GOD MISLEADS TWO PROPHETS (NUMBERS 22-24; BOOK OF JONAH)

After writing a blog post about biblical history repeating itself, I thought of another example that is often overlooked. We take it for granted that the words of the prophets are not under their own control, but they are led to speak what God tells them. Jeremiah even complains to God of the trouble these prophecies are getting him into. And I am sure that Hosea and John the Baptist, just to name two, might easily agree with Jeremiah.

But there are two negative examples of prophets who were compelled or tricked by God to speak words that they really did not want to speak. These reluctant prophets were Balaam (Numbers 22-24) and Jonah. Consider the similarities between their respective stories:

1. Note that almost all the narratives concerning prophets in the Bible take place within the confines of Israel, although there is sometimes passage back and forth between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. But Balaam and Jonah are two exceptions since they involve a journey, respectively, into or outside of Jewish territory. Thus, Balaam is a foreign prophet who has been hired by the Moabites to go Israel's land and curse them. Conversely, Jonah is called by God to leave Israel and sail to Nineveh, Israel's enemy, and prophesy to them.

Despite this perhaps purposeful contrast, the similarities between the two stories are more striking.

2. There is a reluctance expressed in both cases. Of course, Jonah does not want to go at all on his journey and heads in the opposite direction. In the case of the Balaam story, the reluctance is on the part of God Himself.

3. Interestingly, the foreign powers in both stories use the word “perhaps” to suggest that their actions may lead to a favorable conclusion for them. In Numbers 22:11, King Balak says that if Baalam curses the Israelites, perhaps his forces will be able to conquer them. Similarly, the king of Nineveh says that if his people fast and wear sackcloth, “Who knows? God may relent and change His mind; He may turn from his anger.” (Jonah 3:10)

4. Then there is the shared circumstance of God “repenting” or “relenting.” In the account in Numbers, God seemingly relents regarding the prohibition of Balaam from going with the Moabite delegates. And in the case of Nineveh, God changes his mind regarding their destruction because of their repentant attitude. This was just as Jonah feared He would do. (Jonah 4:2)

The Balaam case is the more puzzling one since God had just forbid the prophet from traveling with Balak. Various explanations have been offered for this change of heart (see my post “Numbers 22-24”), but the most likely one is that God was testing Balaam to see how determined he was to countermand God's initial prohibition. It is somewhat similar to God unaccountably attacking Moses on his way to confront Pharaoh, a journey undertaken at God's own command (Exodus 4:24).

5. Anger is expressed in both stories: God is angry with Balaam in Numbers 22:22, and Balak is similarly displeased with Balaam in 24:10. In the case of Jonah, it is the prophet who is angry with God, as expressed on two occasions (Jonah 4:1,9).

6. Both narratives involve the supernatural actions of non-humans intended to convey God's messages to the prophets: a talking donkey in the Numbers story and a fast-growing vine, a giant fish and a worm in the case of Jonah.

7. The action in both narratives is interrupted by major poetic interludes praising God.

8. Both prophets express the wish to die (see Numbers 23:10; Jonah 1:12; 4:3,8,9).

9. Both stories are more concerned with testing the prophet than with speaking against another country. The ones who suffer the most in these narratives are the prophets themselves, and there is no indication that either Balaam or Jonah learned their lessons.

We find out from the following chapter that the Israelites soon fall under God's wrath due to their relations with Moabite women (Numbers 25:1-3). But later in Numbers 31:16, it is revealed that it was Balaam who convinced these women to seduce the Israelite men. It may be asked where Balaam comes into that subsequent story since at the end of the previous chapter it appears that he has returned to his home. But it has been pointed out that it only says that Balaam “returned to his place,” which could even refer to his accommodations in King Balak's palace. Clearly, Balaam is unrepentant at the end.

The final state of mind in Jonah is a little less clear. Note that the book ends on a cliff-hanger in which God asks the prophet whether his attitude toward Nineveh is truly justified, but Jonah refuses to answer, which we can probably take to mean that he still feels he is in the right and God is in the wrong.

10. In each case, the target countries do not suffer the dire fate intended for them.

11. An overall lesson we get from these two OT passages is that God's power and domain do not end at the borders of Israel, but encompass the whole world and its inhabitants.

12. And, as to God tricking the two prophets, here is how that comes about in the case of Baalam: God leads him on by seemingly relenting in regards to taking the trip with Balak's men. That serves as an encouragement to Baalam that God may similarly relent in regard to letting him curse the Israelites. In that manner, Baalam is forced against his will to pronounce a blessing on Israel instead

In the case of Jonah, it appears that the second time God calls on him to visit Nineveh, the overwhelming message of coming doom to the city appeals to Jonah's anger against the Ninevites, and so he delivers God's message forcefully. The message appears to be purposely vague. The passive voice is used so as not to reveal who is going to do the overturning. Jonah appears not to want the people of Nineveh to even know God's name so that they can pray to Him and be saved. But as Phillip Cary suggests, “There is room to wonder whether, in the very content of the message, Jonah was trying to pull a fast one on the LORD – and whether what actually happened was that the LORD pulled a fast on on Jonah.” Thus, in the end, Jonah is so successful in scaring the people, that there is a mass repentance, which causes them to escape God's wrath, much to Jonah's disappointment.