BRAGADAYJAH 461
When God asked Balaam about the men he had in his house, “who are
these men?” it is understood of course God was at once disapproving and
reproving Balaam. Balaam knew that God
knew, so that it was not merely a question but a statement, “you must know that
I will not approve of your associating with these men of Balak, so why do you even
bother to keep them overnight; why not send them away in the first place?.”
Still Balak proceeded to tell God by way of a lame excuse, “these
are men of Balak king of Moab and he sent them to me to ask me to curse Israel
for him in order that he may fight against them and be victorious, and be able
to drive them out of his land.
Not surprisingly God told Balaam not to go anywhere with these men
and certainly not to try to curse God’s people whom He had blessed. So Balaam
rose up early in the morning and told the princes of Moab, the messengers of
Balak to return unto their lord; for God had refused to give him permission to
go with them or to curse Israel. So the princes returned unto Balak and told
him of Balaam’s refusal to do as he was bidden.
But Balak would not take no for an answer, he gathered together
men of his who were even closer to him and of a still higher ranking in his
kingdom, and sent them unto Balaam with the promise of even greater riches and greater
honor if only he would return unto him with them.to curse this people who were
in fact a thorn in his side.
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