As a preacher I've met a lot of people who knew of God but didn't really know God. Just like Apollos in the book of Acts whom Priscilla and Aquila taught the way of God more fully too; some still deal with a mix of God and other stuff in their worship of Him. In Exodus and Deuteronomy we learn that the Lord your God is a jealous God. That being said, He does honor those who are trying to seek Him, even if they don't fully understand Him or how to go about finding Him.
Balaam in the book of Numbers is a man like this. Balak, the king of Moab, had heard of Balaam because, "those you bless are blessed and those you curse are cursed." Balaam's reputation preceded him, but this was a land and a people who were polytheists - they worshiped more than one God. That means that Balak didn't know which god Balaam was speaking to, only that he was successful in his blessings and curses. And that is what Balak was really after anyway.
But where did Balaam come from? He pops on the scene in Numbers 22 but he is not an Israelite. He is asked to curse Israel and that was really his first peek at this "people of God." But He was a God follower. God did speak to him and send angels to deliver messages to him and perform miracles in his life. However, Balaam had an incomplete understanding of God. Let's look at some of the things he did.
- He pressed God to let him go with Balak's men to bring a curse on Israel
- He beat his donkey, who was trying to save his life and then continued on the same journey despite the fact that the angel of God was there to kill him.
- He prepared alters to God with a man, Balak, who did not believe in the One True God.
- Twice he tried to determine God's will through the seeking of omens, nearly divination (which God expressly forbid) in order to determine the will of God - which he already in part knew.
But he did some things right as well.
- He prepared sacrifices for God (7 of them each time) in a very similar way as that prescribed by God to Moses (which was going on about the same time as Balaam was trying to curse them).
- He spoke only what God told him even though it made Balak furious.
Balaam did some things right and some things wrong, but he got this right, he followed God the best he could and said only what God told him. Here's the thing I find most amazing about this story. Balaam had no part in Israel and as far as we know never met Moses or spoke with any Israelite. He disappears after this encounter with Balak and only sees Israel from afar. Imagine if Balaam, a God follower, would have had the opportunity to speak with Moses and hear about all that God had done through him and for Israel in leaving Egypt and after. Balaam would have been blown away! Perhaps he could have gone with Moses into the tent of meeting and met God, speaking to Him as Moses did - face-to-face. All that Balaam would have learned about God - the 10 commands, the law, the method of worship and how to approach God. But he never got that chance. He saw God in the flame and the cloud but did not recognize Him.
Balaam has become for me a sad story. A story of what could have been. He was so close and yet so far away.
Don't let your way of worship or your personal interaction with God be so rigid that you fail to see God in all His people. Israel was God's chosen people but they were not His ONLY people. When we get to thinking that our way is the only way, at the exclusion of every other way, we miss God.
Now, I'm not talking about those who would worship in a way or live in a way that is contrary to the Scriptures - God is not inconsistent, He won't tell one person something is okay an another it is not - I'm saying that you and I are not the only ones who hear from God nor are we ever His only people. Though some may not know Him like we do, that does not mean they don't know Him. Seek God in every situation, every person, every opportunity and you'll be much more likely not to miss Him.
You're not the only one.
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