The Hireling on a Leash
Introduction: The Impotent Fury of Kings
We come now to a scene of pure, unadulterated political frustration. We see a king, a man of supposed power and authority, throwing what amounts to a royal tantrum. Balak, king of Moab, is having a very bad day. He hired the best spiritual mercenary money could buy, a prophet with a real connection to the spiritual world, and he did so for a very simple, straightforward task: curse the Israelites. Make them spiritually radioactive so my armies can sweep them away. It was a simple business transaction. But the whole enterprise has backfired on him spectacularly. Three times he has taken Balaam to a high place overlooking the Hebrew hordes, and three times the hireling prophet has opened his mouth and blessed them. Not just blessed them, but blessed them with rich, potent, glorious poetry.
Balak's reaction is to strike his hands together. This is the ancient equivalent of slamming your fist on the table. It is the gesture of a man who has just discovered that the universe does not run on his currency. His anger burns because his worldview is colliding with a brick wall, and that brick wall is the absolute sovereignty of God. Balak lives in a world of quid pro quo, of bribes and incantations, where the gods are simply cosmic vending machines. You put in the right coin, the right sacrifice, the right curse, and you get your desired result. But Yahweh, the God of Israel, is not on the market. He cannot be bribed, He cannot be manipulated, and He will not be mocked.
This passage is a masterful depiction of the clash between two religions. It is the religion of human control versus the religion of divine sovereignty. It is the rage of the creature against the unassailable decree of the Creator. And in this confrontation, we see not only the foolishness of paganism but also a profound truth about the nature of God's Word. God's Word accomplishes what it is sent to do, and it will even commandeer the tongue of a greedy, corrupt prophet to do it.
The Text
Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have blessed them repeatedly these three times! So now, flee to your place. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, Yahweh has held you back from honor.” And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, ‘Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything to trespass the command of Yahweh, either good or bad, of my own accord. What Yahweh speaks, that I will speak’? So now, behold, I am going to my people; come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the last days.”
(Numbers 24:10-14 LSB)
The Theology of a Tantrum (vv. 10-11)
We begin with the king's hot anger and his skewed theological analysis.
"Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, 'I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have blessed them repeatedly these three times! So now, flee to your place. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, Yahweh has held you back from honor.'" (Numbers 24:10-11)
Balak's anger is the natural reaction of a man who believes himself to be a player, only to find out he is a pawn on a board he doesn't even understand. He claps his hands in contempt and frustration. His charge is simple: "I hired you for a cursing, and you've given me a triple blessing." The deal is off. "Flee to your place." Go home. You're fired.
But notice his explanation. It is a piece of pure, pagan theology. "Yahweh has held you back from honor." In Balak's mind, honor is something he, the king, dispenses. Honor means wealth, position, and royal favor. He sees the situation as a contest between two paymasters: himself, with his promise of great reward, and Yahweh, who apparently pays nothing. From his materialistic, man-centered worldview, Balaam has made a terrible business decision. He has chosen the stingy god over the generous king.
This is precisely how the world thinks. It cannot conceive of a reality where obedience to God is its own reward. It cannot imagine a scenario where faithfulness is more valuable than a house full of silver and gold. The world believes that if you follow God, you will miss out. "Yahweh has held you back from honor." This is the serpent's lie in the garden, whispered again from the mouth of a Moabite king. God is holding out on you. He is keeping you from your full potential, from the honor you deserve. Balak is not just firing a prophet; he is maligning the character of God. He is accusing God of being a cosmic killjoy, a withholder of good things. But Balak's definition of "good things" is the problem. He thinks honor is something you can put in a treasure chest. The Bible teaches that true honor is to know and serve the living God, a reality entirely outside Balak's frame of reference.
The Prophet on a Leash (vv. 12-13)
Balaam's response is not a noble defense of his own integrity, but rather a simple statement of fact. He is a man under constraint.
"And Balaam said to Balak, 'Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything to trespass the command of Yahweh, either good or bad, of my own accord. What Yahweh speaks, that I will speak"?'" (Numbers 24:12-13)
Balaam basically says, "I told you so." He reminds the king of the terms and conditions he laid out from the very beginning. The offer of a palace stuffed with treasure was always irrelevant. Why? Because he could not "trespass the command of Yahweh... of my own accord." The Hebrew is literally "from my own heart." Balaam admits that his own will is not the deciding factor here.
Now, we must not mistake this for piety. The New Testament is abundantly clear that Balaam "loved the wages of unrighteousness" (2 Peter 2:15). His heart was absolutely with Balak. He wanted the money. He was the very definition of a hireling prophet. But he was a hireling on a divine leash. God had commandeered his prophetic gift and was forcing him to speak truth against the desires of his own greedy heart. This is a staggering display of God's sovereignty. God does not just rule over the wills of righteous men; He rules over the wills of wicked men too. He can put a bit in the mouth of a donkey and make it speak, and He can put a bit in the mouth of a corrupt seer and make him prophesy glory.
This is not a vindication of Balaam; it is a vindication of God's power. The word of God is not constrained by the character of the vessel that carries it. God's truth is true even on the lips of a liar. God's blessing is potent even when spoken by a man who wants to curse. Balaam is a living demonstration that no human will, no matter how corrupt or greedy, can ultimately frustrate the declared purpose of God. What Yahweh speaks, that will be spoken.
The Parting Shot (v. 14)
Just as he is being dismissed in disgrace, Balaam has one more thing to say. Balak wants him to leave, but God is not done with him yet.
"So now, behold, I am going to my people; come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the last days." (Genesis 24:14)
Balaam agrees to go. "I am going to my people." But first, a parting gift. "Come, and I will advise you." This is not the kind of advice Balak wants. He hired Balaam to tell him what he could do to Israel. Instead, Balaam is about to tell him what Israel will do to him. This is a complete reversal. The object of the curse has become the agent of judgment.
And notice the timeframe: "in the last days." This phrase does not mean the end of the space-time continuum. In Old Testament prophecy, it refers to the age to come, the era that will be defined by the work of the Messiah. Balaam is about to look down the corridors of time and see the coming of a King. He is about to prophesy the rise of a scepter out of Israel that will crush Moab. This is a prophecy that will find its initial fulfillment in King David, but its ultimate fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, the final insult to Balak is this: not only can he not curse Israel, but he must now sit and listen to a detailed prophecy of how Israel's future King will conquer his own nation. He paid a fortune for a curse and got a front-row seat to the announcement of his own people's demise. This is the folly of fighting God. You not only lose, but you often end up funding the victory parade for the other side.
Conclusion: The Unstoppable King
This entire episode is a microcosm of God's relationship with a rebellious world. The kings of the earth, like Balak, set themselves and take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed (Psalm 2). They use their wealth, their power, and their influence to try and thwart God's purposes. They hire their own prophets, their own intellectuals and media voices, to curse what God has blessed.
And the result is always the same. Their fury is impotent. Their wealth is useless. Their schemes backfire. God holds them in derision. He has set His King on His holy hill of Zion, and no amount of human rebellion can change that. The word of the gospel, like the prophecies of Balaam, will go forth. It cannot be stopped. It cannot be bought. It will accomplish its purpose.
Balak thought Yahweh was holding Balaam back from honor. He was dead wrong. Yahweh was holding Balaam back from a lie in order to declare the honor of His own Son. The prophecy that follows this text, the prophecy of the Star out of Jacob, is about Jesus. He is the King who has come to crush the heads of His enemies and to establish an everlasting kingdom. The rage of Balak is the rage of Herod slaughtering the innocents. It is the rage of the Sanhedrin demanding crucifixion. It is the rage of Caesar demanding worship. And it is all futile.
The man who stands against God is a fool. He strikes his hands together in fury, but he is only striking at the air. For the God who can make a greedy prophet bless is the same God who took the greatest curse, the cross, and turned it into the world's greatest blessing. He is sovereign, His Word is final, and His King is coming. Therefore, the wise man does not hire prophets to curse Him. The wise man bows the knee and confesses that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.