Was Balaam a true follower of the LORD?

Balaam is a believer and is in heaven now, did he follow God perfectly, no.

As Balaam plainly states I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.

Balaam is most often remembered for the talking donkey incident. He was a prophet hired by a king named Balak to utter a curse on Israel (Num 22–24). God would not let him do this and even made Balaam’s donkey talk back to him to restrain him. Balaam then advised Balak to send women to seduce the Israelite men and draw them into the worship of false gods, thus incurring the judgment of God (Num 25:1-3; 31:16). Balaam’s clever notion was to bring down Israel by an indirect attack on their morals and faith. Balaam is a prototype of corrupt teachers who betray believers into fatal compromise in morals and beliefs.

I love the similarity between this and what God told Micaiah about telling Ahab. (1 Kings 22)

tonychanyt said:

Balaam was an unusual character in the OT. He was a pragmatic pagan polytheist prophet. He was well-known for his prophecies among the pagans. ... A true worshipper of the LORD would not worship idols as Balaam did.

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Can you expound on the source of this information?

KT

tonychanyt said:

He was a pragmatic pagan polytheist prophet. He was a diviner or prophet from Pethor, a city in Mesopotamia (Num 22:5). As a pagan diviner, his spiritual worldview would have been rooted in polytheism and pagan practices.

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You are asserting that he was polytheist. But what basis do you have for this assertion? Is it that he lived in a city that would likely have polytheist beliefs? Abram and his father lived up that way and it would not be correct to describe them as pagan or polytheistic.

Best wishes

Kevin

Hmmm, that is a good point. So we have that Balaam showed Balak how to subvert the relationship between God and the Israelites. I assume this was for financial gain. Joshua 13 mentions that Balaam killed during the Israelite invasion, which leads me to think that he stayed in the area and didn't return to Mesopotamia.

But I still think it is unsubstantiated that he was polytheist.

Best wishes,
Kvin

tonychanyt said:

I don't think so, Numbers 22:


Balaam decided to go. But then:


What did he do? Why was God angry with Balaam?

Balaam was an unusual character in the OT. He was a pragmatic pagan polytheist prophet. He was well-known for his prophecies among the pagans. That's why Balak wanted to hire him. He went with misgivings. He wanted to benefit his pocket if he could. If he cursed Israel, he would make tons of money. If he obeyed God, he made 0. He did recognize and acknowledge the power of the LORD:


The LORD reminded Balaam of the non-negotiable condition for him to see Balak.

At the end of his meeting with Balak, Numbers 24:


If Balaam's story ended here, it would be a happy ending. Such was not the case, only months later in Numbers 31:


Why did the Israelites kill Balaam?


More reasons were given in Deuteronomy 23:


Even more details were given in Revelation 2:


Now, we had the complete picture of Balaam's character.

Was Balaam a true follower of the LORD?

No. A true worshipper of the LORD would not worship idols as Balaam did. Balaam was a pragmatist. When the Lord spoke to him, he listened to the Lord. When some other gods spoke to him, he listened to them. He wasn't faithful exclusively to the Lord. Bottom line: He wanted to benefit his pocket. He would use whatever gods to do it.

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Balaam, a non-Israelite prophet, is a complex figure whose relationship with the LORD is not clear-cut and can be debated from different perspectives. Here are some biblical and theological evidences for both sides of the argument:

Arguments for Balaam as a False Prophet:
1. God's initial anger towards Balaam (Numbers 22-24): When the Israelites camped near his home in Moab, Balak, the king of Moab, sent for him to curse the Israelites. God appeared to Balaam in a dream and spoke against him, telling him not to go with Balak's messengers (Numbers 22:8-13). This incident shows that God was not pleased with Balaam and had initially forbidden him from going to curse the Israelites.
2. God's use of Balaam as a tool rather than a true prophet: The LORD used Balaam to bless the Israelites despite his original intent to curse them (Numbers 23-24). This shows that God was not completely aligned with Balaam's motives and intentions, as He ultimately used him to further His own purposes.
3. Balaam's error in divination (Numbers 31:8): After the Israelites had defeated Midian, Moses sent men to execute those who remained alive. Among them were Balaam's son and grandson. The Bible states that they were slain because of their "women," indicating that they had intermarried with Midianite women, which was forbidden by God (Numbers 25:1-9). Balaam's error in this matter suggests that he may not have been a true follower of the LORD.

Arguments for Balaam as a True Prophet:
1. God speaking through Balaam (Numbers 23-24): Despite his initial intentions to curse the Israelites, God used Balaam's prophetic gifts to bless them instead. The oracles that Balaam spoke are filled with references to God and His attributes, such as "The Rock," "the Mighty One," and "the God of Israel" (Numbers 23:9, 18, 21). This shows that Balaam had a genuine understanding and recognition of the God of Israel.
2. The positive assessment of Balaam by the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 13:5): In this New Testament passage, the author commends the readers to "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'" The author then adds, "Remember those earlier days when, after you had received the light, you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." He then mentions Balaam as an example of someone who "for the sake of profit" had "given way to sin and is dead," suggesting that despite his mistakes, Balaam was still remembered as a prophetic figure.
3. The recognition of Balaam's prophetic role in the New Testament (Revelation 2:14): In the book of Revelation, Jesus speaks to the church in Pergamum and says, "I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality." This passage shows that Balaam's teachings were known in the early Christian community, indicating that he was recognized as a prophetic figure with a significant impact on Israelite history.

In conclusion, while there is evidence to suggest that Balaam was not a true follower of the LORD due to his initial intentions to curse the Israelites and his eventual error in divination, there is also evidence that he was a prophetic figure whose words recognized and spoke of God. Ultimately, the interpretation of Balaam's role in the Bible depends on one's perspective and theological understanding of prophecy and its relationship to God's will.

tonychanyt said:

At that time, people in the Middle East were mostly polytheists. See Did Terah worship the LORD?.

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I agree. So if you say Balaam was PROBABLY polytheistic, I would be OK.

KT