The prophet Balaam was one of ancient Israel’s great archenemies, and a pagan mystic. According to the biblical account in Numbers 22-24, the Moabite King Balak hired Balaam the son of Beor to curse the 12 tribes of Israel, which were coming dangerously close to the land of Moab on their way to the Promised Land.
King Balak offered a rich reward to Balaam for pronouncing a curse upon the Israelites—a reward Balaam deeply craved. Yet despite Balak’s wishes, God put it in Balaam’s mind to only prophesy blessings of the encamped Israelites, greatly frustrating the king of Moab. Finally, out of desperation to receive Balak’s rich reward (yet knowing he could not openly contravene God’s instructions), Balaam advised that Moabite and Midianite women lead the Israelite men astray. The devious scheme resulted in a plague on Israel that led to the deaths of 24,000. Balaam was later killed when the...