Sabbatical with Balaam #5

I’ve been thinking about Balaam for some time now. Although he gets a mention in seven books, from Deuteronomy to Revelation, my thinking is focused on the so-called Balaam narratives in Numbers 22-24. The next chapter in the book does not mention Balaam, though what takes place is later connected to him. In that chapter (Numbers 25) the Israelites come perilously close to being destroyed. It is as if God has sovereignly undertaken to keep Israel safe in chapters 22-24 and having protected them against the most frightening weapons systems that the world had to offer, it is only to see them shoot themselves in the foot. It’s a sequel that didn’t need to happen.

Funnily enough, Terminator 3 (N.B see last blog for reference to Terminator!) has been referred to as a sequel that didn’t need to happen. This certainly seems to reflect James Cameron’s position. Cameron directed Terminator and Terminator 2 but declined to participate in the sequel. In T3 the new threat comes from a T-X. Played by Kristanna Loken this is not so much a he cyborg as a she. But this is perhaps where we should leave the Terminator franchise and get back to Numbers.

In Numbers 25 the new threat is not some hired assassin (Destroyer) nor the king of Moab aka. Devastator. The new threat is Israel themselves and the way they can so easily forget the things of God in the presence of sexual temptation. The Israelites forgot God’s calling on their lives and their role as his agents. They forgot how he had saved them from slavery and looked after them so long. They forgot his promises to them and the honour and privilege of being called by him to participate in his plans. The [Israelite] men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women.

We kid ourselves if we think that we are any different. That is why at College, faculty, staff and students take these things very seriously. It's why we are thankful for the support and encouragement we all experience here and for the invitation we know we have to pray together 'lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil'. As a ministry training college we have an opportunity to share together on a deep level and to participate together in making God known to a needy world. These same highs and lows are part of our students' ministry experience in their churches. These are profoundly significant things and often connected to powerful emotions and momentous experiences. But with that ebb and flow of emotion the temptation to cross a line or step over a boundary often surfaces. Numbers 25 shows how destructive this can be for everyone involved.

Sabbatical with Balaam #4

Warning: contains plot spoilers!

It will come as no surprise that since my last entry I’ve been thinking about Balaam. I’ve been exploring a feature of the text that I noticed a while ago but have not known what to do with. The story begins with a character Balak who summons someone from far away. This someone is Balaam.

Sometimes in Biblical narrative it is important to take note of the names. Nabal is a classic example. He appears in 1 Samuel 25. His name simply means ‘fool’ and anyone reading the OT in its original language would hear the word ‘fool’ every time the guy’s name is mentioned. It affects how we think of him as a character and what we understand he contributes both to the plot of 1 Samuel and to the Kingdom of God.

Balak’s name means Devastator. Nasty piece of work you might think – especially if you had sympathies with the Israelites in Numbers. But here’s the point - Balaam’s name means Destroyer. Weird isn’t it! There are two central characters in the story, one is called Devastator, the other Destroyer. It got me thinking about another destroyer figure, but not Alien or Predator. It got me thinking about the Terminator and thisis where the plot spoilers come in – but don’t worry, not for soon-to-be-released Terminator 4, only for 1 and 2.

In the movie Arnie’s character is the Terminator. He comes from far away - well it might as well be far away. He comes from the future and that’s not any place we can get on an aeroplane and fly to. He comes from far away and is sent to destroy a character from whom will come the one person who can save the human race. Is it too much to think of Balaam in Numbers 22? He comes from far away, from Pethor which is presumably near the river Euphrates and not a place your average Israelite is ever going to get a chance to visit. He is summoned to terminate the Israelites who are the people from whom will come the Saviour of the world.

And then in Terminator 2 Arnie is back. He’s in much the same gear, the same attitude, the same accent. The twist is that his role is now to protect the One. More than that, he has to do so against the wishes and despite the efforts of a second destroyer cyborg. In Numbers 23-24 Balaam blesses Israel and, in a way, secures both their present protection and so guarantees their future and the line of descent to Jesus, and all this against the background of Balak’s becoming increasingly angry and hostile towards him.

Weird isn’t it? C.S. Lewis used to say that the Bible story, from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation, is the story of salvation, the only story of salvation which can fully satisfy our hearts and which our inner-selves long to be a part of. He’s kind of following Augustine here. But he then goes on to suggest that any other story of salvation or redemption, whether it is Snow White or Clueless, Terminator or his own Narnia Chronicles, triggers something in us that resonates with a faint memory of the true story, the Bible story.

It is this, as much as anything, that we are enjoying when we sit and watch a good redemptive movie, like the Shawshank Redemption or read a redemptive novel, like Atonement.

I wonder if he is right.