@JTrott The background to the story in Num. 22-24 shows Balaam explaining to the king of Moab, Balak, that God had called and blessed the Israelites. Balaam made that pretty clear. It seems they had plenty of fair warning that God was with Israel. It's too bad they tried swaying Israel toward their god (Baal) and immoral practices rather than trying to learn more about the God of Israel.