되려 이스라엘을 축복하는 발람 민수기 23장 이야기

민수기 23장은 저주 미션을 받은 발람이 오히려 이스라엘을 축복하게 되는 이야기가 나옵니다. 하나님의 뜻을 따르기로 한 것 같은데 무슨 일이 생겼는지 알아보겠습니다.

 

발락의 준비

민수기 22장 읽기

 

민수기 23장은 발락이 발람을 데리고 바알 신당으로 가서 이스라엘 백성이 보이는 곳에 도달합니다. 바알신당이라 함은 이스라엘 민족 입장에서는 이교 신앙에 해당합니다. 당시 가나안과 고대 근동 지역에서는 바알 신을 숭배하면서 이교가 널리 퍼졌는데요.

 

 

1. And Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." 2. Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull ad a ram. 3. And Balaam said to Balak, "Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you." And he went to a bare height, 4. and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, "I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram." 5. And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak." 6. And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering.

 

바알 신당에서 발락은 제를 올리기 위한 준비를 합니다. 여기서 바알 신당은 산 꼭대기나 높은 장소에 세워져 있었는데 당연히 이스라엘 민족들이 섬기는 하나님은 빡칠 노릇이었죠.

 

 

7. And Balaam took up his discourse and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: 'Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!' How can I curse whom God has not cursed?

 

 How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him; behold, a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among the nations! Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!"

 

 

 

 발람의 신념

 

11. And Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them." 12. And he answered and said, "Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?"

 

 

  13. And Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there." 14. And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15. Balaam said to Blalk, "Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there." 16. And the Lord met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak." 17. And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the Lord spoken?" 18. And Balaam took up his discourse and said,

 

"Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor: 19. God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it? 20. Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. 21. He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them. 22. God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. 23. For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, 'What has God wrought!' 24. Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itsefl; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain."

 

 

19절이 인상적입니다. 하나님은 인간이 아니며 거짓말을 하지 않고 인생이 아니니 후회가 없다고 합니다. 그러니까 인간은 수많은 후회를 하고 살지만 신은 결코 후회하는 법이 없다는 거네요.

또한, 발람이 이스라엘 민족을 축복하게 된 계기가, 야곱에게는 허물이 보이지 않으며 이스라엘에게는 환난이 보이지 않는다고 합니다. 그리고 야곱을 해할 점술도 없고 이스라엘을 해할 복술도 없다면서 하나님의 명대로 축복을 하기로 결심했나 봅니다.

 

 정리

 

민수기 23장은 발람의 입장에서 하나님이 이스라엘을 축복하셨으므로 발락의 요청대로 이스라일 민족을 저주할 수 없으며, 오히려 축복을 하기로 한 이유를 항변합니다. 이스라엘은 강력하고 특별한 민족으로 다른 민족과 구별되며 하나님의 능력을 나타낸다고 하는데요. 이 역시 전적으로 정복자 입장에서의 합리화로 볼 수도 있을 것 같네요.