{"id":47940,"date":"2019-01-22T20:57:03","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T18:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=47940"},"modified":"2022-08-17T09:01:24","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T06:01:24","slug":"walking-with-not-behind-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/walking-with-not-behind-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking With, Not Behind God"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Why does Balaam get such a bum rap?<\/span><\/p>\n

He is an archetype of evil in rabbinic literature, the antithesis of Abraham. But chapter 22 seems to paint the picture of a faithful servant of God, who repeatedly insists that, no matter what, he can only say what God wants him to say. Follow the text carefully- Balaam never does a single thing against God’s will.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, God gets angry with him. Apparently the negative treatment of Balaam doesn’t start with the rabbinic midrashim. But why? What did he do to deserve this divine anger?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Torah seems to be teaching us a significant lesson about the nature of moral action and choice. According to some schools of religious thinking, Balaam would seem to be embody the ideal knight of faith, a person who divests himself of any personal opinion, and completely submits himself to whatever God decides. Balaam claims complete neutrality- he is the UN of prophets. The Midrash plays on the name Balaam and says that he was, indeed, ‘<\/span>bli am’<\/span><\/i>– he was nationless. He had no allegiance, no personal stake. All he had was the word of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

This makes God angry. It’s not what God wants from his prophets, or from his people. God is not interested in a person’s worship divorced from their own personhood, a bifurcated worship where religious service stands alone and separate from a person’s identity and commitments. God wants our encounter with Him to always be with the fullness of our being. That’s the encounter of Abraham, of “<\/span>Hineni<\/span><\/i>“. Here <\/span>I<\/span> am. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes it means that Abraham agrees and sometimes it means that he struggles with God’s word and even argues with God, and this is exactly the relationship God is looking for. The reason that God gives for revealing his plans for destroying Sodom to Abraham is because he knows that Abraham is committed to guarding the path of God, to teach his children righteousness and justice. Abraham does not submit this sense of justice to God’s decree, rather, it brings him to challenge God. This is what it means to walk <\/span>with<\/b> God, rather than to hide behind God\u2019s word.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":107248,"id":107248,"title":"-62fc84271bcd2--62fc84271bcd3num22-footprints sand together.jpg","filename":"62fc84271bcd2-62fc84271bcd3num22-footprints-sand-together.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62fc84271bcd2-62fc84271bcd3num22-footprints-sand-together.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/walking-with-not-behind-god\/62fc84271bcd2-62fc84271bcd3num22-footprints-sand-together-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"62fc84271bcd2-62fc84271bcd3num22-footprints-sand-together-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":47940,"date":"2022-08-17 06:01:11","modified":"2022-08-17 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