Lessons from Balaam's Encounter with an Angel of the LORD in Numbers 22:21-29

LESSONS FROM BALAAM'S ENCOUNTER WITH AN ANGEL OF THE LORD IN NUMBERS 22:21-29

By Ezekiel Kimosop 

In Numbers 22:1-20, we learn that the children of Israel crossed into the plains of Moab on the final journey to the promised land. Earlier in Numbers 21, God had granted them victory against Arad king of the Canaanites (vv. 1-3), Sihon king of the Ammorites (vv.21-32), and Og king of Bashan (vv.33-35). 

In Numbers 22, we are introduced to a totally different scene. When Balak son of Zippor, king of the Moabites learnt about the defeat of the Ammorites, he panicked because his military strength was nothing compared to Israel's. He crafted a different strategy. He sought to curse Israel rather than engage them directly in battle. It appears that the Moabites were steeped in divination and occult practices. 

It is instructive to note that the Ammorites descended from Canaan, Noah's grandson (Genesis 10:16) while the Moabites and Ammonites were descendants of Lot by the incest recorded in Genesis 19. 

Back to our passage of context...

In his attempt to craft a solution to his military setback, Balak king of Moab sent for Balaam son of Beor, a diviner, who dwelt near the Jordan River. He was not bothered with seeking God's view on the way forward. Instead, he resorted to the occult world for answers! God however forbade Balaam from going with Balak's delegation or cursing the children of Israel at the request of Balak king of the Moabites. 

A second delegation was dispatched by Balak who stubbornly refused to give up on Balaam (vv.15-17).

In vv.20-21, God finally permitted Balaam to accompany the second delegation provided that he will only speak what God would tell him. 

In vv.21-29, we are introduced to a twist of events. The writer records that the LORD's anger was aroused against Balaam and He sent an angel to confront Balaam. It is not immediately clear why God changed His mind and sent an angel to block Balaam's donkey as he journeyed to meet Balak. 

Bible scholars believe God was angered by Balaam's greed for money. God read the mind and heart of Balaam and foresaw that he would defy God's command and curse Israel in exchange for Balak's money. There is a hint in v.32 where the Angel of the LORD rebukes Balaam saying “...Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me."

The moral perversity and apostasy of Balaam's heart is corroborated in 2 Peter 2:15-16 where Peter mentions Balaam when rebuking false teachers. Peter proclaims: 

"They [false teachers] have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet." (NKJV, emphasis mine). 

This text of Scripture serves to amplify God's word with compelling clarity. It sheds light on the theological paradox in Numbers 22:22-34 which leaves the Bible reader wondering why God confronted Balaam after earlier permitting Him to go to Balak! 

It is instructive that God had already proclaimed to Balaam in v.12 "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” This was mission impossible. God does not speak from the two sides of His mouth! (cf. Numbers 23:19). 

God could permit a curse on His covenant people without a compelling justification. He had rescued them from Egyptian slavery and had led them through the wilderness for nearly 40 years at this point. They were just about to cross the Jordan from the plains of Moab facing Jericho (v.1). 

Balaam repented of his sin after the angel of the LORD rebuked him. He pleaded to be allowed to return back to his base in Aram but God reinforced His earlier message that he should go to Balak where he would only speak that which God would command Him (vv. 34-35). God was not done with Balaam. He sought to use him to confront the arrogant and wicked Moabite king. 

Numbers 23-24 describes the three occasions one which Balak attempted to influence Balaam to curse the children of Israel. He sacrificed burnt offerings on each occasion but God rejected his prayers. Balaam spoke the mind of God on the three occasions. He had learnt his lesson during the confrontation with the angel of God that nearly got him killed.

Numbers 24 conveys Balaam's poetic doxology or praise and his return to Aram after defying Balak. God used Balaam to reveal Israel's blessed future in the promised land. The Moabites could not stand in the way of God's people. They finally gave way and God's people crossed the Jordan in the end. 

MORAL LESSONS 

1. God cannot curse His covenant people without any moral justification. The people of Israel were passing by the land of Moab on their way to the promised land. They never intended to take or possess the land of Moab. They were pilgrims of God. There was no reason for God to curse them.

2. A prophet should always speak the mind of God even where it confronts our sinfulness or disobedience. We should never misrepresent the mind of God to either serve our personal interests or to please men. We should not twist the word of God to impress people. We should proclaim the word in truth. 

3. God's omnipotence is unlimited. God can use unusual circumstances to communicate His will to His people. He chose to use a female donkey to speak to Balaam after he failed to discern the presence of God. God can speak to us through strangers and unusual events in life. We should discern His divine will in those circumstances. God daily speaks to us through His word in Scripture and by His Spirit. Do you seek His voice and wisdom? 

4. God's purposes for His people will ultimately be fulfilled no matter what stands in their way. Our journey of faith with God will be accomplished in Christ Jesus. This should encourage us to keep our focus on Christ. 

Hebrews 12:1-2 says "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (NKJV). 

5. The love of  money is a root of all kinds of evil. Keep away from the captivating greed for money and earthly riches. God's servants should serve God faithfully and refrain from unbridled desire for ungodly material gain. They should not offer their God-given ministry skills in exchange for material gain. This is not to suggest or imply that believers should not seek earthly resources. We should do so in godly ways. 

1 Timothy 6:9-10 says "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (NKJV). 

6. Our secret sins are open to God. He sees the intentions of our hearts no matter how much we attempt to conceal them. God's omniscience is unlimited. Balaam had secretly conspired to curse Israel and receive material gain from Balak. God read his heart and sent an angel to confront Him. 

7. The wages of sin is death. It appears that Balaam gave in to his moral apostasy later. He caused the children of Israel to sin against God. Numbers 31:16 says "Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord."

Balaam's tragic end finally came. Joshua 13:22 says "The children of Israel also killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, among those who were killed by them." 

Balaam did not learn from his previous transgression. He needlessly perished from it. We should repent from our acts of disobedience while the window of God's grace is still open. 

Jeremiah 17:9-10 says "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings." (NKJV).

Are you serving and walking with God from a clear conscience? 

Is your heart pure and sincere before God?

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2026

What is Conditional Election?

WHAT IS CONDITIONAL ELECTION?

By Ezekiel Kimosop 

The doctrine of conditional election teaches that salvation is available to any sinner based on their fulfillment of certain conditions set out by God in Scripture. The foremost condition is that the sinner must of his free will repent upon his conviction of sin and turn to Christ. On this basis therefore, the sinner receives God's pardon and is assured of eternal life. 

There are several Scriptures that attest to this doctrine. John 3:16-17 is perhaps one of the most outstanding texts of Scripture that anchor the conditional election doctrine. The sinner must believe in Christ. God neither forcibly saves sinners nor denies any sinner His saving based on prior distinction or discrimination. 

Romans 10:8-10 says “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (NKJV). 

The above passage clearly affirms that the sinner has a part to play in God's plan of salvation. This is undeniable.

The Unconditional election on the other hand stands in contrast to this doctrine. It teaches that God selected a given number of sinners for eternal life from the foundation of the world and that only those sinners in God's list will come to faith. This doctrine is popularly held by deterministic soteriology groups who teach that the sinner cannot do anything in response to God's grace.

This school argues that the the sinner is so depraved in sin that they cannot come to faith unless God grants him the "irresistible grace" which is exclusively reserved for those in the "elect list". Salvation is viewed in this context as a mornergistic process attributed to the will of a sovereign God who exclusively determines the fate of sinners even before they are born! 

One of the key passages cited by proponents of the unconditional election doctrine is Ephesians 1:4-6 that says " just as He chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He [a]made us accepted in the Beloved." (NKJV). 

A close look at this text reveals a number of theological flaws on the unconditional election doctrine. 

First, while the election is said to have been concluded before foundation of the world, the same text affirms that the election is done or actuated in Him (Christ). This inescapably brings to bear the works of the cross which were accomplished at a given historical date and time in human history. 

According to Scripture, the election of sinners is only effected in Christ, through the works of redemption and the ransom by His sinless blood. No sinner could therefore have bypassed Calvary. 

My view is that the notion that God chose believers before the foundation of the world is anchored on a misrepresentation of God's exhaustive omniscience and foreknowledge. The election of the believer is not a deterministic fait accompli that arbitrarily assigns privilege to a given set of sinners to the exclusion of others who are damned before birth.

Secondly, the adoption in Christ is a futuristic event (cf. Romans 8:18-25). It is awaiting Christ's coming for its divine fulfillment. 

The two other texts employed by proponents of unconditional election are Romans 8:29-30, 9:11. My view is that neither of these texts support the doctrine of unconditional election when read in their passage contexts. Romans 8:18-30 relates to an exhortation on Christian suffering while Romans 9:11 is part of a long treatise by Paul that runs through Romans 9-11. It thesis centres on Israel's need for the gospel. 

The final submission of Paul's thesis is thus: "...God has committed them all [Gentiles and Jews] to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all." (Romans 11:32).

My concluding view is that the conditional election doctrine finds its support in Scripture. Every sinner must repent and turn to Christ to be saved. This truth does not make God less sovereign or take away any glory due to Him. It affirms His sovereignty in graciously granting sinners the opportunity to come to Christ without coercion, compulsion or prior distinction and discrimination.

God is not glorified by the eternal damnation of sinners in hell. He declares "...I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." (Ezekiel 33:11, NKJV). 

Peter reminds us that "the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9, NKJV). 

The conditional election doctrine is therefore anchored on the revelation and authority of Scripture. The sinner must exercise his God given responsibility in responding to God's grace in Christ Jesus. Those who reject God's grace upon conviction of sin will face God's righteous judgement (Revelation 20:11-15).

No sinner was doomed from the womb! 

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2026

What Does it Mean that Jesus is Full of Grace and Truth?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT JESUS IS FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH? 

By Ezekiel Kimosop 

John 1:14 says "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (NKJV). 

This Scripture, read within its wider passage context of John 1:1-18 reveals the reasons for Jesus' incarnate coming as God in flesh. He came to fulfil God's divine purposes for sinful humanity that dwelt in sinful condemnation in Adam. 

Elsewhere in Scripture, we learn that it is by grace that we are saved, not by works lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:9). In His incarnation, Jesus personified the divine projection and pinnacle of God's unmerited grace and mercy bound in human flesh. He was born of a woman yet He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 

Why is Jesus described as full of grace and truth? 

This is a pregnant statement that oozes with the essence of divinity that has been incomprehensibly intertwined with humanity on purpose. What God has conveyed to us in Christ is humanly inexplicable. It is beyond the confines of human philosophy and intellectual discourse! Only God can grant the words by which to explain it. 

First, we learn from Scripture that Jesus' incarnate coming was informed by God's unmerited grace and mercy by which He chose to send His only begotten Son to die on the cross to provide the divine means by which sinful men could be reconciled with the holy and righteous God of Scripture from whom they had been alienated in Adam. 

Jesus became the atonement from heaven, the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God that was slain for us. Apostle John describes Jesus as "...The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29, NKJV). 

Secondly, Jesus Christ conveyed the gospel of truth in His earthly ministry. He proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of God through His exhortations and the kingdom parables. When He ascended to heaven, He left for us His written word in the holy Scriptures which reveal the mind of God to us and the future that awaits the redeemed of God in heaven. The Scriptures also reveal the eternal destiny of those who reject God's grace.

We need to live by the truth of God's word. 

While praying for His disciples, Jesus affirmed the truth and the efficacious power of God's word in the sanctification of God's people. He petitioned the Father, saying "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." (John 17:17). God alone can sanctify the saints. He justifies us whenever we appear before His divine presence courtesy of what Christ has accomplished for us at Calvary. 

What God has spoken in Scripture is authoritative, sufficient, and final in conveying His grace and truth to us. God's word has been indelibly sealed in the 66 book canon of Scripture. It is His divine voice in all ages and the benchmark by which our Christian obedience and service is measured. 

It is this truth that confronts the dark and sinful world around us. By this truth, God's grace condemns sinful rebellion and draws sinners to God through the conviction of sin and repentance. God's grace is available to all sinners without prior distinction or discrimination. This is gospel truth.

Yes, Jesus is full of grace and truth. 

Those who have submitted to God in Christ Jesus have tapped into God's grace. They are living witnesses of God's saving grace to underserving sinners. They have been transformed from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light; from death to life, courtesy of God's atoning grace in Christ Jesus. 

True followers of Jesus will uphold His written word and proclaim it to this world in their generations even as Christ tarries. They are always prepared to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). 

Are you numbered among the saints?

Have you experienced God's grace and truth in your life? Do you live by the revelation and authority of God's word or by the dictates of the contemporary culture? 

The psalmist proclaims to God: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105, NKJV. This is the affirmation of divine truth.

May God's grace and the truth of His word be our daily compass by which we may walk steadfastly in our journey of faith as we look forward to Christ's soon coming.

Shalom.

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2026

What can we Learn from the Ox and Donkey's Recognition of their Owner?

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE OX AND DONKEY'S RECOGNITION OF THEIR OWNER?

By Ezekiel Kimosop 

Isaiah 1:1-4 says:

"Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!

For the Lord has spoken:

“I have nourished and brought up children,

And they have rebelled against Me;

3 The ox knows its owner

And the donkey its master’s crib;

But Israel does not know,

My people do not consider.”

4 Alas, sinful nation,

A people laden with iniquity,

A brood of evildoers,

Children who are corrupters!

They have forsaken the Lord,

They have provoked to anger

The Holy One of Israel,

They have turned away backward." (NKJV). 

Isaiah 1:1-20 conveys God's call to Israel to repent and turn to God. The nation had walked away from their covenant with God. Even the ritual sacrifices they offered were of no effect. God had turned His face from them. 

This poetic lamentation was meant to convey God's displeasure for the people's moral apostasy and a plea for their return to covenant faithfulness. 

The use of the imagery of an ox and a donkey is meant to convey the logical paradox behind Israel's departure from her covenant life. If oxen and donkeys can be faithful to their owners and masters, how can one reconcile Israel's apostasy yet they had walked with God through the years since God rescued them from Egyptian slavery? 

This lament is meant to remind us that God is counting on our covenant faithfulness in our walk with Christ. We need to examine our commitment to a life of devotion and obedience with God and bridge the notable gaps. God is inviting us to a soul-searching moment in our walk with Christ. 

Elsewhere in Scripture, we learn that God rebuked the churches of Laodicea and Sardis for their weak covenant commitment (Revelation 3). 

The church of Laodicea was adjudged as a lukewarm church. They approached their Christian life with half heartedness. They placed their covenant life in the periphery as they pursued the things of this passing world. It is easy to retain a pale shadow of our covenant commitment when our hearts are far from God. 

The church of Sardis had even drifted further from the Lord. It was adjudged by Christ as a dead church even though a few believers among them remained faithful (v.4). Majority of its members had abandoned their covenant path and instead settled for the exigencies of their contemporary world. 

God is calling us to examine our walk with Him and return to covenant faithfulness. 

Are you keeping to the narrow path?

Keep it Christ!

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2026