Uh oh -- consistency problem in the Scriptures?

Verses 20 through 22 in Numbers 22 have caused quite a stir over the years about the reliability of God's Word. Let's look at the problems and then try to get to the bottom of this and see if there is a reasonable explanation.

Okay, so I've not written anything for a week. I was on a business trip and worked many late nights. While I had too little time to write down what God was teaching me in some coherent fashion, there was this interesting problem in Numbers 22 that I came across last week that I wanted to take the time to write about here. So here goes...

So I am reading along in Numbers 22. Balak, King of Moab, wants to curse the nation of Israel. Israel has been wondering through the wilderness (remember the 40 years thing, right?) and cleaning up evil nations in it's way. The Lord is with them even in the wilderness, doing His work. I do find it encouraging that you can be in the will of God while still in the wilderness. And remember, this is the wilderness that Israel brought upon itself for refusing to believe in God. So what is this work of the Lord that Israel is performing, you ask? In this case, it is delivering punishment upon nations whose evil has reached a point that God can no longer tolerate! Boy, before you jump to "He is a mean God that wishes to destroy mankind" let's consider how gracious He is to even let man be so evil for any period of time! Every breath we take is a gift of grace from the Lord -- especially for those still in their sin.

Okay, at this point the nation of Moab is getting a little freaked out because they know they are next in line for judgement day. So Balak (King of Moab) has this bright idea. There's this "spiritual man" named Balaam. I use the "spiritual" term loosely here. As we were reminded yesterday in church by Paster Mark Trotter, not all that is "spiritual" is Scriptural. This is definitely the case with Balaam! He's in tune with many spirits as he probably practices various forms of divination with evil spirits. One thing is for sure. Balaam has a track record for blessing and cursing people, and his blessings and cursings generally come true. So Balak wants to employ Balaam to curse Israel so that he can defeat them. Sounds like a good plan of action, eh?

But there is a problem. Let's look at the problem Balaam brings up with this whole game plan of Balak's in verses 7-13:

Balak's messengers, officials of both Moab and Midian, set out and took money with them to pay Balaam to curse Israel. They went to Balaam and urgently explained to him what Balak wanted. "Stay here overnight," Balaam said. "In the morning I will tell you whatever the LORD directs me to say." So the officials from Moab stayed there with Balaam. That night God came to Balaam and asked him, "Who are these men with you?" So Balaam said to God, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent me this message: 'A vast horde of people has come from Egypt and has spread out over the whole land. Come at once to curse them. Perhaps then I will be able to conquer them and drive them from the land.'" "Do not go with them," God told Balaam. "You are not to curse these people, for I have blessed them!" The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak's officials, "Go on home! The LORD will not let me go with you."

For whatever reason, Balaam is smart enough to consult with the Lord before he goes for this plan to curse Israel. He actually heeds the Lord's command to not go with Balak and curse Israel, God's chosen and blessed people. Keep in mind, this is coming from a guy who is not really a true follower of the Lord. Do you find this dialog between Balaam and God interesting? I do! It tells us that God can communicate with unbelievers and even give them good direction when they ask!

Okay, so this message from Balaam is not acceptable to Balak. His messengers tell him what Balaam has said, and so Balak sweetens the deal by uping the contract price. Basically, anything that Balaam wants, he can have if he just delivers the cursing wrapped in a pretty bow.

So the deal has been sweetened and let's read verses 19-22 to examine a potential problem with the consistency of Scripture (and thus the point of today's article):

[Balaam talking to the new messengers who have sweetened the deal] But stay here one more night to see if the LORD has anything else to say to me." That night God came to Balaam and told him, "Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But be sure to do only what I tell you to do." So the next morning Balaam saddled his donkey and started off with the Moabite officials. But God was furious that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the LORD to stand in the road to block his way.

What is going on here? I read this passage and said to myself. Well, Balaam asked the Lord what he should do. The Lord says "since they came" then "go with them." Okay, so I'm thinking God has something up His sleeve by saying Balaam should go with them, until verse 22 is dropped on my lap. Balaam saddles up to go "as the Lord commands" and then God is furious Balaam is going. What? Is God having some sort of personality disorder here? As you read a little further you see a very strange dialog that Balaam has with his donkey (yes, his donkey). The donkey Balaam is riding refuses to go down a certain path because an angel of the Lord (that only the donkey can see) is there to destroy Balaam for "going as the Lord had commanded."

Okay, I've had enough here. God is actually going to destroy Balaam with this death angel for "obeying Him?" This is a toughy! I could breeze by this passage and chalk it up as something I don't understand that only my Pastor might understand, or maybe it is some "Hebrew to English" translation problem for the "experts" to figure out. But guess what? I don't want to walk away that fast. After all, this is one of those very passages that many folks caught up in false religions will bring up regarding the consistency and reliability of the Bible (No lie! Google for this passage as there are loads of controversy over this passage.).

So what's one to do here? I believe that the Word of God is completely trustworthy and without error, yet this passage seems like a contradiction. Holy Spirit, help me understand this apparent inconsistency in Your Holy Scripture.

One thought is that maybe there was something about what Balaam did that this passage didn't reveal that really ticked God off. Or maybe I should go back to the Hebrew text to understand if there is some translation inconsistency here (not a bad idea, but my Hebrew skills are just plain awful). Before jumping to one of those conclusions, let's first examine this passage in the "tried and true" King James version that no one wants to read anymore. Verses 19-22 of the King James say:

Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more. And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. And God's anger was kindled because he went : and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him.

So, I think it is very interesting to compare the phrase "since these men have come" from the New Living Translation to one we find in the King James version. The King James version states "if the men come to call thee." Last time I checked, "if" doesn't equal "since". Clearly the men are here with Balaam as they journeyed to ask him to reconsider cursing Israel. Let's consider the context. Everyone went to bed and God and Balaam are having a conversation at night. God says if the men come (presumably in the morning) and call thee, then rise up and go with them. That's how I read the King James. It seems pretty clear. Guess what happens in the morning? The men didn't come a callin', yet Balaam was up and at 'em, saddling up his donkey and heading out. Ah! That makes more sense and seems totally consistent now. Basically, Balaam disobeyed God by going with these men without them calling Balaam in the morning.

So if you think that maybe the New Living Translation (NLT) is just the culprit here, most other modern translations say essentially the same thing as the NLT. What's the moral of the story here? God's Word is without error, but I think you will find certain translations don't seem to preserve the original text or thought correctly. You decide for yourself from this passage.

I probably haven't done any justice to this passage or even to resolving the problem, but I leave with this thought. Which translation should we read? Which version of God's Word can we call reliable? I don't want to get dogmatic here and say the only version to read is the King James, but I'm not going to toss it aside either as it proved extremely valuable to me in this passage. Let's just keep our eyes wide open, be objective, and not toss aside "hard things to understand" just because they are hard.

For what is worth, I recently began reading the NLT and quote often from that version as I enjoy the freshness this version gives to the language of the Bible. After today, I'll just start keeping a score card. King James (1); NLT and other versions like it (0).

Regardless of which version I enjoy, Holy Spirit, help me to understand Your Holy Scripture in the translations You have preserved. Help me to have the proper discernment in studying Your Word, and, most of all, help me understand difficult or seemingly inconsistent passages by learning to follow Your lead in my Bible study. Take the blinders of my eyes and allow me to see wonderful things in Your Word.