{"id":54846,"date":"2019-05-04T23:11:39","date_gmt":"2019-05-04T20:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=54846"},"modified":"2019-05-04T23:11:39","modified_gmt":"2019-05-04T20:11:39","slug":"why-feature-balaam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/why-feature-balaam\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Feature Balaam?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"54846","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"211","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this final chapter, we read Joshua\u2019s valedictory. It takes the form of a concise retrospective on Jewish history from its dawning in the age of the patriarchs (vs. 2-4) through the slavery in, and exodus from, Egypt (5-7), crossing the wilderness (7-9), and the conquest of Canaan (11-13).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One detail from each successive era is included: God\u2019s distinction between Jacob and Esau; the crossing of the Red Sea; Balaam\u2019s unsuccessful attempt to curse Israel; and the conquest of Jericho. Arguably, of all that transpired during the forty years in the wilderness, the episode involving Balaam is hardly the most noteworthy; why was it alone chosen?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I would suggest that the answer lies in the singularity of the threat Balaam posed to the Jewish nation and the unique way in which that threat was neutralized. Most of the threats that confronted them from the exodus on, were either military or intramural. By this point in time, they had ample opportunity to savor their own military prowess\u2014as demonstrated by their successful conquests\u2014and their defusing of the potential conflict with the tribes of Trans-Jordan (chapter 22) dispelled the internal threat as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That left a threat of a theological variety, and Balaam met this specification. His was not the threat of open warfare, but of virulent anti-Semitism, and his assumption that Israel stood in divine disfavor was countered only by a remarkable display of divine favor: \u201cI refused to listen to Balaam and he blessed you exceedingly and I rescued you from him\u201d (v. 10). <\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":47977,"id":47977,"title":"Balaam","filename":"Balaam.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-yetzer-the-power-of-desire\/balaam\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"balaam","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":47942,"date":"2019-01-22 21:18:32","modified":"2019-05-04 20:11:35","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1701,"height":1701,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam.jpg","2048x2048-width":1701,"2048x2048-height":1701,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Why Feature Balaam?","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"A significant threat of a very different nature\u2026","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":47977,"id":47977,"title":"Balaam","filename":"Balaam.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-yetzer-the-power-of-desire\/balaam\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"balaam","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":47942,"date":"2019-01-22 21:18:32","modified":"2019-05-04 20:11:35","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1701,"height":1701,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam.jpg","2048x2048-width":1701,"2048x2048-height":1701,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Balaam-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54846"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54846"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54847,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54846\/revisions\/54847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}