Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand. Joshua 24:9-10

He was the original new age prophet long before the term “new age” was ever coined. His name: Balaam; and he lived in the village of Pethor (which is Jordan today) nearly 3400 years ago. But in his day his homeland was in the country of the Moabites.

Balaam earned his living by telling fortunes, and he was good enough that his notoriety spread throughout the land; so when the king of Moab heard that the Israelites were headed his way, his heart was filled with terror. He had learned that his neighbors to the south, the Amorites, had been soundly defeated when the Israelites marched through their land. He was fearful that he was about to lose more than his shirt. Here’s the record: “…So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the River, in his native land. Balak said: ‘A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. 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’” (Numbers 22:4-6).

Question: Was Balak flattering Balaam, feeding his ego about his ability to bless or curse? Probably not. From the beginning of time both God’s power and the power of Satan have been at man’s disposal. It seems that Balaam knew something about both, which is why I describe him as the original new age guru. He wanted the best of both worlds, but neither he nor we today can have it both ways.

Balak sent some of his officials with the customary fee. Balaam said, “Spend the night here, and I’ll see what answer the LORD gives me.” In the night, God spoke to the prophet. He began (as He often does) by asking a question—the answer to which God already knew: “Who are these men with you?” Balaam tried to explain, and God said, “Do not go with them.” That should have settled the issue once and for all.

Balaam sends them home, and the king of Moab sends a more distinguished delegation who sweetens the purse and makes a new offer along with a more desperate plea from King Balak. Again Balaam goes through the motions of telling them He’ll ask God for guidance. And it is then that God says, “Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you” (Numbers 22:20).

If you don’t believe that truth is stranger than fiction, and you also don’t believe in the supernatural, what I’m about to tell you will be hard to believe. But it actually happened. On the way, the Angel of the Lord stood, sword drawn, ready to strike Balaam, when his donkey turned aside. Balaam beat his donkey and tried it again. He tried it again, same problem. The third time the donkey crushed his foot against the wall so Balaam really whopped his donkey. Here’s what Moses wrote: “Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the Angel of the Lord. Balaam’s response was right on target: “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me.”

What followed was a bizarre series of attempted curses on God’s people, but instead they turned into blessings as God revealed His future plans for Israel.

Resource reading: Numbers 22.