Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

Balaam was a non Israelite prophet that is reknown as a man with an evil (greedy) eye, of a prophet who forsook the way of righteousness, and that loved the wages of unrighteousness. His greatest failing was that of providing Balak cousel to cripple Israel though committing fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols. Revelation 2:14.

Peter also has some very harsh things to say about this man.

In all of Balaam’s moral failings and apostacy, he remains a type of Christ in a number of surprising ways.

In Numbers 22 & 23, we find a prophet of God by the name of Balaam being approached by the king of Moab. It seems the people of Israel were causing Balak, the king of Moab some concerns as they camped in the plains of Moab. That Moabite king needed to take care of those Israelites before they became to powerful. The entire nation was in dread of the Israelites! What could be done?

The Israelites had dominated the Amorites, and the Moabites realized they needed an alternative approach. Enter the prophet Balaam, a non Israeli who was known as a prophet of God, and that Balak hoped he could hire for service.

Three times Balak tempted Balaam to curse the nation of Israel. Three temptations, three refusals. In the final temptation, Balak took Balaam to a high place to look down on Israel and curse them. Each time Balaam blessed them. (sort of)

First temptation

Numbers 22:6 Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
Numbers 22:12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
Numbers 22:13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”

The portion of Scripture I want to draw your attention to is the response Balaam has for Balak. Balaam was not allowed to go anywhere with the servants of Balak, for God directed him to stay back. The message Balaam provided the men of Moab was directly from God.

At this point in the story, Balaam is looking better than average, and has rejected the temptation of the king of Moab. The tempters Balak had sent had the fees of divination in their possession to assist Balaam in making a positive decision, yet he stood strong.

Numbers 22:7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message.

Jesus, as He was tempted by the Adversary to change a rock into food, also rejected a self serving temptation, but note the difference.

Balaam only referred to himself, of God’s refusal to allow him to go with them. Nothing about the reason for not going, or that Israel was blessed unconditionally. Just that he can’t go. Nothing regarding the reason for this denial of service.

Not so with Jesus. His rejection of temptation provided no “out” for the tempter, no opportunity to find a crack to leverage for the next temptation.

Jesus referred to the written Word of God in rebuking the devil. Balaam, on the other hand, provided a message to Balak, the tempter, couched in terms of refusal, as if Balaam wanted to go, but had to stay back. He also provided a somewhat modified message of God from the message he received.

This difference provides insight for our own victory over temptation. Jesus did not mince words about His rejection of the temptation, but referred to the spoken and written Word of God. Balaam, though victorious over the temptation, seemed to be destined to allow some wiggle room.

Thankfully this was not the attitude of our Savior!

---

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible