Apart from the biblical record, very little is known of Balaam. This guy has always been an enigma to me. He shows up in scripture as something of an anomaly whose origin and ancestry are very uncertain. The text says he was from Pethor, which was a city in Mesopotamia on the Euphrates River some 400 miles north of Moab (About a 20-day journey at 25 miles per day). He may not have been a Moabite, but if he is from Pethor, then he may have shared a common ancestry with the Moabites through Lot who came from Mesopotamia to the land of Moab. Apparently, Balaam had a reputation that preceded him even as far away as Moab. Balak had known either by personal encounter or by reputation concerning Balaam that “whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” If Balaam was indeed a prophet of God, then this would have certainly been true.
Like Melchizedek, Balaam comes on the scene out of nowhere as a worshiper of God with no seeming connection to Abraham. If this Balaam was indeed a prophet of God, then he appears to have had more in common with such men as Gehazi or the unnamed old prophet of Bethel in 1 Kings 13:24 who deceived the prophet of Judah to his death than he does with Melchizedek.
Balaam seems to have mixed the worship of the one true God with the art of divination. This is something we do not see in any other prophet of Jehovah. Balaam uses the name ‘Jehovah’ repeatedly, and in verse 18 he refers to Jehovah as “The Lord My God.” which indicates, at the very least, some measure of familiarity with the one true God, but in Joshua 13:22, he is regarded as a diviner or soothsayer, “The sons of Israel also killed Balaam the son of Beor, the diviner….”
Divining is a craft of the idolater, and one forbidden by Jehovah. In fact, God had forbidden Israel to have anything to do with such evil practices or to even tolerate the presence of those among them who did.
Despite this however, there seems to have been some relationship between Balaam and the Lord. In fact, his initial discourse with the Lord in chapter 22, which the Lord himself initiated, seems to have been no different than that of any other prophet. It also seems to have been an experience with which Balaam was familiar. He obviously expected to receive a response from the Lord and was not surprised when he received it.
Balaam is called a prophet in 2 Peter 2:16 as well as in Numbers 22:7. The question then is this, was Balaam a false prophet from the beginning or, was he a genuine prophet of God who went bad. Scripture never seems to have anything good to say about this man, but it would seem he falls within the category of the latter.