Parashah Balak –
Bamidbar/Numbers 22:2 – 25:9
What had Israel done to the
Amorites? In last week’s parashah we
discovered that other than defending themselves, nothing. Israel had asked permission to pass through
the land of the Amorites (Num. 21:21); not a verbal threat was made. There was not a hint of Israel having a
desire to have their land. Regardless,
Sihon, their king, not only refused passage, but he took military action
against the Israelites, and was soundly defeated. Israel then settled in the Amorite cities.
As is disclosed in Num. 21:26, the
“kingdom” Israel had just conquered, had itself taken this land from the
Moabites many years previously. Israel
now controls the land on the east side of the Jordan from about the northern ½
of the Dead Sea northward to about 1/3 of the distance to the southern tip of
the Sea of Galilee. Moab is to the
immediate south of Israel, sandwiched between Israel and Edom. Bashan, part of Ram maintained control from
the northern boundary of Israel northward for more than 200 miles. Israel “turned and ascended by way of Bashan”
and Og, their king, came out to do battle against them. After defeating the Amorites Israel then went
and encamped on the Plains of Moab, opposite Jericho. Let us note that they had not encroached upon
the present land of the Moabites.
I find it interesting that as we begin
our sojourn in this week’s reading, that the Moabites, children of Lot, were
concerned that their land would be consumed by the sons of Abraham. Lot had long ago chosen this land, and Abram/Abraham
did not dispute it. In fact, the Holy
One had specifically directed Abram to the land that was to be his descendants’
land, and it did not include the land of Lot.
However, it seems like we have seen this wild west situation before, as
in the time of Lot and Abram - the one
wearing the black hat has stated on cue, “This
land is not big enough for the two of us.”
In the book of Joshua we read Rahab’s
words, “… your terror has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the
land faint because of you” (Joshua
2:9b). It seems pretty obvious that the
terror of Israel, in reality, the terror of their G-d, has already been
increasing among the inhabitants of the surrounding lands. Sihon attacked out of fear, and Og did
likewise. Moab is now afraid (22:3); but
instead of attacking right away, they want a curse pronounced on the people so
that they would be more susceptible to defeat.
As we enter the reading we come upon the
name of Balaam, also a descendant of Lot according to the Midrash and Zohar. Representatives of Moab and Midian are sent
to entice Balaam to work his magic, speak his curses, upon the children of
Abraham. As mentioned before, what fight
does Moab have with Israel? Furthermore,
and just as bothersome, why is Midian involved?
Did not Moses live in Midian for some 40 years? Was not his father-in-law a priest of
Midian? Was not Moses’ wife Zipporah a
Midianite?
What I see happening in this portion
reminds me of Peter’s dream and the ensuing events centuries later (Acts 10:1 –
48). The contrasts are worth
considering.
As stated before, Moab is terrified of
the Israelites, and Balak decides to send for Balaam to curse them (Num. 22:3 –
6). Cornelius is a G-d-fearing man who
received a vision from the L-rd instructing him to send to Joppa for
Peter. Peter will then instruct
Cornelius as to his obligations to G-d (Acts 10: 1 – 6).
The Holy One does not alert Balaam ahead
of time of the coming of the messengers from Balak, but upon their arrival He
tells Balaam not to go with them (Num. 22:9 – 12). Peter, on the other hand, falls into a
trance, sees a vision, and during this episode is instructed to go with the
visitors who are approaching. For
emphasis, Peter seemingly has this vision three times.
The morning following the arrival of the
emissaries from Moab, Balaam sort of tells them what he had been told by HaShem
during the night, that he cannot go with them; but he seems to be hedging his
bets, and he therefore leaves the door open for reconsideration. Peter is instructed as to who the men are
that he is to travel with, that he is to go with them without doubting, and
that the L-rd has sent them.
Balak kept sending representatives to
Balaam coercing them to go with them to Balak.
After whatever number of attempts, G-d speaks to Balaam and tells him to
go with the men, but he is to only speak the words the Holy One puts in his
mouth. Balaam must have been pleased at
this turn of events, for the next morning he saddled his donkey and went with
them – no compelling was needed. Peter,
already having been told what he was to do, invited the messengers in for the
night, and the next day departed for their destination, Caesarea.
Several times G-d had told Balaam not to
go to Balak, but He relented due to Balaam’s obstinacy. However, the L-rd’s anger rises up against
Balaam, and He lets him know in no uncertain terms that He is upset with
Balaam. Perhaps if he will not listen to
the L-rd he will listen to his donkey.
Well, the Lord does get his attention through the donkey, but only
temporarily. Balaam will still find a way to work around the work the Lord’s
will. And he will suffer for it. The
directive that Balaam receives from the angel of the Lord is to say only what
the Lord speaks to him. In Acts,
Cornelius was told in his visitation that when peter arrived, he, Peter, would
speak to Cornelius.
As we continue, we find that those in the
case of Balaam and Peter, the ones who called them are anxiously awaiting them
– Balak for Balaam; and Cornelius for Peter.
However, their greetings differed. Balak was upset with Balaam for
having taken so long. On the other hand Cornelius was excited to see Peter and
explained to him all that had happened.
Let us remember that Balaam has heard the
word of the L-rd, and though he does speak what the L-rd has told him to speak, it is obvious
that Balaam still has a hidden agenda for himself. He wishes to endear himself to Balak; it is
obvious that the “lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life” (I John 2:16a) are all-consuming in Balaam’s life. Meanwhile as we look at Peter and Cornelius
Peter perceives that the dream he had was not about food it was about Gentiles
and Jews and understanding that solvation is for the Jew but also for the
Gentile he also proceeds to give the word which God sent under the short of
Israel preaching peace by Jesus Christ, as it says in Acts 10:36.
For the rest of Acts 10 Peter continues
to give the word of the Lord to Cornelius and those who are with him. Peter recognizes that this is a move by the
Holy One, for all men were and are created in the image of G-d. As Peter spoke, the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy
Spirit fell upon those present, and because they had expressed not just belief,
but a commitment to the things of G-d, Peter also recognized that there was no
reason at all why these who were uncircumcised in body, but possessing
circumcised hearts, there was no reason why the should not be mikvaed, and he
commanded them to do so.
Balaam, amazingly, takes until the
beginning of chapter 24, following two previous blessings of the Children of
Israel, before he sees that it is “good in HaShem’s eyes to bless Israel…”. As I read this statement though, I see that
Balaam is still full of self and only moving forward in what is good for
him. I believe that he truly has no
concern for the Children of Israel or for HaShem, for that matter.
As it is related that Balaam gave Balak
the information transmitted in the beginning of chapter 25, that the Israelites
could and would be stymied through sexual immorality, it is obvious that He had
given Balak a piece of information that had not come out of the L-rd’s
mouth. This was no different than Moses
and Aaron speaking words to the people that HaShem did not say, and then
striking the rock twice for water. In
neither case was the L-rd glorified and lifted up. Moses and Aaron paid for this by their deaths
prior to the people entering the Land of Promise. Balak will also pay for it with his life. There is a difference, though; Moses and
Aaron were servants of the Most High G-d.
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