Numbers 23
Balaam Blesses Israel
23:1 Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each altar a bull and a ram. 23:3 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.
Balaam was pagan. He offered these sacrifices to Jehovah as a bribe. The true sacrifices of Israel pointed to the Messiah to come. They were not used as bribes to gods.
23:4 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.” 23:5 Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 23:6 So he returned to him, and he was still standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.
God commanded Balaam to return to King Balak and only repeat what God would tell him.
23:7 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.’ 23:8 How can I curse one whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced? 23:9 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. 23:10 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.”
King Balak expected to hear a curse. Instead, he heard a blessing. A paraphrase of this blessing was as follows:
King Balak hired Balaam from Babylon to curse Israel. Balaam could not curse Israel because Jehovah had blessed Israel. Israel will grow so large and powerful, that they will be numbered as the dust on the earth. Balaam was jealous of Israel. He wanted his life to be righteous. He wanted to live like those in Israel. He wanted to die in righteousness.
Balaam Relocates
23:11 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!”
King Balak was upset at Balaam. Instead of cursing Israel, Balaam blessed them.
23:12 Balaam replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”
Balaam could only speak what God allowed him to speak. God is sovereign even over the words of His enemies. An enemy cannot even speak against God unless God allows him to do so.
23:13 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.”
King Balak changed the location, moving Balaam to another pagan grove. He was hoping that these other pagan gods at this other pagan grove would convince Balaam to curse Israel. Most of these groves were located on the tops of mountains and hills.
23:14 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.
This was another bribe to Jehovah. Jehovah does not accept bribes.
23:15 And Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there. 23:16 Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 23:17 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?”
This time, the princes of Moab were present at the pagan groves with King Balak.
Balaam Prophesies Again
23:18 Balaam uttered his oracle, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, son of Zippor: 23:19 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? 23:20 Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 23:21 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. 23:22 God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. 23:23 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!’ 23:24 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.”
King Balak asked Balaam to curse Israel. Instead, Balaam blessed them again. His blessing was as follows:
God is not a man. He does not lie and He does not change His mind. God has already blessed Israel. This blessing will stand. God will not reverse His blessing. God brought Israel out of Egypt for a purpose. God has made Israel as strong as a bull. Supernatural magic will not work against Israel. Nations will look at Israel and know that God has blessed them. God has turned Israel into a mighty lion. When the lion (Israel) rises up, she will not lie down until she has eaten her prey (Moabites). She will drink the blood of all of those in whom she slays.
Balaam Relocates Yet Again
23:25 Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
King Balak said that it was better for Balaam to not speak if he was not going to curse Israel.
23:26 But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, I must do’?”
Balaam could only speak what Jehovah allowed him to speak.
23:27 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.”
King Balak took Balaam to another pagan grove and offered more sacrificial bribes to other gods.
23:28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward the wilderness. 23:29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
King Balak offered more sacrifices to the other gods on the top of Peor which was another pagan site.