(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Numbers 23:1–12, “And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram. And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place. And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram. And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab. And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?”
Balaam might have been greedy but he wasn’t stupid. Even though he knew that the Lord didn’t want him to go and do Balak’s bidding, he was interested in the money and did everything that he possibly could to earn the money without actually cursing Israel. He did what every spiritual man would have done and had seven altars built then offered a bullock and a ram on each altar. Seven is the number that represents completion so this looked even more impressive. Surely Balak was beginning to be impressed. Balaam them went to the Lord, partly for show and partly to see if he could just get approval to earn the money. Every prophet or spiritual man would say something that sounded wise so Balaam began with a pompous beginning to his pronouncement. However, Balaam would not curse Israel because the Lord had blessed Israel and would curse anyone who cursed Israel. In fact, Balaam gave Israel a blessing. Balak was livid with anger. He was offering to pay Balaam great riches to curse Israel but Balaam did exactly the opposite. However, Balaam tried to reconcile with Balak by reminding Balak that he had earlier said that he could only say what the Lord gave him to say.
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