Why Was God Mad?

[trashcanman79]

I was reading an online article about the talking donkey in Numbers 22, and, to say nothing of the donkey, I was confused as to why God gets mad in verse 22. The passage in question:

18 But Balaam answered them, "Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God. 19 Now stay here tonight as the others did, and I will find out what else the LORD will tell me."

20 That night God came to Balaam and said, "Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you."
21 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. 22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

God commands Balaam to go with the princes of Moab, but then gets angry when Balaam obeys Him? Am I misunderstanding what I'm reading?

Help?

 

[ContentInHim]

You know, as many times as I've read that passage before I never noticed that. Hmmmm.... Thinking I need to get into my commentaries. Back hopefully in a jif!

 

[trashcanman79]

Whatever you can find on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Rick Otto]

This from Matthew Heny;
Verses 22-35 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]We have here an account of the opposition God gave to Balaam in his journey towards Moab; probably the princes had gone before, or gone some other way, and Balaam had pointed out where he would meet them, or where they should stay for him, for we read nothing of them in this part of our narrative, only that Balaam, like a person of some quality, was attended with his two men-honour enough, one would think, for such a man, he needed not be beholden to Balak for promotion. I. Here is God’s displeasure against Balaam for undertaking this journey: God’s anger was kindled because he went, v. 22. Note, 1. The sin of sinners is not to be thought the less provoking to God because he permits it. We must not think that, because God does not by his providence restrain men from sin, therefore he approves of it, or that it is therefore not hateful to him; he suffers sin, and yet is angry at it. 2. Nothing is more displeasing to God than malicious designs against his people; he that touches them touches the apple of his eye. II. The way God took to let Balaam know his displeasure against him: An angel stood in the way for an adversary. Now God fulfilled his promise to Israel (Ex. 23:22), I will be an enemy to thy enemies. The holy angels are adversaries to sin, and perhaps are employed more than we are aware of in preventing it, particularly in opposing those that have any ill designs against God’s church and people, for whom Michael our prince stands up, Dan. 12:1; 10:21. What a comfort is this to all that wish well to the Israel of God, that he never suffers wicked men to form an attempt against them, without sending his holy angels forth to break the attempt and secure his little ones! When the prophet saw the four horns that scattered Judah, at the same time he saw four carpenters that were to fray those horns, Zec. 1:18, etc. When the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. This angel was an adversary to Balaam, because Balaam counted him his adversary; otherwise those are really our best friends, and we are so to reckon them, that stop our progress in a sinful way.[/FONT]
http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/MatthewHenryComplete/mhc-com.cgi?book=nu&chapter=022

Indeed, why be angry at what you yourself planned?
Take this question all the way: Human Responsibility in the light of Predestination -
Rom9:19: Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
A "natural" question for those who believe in freedom of the will, in opposition to the total sovereignity of an omniscient, omnipotent being.
20: Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21: Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Leaving us only to ask "But why?"
22: What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

 

[ContentInHim]

Nice find, Rick Otto!

trashcanman - I'm Messianic and have not kept up with the Torah readings for the past weeks. So this morning I pulled out my book to look for the Sages notes on this passage and, lo and behold, I had left off at Balaam! God sure has some funny sense of humor, doesn't he?

Anyway, Matthew Henry agrees with the ancient Hebrew Sages - God gave him permission to go but Balaam went soooo eagerly because he thought he could curse the Israelites that God was really angry at him. Apparently my house church discussed Balaam at length because he was a prophet of the one true God but he hated the Israelites and was greedy to boot. Also, what was a prophet of God doing among the pagan nations? There was no answer to that question.

Hope this helps. I can copy the notes that are in my Chumash but they're a couple of pages long in tiny print and I don't think they are available on the Internet to copy and paste.

 

[Epiphoskei]

Balaam never really cooperated with God too well. He was a pagan prophet after all, and probably treated God like all the other spirits he interacted with. Remember, when Israel took the land Balaam is recorded as one of the people they killed.

 

[ContentInHim]

Balaam never really cooperated with God too well. He was a pagan prophet after all, and probably treated God like all the other spirits he interacted with. Remember, when Israel took the land Balaam is recorded as one of the people they killed.

LOL, just read that part of Numbers this morning! That never registered with me before!

 

[HBCountry]

Num 22:19 Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what Jehovah will speak unto me more.
Num 22:20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men are come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.
Num 22:21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
Num 22:22 And God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of Jehovah placed himself in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
ASV


I may be splitting hairs here, but it seems to me that Ballam did not do exactly what God told him.

He was to wait till the princes summoned him, but the way I read it, Balaam jumped the gun and saddled up and left with the princes instead of waiting for them to summon him.

And he did not wait for God's instructions on what to say when he got there.

And that is why God was angry with him.

 

[ContentInHim]

Exactly. (I forgot that my post got eaten up in a CF burp yesterday!)

God was mad because Balaam was really excited to have been given permission to go and couldn't wait to prophesy against the Israelites.

 

[Teekz]

Num 22:19 Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what Jehovah will speak unto me more.
Num 22:20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men are come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.
Num 22:21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
Num 22:22 And God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of Jehovah placed himself in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
ASV


I may be splitting hairs here, but it seems to me that Ballam did not do exactly what God told him.

He was to wait till the princes summoned him, but the way I read it, Balaam jumped the gun and saddled up and left with the princes instead of waiting for them to summon him.

And he did not wait for God's instructions on what to say when he got there.

And that is why God was angry with him.

i agree, i think this might be the very reasosn

 

[greatnut]

Num 22:19 Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what Jehovah will speak unto me more.
Num 22:20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men are come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.
Num 22:21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
Num 22:22 And God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of Jehovah placed himself in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
ASV


I may be splitting hairs here, but it seems to me that Ballam did not do exactly what God told him.

He was to wait till the princes summoned him, but the way I read it, Balaam jumped the gun and saddled up and left with the princes instead of waiting for them to summon him.

And he did not wait for God's instructions on what to say when he got there.

And that is why God was angry with him.

Hi HBCountry and all

As you rightly said " And he did not wait for God's instructions on what to say when he got there. "

Num 22:20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men are come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.

What Balaam was supposed to do, was bless Israel (which he did a couple of times)
What Balaam was not supposed to do was to give Balaak advice on how Israel could curse itself - viz. by intermarrying and adopting the pagan practices of the nations around them.
Thus, Israel was cursed when Balaak followed Balaams advice (which he did not have permission from God to give).
God was mad because he knew even before Balaam left, that Balaam knew how to get Israel to curse itself, i.e. by getting Israel to worship false Gods. The donkey incident was supposed to scare Balaam into shutting up, but Balaam nevertheless disobeyed God.

 

[Rick Otto]

You have the sensibility of a 1st class novelist!
What a grip on narrative!
Superb insight!
Good "depth perception".
I know, I know... you'll say it was just plainly obvious,
but I've been so distracted by the talkin' donkey, that I
didn't catch that detail!
I owe ya!