Questions on Balaam (Numbers 22:34)

I was reading through a bible plan with a group and this question came up:

And Balaam said to the Angel of Jehovah, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me; and now, if it be evil in thine eyes, I will get me back again (Numbers 22:34). At first, he asked God what to do and God told him not to go and he obeyed. Then they came again asking him to go ... he said not for all the silver and gold. Then God told him to go? He was just obeying right? I was thinking it may have to do with the bigger picture, that God wanted him to go and bless the people instead of cursing, but Jude calls Balaam a fool (but that could be for something that happened later too it seems?). Is it because he had asked God to curse them in the first place? It seems like he was just inquiring of the Lord about it ... but it talks about it in Joshua as though Balaam was asking God to do it (Joshua 24:9-10) ... any thoughts?

Geoffrey's notes:

It does seem like Balaam is just a humble prophet doing the will of the Lord, at first glance. He walks and talks this way to settle his own conscience, of course. In the end, he did receive the "reward of Balaam" (Jude 1:11), but not for prophesying against Israel. In the name of the Lord, he would only give a real prophecy of whatever the Lord gave him. So those prophecies were accurate. But he found another way:

Lo, these, through the counsel of Balaam, caused the children of Israel to commit sin against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague on the assembly of Jehovah (Numbers 31:16).

It was through the counsel of Balaam that Balak discovered the real way to curse Israel. It wasn't by getting someone to cast a spell or curse or prophecy on them. That would be like trying to attack the Lord himself. But if you can get them to fall into sin, then they will be cursed by their own God. That was Balaam's counsel, and that was how he ended up receiving the reward.

Looking at it from this perspective, you can see what Balaam was doing. On the outside, he knew he could only do what the Lord allowed, but in his heart, he longed for the reward and did not care for the Lord's people Israel. He would obey the command of the Lord, but he hardly cared about it. So after asking multiple times, the Lord says to go. Does Balaam care about what the Lord wants? No. If he did, he would be like Moses saying, "Far be it from Thee to do such a thing!" (Genesis 18:25)

This wasn't a case of maturity but of having a heart for and a relationship with the Lord vs. being an obedient person if hearing an external command. We may think all the Lord wants is for us to obey His commandments, and if we listen to what they are, we can then do them. There is truth in that He wants us to obey His commands. But His real commands cannot be obeyed rightly by merely doing the outward part of them. "You have heard that it was said ... but I tell you ..." is the principle of keeping God's commandments. The heart behind them is to love the Lord and His created people. Balaam neither loved the Lord nor any people. He loved himself and the reward of money.

Our problem in discerning the Lord's will may not always be this drastic of an issue like Balaam's, but we can still try to operate on the same principle when it comes to hearing God's will. We just want him to say "turn left," and we will be sure to turn left. But He wants us to ask things like, "Where do You want to go and why?" And when a choice doesn't seem right or fair or in love, we should ask, "Lord is that right? Lord, does that match with Your love for Your people?" If you feel free to waste a whole day or free to not do something you probably should do, would you ask the Lord, "Why, Lord? Even if I'm free to waste time, can't I just consecrate this time to You anyway and spend it wisely and well? Though You give me freedom, am I not allowed to give it back to You again to do something special?" It is in that type of relationship that we hear the heart behind the voice and that we learn the will behind the specific task. When we search for and gain this heart-will of God, we can usually tell most of the smaller "wills" of God without even asking.

And another connected question sent via email:

So if Balaam's should have known the will of God and His heart and been more mature... How come it was okay for Joshua (and the apostles) to cast lots to make decisions?

When completely stumped on a choice but a choice must be made, we move forward. Today we don't usually use lots, but the principle of leaving some room for the Lord to rule over the choice via circumstance is still used a lot. If you have some good options in front of you and are not confident from the Lord, then that is okay. Balaam's experience was different, and his asking was because of his wrong desire for the reward. This isn't mainly to do with maturity but with the heart behind the scenes.