The Significant Name of God (16)
Also non-Israelites knew and used the Name (2)
André H. Roosma
10 June 2020 (NL original: 15 July 2016)
In the Bible we read that, until the Babylonian captivity, all the people
of Israel used the glorious Name of God, יהוה -
YaHUaH 1, just as God Himself wanted it too. In the previous article of this
series, we saw that even foreigners did, such as the Kena‘anite landlady / prostitute Rachab, who honored and simply used
the glorious Name of God in her testimony. And she was not the only person
outside of Israel who knew and used the unsurpassed Name of the God of Isra’el
in her testimony, praise, and the like. Here I want to illustrate the story of
Bil‘am, a prophet,2 a man of great spiritual authority, of whom was said,
“whom he blesses shall be blessed, and whom he curses shall be cursed.”
His testimony about YaHUaH is significant and certainly an example for
us.
1 And the children of
Isra’el set out and camped in the desert plains of Mo’aḇ beyond the Yarden
near Yericho.
2 And Balaq son of Tsipor saw all that Isra’el
had done to the ’Amorites.
3 And Mo’ab was terrified of the people
because they were many, and Mo’ab was filled with dread because of the
children of Isra’el.
4 And Mo’ab said to the elders of Midyan, “Now
this company is going to lick up all that is around us, as an ox licks up the
grass of the field.” Now Balaq son of Tsipor was king of Mo’ab at that time,
5 and he sent messengers to Bil‘am son of Be῾or at Petor, which is
near the river in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying,
“See, a people has come from Egypt. See, they have covered the surface of
the land, and are settling next to me!
6 “And now, please come at once, curse this people
for me, for they are too strong for me. Perhaps I will be able to defeat them
and drive them out of the land, for I know that whoever you bless is blessed,
and whoever you curse is cursed.”
7 And the elders of Mo’ab and the elders of Midyan
left with the fees for divination in their hand, and they came to Bil‘am and
spoke the words of Balaq to him.
8 And he said to them, “Spend the night here, and
I shall bring back word to you, as YaHUaH speaks to me.” So the
officials of Mo’ab stayed with Bil῾am.
9 And God came to Bil῾am and said, “Who are
these men with you?”
10 And Bil‘am said to God, “Balaq, son of Tsipor,
sovereign of Mo’ab, has sent to me, saying,
11 ‘See, a people has come out of Egypt and
cover the surface of the land. Come now, curse them for me. Perhaps then
I will be able to fight against them and drive them away.’ ”
12 And God said to Bil‘am, “Do not go with them.
You do not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
13 And Bil‘am rose in the morning and said to the
officials of Balaq, “Go back to your land, for YaHUaH has refused to
allow me to go with you.”
14 And the officials of Mo’ab arose and went to
Balaq, and said, “Bil‘am refuses to come with us.”
15 Then Balaq again sent officials, more numerous
and more esteemed than the first.
16 And they came to Bil‘am and said to him, “This
is what Balaq son of Tsipor said: ‘Do not be withheld from coming to me,
please,
17 for I esteem you very greatly, and whatever
you say to me, I do. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.’ ”
18 And Bil‘am answered and said to the servants of
Balaq, “Though Balaq were to give me his house filled with silver and gold, I
am unable to go beyond the word of YaHUaH my God, to do less or more.
19 “And now, please, you also stay here tonight,
and let me find out what more YaHUaH says to me.”
20 And God came to Bil‘am at night and said to him,
“Since the men have come to call you, rise and go with them, but only the word
which I speak to you that you do.”
21 And Bil‘am rose in the morning and saddled
his donkey, and went with the officials of Mo’aḇ.
22 But the displeasure of God burned because he
went, and the Mal’akh YaHUaH stationed Himself in the way as an
adversary [lit.: satan] against him.
And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
23 And the donkey saw the Mal’akh YaHUaH
standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned
aside out of the way and went into the field. So Bil‘am beat the donkey to
turn her back onto the way.
24 Then the Mal’akh YaHUaH stood in a
narrow passage between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on
that side.
25 And when the donkey saw the Mal’akh YaHUaH, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Bil‘am’s foot against the
wall, so he beat her again.
26 Then the Mal’akh YaHUaH went further, and
stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn aside, right or left.
27 And when the donkey saw the Mal’akh YaHUaH, she lay down under Bil῾am. So Bil‘am’s displeasure burned, and he beat the
donkey with his staff.
28 Then YaHUaH opened the mouth of the
donkey, and she said to Bil῾am, “What have I done to you, that you have
beaten me these three times?”
29 And Bil‘am said to the donkey, “Because you have
mocked me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for I would have killed you
by now!”
30 And the donkey said to Bil‘am, “Am I not your
donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day?
Was I ever known to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”
31 Then YaHUaH uncovered Bil‘am’s eyes, and
he saw the Mal’akh YaHUaH standing in the way with His drawn sword in
His hand. And he bowed his head and fell on his face.
32 And the Mal’akh YaHUaH said to him, “Why
have you beaten your donkey these three times? See, I have come out to stand
against you, because your way is reckless before Me.
33 “And the donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me
these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, I certainly would have
killed you by now, and let her live.”
34 And Bil‘am said to the Mal’akh YaHUaH,
“I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. And now,
if it is evil in Your eyes, let me turn back.”
35 And the Mal’akh YaHUaH said to Bil῾am,
“Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you speak.”
Bil῾am then went with the officials of Balaq.
Numbers 22: 1-35
Note: ‘the Mal’akh YaHUaH’ is a
special expression in the Bible, often translated as ‘the Angel’ or ‘the
Messenger of the LORD’; many theologians see Him as an OT manifestation of
Yeshu῾a; from the contexts it is clear that ‘the
Mal’akh YaHUaH’ is an appearance of YaHUaH Himself. Here too,
He doesn’t prevent Bil‘am to worship Him, while only YaHUaH deserves
our worship; thus proving His identity as being YaHUaH Himself.
A most peculiar story, isn’t it? First, there is the location. In Numbers
20 and 21, we see that Isra’el asked ’Edom to pass through their territory.
’Edom hadn’t allowed that. The descendants of Isra’el had been discouraged
when they realized that they now had to make a huge detour on foot through
the deserts and steppes east of the land of ’Edom, which is south of Mo’ab.
On the way, God then gives them the victory over the mighty ’Amorites who
fought against them. And then suddenly, when the descendants of Isra’el are
already far to the north, almost at the Yarden river opposite Yericho, the rulers of Mo’ab become frightened ...
They want to get rid of this people ...
They see that they cannot conquer or drive out this people with ordinary
weapons. Spiritual powers play a role here. So someone with great spiritual
authority is invoked: Bil‘am. An extraordinary and unique man. His name means:
not of the people; he was beyond ordinary humans. What he said happened.
And as soon as he opens his mouth, we see how he got that great authority:
he only passed on what he received from God YaHUaH. Not only was the
glorious Name of YaHUaH known to this man, he only spoke what
YaHUaH gave him. An example for us!
What is striking is that the rulers of Mo’ab do not ask questions about
his use of the glorious divine name YaHUaH. Apparently they too are
familiar with this glorious Name!
His first and also his second reaction is very clear. God YaHUaH
has spoken to him at night: he is not to come. And so it does not matter what
important person asks him and what they offer him. Speaking of integrity!
We need more men like that today: men who listen to God YaHUaH and act
only on what He indicates!
What I find striking is the wording in verse 18(very
literally from the Hebrew): “When Balaq would give
me his house full of silver and gold, even then I am not able to go against
the mouth of YaHUaH my God, to do something small or something big.
...” In small and big things, he wanted to, yes, he had to act on what
YaHUaH, his God, had spoken to him personally. To him YaHUaH was
a speaking God, Who guided him in everything he had to do and say. The
whole story also illustrates this.
Perhaps the messengers still spoke firmly to him that he started to doubt,
perhaps there was also division in his own heart. What we read is that he
consults God one more night before sending the new messengers back
empty-handed. God, of course, has not changed his mind – Isra’el should
be blessed and not cursed – but, with some reluctance, He let him go to
Balaq anyway. On the way, however, He unambiguously announces His reluctance
to this entire operation and urges him once again to speak only His words.
It is striking in this part that we see here that ‘the Mal’akh YaHUaH’
can also act as an adversary against us. The Hebrew original uses the
word satan here, which clearly indicates that this is not the personal
name of that specific adversary, as is often thought (Biblically, the adversary is not worthy of being called by a personal
name, he is just an adversary or opponent, and in the New
Testament he is denoted primarily as divider - the one who tries to
bring division between God and us, and between people mutually).
Maintaining our primary connection with YaHUaH and listening to Him
is the most important thing, and not blindly beating asses and other animals,
people or things, if they notice the barring adversary earlier ... However,
in the rest of this story we also see God’s grace to Bil‘am. God removes the
covering from his eyes so that he too perceives the Mal’akh and can listen
to God’s message.
This story leaves nothing to be unclear either. Bil‘am lives and speaks
out of union with the speaking God YaHUaH, Who deserves our obedience,
and he openly testifies of Him, thereby openly honoring the glorious Name
YaHUaH!
It proves difficult to stand and stay at such a height. Sadly, we see that
– according to the prevailing view3 – later the division
in the heart of Bil‘am reappears and he teaches the people of Mo’ab how to
overcome the Isra’elites spiritually by distracting them from complete
devotion to their God YaHUaH and seduce them into compromise with
idols and fornication. However, that does not diminish the very clear testimony
God gave us through Bil‘am, in this passage.
Hallelu YaHUaH !
Notes
| 1 |
The names in the Bible have meaning. That is why I
transliterate them carefully so that they remain recognizable. Especially
the glorious Name of God I represent here as accurately as possible from the
oldest Hebrew original, instead of replacing this grand personal Name of The
Most High by a common word, such as ‘Lord’. For more background information
see:
André H. Roosma, ‘The
wonderful and lovely Name of the God Who was there, Who is there, and Who
will be there’  , extensive Accede! / Hallelu-YaH! study, July 2009.
See also the other articles on the
significant Name of God, on the articles page here. |
| 2 |
The origin of Bil‘am is unclear. It says that Bil‘am
the son of Be‘or came from Petor, which is by the river. The location of Petor is no longer known, but where the river is
spoken about, it is usually about the Euphrates in Mesopotamia. Deut. 23: 4
seems to confirm this, although it is not certain; where translators have
filled in ‘Mesopotamia’, the source-text only refers to the area of two
rivers (where some think of the Euphrates and Tigris, but also the Jordan
and the Jabbok are two rivers). However, given the journeys made to him
from Mo’ab in a short time, we may have serious doubts about that.
Remarkably, in 1967 at excavations at Tell Deir ‘Alla in Jordan,
inscriptions were discovered, dating to the early eighth century BC,
mentioning a prophet Bil‘am. They are written in a local Canaanite dialect.
The title, written in red ink, read: “Text of Bil‘am, son of Be‘or, seer of ’Elohim” (’Elohim is a plural form; the
God of the Bible lets Himself be be called like that, also the term can be
translated as ‘the gods’). According to the inscriptions, this Bil‘am often
had contact with ’Elohim at night. For more details see: Balaam Son of Beor Inscription at Tell Deir
Alla, Succoth: 1406/750 BC. |
| 3 |
I am talking here about the prevailing view, because
the book of Numbers does not immediately trace the fornication of Isra’el
on the advice of Bil‘am, but only afterwards (Num.31:16). According
to some, this is a later, Jewish, interpretation and insertion into the text,
which stemmed in part from the rabbinical Jewish view that a non-Israelite
could not be such a prophet of the God of Isra’el. However, the New Testament
writers follow the view that Bil‘am advised Balaq on the fornication. |
|
