40: Balak
Parsha Balak (Numbers 22:2-25:9)
TLDR:
Balak, the king of Moab, watches as the Israelites smite the Amorites. Alarmed, he sends messengers to seek help from Balaam, a non-Israelite prophet who presumably has a way of communicating with God.
God tells Balaam not to curse the people, and he agrees. But Balak is persistent and asks again! This time, God gives permission to Balaam to go with them, IF he does what God commands.
And then… God gets angry when Balaam leaves (Why? It’s unclear). A “messenger of God” with a drawn sword stands in front of Balaam and his donkey. Because only the donkey can see the messenger, Balaam beats her to get her back on track.
The same thing repeats itself two more times. After the third time, the donkey asks Balaam, “What have I done to deserve these beatings???”
God opens Balaam’s eyes. Balaam sees the messenger, apologizes, and offers to turn back. God tells him to continue IF he only says only what God commands.
Balak and Balaam finally meet! They go to a vantage point overlooking the Israelites. Balaam builds seven alters, and then blesses the Israelites.
Balak is enraged. But he’s persistent! Balaam repeats his actions two more times, blessing instead of cursing the people. Finally, Balaam warns Balak of what’s in store for the Canaanite nations in the future.
As God toys with Balak, the Israelites are busy messing up again. Many Israelite men sleep with Moabite women and worship their gods, Baal-peor in particular.
God tells Moses to impale the perpetrators to stop the raging plague. Before he has the chance, Phinehas, Aaron’s grandson, spears a couple in the act. By then, 24 thousand people had died by plague.
Question:
What doesn’t get repeated in this parsha? We have Balak asking for help from Balaam 2x, Balaam hitting his donkey 3x, and Balaam blessing the people 3x. If you’re falling in and out of sleep in synagogue, you’re almost guaranteed to pick up on the story. But the repetition is more than a narrative device. Somewhat paradoxically, the entire story is about sight, who can see what’s in front of them now and into the future (also consider who the donkey is in the Balaam-Balak relationship). Balaam ends up seeing what God will do to the Canaanites in the following years, despite not seeing the messenger of God right in front of him. What’s the lesson to Balak, Balaam, and the Israelites in this Parsha about foresight?
Relatedly, when have you been blinded by the forest and missed the tree, or seen the tree but missed the forest?