N22-1: Is The Story Of Balaam And Balak An Actual Event Or Just A Hebrew Fable?

Today we begin Numbers Chapter 22.

For the Complete Jewish Bible, click here.

For the King James version, click here.

Today we begin one of my most favorite parts of Scripture: the story of Balaam and Balak.

First, a fair warning.

When we get done with our epic study of this story, which actually encompasses three chapters (Numbers 22, 23, and 24), your mind may be so blown, you may never recover from seeing this tale in the same way again.

And your reverence and love for the nation of Israel may just EXPLODE into the stratosphere.

For the most part, what the gentile church primarily gets out of this whole episode is the talking donkey and the conclusion that if God can’t get a man to do His will, He can and will use even a donkey if he has to.

Well, to be honest with you, that half-baked interpretation is THE LEAST of what the Lord is communicating to us through this momentous parable.

Now you may be thinking, did you just use word ‘parable'”?

My answer is YES, I did just use the word “parable“!

This actually leads me to my next point.

Did the story of Balaam and Balak really occur or was it just a Hebrew fairy tale of sorts?

For those of you who are offended that I would even bring up such a question, well calm the hell down for a second.

Recall that Yeshua often communicated deep spiritual truths via “parables” that were meant to shock.

Let’s sit back and ponder for a moment what exactly a “parable” is.

To put it simply, a parable is just a word picture or an illustration used to flesh out a given truth.

And that’s it.

It was a literary device used during Bible times that was common way before Yeshua came on the scene.

Here’s the thing.

These word pictures or illustrations were in many cases NOT about actual events that had occurred.

For instance, when Yeshua spoke of 10 virgins dressed in white carrying their oil lamps at night, do you really think he was referring to an actual event?

Or how about the story of the Prodigal Son who squandered his inheritance on whores and un-kosher food?

Ultimately, I believe these were just stories that Yeshua used to communicate deeper spiritual truths.

And out of the many stories Yeshua spoke, those two (the 10 virgins and the prodigal son) were the easy ones to understand.

Many of the other parables Yeshua spoke were so vague and mind-boggling that even his closest disciples couldn’t understand them.

Much of what Yeshua spoke remains a mystery to this day.

Consider the Book of Revelations?

That’s another book just jam-packed with mind-boggling symbolism and parables.

Here’s what we’ve got to understand AND ACCEPT about parables.

Just because they are not recounting an actual event does NOT make them a lie or pure fantasy.

Scripture is replete with poetic license.

We’ll find hyperbole.

We’ll find accounts of men outright lying about what happened.

We’ll encounter episodes of men doing absolutely horrendous things (Think of King David committing BOTH adultery and murder).

We’ll also have recorded statements of men making incorrect assertions about the nature of God!

This is all just part and parcel of how the Scripture communicates truth to us.

Taking the Bible literally does NOT mean we are to take exaggeration at face value.

For example, when Paul says he is the “chief of sinners“, it doesn’t necessarily mean he was the biggest sinner who ever lived.

Nor are we to take metaphor as direct analogy.

For example, when we read about the “arm of the Lord” or how God “smelled” the smoke from the sacrifices, such statements are not supposed to be taken literally.

The Bible also contains much poetry (such as the Psalms) that aren’t supposed to be read as if they were unemotional history.

Nor are we to assume that every historical event recorded in Scripture contains some deep or profound spiritual meaning.

So here’s my take on the story of Balak and Balaam.

I believe it is a true story based on a real historical event but over the years has been made into a fable.

There are three reasons why I think this is so.

FIRST, the talking donkey is a dead giveaway.

SECOND, this story just pops up out of the blue as a diversion from the historical recounting of Israel’s journey to the Land of Canaan.

THIRD, this story was actually inserted into Numbers at a later date and some believe that it was added bit by bit in pieces.

But having said all that, please understand that I do believe much of what is recounted in this tale is historically true.

No doubt, there was actually a seer named Balaam and a king named BALAK.

And no doubt, Balak was mighty concerned about the Israelites attacking his land.

Hence, even though some of the details have been embellished, rest assured that what is being taught to us through this story is indeed both prophetic and meant to communicate many deep and exciting spiritual truths.

Actually, let me go out on a limb and say there is probably more theological meat jam-packed into this part of the Scripture than in any other part of the Bible.

That’s right!

It is for good reason that this story of Balaam and Balak has been called a Bible within the Bible.

Or we could say a Torah within the Torah.

You’re in for a pretty EXCITING journey!