For additional notes and resources check out Douglas' website.
Hebrew words:
- Bil'am (Balaam in the Greek version) appears 63x in the Bible. The Hebrew Bil'am means "devourer."
- 'Athon (female donkey, as in this account). Chamor is a male donkey, while pere'means wild donkey.
Further study:
- Passages the podcast covered or referred to:
- Numbers 22-24 (many verses); 31:1-8, 16
- Other O.T. books: Deuteronomy 23:4-5; Joshua 13:22, 24:9-10; Nehemiah 13:2; Micah 6:5
- Divination: Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:10,14; 1 Samuel 15:23; Galatians 5:20
- Parallel passages: Joshua 5 (opposed by the angel of the Lord), 1 Kings 18 (the altars and sacrifices)
- In the N.T.: 2 Peter 2:15, Jude 11, Revelation 2:14
- Advanced
- Balaam is the prototype of Judas Iscariot. Explore this notion!
- Two eminent and ancient Jewish writers also comment on Balaam: Josephus and Philo.
- Archaeological inscription discovered (1967): At Deir Alla, Jordan, an Aramaic prophecy by Balaam was found, dated to c.800 BC. For more, click here.
- Helpful commentaries on Numbers:
- Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (for the average reader): volume by Gordon Wenham.
- Word Biblical Commentary (advanced): volume by Philip J. Budd
Some things we learn about God:
- God knows the hearts of all men!
- God sometimes will oppose our path when it is reckless.
- If our hearts are wrong, he may or may not expose us before the end of our lives (or even the end of time).
For kids:
- Read selections from the Balaam cycle (Numbers 22-24) and introduce and assign the main characters:
- Balaam: "I must say only the right thing... you can trust me." (Repeat this, like a mantra.)
- Balak: "Curse your church..." (He bad-mouths the local church, just as Balaam was asked to curse the Israelites.)
- The donkey: Bray like a donkey.
- The angel of the Lord: "Stop, prophet! These are bad people!" -- or something to this effect.
- Act out the story, in a manner age-appropriate for your own family.
- Paraphrase the N.T. verdict (2 Peter 2).
- Do you have any family pets? Ask, "How is ____ better than we are? Does he/she ever show better sense than we do? How?" (E.g. doesn't complain, quickly forgives, learns from his/her mistakes.)