Numbers 22:16
And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:
This is Balak's second, more urgent and renewed invitation, sent after Balaam reluctantly refused the first messengers because God had forbidden him to go and to curse Israel for they are blessed. It belongs to Balak's effort to bring Balaam to Moab to curse Israel and thereby oppose Israel through Balaam's supposed supernatural power. That effort conducted him from one point to another in the vain hope of turning the blessing of Israel into a curse.
The invitation was carried by a larger company of princes more numerous, more honorable and more exalted than the first. They pressed Balaam to come without delay and to let nothing keep or hinder him from coming. It was backed by the offer of promotion to very great and higher honor and the promise to do whatever Balaam asked and to meet any terms he set.
The appeal tested Balaam's loyalty and obedience by setting reward, status and favor against God's will. It exposed his double-minded condition as a professed and apostatized prophet of God who pursued the favor, honor and rewards of God's enemies from covetousness. Although he professed unwillingness to go beyond God's word and claimed no reward could turn him from God's will, he desired the gain and honor and longed to accept the king's request. He sought to ask God again despite already knowing God's will. His conduct illustrates how people work contrary to God when selfishness and covetousness shape their plans and they leave God out of their hearts. The repeated effort to induce the curse fails, showing that human applause and the fear of man are alike powerless to shake one who stands firm and is sustained by divine power.