Scripture Daily

Context No. 3757 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 22:7-11: in context

7The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand. They came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8He said to them, “Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak to me.” The princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has said to me, 11‘Behold, the people that has come out of Egypt covers the surface of the earth. Now, come curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.’”

The elders of Moab come to the seer Balaam bearing fees for divination, hired by King Balak to curse Israel. Balaam tells them to stay the night while he inquires of the LORD, and God comes to him with a probing question: who are these men with you?

Of course God knows who they are; the question is meant to make Balaam examine his own heart and the errand he is entertaining. There is something searching here. Balaam is being courted with rich rewards to do something against God's people, and rather than refusing outright, he lingers, keeps the door open, and asks again. God's question, who are these men, is the kind of question we should let God ask us when a tempting offer comes: what is this really, and why am I entertaining it? The honest answer would have exposed the whole errand for what it was. When a rewarding but questionable opportunity presents itself, letting God search our motives with an honest question can reveal what we would rather not examine.

When a rewarding but questionable opportunity comes to me, do I let God search my heart with the honest question of what it really is and why I am entertaining it?

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