Numbers 23

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:32:26utc

J. Failure with the Moabites (continued) 22:1-25:18

1) Balaam's first prophecy 23:1-12

The closing verse of the previous chapter tells us: "The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, and from there he saw part of the people." This was a high place from which part of the Israelite camp was visible. Both the condition of the place and the view were intended to bring Balaam in the trance in which he could curse the people. It is very unlikely, as we mentioned before, that Balaam still had any hope that he would be able to pronounce a curse. He went through the ritual to deceive Balak and to make him understand at the end that he had been unable to utter a curse because of factors beyond his control., Balaam, however, also tried to deceive God. The seven altars with the seven sacrifices were built by Balak for the service of YHWH. In making this arrangement Balaam dug his own grave.

The Lord did meet Balaam, and the prophet received the text of the prophecy he was to utter in the presence of Balak. Balaam's prophecy is called an "oracle" in the NIV. The KJV uses the word "parable." The Pulpit Commentary says: "Balaam's utterances were in the highest degree poetical, according to the antithetic form of the poetry of that day, which delighted in sustained parallelisms, in lofty figures, and in abrupt turns. The 'mashal' of Balaam resembled the 'burden' of the later prophets in this, that it was not a discourse uttered to men, but a thing revealed in him of which he had to deliver himself as best he might in such words as came to him. His inward eye was fixed on this revelation, and he gave utterance to it without consideration of those who heard."

The text of this first oracle reads as follows: "Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. 'Come,' he said, 'curse Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.' How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced? From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs!" The first two lines were obviously pronounced for the benefit of Balak, to make the king understand that Balaam would have cursed Israel if he could, but that he was overruled by a higher authority. The next two lines are definitely the core of the prophecy of blessing which God wanted Balaam to utter, and we may consider the last two lines as an utterance of Balaam's personal wish.

Balaam needed no divine revelation to pronounce the first part of the prophecy. He knew he could not curse Israel, and he saw part of the people from the place where he was standing. From the words "the fourth part," we understand that only approximately one quarter of the people were visible from this point. The phrase "a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations" should be taken in the spiritual sense, that Israel differed from other nations because of God's election and of His revelation to them. Within the nation of Israel there was some ambiguity on this point. Israel struggled from time to time with the fact that they were different from other nations. This was the cause for their assimilation of the idolatry of Canaan, and it led ultimately to their desire for a king, and the end of theocracy. The leaders of Israel said to Samuel: "Appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."[ 1 ] This false prophet saw more in God's people than they saw in themselves! The phrase: "Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel?" makes us think of God's promise to Abraham, after the sacrifice of Isaac. Balaam may have been familiar with the words: "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore."[ 2 ] If not, they were definitely part of the inspired words the Lord had given to him.

The last phrase of this first prophecy sounds pathetic in the mouth of this perverse prophet: "Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs!" "The righteous" are, undoubtedly, the Israelites, whom Balaam was trying, and willing, to curse. He not only recognized their privileged position in life, but also in death. That is a most remarkable statement, since it implies a philosophy of death that is not generally found in the Old Testament. It goes beyond that supposition that there is life after death; it suggests that there is judgment after death and also blessedness. In uttering this prayer, Balaam must have felt that this blessedness was beyond his reach. God would have given His blessing to this prophet, had he been willing to give up his secret scheme for the defeat of Israel through the seduction by the Moabite women. This, obviously, he was unwilling to do. This is what makes Balaam come through to us in these pages of Scripture as one of the most tragic figures in the whole Old Testament.

The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary quotes a certain Dr. Warburton who interprets these words thus: "Let me die in a mature old age, after a life of health and peace, with all my posterity flourishing about me, as was the lot of the righteous observers of the law." The commentary adds to this: "But they bear a far deeper and more important signification than this cold and feeble construction puts upon them, expressing a wish that the close of his life might be cheered with the comforts of the righteous, and be introduced into the happiness of another life, which the righteous only can enjoy … Balaam was the representative of a large class in the world who express a wish for the blessedness of the Lord's people at last, but are averse to lead a corresponding life."

Balak is, of course, upset with the text of Balaam's first parable. He must have thought that with some effort on Balaam's side, the prophet would have been able to rip off the protective spiritual cover that was over Israel. He had no idea who the God of Israel was, and he may have thought that Balaam's "blessing" was a ploy by the prophet to increase his soothsaying fee. Otherwise, he would not have arranged for a second, and even a third seance.

Balaam's second prophecy 23:13-26

For the second session Balaam is led to the top of Mount Pisgah. This must have been a well-known look-out, according to The Pulpit Commentary, for "the field of Zophim" literally means "the field of the watchers." A large section of the country must have been visible from there, since it was the place from which the Lord showed Moses the promised land, prior to his death.[ 3 ] When Balak says to Balaam that he will be able to "see only a part but not all of them," it must have meant that the whole army of Israel had not moved close enough to be observed from there. The preparatory ritual is the same as the first time. Seven bulls and seven rams are offered on seven altars to appease the Spirit of God. Balak and his dignitaries stand beside these altars while Balaam moves away to meet the Lord.

Balak did not understand how insulting this ritual must have been to God, the Creator of heaven and earth. This king tried to appease the Almighty in the same way the pagan idols, representing evil spirits, were pacified so they could be manipulated by man to become subservient to his purpose. The sacrifices Balak brought were, in no way, a pleasing aroma to the Lord; they did not remind Him of the sacrifice of love His Son would bring to reconcile creation with its Creator.

Balaam meets the Lord again, like the first time, and he is sent back with a second message. We find the text of the second blessing in the verses 18-24. Actually, the text does not contain a new blessing of Israel, but a confirmation of Israel's inalterable blessed condition. In the opening sentences of this text Balaam addresses Balak personally. Balak is confronted with the reality of truth. Truth is a divine attribute; it is an absolute. This must have been a new concept to Balak, who, like all people who do not know God, believed that truth was relative, and that it could be approached subjectively. In addressing Balak like this, God penetrates to the core of Balak's problem, as Jesus did in His brief audience with Pilate. Jesus said to Pilate: " 'You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.' 'What is truth?' Pilate asked."[ 4 ] Everyone who is not "on the side of truth" is on the other side, that is on the side of the lie, the side of the father of lies, as Jesus called him. Speaking of Satan, Jesus said: "He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."[ 5 ] Lying and murder go together, like truth and life.

Balak is told: "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act?" As in Jesus' words to Pilate, so in this address to Balak, there is a hidden invitation to the truth that could set man free if they would allow God to transform their lives. The writer to the Hebrews says: "It is impossible for God to lie." The full text reads: "God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged."[ 6 ] God's inability to lie is not a flaw in His perfection, but a confirmation of His reliability. Although Balak, undoubtedly, accepted this affirmation in a negative sense, since he was out to obtain a curse for people who were blessed, the content of the words is positive. In denying Balak his curse, God preached the Gospel to him, so that, if he would flee to the God of Israel, he could take hold of the hope offered by Him and thus be greatly encouraged. But Balak was too preoccupied with the hope for a curse, to hear the sound of a blessing for himself, and his master certainly would not have allowed him to see the light. In reading Balaam's prophecies, we should not fail to see in them God's outstretched hand of mercy to this pagan king who was caught in the web of the father of lies.

Israel was the recipient of God's promise to Abraham, which climaxed in the coming of the Savior of the world. Balak could have been the recipient of this blessing also, had he not been so earnest in his search for a curse, a curse that would boomerang. Paul's words to the Galatians are applicable here: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.' He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."[ 7 ]

The NIV renders vs. 21 with: "No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel." Another rendering is: "He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel." [ 8 ] The Hebrew word translated "misfortune," or "iniquity" is 'aawen, which is derived from 'aven, defined by Strongs with "to pant (hence, to exert oneself, usually in vain; to come to naught) trouble, strictly nothingness, vanity, wickedness; specifically an idol." The word for "misery" is `aamaal or `amal, meaning "toil, i.e. wearing effort; hence, worry, whether of body or mind."

Adam Clarke's Commentary observes: "[He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel] This is a difficult passage; for if we take the words as spoken of the people Israel, as their iniquity and their perverseness were almost unparalleled, such words cannot be spoken of them with strict truth. If we consider them as spoken of the patriarch Jacob and Israel, or of Jacob after he became Israel, they are most strictly true, as after that time a more unblemished and noble character (Abraham excepted) is not to be found in the page of history, whether sacred or profane; and for his sake, and for the sake of his father Isaac, and his grandfather Abraham, God is ever represented as favoring, blessing, and sparing a rebellious and undeserving people; see the concluding note, [Gen. 49]. In this way, I think, this difficult text may be safely understood. There is another way in which the words may be interpreted, which will give a good sense. 'Aawen … not only signifies iniquity, but most frequently trouble, labour, distress, and affliction; and these indeed are its ideal meanings, and iniquity is only an accommodated or metaphorical one, because of the pain, distress, etc., produced by sin. `Aamaal …, translated here perverseness, occurs often in Scripture, but is never translated perverseness except in this place. It signifies simply labour, especially that which is of an afflictive or oppressive kind. The words may therefore be considered as implying that God will not suffer the people either to be exterminated by the sword, or to be brought under a yoke of slavery. Either of these methods of interpretation gives a good sense, but our common version gives none. Dr. Kennicott contends for the reading of the Samaritan, which, instead of lo' … hibiyT …, he hath not seen, has lo' 'abiT, I do not see, I do not discover anything among them on which I could ground my curse. But the sense above given is to be preferred." The most logical explanation seems to be that the presence of the Lord among Israel would rule out any curse, since God cannot curse Himself.

"The shout of the King" is the battle cry of Israel. This is the sound Balak feared most. It stands for the power that brought about the Exodus and the defeat of Pharaoh and his army. It also spelled the defeat of the people that inhabited Canaan, whose measure of iniquity was full to the brim.

The power of God is presented under the symbol of "a wild ox." The KJV uses the word "unicorn." Strongs defines the Hebrew word re'em with "a wild bull." Adam Clarke's Commentary says here: "It is generally allowed that there is no such beast in nature as the unicorn: i. e, a creature of the horse kind, with one long rich curled horn in the forehead. The creature painted from fancy is represented as one of the supporters of the royal arms of Great Britain. It is difficult to say what kind of beast is intended by the original word. The Septuagint translate the word monokeros, the unicorn, or one-horned animal; the Vulgate, sometimes, unicornus; and in the text rhinocerotis, by which the rhinoceros, a creature which has its name from the horn on its nose, is supposed to be meant. That no single-horned animal can be intended by the reem of Moses, is sufficiently evident from this, that Moses, speaking of Joseph, says, 'he has the HORNS of A unicorn,' or reem, where the horns are spoken of in the plural, the animal in the singular. The creature referred to is either the rhinoceros, some varieties of which have two horns on the nose, or the wild bull, urus, or buffalo; though some think the beast intended is a species of goat, but the rhinoceros seems the most likely. There is literally a monoceros, or unicorn, with one large curled ivory horn growing horizontally out of his snout; but this is not a land animal, it is the modiodan or nurwal, a marine animal of the whale kind, a horn of which is now before me, measuring seven feet four inches, but I believe the rhinoceros is that intended by the sacred writers." One of the "four living creatures" that surround the throne of God is identified by the Apostle John as being a bull.[ 9 ] The obvious intent of the image is that the power of God was upon the people of Israel, and that there was no human match for this among the inhabitants of Canaan.

Balaam goes on to say: "There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'See what God has done!' " These words go beyond the admission that Balaam's witchcraft is powerless in the presence of the God of Israel; they are a declaration of God's plan of salvation for the world. God chose a group of nomadic slaves, delivered them from their bondage, and not only made them into a powerful nation, but used them as the vehicle of His revelation in this world. Israel's status was to be "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."[ 10 ] The fact that Balak experienced this as a threat to his existence was the result of his own perversity, not of God's election.

Most modern translations render vs. 24 with: "The people rise like a lioness." The KJV uses the term "a great lion." The Hebrew word labiy', evidently, is used for both the male and female of the "king of the forest." But Strongs Definitions states: "a lion (properly, a lioness as the fiercer [although not a roarer])." We find in Balaam's prophecy both the traces of God's love in that He chose Israel to be the bearer of His Self revelation in this world, and of His wrath, symbolized in the images of the bull and the lioness. In the above quote from Revelation, we find the lion next to the bull as the guardians of the throne of God. When we say, though, that the lioness symbolizes the wrath of God, we should also state that "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" appears to the Apostle John under the form of "a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain."[ 11 ] The fact, however, that the nature of the Lion of Judah is like that of a Lamb that is slain does not seem to alleviate the fear of wicked men. We read in Revelation: "Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?' "[ 12 ] Only those with a bad conscience can fear "the wrath of the Lamb."

Balak's reaction to this prophecy of Balaam is "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!" What he probably meant to say was: "If you cannot curse them, at least do not bless them." If we take Balak's words literally, we have to conclude that Balak did not know what he wanted Balaam to do. Just file a non-committal report about Israel? All of a sudden Balak wanted to become non-aligned, or neutral. The problem in life is that there is no neutral ground between the curse and the blessing. We have no option but to choose between the two. Balak had initially chosen for the curse; now he wants to cancel the curse, since it appears to be impossible, but he does not want to reverse it. Balak's attitude defines the dilemma of man throughout the ages. In his farewell address to Israel, Moses said: "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life." Balak did not want to choose anymore, but not choosing also is a choice, and it is a bad one.

Balaam's third prophecy 23:27-24:25

In spite of Balak's newly acquired position of neutrality, he wants Balaam to give the curse one more try. This time Balaam is taken to Peor. The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary says about this place: "[Brought Balaam unto the top of Peor]-- the eminence on the Abarim range which stood a little north of Nebo, and nearer the Israelite encampment, commanding a view of the whole host. The wilderness, the Arabah, or desert tract on both sides of the Dead Sea. The part of it, however, specially referred to was the site of Israel's encampment, 'over against Beth-peor' [Num. 24:2; Deut. 3:29; 4:6; 34:6]." And Adam Clarke's Commentary says: "Probably the place where the famous Baal-peor had his chief temple. He appears to have been the Priapus of the Moabites, and to have been worshipped with the same obscene and abominable rites." Matthew Henry's Commentary writes: "They change the place. Balak is at last convinced that it is not Balaam's fault, on whom, before, he had laid the blame, but that really he was under a divine check, and therefore now he hopes to bring him to a place whence God might at least permit him to curse them, v. 27. Probably he and Balaam were the more encouraged thus to repeat their attempt because God had the second time allowed Balaam to go, though he had forbidden him the first time. Since by repeated trials they had carried that point, they hoped in like manner to carry this. Thus because sinners are born with, and sentence against their evil works is not executed speedily, their hearts are the more fully set in them to do evil. The place to which Balak now took Balaam was the top of Peor, the most eminent high place in all his country, where, it is probable, Baal was worshipped, and it was thence called Baal-peor. He chose this place with a hope, either, First, That it being the residence (as he fancied) of Baal, the god of Moab, Jehovah the God of Israel would not, or could not, come hither to hinder the operation; or, Secondly, That, it being a place acceptable to his god, it would be so to the Lord, and there he would be brought into a good humor. Such idle conceits have foolish men of God, and so vain are their imaginations concerning him. Thus the Syrians fancied the Lord to be God of the hills, but not of the valleys [1 Kin. 20:28], as if he were more powerful in one place than he is in every place."

Matthew Henry is probably most correct in assuming that the change of place to the top of Mount Peor was of spiritual significance. Balak must have thought that, at the sanctuary of his god, the overruling power of YHWH was cancelled out. At least he felt that it was worth trying. So the scene is set for the last curse. Obviously, these last verses of the chapter, verse 27 through 33 belong to the next one. So, we will follow our study in chapter 24.

[ 1 ] I Sam. 8:5

[ 2 ] Gen. 22:17

[ 3 ] Deut. 34:1-3

[ 4 ] John 18:37,38

[ 5 ] John 8:44

[ 6 ] Heb. 6:18

[ 7 ] Gal. 3:13,14

[ 8 ] NKJ

[ 9 ] Rev. 4:6^b,7

[ 10 ] Ex. 19:6

[ 11 ] Rev. 5:6

[ 12 ] Rev. 6:15-17