But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.Why is God angry here? He has just told Balaam that he should go with them, and so he goes. Now he's going, and God's mad at him for following His instructions? I've read this many times, and this part always drives me nuts trying to figure out what's not being said. The conclusion I was always taught is that Balaam is going, but he's going because he can make money, not because he's obeying God. That never settled right with me, because it seems to be reading too much into the text that isn't there.
My own interpretation is a little more generic. God told him to go, but to only speak what He told him to speak. My guess is that Balaam's planning a little embellishment on what He's going to be told, trying to split the difference so that neither side can really be mad at him. He doesn't have a chance of succeeding, of course, but I think that may have been his goal.
The other thing that I'm curious about is what happened with these servants. They may never have seen the angel, but did they hear the donkey? Were they astonished when it spoke, and how Balaam answered? Did they understand that Balaam was then talking to an angel, and not to the donkey? If they were riding, did their animals react similarly? I always wonder what the "little guys" are experiencing, who just barely appear in the story, and are never heard from again. How were their lives affected by what they were witness to, that we can only read about?
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