the link towards the top right of the page.
Image by marcelkessler from Pixabay
Footnotes
- 1Smick, E. B. (1988). Balaam. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 252). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
- 2Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.