Parashat Balak: Offense, Teshuva, and Seeing with Spiritual Eyes
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At Humble Happenings, I don’t just read the text. I ask:
How does this live inside of me?
What is YHWH trying to reveal not just through the story, but in me?
This week, I couldn’t stop thinking about Bilʽam and his donkey.
She wasn’t just a beast of burden. She was his companion, his loyal support. But suddenly, she turned aside, crushed his foot, and refused to go forward. Bilʽam, blinded by frustration, responded with rage. He struck her and shouted:
“Because you have mocked me! I wish there were a sword in my hand, for I would have killed you by now!” Bemiḏbar/Numbers 22:29, TS2009
What he couldn’t see...what she could...was the Messenger of YHWH standing in the way with a sword drawn. She wasn’t disobedient. She was discerning. She was trying to save him.
But instead of pausing to seek understanding, Bilʽam lashed out.
He was offended.
He was embarrassed.
He was focused on the bruise to his pride rather than the danger to his soul.
How often do we do the same?
A loved one confronts us with truth—and we get defensive.
Someone calls us to a deeper walk—and we take it as judgment.
Plans are delayed—and we spiral, not realizing YHWH may be shielding us.
Sometimes, the very things we resist are divine detours. The delays, the rebukes, the hard words—they might be donkeys in disguise. They might be the very mercy of YHWH, turning us away from destruction.
“And the Messenger of YHWH said to him, ‘See, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is reckless before Me. And the donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, I certainly would have killed you by now, and let her live."Bemiḏbar/Numbers 22:32–33, TS2009
That turning aside—that change in direction—is what the Hebrew calls Teshuva (תשובה). It means to return, to turn back, to reorient yourself toward truth and toward YHWH.
Offense= The Currency of the Enemy
Yeshua gave a sobering warning:
“And then many shall stumble, and they shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another.” Mattithyahu/Matthew 24:10, TS2009
The word “stumble” in Greek is skandalizo—to be offended.
Offense, He said, would define the end times. And isn’t that true today?
Offense has become a form of identity.
A shield.
A sword.
We carry it like a banner:
“You said this.”
“You did that.”
“You hurt me, so I will never forget.”
But this isn’t healing.
It’s bondage.
Offense is the currency of the enemy, and it purchases chaos, division, and hardened hearts.
“He who hides hatred has lying lips, And he who sends out a slander is a fool.” Mishlĕ/Proverbs 10:18, TS2009
Why Are We So Easily Offended?
Yeshua explained this too—in the parable of the sower:
“But he who has received the seed on rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself but is short-lived. And when pressure or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately he stumbles.” Mattithyahu/Matthew 13:20–21, TS2009
The offended heart often reveals a shallow root system.
Without daily worship, repentance, and the watering of the Word, we stay surface-level. So when pressure comes, or correction lands, or truth hits a nerve—we stumble. We fall into offense instead of falling into the arms of YHWH.
David knew the secret to an unoffended life:
“Great peace have those loving Your Torah, And for them there is no stumbling-block.”
Tehillim/Psalm 119:165, TS2009
And:
“I delight myself in Your laws; I do not forget Your Word.” Tehillim/Psalm 119:16, TS2009
David didn’t just read the Torah—he loved it. And because he loved it, correction didn’t offend him. It grounded him. It humbled him. It kept him tender before YHWH.
The Torah shows us where we fall short—and also points us to Yeshua, who meets us in that need. Offense cannot survive in a heart that’s in constant repentance.
Rav Sha’ul (Paul) wrote, “I die daily.”
1 Corinthians 15:31, TS2009
He understood what it takes to stay free.
Offense is born from pride.
And pride dies hard.
But daily death—daily surrender—brings daily freedom.
We must humble ourselves each morning, fall on our face, and ask:
“YHWH, cleanse me. Teach me. Correct me. Change me.”
That kind of heart is hard to offend. Because it’s already yielded.
Unchecked offense often morphs into something worse:
The victim spirit.
It says:
“You did this to me.”
“You broke me.”
“Now I have a right to be bitter, cold, distant.”
But that’s not righteousness. That’s control wrapped in pain.
It’s a refusal to look inward.
It’s a resistance to growth.
It’s manipulation in disguise.
Real love says, “Even if you strike me, I’ll choose what’s right.”
“Even if you don’t change, I will.”
“Even if this hurts, I won’t walk in hate.”
Bilʽam didn’t see clearly until YHWH opened his eyes:
“Then YHWH opened Bilʽam’s eyes, and he saw the Messenger of YHWH standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand. And he bowed his head and fell on his face.”
Bemiḏbar/Numbers 22:31, TS2009
Let that be our prayer:
Open our eyes before it's too late.
Let us see the angel in the path—the one who stands not to punish us, but to redirect us.
Offense ruins more than we realize.
It poisons marriages.
Destroys friendships.
Blinds us to blessing.
It is the gatekeeper of pride—and pride always leads to a fall.
But Teshuva—turning back—brings healing.
It reopens the door to love, to humility, and to wholeness.
Take a moment today and ask yourself:
Am I walking in offense?
Am I more concerned with being right than being righteous?
Am I open to correction—or resisting the very ones YHWH has sent to help me?
We don’t always see the full picture.
But YHWH does. And sometimes, the very thing we’re striking in anger…
is the thing that’s saving us.
Let us not be offended by the ones meant to protect us.
Let us not miss the warning because we’re busy defending our pride.
Let us turn back.
Let us walk in Teshuva,
in forgiveness,
and in the shalom that only comes from seeing with spiritual eyes.
With love, tears, and truth,
Ash
Humble Happenings