Parashat Balak

The Teaching of Balaam

This week's Parashah is an example of how God sees the Israelis in spite of their shortcomings - without iniquity and blameless - not because of what they are doing, but because of the promise He has made to the forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov, that the nation of Israel will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation; a light to the Gentiles. This parallels the view that God has of us, the believers - without iniquity and blameless – sanctified, not because of anything that we are doing, but because of the work of the one who has covered our sins, Yeshua the Messiah.

The previous Parashah ends with the Israelis beginning their wandering in the wilderness and their arrival at the plains of Moab. Balak, the king of Moab, was not very pleased with this situation and hires Balaam to come and curse the Israelis so that they will be weakened in battle. Balaam was the son of Beor, an Edomite, and, according to Joshua 13:22 which records Balaam's death, a sorcerer: “The sons of Israel also killed Balaam the son of Beor, the diviner.” Balak, a heathen himself, believing that the sorcery of Balaam will work to force the hand of God, takes Balaam three times, each time into a different place, to curse Israel. But, instead of cursing, God turns Balaam's words into blessings, as we read:

“And he (Balaam) took up his discourse, and said, "Rise up, Balak, and hear; listen to me, you son of Zippor. God is not a man, that He should lie; nor the son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and shall He not do it? or has He spoken, and shall He not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless; and He has blessed; and I cannot reverse it. He has not seen iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen perverseness in Israel; the Lord his God is with him, and the trumpet blast of a king is among them." And Balak said to Balaam, “Come, I beg you, I will bring you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor that looks toward Jeshimon. And Balaam said to Balak, “Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams.” And Balak did as Balaam had said and offered a bull and a ram on every altar. And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him. And he took up his discourse, and said, “The speech of Balaam, the son of Beor; the speech of a man whose eyes are open; "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel! Like winding brooks, like gardens by the river’s side, as aloes which the Lord has planted, and like cedar trees beside the waters... Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.” Bamidbar (Numbers) 23:18—24:9

Was Israel perfect? Certainly not! We have read in the previous Parashiot how many died in the rebellion of Korach together with leaders of Israel; we have read about the 14,700 who died by the plague in the rebellion against Aharon, and we have read in last week’s Parashah that people were again rebelling against Moshe and God, and, because of it, many died bitten by the fiery serpents. And even after this beautiful blessing, uttered by Balaam, we see that people sinned again and 24,000 perished by another plague, and yet, God “perceived no iniquity in Ya’akov and saw no perversity in Yisrael.” So, is there a contradiction between the words of the blessings and the actual behavior of the Israelis? Not from God’s perspective.

Surely the people of Israel were not perfect and without sin, but instead of cursing them God placed words of blessing in Balaam's mouth. God is outside of our time constraints and instead of seeing the temporary kvetching, He sees the potential good things that the Israelis - as a nation - will bring to the world culminating with the coming of Moshiach. Just as in our time, God does not look at the nation of Israel as it is today where a great number of them are far removed from the teachings of God and follow the teachings of men, but at a time when every Jew will have the Torah inscribed on his or her heart and the King Messiah Yeshua will reign from Jerusalem.

Taking this godly example, our sages have always tried to find the good that exists in another person - even to the worst sinner, because there is good in each and every one of us. The sages were able to look beyond the person's external acts and see into the essence of the soul. As a result, rather than judging their brethren for their shortcomings, they were able to find the good and the positive hidden within that act, a challenge for us all, for we serve a God that requires of us to do good, to do justice and to love kindness. We certainly need to confront sin, but the judgment and the punishment are God's.

Yeshua taught us this by example. He was God in human flesh and yet He did not judge anyone but had compassion for our human condition. One of Matthew’s characterizations of Yeshua is compassion; he uses this word more than any other Brit Chadashah writer. In chapter 12 verse 7 he records the words of Yeshua: "But if you had known what this means, 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent.” Who were the innocent? The poor and the hungry who in order to feed themselves were not complying with the man made religious practices imposed by the rabbis of that time.

Yeshua told His disciples, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) By making Himself equal to the Father, Yeshua reveals what was, and is, in God’s heart: compassion, for He said through the prophet Micah: “O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab planned, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal; that you may know the righteousness of Yehovah. With what shall I come before Yehovah, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with one year old calves? Will Yehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does Yehovah require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:5-8)

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