Bilaam and Prophecy

The Midrash tells us that Pharoah had three primary advisors in Egypt. They were Iyov, Yitro, and Bilaam.

The Midrash goes on to explain the fate of each of these three men. Iyov was silent and did not protest the injustices done to the Jewish people. He was punished for this with serious suffering and tests of faith.

Yitro ran away and was not willing to be a party to such terrible treatment of the Jews. He was rewarded by becoming the father in-law of the redeemer of Israel.

Bilaam made the recommendation to throw all of the Jewish baby boys into the Nile. He was punished with death by the sword.

Rashi asked why such an evil man as Bilaam would be given prophecy. He knew the exact moment when his curse of the Jewish people could do harm. He answers that prophecy was given to the Gentiles so that they would not be able to claim that they were deprived of a prophet. Perhaps if they had one, they could also have developed a closeness to G-d like the Jews.

When Moshe Rabbeinu prayed for forgiveness for the sin of the Golden Calf, he asked Hashem to no longer give prophecy to the nations of the world.

We learn this from the words, ונפלינו אני ועמך, “Let me and and your nation remain separate.” Moshe understood that prophecy in the wrong hands, could be dangerous.

Some even say that either Bilaam and Lavan were related, or they were the same person.

This was before Bilaam later succeeded in getting the Jewish men to sin, where 24,000 died in a plague.

There are no prophets among the nations. They are all false prophets practicing witchcraft and sorcery. We learned our lesson in Egypt when we first heard of Bilaam. The message from Moshe was that there would no longer be prophets, except for Israel. That prophecy ended forty years into the Second Temple. We believe that prophecy will return with the coming of the Mashiach.