The prophecies of Balaam.
May 18, 2020
Commentary
Israel’s greatest temptation was in wanting to be like the other nations, and this is what led to their downfall and captivity. Unfortunately, many in the church today have the same mistaken idea that being like the world is the way to reach the world. Instead of maintaining separation (II Cor. 6:14-15) they promote imitation (I John 2:15-17), so that it is becoming more difficult to distinguish the people of God from the people of the world.
The number seven was sacred among many of the nations and religions at this time (v. 1). Balak is still determined to get Balaam to bring the curse of God on Israel. Next we find him taking Balaam to Bamoth Baal (“the high places of Baal”) where they could see the camp of Israel and offer more sacrifices to Baal. Balaam used these sacrifices as part of his sorcery and soothsaying (24:1) and didn’t wait for God’s promised message as instructed. However in His grace and goodness, God used this evil man and endured his foolishness because He had a special message to declare about His people Israel. God had especially blessed the people of Israel and they could not be cursed (vv. 7-8). They also were chosen by God and therefore were as a nation set apart from the other nations (v. 9).
To encourage Balaam to do what he was hired to do (curse Israel) Balak decided to give him a new perspective (vv. 13-26). He took him to the top of Mount Pisgah where again they offered sacrifices to their gods (vv. 13-14). The very fact that Balaam participated in these pagan rituals shows the wickedness of his heart. He spoke the Word of God and longed for a righteous death, yet he thought nothing of using enchantments and Satan worship (24:1). He was a double minded man whose chief desire was to make as much money as possible by marketing his skills.
Application
Balak took Balaam to several places thinking a change of scenery might help bring about a change of mind. But changing locations won’t change God’s Will. I must learn to face the source of my problems. Moving to escape problems will only make solving them more difficult. A change of location or job may only distract me from the need of a changed heart.
Numbers 23:1– 30 (NET)
1 Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each altar a bull and a ram. 3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went to a deserted height.
4 Then God met Balaam, who said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5 Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.”
6 So he returned to him, and he was still standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. 7 Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying, “Balak, the king of Moab, brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’
8 How can I curse one whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see them; from the hills I watch them. Indeed, a nation that lives alone, and it will not be reckoned among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let the end of my life be like theirs.”
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary you have only blessed them!” 12 Balaam replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?” 13 Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.”
14 So Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 And Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there.” 16 Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 17 When Balaam came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”
18 Balaam uttered his oracle, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, son of Zippor:
19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen?
20 Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21 He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; his acclamation as king is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull.
23 For there is no spell against Jacob, nor is there any divination against Israel. At this time it must be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘Look at what God has done!’
24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness, and like a lion raises himself up; they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain.”
25 Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!” 26 But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, I must do’?”
27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward the wastelands. 29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Illustration: We are not to be isolated but insulated
We are not to be isolated but insulated, moving in the midst of evil but untouched by it. Separation is contact without contamination. Jesus was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26), yet He was “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34). (Vance Havner).