The Man Who Lost Christmas

Numbers 22:1-6, 21-35 and 23:4-12

by Dave Wilkison

December 14, 1997

Yogi Berra was famous for his colorful use of the English language -- lines like "Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical." My favorite Yogi quote is the simple instruction: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

Charles Darwin tried to follow Berra’s advice. On a collecting trip Darwin was holding a rare beetle in his right fist and another rare beetle in his left fist when he caught sight of another rare beetle that he just had to have. He put one of the beetles in his mouth for safe keeping and reached for the third beetle. But the mouth imprisoned beetle squirted acid down Darwin's throat -- and in a fit of coughing he lost all three beetles. It’s amazing what can be produced by natural selection.

Darwin’s story introduces us to a strange and tragic figure from the Old Testament named Balaam. For Balaam was a man who reached for two worlds -- and ended up losing both. His story is a part of the Christmas story because of what God revealed to and through him. His prophecy is one of severeal we are looking at this Advent season. His story is a part of the Christmas story because of later wise men from the east who came to worship and bring gifts to the infant Jesus.

Balaam’s story is certainly the strangest Christmas story. It is also the saddest.

Balaam was a Mesopotamian soothsayer or fortune teller. He had grown up in the traditions of the empires that flourished between the Tigris and Euphrates river -- the Sumerian, Akkadian and Babylonian cultures. In these cultures, an elaborate system of fortune telling had been developed. This included astrology, seeking omens from nature, and finding the future reflected in the liver of a freshly killed sheep.

Our understanding of this non-Hebrew prophet has been enriched in recent years by a remarkable inscription that was unearthed in 1967 in archeological excavations at the Deir 'Alla site in Jordan, not far from the scene of Balaam's activities recorded in the book of Numbers. The text in question, which was probably composed around 700 B.C. was written in Aramaic on plaster slabs that might have formed part of a sanctuary or cultic monument. From it we learn of the existence, some six hundred years after Balaam's lifetime, of a religious movement that continued to revere Balaam as its great prophet and spiritual mentor. Balaam has a great name.

Numbers 22 tells us how Balaam is requested by Balak, the king of Moab, to come cast an evil curse on the people of Israel. Israel is passing through Balak's country as a part of the exodus from Egypt. Balaam has the reputation of being able to make his blessings and cursings stick, and Balak figures that he is the man for the job.

Balaam is torn in two by Balak's request. He apparently has a high regard for money and will perform just about any act to get it. However, God expressly spoke to Balaam and said: "do not go with the messengers of Balak! You shall not curse the people for they are blessed."

Balaam returns to Balak's messengers and tells them that God has refused him permission to go with them. But King Balak is not a man to be easily put off. Balaam is the best hired curser in the east and Balak wants him on his payroll. He mutters something like: "Every man has a price," and sends his messengers back with a second, more attractive offer.

Balaam knows the answer he has to give and he gives it. But then he takes another look at the size of the fee. He says: "Even if Balak filled up his entire house with silver and gold for me, I couldn't give you a different answer. However, (and this is the crucial however of his life), why don't you spend the night and I'll talk to God to see if he's changed his mind."

Surprisingly enough, God does change his mind -- but for His own purposes, He says to Balaam; "Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word which I shall tell you."

This means that Balaam does not turn out to be the curser Balak bargained for. I have no doubt that after the events recorded in Numbers, the King of Moab lodged a complaint with the Mesopotamian Better Business Bureau and the Soothsayers and Cursers Professional Association. For instead of cursing Israel, Balaam blesses her.

First, Balaam is taken to the high place of the idol of Baal and there, looking down upon a part of the camp of Israel, he asks the question:

"How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?"

"And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?"

"Let me die the death of the upright,

And let my end be like his!"

Balak is naturally upset by Balaam's words and asks, "What have you done to me? I told you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them."

But then Balak has another idea "Maybe a change of perspective will help Balaam see things my way. " So he takes Balaam to the top of Mt. Pisgah and builds seven alters and offers a bull and a ram at each alter. Then after receiving the word of the Lord, Balaam says:

"God is not a man, that he should lie,

nor a son of man, that he should repent;

has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?

Behold, a people rises like a lioness,

and like a lion it lifts itself;

it shall not lie down until it devours the prey,

and drinks, the blood of the slain."

Balak knew very well that he is the prey that the Lion of Judah is going to devour. He turns to Balaam and commands, "do not curse them at all or bless them at all," or "if you can't say something nasty, don't say anything at all!"

But then he decides to give it one more try. He figures he doesn't have anything to loose but some bulls and rams. He takes Balaam to the top of Mt. Peor and builds another seven alters where he sacrifices seven more bulls and seven more rams. Then Balaam begins to speak:

"How fair are your tents, o Jacob,

your dwellings, o Israel!

God brings him out of Egypt,

He is for him like the horns of the wild ox.

Blessed is everyone who blesses you,

and cursed is everyone who curses you."

Balak has finally had enough. He strikes his hands together in anger and says to Balaam: "I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times. Therefore, flee to your place now. I said I would help you greatly, but behold, the Lord has kept you back from honor."

But Balaam isn't done. He turns to Balak and says in effect: "for your trouble, O King, I'm going to give you, free of charge, a prophecy of what will happen." Then, in some of the most beautiful words in the Old Testament, Balaam gives a prophecy of the glory of Israel under David and, more importantly, under the kingship of David's descendent Jesus Christ.

"The oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor,

and the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

the oracle of him who hears the words of God,

and knows the knowledge of the Most High,

I see Him, but not now;

I behold Him, but not near;

A star shall come forth from Jacob,

And a scepter shall rise from Israel,"

Then, the Bible tells us that Balaam "arose and departed and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way.

If we were to stop the story of Balaam at this point, we could remember Balaam as an Old testament saint -- one who had blessed the people of God and who received a vision of Christ about 1,200 years before the first Christmas.

However, there are two sad additions to the story of Balaam which lead us to quite a different conclusion. After Balaam returns to his home, he starts thinking of all of the wealth he has lost. Though he knows that he cannot curse Israel directly, he starts thinking of a way to have the money of king Balak and avoid the curse of God at the same time. It doesn't work.

Balaam returns to Balak with advice which is recorded in Numbers 31:15-16. Rather than fight the nation of Israel, Balaam counsels, "why not subvert them by having the women of Moab go after them and turn them from the worship of God to the worship of the idol Baal of Peor." Sexual excess and fertility cults was an approved style of worship among the pagan peoples surrounding Israel. So Balaam is suggesting a few changes in the way Israel worships. He might even have fooled himself into thinking that God won’t mind. In any case, Balaam knows that sex can be as powerful as money.

For a while, the plan works. Many of the men of Israel are turned from the worship of God and God sends punishment. After the people are restored to the worship of God, they go to war against those who had led them astray -- killing the men and the women who had been instrumental in the seduction of Israel.

And then come some of the most tragic words in the Old Testament. "Balaam the son of Beor they also slew with the sword." Balaam, the man who had received the vision of Christ and who had expressed a deep desire to die the death of the righteous, fell in battle fighting against the people of God. He was almost a saint but he lived too long. He had started the pace well but failed to finish the course. Balaam taught Balak to corrupt the people that he could not conquer. As a result, his name goes down in history as a man who tried to make money by ruining the spiritual life of others.

At first, in speech and in life, this Mesopotamian soothsayer and prophet seems far removed from our generation and the interests of our lives. But the more we study, the more modern he appears. His altars with their smoking victims, the three mountains upon which he stood, his prophet's robes disappear, and Balaam walks our Christmas decorated streets in modern dress as a modern man. For like many modern persons, Balaam was as mixed up as a termite in a yo-yo. What people wear changes but human nature doesn’t change.

As I look at this story, it seems that Balaam had two basic problems which he shares with many people today.

The first of these was his inability to give a final and decisive "No" to temptation. Balaam is told not to go with the messengers of Balak but he asks them to stay around in case God changes his mind. At that point he starts negotiating the price. He just can't say "no" to temptation, shut the door with a decisive answer and get on with his life. He tries to keep all of his options open and ends up being destroyed.

C. S. Lewis points out in his book The Great Divorce: "if we insist on keeping hell we shall not see heaven; if we accept heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of hell." God demands total commitment.

Balaam's second problem is his failure to translate his good religious inclinations into concrete actions. He has a great respect for God and for the purpose He is working out through Israel. But when it comes to the crunch, he goes with the gold and dies on the wrong side of the fighting line. Balaam, like many people today, has strong religious inclinations and a great respect for God. But when it came down to the crunch, these religious inclinations are simply not strong enough to overcome his greed for the world. And so he dies.

Most people, even the worst, desire a better life, from time to time. Even as Michael Corleone kills people he longs for the family to be legitimate. But unless these desires are acted on they are worse than useless. All they do is increase our guilt without changing our condition.

There are those in the world today who have the same problem as Balaam. He is not all that different form us. There are some who, as 2 Peter 2:9 points out "have gone astray by following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the way of unrighteousness."

Others in the Bible have followed a very different road.

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him."

Balaam was the professional ancestor of these seekers. One reason they came to Jesus may well have been what was revealed to them through Balaam some 1200 years before. But these later wise men also learned a lesson from Balaam’s doublemindedness and greed. Rather than looking for riches, they brought them.

Balaam’s tragic end taught them the truth. It is not enough to start the race well. We must finish it. We must give a final and decisive "no" to temptation -- shut the door on the past and get on with living our lives for God. We must translate our religious instincts into concrete actions. It is not enough to have a vague, favorable opinion of God. We are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our minds and with all our strength. This requires action -- not religious words.

Above all we must hold on to the vision God has given us of Christ--and realize that God means the birth of His Son to apply to each of our lives in a very personal and transforming way. It is not enough to know about it. Balaam knew about it. It is not even enough to tells other about it. Balaam did that too. We must follow through on what God shows us so that it makes a difference in the way we live and the priorities we embrace.

How much differently this story would have ended if Balaam had left the side of Balak and had gone and joined himself to the people of God. He knew where the blessing of God was and he knew where the future lay--but he also knew who had the gold. So he lost the vision that God had given him If Balaam ever really embraced the vision, he couldn’t have been bought.