Balak “Balak == waste,destruction” Pt 4: Numbers 22:39-23:12
Bilaam sacrifices to God (Yahveh) and follows His instructions. He sacrificed with Balak (and I am sure Balak thought he was sacrificing to Ba’al), but then Bilaam went off to a bare hill, a place where he could encounter Yahveh without distraction. And Yahveh delivered a word “in Bilaam’s mouth”, but not in his heart.
So Bilaam delivered a blessing, in obedience, but in that blessing was a seed that Bilaam would later use to seek Israel’s cursing, to give Yahveh reason to curse Israel. So we see that, while obedience is good, the true advancement of the Kingdom comes when it is not from our mouth or hands or feet, but from our heart.
Heart-obedience builds a lasting Kingdom; fearful or self-abasing or self-uplifting obedience, not motivated by love of Yahveh but by fear or desire for approval, is a slippery slope. So let us get our hearts right with Yahveh, and let our deeds flow from that.
