Numbers
22-24, 31
BK
22:5-6
22:3
22:2
BK
Why
Whatdoes
did
heWho
look
he isso
this
man?
worried?
request
of
Balaam?
So… Balak sent messengers to offer Balaam
rewards in exchange for cursing the Israelites.
$
$
$
$
22:9-13
What
Howdid
didGod
tell Balaam
Balaam
not to do?
respond to
the
messengers?
22:14-15
What does
Balak do?
$
$
22:16-17
What is the
offer?
22:18
What did
Balaam say?
22:19-20
What is
God’s
Answer?
JST for Numbers 22:20
• The Joseph Smith Translation changes
the phrase “rise up, and go with them” in
Numbers 22:20 to “rise up, if thou wilt go
with them” (italics added). In other words,
God was making Balaam responsible for
the decision whether to follow God or to go
with the princes of Moab.
22:22
22:21
22:23
What
Whatdoes
doesthe
donkey
Balaam
God think?
see?
do?
22:23
How does the
donkey respond?
Balaam?
22:24-25
What does the
donkey do?
Balaam?
22:27
AGAIN!!! What
message is
Balaam MISSING?
22:28
What does
the donkey
do this time?
22:29
What did
Balaam want
to do?
22:30
What does the
donkey say?
22:31
Why did he
change?
22:32-35
What was the
Lords council?
What can we learn from
Balaam’s Adventure?
• What problems could understanding this
truth help you avoid?
• What blessings have you or someone you
know experienced by not allowing the
enticements of the world to influence your
devotion to God?
• What are your goals this summer to stay
on the straight and narrow path?
The rest of the Story
• The angel told Balaam he could continue
his journey to see Balak but was to speak
only the words the Lord told him to speak.
When Balaam arrived in Balak’s kingdom,
the king reminded Balaam that he could
reward him if he would curse the Israelites.
Rather than cursing them, however,
Balaam blessed them and prophesied of
the coming of the Savior (see Numbers
24:17).
The rest of the Story
Continued…
• “I wonder how often some of us get our direction from the Church and then,
Balaam-like, plead for some worldly rewards and finally receive an answer
which says, in effect, if you are determined to be a millionaire or to gain this
or that worldly honor, go ahead, with the understanding that you will
continue to serve the Lord. Then we wonder why things don’t work out for us
as well as they would have done if we had put first in our lives the things of
God’s kingdom. …
• “And don’t we all know people who, though they were once firm and
steadfast in testimony, are now opposing the Lord’s purposes and interests
on earth because money and power have twisted their judgment of what
should or should not be?
• “Balaam, the prophet, inspired and mighty as he once was, lost his soul in
the end because he set his heart on the things of this world rather than the
riches of eternity” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, “The Story of a Prophet’s
Madness,” New Era, Apr. 1972, 7).
23:1-2
What is
wrong with
the picture?
BK
23:10
23:13
23:11
BK
What
How did
was
Balaam
Balak’s
Balak react?
great
curse
Israel?
idea?
24:1-2, 5-9
BK
The greatest
blessing of
them all
31:16
Why is
Balaam
dead?
What happened to Balaam?
But I have a few things against thee,
because thou hast there them that hold
the doctrine of Balaam, who taught
Balac to cast a stumblingblock before
the children of Israel, to eat things
sacrificed unto idols, and to commit
fornication.
Revelation 2:14
What happened to Balaam?
“Which have forsaken the right
way, and are gone astray,
following the way of Balaam
the son of Bosor, who loved the
wages of unrighteousness;”
2 Peter 2:15