The people blessed by God are about to receive a curse from a foreign agent. If the decisions of other gods could be manipulated by practices such as divination, then maybe God’s plan for the Israelites could, likewise, be changed. God’s promises were able to withstand insurrection (Numbers 16), foreign armies (Numbers 21), and, of course, sin (e.g., Numbers 11), only to now be threatened by revocation at the hand of the supernatural arts.

The story of Balaam (Num. 22–24) is a curious aside in the Pentateuch—and not just because it includes a talking donkey.

Exodus through Deuteronomy tells the story of the Israelites, who follow Moses out of Egypt, through the wilderness of Sinai, and to the promised land. These books recount how God established his covenant with his people (Ex. 20; 24), the internal and external troubles they faced (e.g., Ex. 32), laws they were to follow (e.g., Ex. 20–23:19; Lev. 19), and even how they arranged their camp (Num. 2).

Strangely, just as the Israelites arrive at their long-awaited destination, poised to enter and inherit the land (22:1), the camera pans away from their encampment. As a result, our protagonists are glaringly absent from the longest continuous story in the book of Numbers. To understand the importance of this cliff-hanger—and, thus, the passage’s intent—it’s essential to consider its literary and historical context.

Ancient Promises and Mantic Arts

Recall first the assurances God made to Abraham, ancestor of the Israelites. Despite the patriarch being old and having no heir, God promises him his offspring will be a multitude, like the stars of heaven and the sand on the seashore (Gen. 15:5; 22:17). They’ll also inherit a land of promise after having spent time in servitude (15:7–16), and they’ll be a blessing to all the families of the earth (12:3). Numbers 22–24 references each of these promises. The narrative immediately notes that the Israelites have indeed grown numerous, have come out of Egypt, and are encamped opposite Jericho—about to enter and receive the promised land (22:1–5). This is a significant moment in the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham and his descendants.

Balaam is labeled a diviner (Josh. 13:22) or one who seeks omens (Num. 22:7; 23:23; 24:1), so it helps to know a little about ancient systems of divination. Ancient Near Eastern deities weren’t sovereign. Their decisions could be nullified by incantations and rituals; divine rulings were often at odds with those of competing deities; and they weren’t omniscient, demonstrated in their practice of divination. This is the cosmology that underlies the words and actions of Balaam and the Moabite King Balak.

Don’t be fooled by Balaam’s reference to the God of Israel as “the LORD my God” (22:18); it doesn’t mark Balaam as one devoted exclusively to the God of Israel, as it was normal for the ancient Near Easterners to refer to any and multiple deities as their own. Diviners appealed to a plethora of gods multiple times and in numerous ways to reach desirous outcomes.

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