Numbers 22:4-5a

The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River, in his native land.

From Background Notes [BN] for June 8^th & 9^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Since Moab had no stomach for battle, the king decided to pay a preacher to give a really good sermon against the advancing the Israelite “horde” (see 22:4).

Balaam, the preacher-prophet under contract with Balak, was not a local, but came from Pethor (=Pitru) on the west bank of the Euphrates River, twelve miles south of Carchemish, a site known in ancient Assyrian documents, some significant distance from Moab. The prophet likely had a reputation as a successful seer, using divination to alter events. Paying such a person to put a “curse” on others was common in the ancient world. Using such a person meant believing that there was automatic power in the spoken word. But Balaam turns out to be no ordinary soothsayer. Upon receiving Balak’s delegation with fees in hand, the prophet deferred a decision until he had slept on it — in this case meaning, allowing a word to come to him from the Voice who, it turns out, is none other than Yahweh, the God of Israel!

At this point in the story, readers probably are scratching their heads (I did), wondering what a prophet of Yahweh is doing in Mesopotamia, miles from the banks of the Jordan River. But of course we know that God has His witnesses everywhere, and even Father Abraham met the mysterious Melchizedek, priest of God Most High, when he came back from defeating the kings who kidnapped Lot (see Genesis 14).  [BN, 3]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am