Speak ONLY What God Says to Speak - Numbers 21-24

 Numbers 22:18 (ESV Strong's)

18 But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more. 

Numbers 22:38 (ESV Strong's)

38 Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.”

Numbers 23:26 (ESV Strong's)

26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the LORD says, that I must do’?”

Numbers 24:12-13 (ESV Strong's)

12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13 ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the LORD speaks, that will I speak’?

Speak ONLY What God Says to Speak

The above quotes are from the prophet Balaam.   We know very little about him.  He apparently was a known prophet of God.  Balak , the king of Moab, must have had some knowledge of him.  He would say this about him:

Numbers 22:6 (ESV Strong's)

6 Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

As we soon find out, Balaam’s commitment to ONLY say what God told him to say was only an outward commitment.  He would later give Balak insight on how to defeat and compromise Israel.  Note how Peter characterizes Balaam in the New Testament:

2 Peter 2:15-16 (ESV Strong's)

15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

He wanted “gain” rather than righteousness.   The Apostle John said it this way:

Revelation 2:14 (ESV Strong's)

14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.

Balaam was a man after his own heart.  He outwardly said the right things, but inwardly he was seeking his own fame and gain.   This is completely contrary to what God asked him to do.  He would have been wise to do what he said he was going to do: Only speak what the Lord tells me to speak.