God’s Eternal Covenant with Phinehas
25: 10-18

God’s eternal covenant with Phinehas DIG: What would have happened if Phinehas had either waited several days, or even not cared at all and did nothing? Why was Phinehas rewarded for his actions? Define zealous. How did Phinehas make atonement for Isra’el? Why are Zimri and Cozbi now remembered?

REFLECT: What covenant of peace do you have with Messiah (John 14:27)? How does the action of Phinehas encourage you to act when you see blasphemy against your God? What does it mean to be zealous for the Lord in today’s culture? How can this story of Isra’el’s seduction aid you in this struggle? 

Parashah 40: Phinehas (dark-skinned) 25:10 to 29:40
(See my commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Af – Parashah)

The Key People are Moshe, Phinehas, Zimri, Cozbi, the Midianites, Eleazar, the Israelites who were counted a second time and listed clan by clan, Caleb and Joshua. This portion is named for Phinehas, the zealous grandson of Aaron the high priest, who turned aside God’s anger by publicly impaling two flagrant transgressors of Torah. Without trial or due process, Phinehas rose up as a court of one. He was the witness, judge, and executioner. Yet, rather than being punished for his zeal, Phinehas was awarded an eternal covenant of peace.

The Scenes are on the plains of Mo’av by the Jordan across from Jericho; entrance into the Tabernacle, and a mountain in the Abarim range.

The Main Events include Phinehas becoming High Priest because of his zeal, another census count for the army, land inheritance that was to be based on numbers, the Levites receiving no land, a note that the first generation had all died except for Caleb and Joshua, Joshua declared the new leader to succeed Moshe, and regular and festival offerings spelled out.

Phinehas made atonement for the people of Isra’el.

In this parashah, we find ourselves back in the setting of the camp of Isra’el. The Guardian and Protector of Isra’el has just thwarted a potentially major catastrophe in the spiritual realm by stifling the curses of Balak and causing the evil Balaam to utter blessings toward Isra’el. Now ADONAI has some unfinished business to attend to in order to fully prepare the wilderness generation to take possession of the Land.

The zeal of Phinehas (25:10-11): ADONAI said to Moshe, “Phinehas the son of El‘azar, the son of Aaron the high priest, has deflected my anger from the people of Isra’el by being as zealous as I am, so that I didn’t destroy them in my own zeal.” The word that is translated as jealousy is the Hebrew word kana, a word that can also be understood as zeal. In fact, the anti-Roman, Jewish revolutionaries of the First Century were referred to by the same word: the Zealots. First Century Judea and Galilee were filled with political and religious zealots who regularly resorted to violence to advance their purposes. In many ways, their fervor and ruthlessness is comparable to religious fundamentalists, who trouble our modern world with terrorism and bloodshed.

Prior to his encounter with Messiah on the road to Damascus (see the commentary on Acts, to see link click Bc – Sha’ul Turns from Murder to Messiah), Rabbi Sha’ul pursued believers with a Phinehas-like zeal. As he wrote to the Philippians, he mentioned his history as a persecutor of the believers as evidence of his zeal for God (Philippians 3:6). It is far better to emulate the Master who was zealous for His Father’s house (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bs – The First Cleansing of the Temple) and His Father’s will. It is good to be zealous for God, but we must be careful in case we misplace that zeal. We should be zealous for the godly standards of the Kingdom of God; we should be zealous for the Word of God; and we should be zealous for our Lord. This means ruthlessly rooting out from our lives those things that lead us to sin and compromise. After Phinehas had stopped the plague, Ha’Shem instructed Moshe to carry out His zeal against Midian. Because the Midianites had conspired to seduce the sons of Isra’el, Moses was told to lead Isra’el in a war against them. We need to exercise this same type of vigilance in our war against the flesh. For Messiah gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good mitzvot (Titus 2:14).⁵⁶³

God’s eternal covenant (25:12-13a): To protect Phinehas from being punished for taking the law into his own hands, the LORD announced: I am giving him my eternal covenant of shalom. This saved him from any personal revenge, it also served to vindicate him of any legal wrongdoing. So, YHVH made a covenant with him and his descendants after him with an eternal priesthood. God made another dynastic covenant with King David and his descendants (see the commentary on the Life of David Ct – The LORD’s Covenant with David). There, God promised that the descendants of David will occupy the throne of Isra’el forever; there will never be another family who will rightfully usurp this honor. The prophet Jeremiah spoke about both of these families, the royal family and the priestly family. For this is what ADONAI says: David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Isra’el, nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices (Jer 33:17-18).

Thus, through the prophet, God reiterates the fact that His covenants with David and Phinehas (see the commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah Bh – Ezra Returns from Babylon: Ezra’s Genealogy) will never be broken. In fact, a line of Phinehas’ descendants, called the Zadokites, will be given a superior role in the ministry of the Temple during the Kingdom (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gs – God Shows a Vision of the Messianic Temple: the descendants of Phinehas). Today, it seems to us that there is no one left from either the line of David or the sons of Levi to fulfill God’s covenants. However, we need to remember that the houses of David and Phinehas have never stopped existing, even though we don’t know for certain who the proper descendants are. The important thing is that God certainly remembers! It is not a problem for Him to sovereignly maintain His covenants.⁵⁶⁴

The broken Vav and Yeshua (25:12): I am giving him my eternal covenant of shalom, a priesthood forever. Soferut (the laws concerning the scribal arts of writing Seferi Torah) requires that all Hebrew letters be well formed; that is, no letters can touch other letters and no letters can be malformed, broken, or otherwise illegible. However, there is a strange exception to these rules regarding the Vav that appears in the word shalom in Numbers 25:12. The Vav is broken, this is the only place in the Torah that we see such an abnormality. What is the reason for this? The Vav is a picture of the brokenness of the Messiah for our ultimate deliverance. How so? Well, since the Vav (the number 6) represents the number of Man, the broken Vav represents a man that is broken. In this particular verse, the man has been broken for the sake of a covenant of shalom that brought atonement to Isra’el . . . a clear picture of the man Yeshua Messiah, our eternal High Priest.

Phinehas made atonement (25:13b-15): The priests and Levites were responsible for guarding the Tabernacle against any illegitimate entry, be it inadvertent or intentional, and had the responsibility of killing trespassers. Here, however, Phinehas killed a sinner in the camp, not a would-be trespasser into the Tabernacle. Nevertheless, his action was quite similar to the responsibility of the priesthood. The priest represented God before the people. So, his body needed to be unblemished, to symbolize the perfection of ADONAI. His wife and children needed to be of exemplary character, so that they did not tarnish his reputation (see the commentary on Leviticus Do – Prohibited Practices for the Priests). In his personal life, the priest needed to personify the character of YHVH. And that was exactly what Phinehas did, he was zealous on behalf of his God. In other words, because Phinehas executed the sinner, expressing so clearly and visibly Ha’Shem’s own anger, that anger was turned away. Phinehas made atonement for the people of Isra’el (25:13b). To make atonement (Hebrew: kipper) is the usual phrase to describe the effect of the sacrifice (Leviticus 1:4, 4:20 and 5:16). In normal circumstances, the animal died in place of the guilty sinner; here the guilty sinners themselves were put to death, and, consequently, they became the sacrifice.

Not only did the priest represent God before the people; he also represented the people before God. He attempted to be the ideal Israelite. All the Israelites were called to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6), but the priest was expected to display true holiness in his life. This idea of the priest representing the people before God explains the covenant of peace made with Phinehas. Isra’el had broken the covenant she had agreed to at Mount Sinai (see the commentary on Exodus El – The Sinai Covenant Oath of Allegiance) by worshiping the gods of Mo’ab (see Ea – Taking a Stand for God: The idolatry of Israelite men). Phinehas had restored the Sinai Covenant with his deed, and was therefore rewarded with the covenant of an eternal priesthood.⁵⁶⁵ This suggests that the office of priest would now be channeled through Phinehas and not through any other grandson of Aaron (First Chronicles 6:4-15).

These two verses give the names and families of the two slain sinners. They were perhaps not given until now because insertion of them earlier would have deflected the main point here, which was not connected with the specific identity of the pair, but their sin, its consequences, and Phinehas’ reaction.⁵⁶⁶ The name of the man from Isra’el who was killed was Zimri the son of Salu, leader of one of the clans from the tribe of Simeon (25:14). As the great pride of Eleazar must have swelled over the actions of his son that day, so there must have been extraordinary shame among the members of Zimri’s family on realizing what that promising young man had done. Zimri (Hebrew: meaning praiseworthy) had been named in praise of ADONAI. However, he is now remembered as the one who nearly destroyed his people with his brazen, immoral attack on the pure worship of YHVH. With his name turned on its head, he serves as a memorial to destruction. The name of the woman from Midian who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Tzur, and he was head of the people in one of the clans of Midian (25:15). Her name is likely another example of the names deliberately changed by Isra’el because of the contempt in which she is held. Cozbi means My Lie or My Deception. She stands forever memorialized as a prime example of the deception of the allure of pagan worship. Verse 18 speaks of her as the daughter of the leader from Midian. She was likely a high priestess of her religion, a prototype of Jezebel (see the commentary on Elijah and Elisha As – The Wrath of Jezebel) who would later be instrumental in bringing Ba’al and Asherah worship into the center of the life of Isra’el.

Attack the Midianites (25:16-18): Because of their active participation in the seduction of the sons of Isra’el with the Moabites (31:16), the Midianites were also put under the curse of God and afterwards were to be treated as enemies. They had been in league with Balak from the beginning of the confrontation and became the objects of wrath to declare the glory of the name of ADONAI (see Fp – The War Against Midian).⁵⁶⁷ ADONAI said to Moshe, “Treat the Midianites as enemies and attack them; because they are treating you as enemies by the trickery they used to deceive you in the Peor incident and in the affair of their sister Cozbi, the daughter of the leader from Midian, the woman who was killed on the day of the plague in the Peor incident.” This is in keeping with the Abrahamic Covenant: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse (Genesis 12:3a). A later campaign against the Midianites would be led by Gideon during the period of the Judges (see the commentary on Judges Bb – Gideon’s Victory Over the Midianites). Indeed, Isaiah 9:4 likens the victories of the Messiah to Gideon’s triumph over Midian.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You are not only a gracious God of love, You are also a righteous and just Father who delights in blessing His children! You are a perfect balance of complete love, God is love. Now whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him (First John 4:16c); and total holiness: One (Seraphim) called out to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is ADONAI-Tzva’ot! The whole earth is full of His glory (Isaiah 6:3).

Your love is so great and You want all to come to you to be saved. You call out to the crowds to come to You (Matthew 11:28-29). You desire people to respond to Your call with a yes, they will love and follow You. You wisely give the choice to come humbly to You or to remain separated from You. You never grab someone and tell them they are chosen to do something. Instead You call to them to forsake their evil ways and return to ADONAI, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:7). Phinehas, out of love for You, chose to protect Your holy Name and You graciously awarded him with an eternal covenant of peace.

Ruach Ha’Kodesh, please help me to speak up against wrong. And when I do speak up for You, please protect me for the world thinks that there is no wrong and everyone can do what they want. But Your Word declares that is not so! Thank You that when I stand for what is right and just, and told that I am wrong, in the Spirit, I focus on the brevity of trials on earth and the eternal joy of home in heaven with you! For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). In your holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Taking a Stand for God
25: 1-9

Taking a stand for God DIG: What was Balaam’s evil plan? How did Isra’el curse themselves? What is the sin for which Yeshua rebuked the church at Pergamum? Who were the Nicolaitans? How has the teaching of Balaam harmed the Jews through the centuries? How did Peter compare false teachers to Balaam? What instruction did Moses receive from God? Who carried it out? Why was it difficult to carry out? God says, “Do not murder,” what made the actions of Phinehas different from murder?

REFLECT: Is someone that you know walking in the way of Balaam? What does that mean? How can you pray for them? How can we be careful to avoid being religious, and yet love the wages of wickedness? How does the zeal of Phinehas compare with Messiah’s coming as our Kinsman Redeemer? When have you received instruction from God’s Word that was difficult for you to follow? What are some current practices that could erode the faith? What does it mean to be zealous of the Lord in today’s culture?

Every believer has to have courage to stand up against the politically correct culture for God; for what is holy and pure without calculating what will be personally gained or lost.

While the wilderness generation was more faithful than their parents, they were no less sinful. The human tendency to lapse into unfaithfulness (see  Romans, to see link click Bm – The Consequences of Adam), even after some of the most dramatic demonstrations of the lover and power of ADONAI, is underscored by the positioning of the apostasy seen here immediately after the successful victories of the Israelites over Sihon and Og of the Amorites in the Transjordan, and the climactic work of God is using a pagan sorcerer to pronounce a blessing upon His people.⁵⁵⁴ The Bible startles us by the way it contrasts the brightest revelations with the darkest sins. The giving of the Torah at Sinai was followed by the golden calf incident, the ordination of Aaron by the disobedience of his sons, the covenant with David, followed by the affair with Bathsheba, Palm Sunday by the cross. Here we have another classic example of this pattern. In this way Scripture teaches us the full wonder of God’s grace in the face of our habitual tendency to sin.⁵⁵⁵

Balaam had failed to curse Isra’el. Worse yet (in his eyes), he had failed to win a large reward from Balak. But then, from his black heart, a thought occurred to him. Instead of cursing Isra’el, he could induce Isra’el to curse themselves. In 31:16 we learn that the sorcerer conspired with the Midianite and Moabite leaders and suggested a plan. Rather than march out to war with Isra’el, he advised them to invite Isra’el to a party, an orgy. Their own daughters were to be the hostesses. They were to be used as bait to lure the Israelite men to an idolatrous feast. Even the infamous Cozbi (the three consonants of Cozbi’s name in Hebrew, kzb, form the verb to lie, to deceive) the daughter of Tzur, head of the people in one of the clans of Midian (25:15) prostituted herself to Isra’el. When Moshe realized what was happening, he declared: See, these are the ones who – because of Balaam’s advice – caused the people of Isra’el to rebel, breaking faith with ADONAI in the Peor incident, so that the plague broke out among ADONAI’s community (31:16)!

The idolatry of Israelite men (25:1-3): While the Israelites were camped at Shittim on the plains of Mo’ab, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. These women invited them to the sacrifices of their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Mo’ab, breaking the first commandment (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Bl – Have No Other Gods). This is what happens when we forget who we are. In that way, Isra’el joined in the worship of Ba‘al of Peor, the local god, causing the anger of ADONAI to burn against Isra’el. The choice of words is intentionally suggestive of sexuality, a theme that the prophet Hosea picks up in his rebuke regarding the Israelite fertility cult, when he said: They came to Ba’al Peor and devoted themselves to shame, and they became as detestable as that which they loved (Hosea 9:10). The Salter declares that they joined themselves to Ba’al Peor and ate meat sacrificed to the dead (Psalm 106:28). We must always remember that happiness, joy, and contentment cannot be found apart from the ways of our God. King David found that out the hard way.

The appetite for wine and sex ended in idolatry. This brings to mind the apostolic injunctions on the Gentile believers in Acts 15 (see the commentary on Acts Bt – The Council’s Letter to the Gentile Believers). Each of their four minimum requirements for fellowship prohibited something from the categories of food, sexuality, or idolatry. In Exodus, the LORD specifically warned Isra’el about the combination of sexual immorality, appetite and idolatry. When discussing the prohibition on eating food sacrificed to idols, Moses warned: Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the Promised Land. This was not because of a lack of neighborliness or for ethnic or racial reasons but because when they prostituted themselves to their gods and sacrificed to them, the Israelites would eventually eat their sacrifices and accept their gods. And if the Canaanites chose some of their daughters as wives for the Hebrew men and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they would lead the Hebrew men to do the same. As a result, they would be led back into spiritual adultery (Exodus 34:15-16).

In the book of Revelation, Yeshua rebukes the church at Pergamum for eating food sacrificed to idols and engaging in sexual immorality under the influence of the teaching of the Nicolaitans (see the commentary on Revelation Bb – The Church at Pergamum). They seemed to have been an early antinomian sect that misused Paul’s teaching on grace as license for self-indulgence and compromise. Early on, they exhibited the syncretistic tendencies that later came to stumble the early Messianic movement. The Master referred to it as the teaching of Balaam, saying: Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:14-15).⁵⁵⁶

The Nicolaitans taught “When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Don’t be a ‘holier than thou’ isolationist. Be a good neighbor and a good sport. Be inclusive, and don’t be judgmental. After all, we live in a pluralist society, so learn to respect the way other people believe and live.” But from God’s perspective, what Isra’el did was compromise a violation of their covenant made in Sinai (see the commentary on Exodus El – The Sinai Covenant Oath of Allegiance). The problem at Pergamum was that false teachers had gotten into the church and were enticing people to attend the feasts at the idol temples. As at Ba’al Peor, their sin was a combination of idolatry and immorality, but the false teachers didn’t present it that way. They taught that God’s grace gave His people the freedom to sin, what Jude called turning the grace of our God into immorality (also see the commentary on Romans Bq – The Background of the Messianic Mikveh).

The Jews were, and are, God’s chosen people (Deuteronomy 14:2), set apart from the rest of the nations to serve and glorify Him. They were, and are, not to worship the gods of their neighbors or share in their pagan festivities. When they entered the Promised Land, they were to tear down the pagan temples and altars and destroy the idols (Deuteronomy 7 and Joshua 23), to prevent Isra’el being tempted to turn from the true and living God and start imitating the heathen neighbors. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened after the death of Joshua (Judges 2:10 to 3:7).

The doctrine of Balaam (Revelation 2:14-15) is the lie that it’s acceptable for the children of God to live like the devil, that God’s grace gives us the right to disobey the Word of God. Throughout the TaNaKh, Isra’el’s compromise with idolatry is called spiritual adultery, for the nation was the wife of ADONAI and “married” to YHVH at Mount Sinai (Jeremiah 2:19-20 and 3:1-11; Ezeki’el Chapters 16 and 23; Hosea Chapters 1 and 2). This same marriage is implied to Messiah and the Church in the B’rit Chadashah (Second Corinthians 11:1-4; Ephesians 5:22-33 and Revelation 19:6-9). The believer compromising with sin is like the husband or wife committing adultery in their marriage.

Any teaching that makes it easy or permissible to sin is false doctrine, because the Word of God was given to us as our blueprint for living, enabling us to live holy lives (First Timothy 6:3-4 and Titus 1:1). Paul emphasized the need in the Church for sound doctrine, which means “healthy doctrine” (First Timothy 1:10; Second Timothy 4:3; Titus 1:9 and 2:1). He compared false doctrine to a cancerous growth in the Body (Second Timothy 2:17). And when Isra’el killed Balaam many centuries ago, they couldn’t kill the lies he turned loose in the world, lies that still influenced the Israelites after they had conquered Canaan (Joshua 22:15-18). These lies influence individual believers and the congregations of God today. The cancer of compromise weakens our witness and saps our spiritual strength (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Bi – Do Not be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers). Peter warned us about such false teachers when he said: They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness (Second Peter 2:15).⁵⁵⁷

Moshe’s instruction from God (25:4-5): To stop the plague (31:16), atonement had to be made and those who were the leaders of the people in this awful act of sinfulness were to be put to death. The gravity of the sin called not only for death, but also for a special display of the corpses of the offenders in broad daylight. ADONAI said to Moshe, “Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before ADONAI in broad daylight, so His fierce anger will turn away from the people of Isra’el.” So, Moshe ordered Isra’el’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those in his tribe who have joined themselves in worshiping Ba‘al of Peor.” At times we have trouble coming to grips with TaNaKh’s commands that Isra’el kill her enemies (see Deuteronomy Ag – The Problem of Holy War in the TaNaKh). But this chapter is even more difficult for us to face, for it commands Hebrews to kill fellow Hebrews. But those rebellious Israelites were like a cancer and would have eventually ruined the whole nation.⁵⁵⁸

The zeal of Phinehas (25:6-9): Just then one of the Israelite men, Zimri the son of Palu, the prince of the tribe of Simeon, and a Midianite woman, Cozbi the daughter of Zur, a princess of Midian (25:14-15), were having sex right before the eyes of Moshe and the elders of Isra’el, as they were praying and weeping at the gate to the Tabernacle (see the commentary on Exodus Ez – The Gate of the Tabernacle: Christ, The Way to God). The brazenness of the Bonnie and Clyde of the Torah made them not just sinners but an abomination to ADONAI. It would have been bad enough had this been a foreign man with a foreign woman. But it was a leader from the tribe of Simeon. The point was that in starting the sexual frenzies of the sacrificial feasts of Ba’al, Zimri and his priestess partner were attempting to transform the worship of ADONAI into Canaanite worship.⁵⁵⁹ In the heat of the moment, Moses didn’t know what to do. He just stood there wringing his hands, “Oy Vey! Oy Vey!” But when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the high priest, saw it, he jumped up and left the congregation, took a spear in his hand (probably from a nearby soldier), and pursued the Israelite right into the inner part of his vaulted canopy (Hebrew: hakkubbah), where, taking the law into his own hands, he thrust his spear all the way through both of them – right through the Israelite and into the woman’s stomach. Therefore, Balaam’s wicked plan succeeded. He managed to entice Isra’el into sin, bringing a curse down upon her own head.

With this bold act of the young priest, the plague was stopped, which indicates that this couple’s act was not just a singular outrageous instance of debauchery; rather, likely they were the instigators of the pagan rites! Nevertheless, 24,000 died in the plague. This was a physical atonement, not a spiritual atonement, with 24,000 perishing instead of the whole nation. This incident at Ba’al of Peor is also referred to in Deuteronomy 4:3-4; Psalm 106:26-29; Hosea 9:10. First Corinthians 10:8 says 23,000 people died in this incident, whereas here in Numbers 25:9 it has 24,000 people dying. This apparent discrepancy can be explained by Paul’s mention of “a single day” in First Corinthians 10:8, with the understanding that only 1,000 died the next day.⁵⁶⁰ Thus, it seems that if Pinehas had not acted as quickly as he did, on each preceding day, another 23,000 would have died.

Here is when Phinehas comes into the picture. Moses and the elders were in total shock and tongue-tied. The leadership of Isra’el was paralyzed because they couldn’t imagine that such an abomination would ever take place before the Tabernacle, the holy things, and the LORD Himself. You would think that God would be very upset that this young Levite who had no legal authority and took the law into his own hands and executed Zimri and Cozbi in public. Under the laws of most Western countries, a person like Phinehas, who takes the law into his own hands without authority and permission, and kills two people in public, would be charged with a crime. However, this was a man after God’s own heart and we learn that He rewarded Phinehas with an eternal priesthood (see Eb – God’s Eternal Covenant with Phinehas) for taking the initiative and killing those two blasphemers (see Deuteronomy Bq – Do Not Murder).

Phinehas was not concerned for himself or what might happen to him for killing those two people who were challenging the Tabernacle of God and His Presence. Not only that, he challenged the authority of Moses, the elders of Isra’el and the priests of the LORD who stood there with their mouths wide open. Phinehas was not trying to be politically correct. He was only concerned about stopping the depravity of Zimri and Cozbi

We can learn from Phinehas that there are moments when we have to stand for what is right, just and holy, by defending God’s honor, even at a high personal cost. Every prophet of God had the courage to speak out about things that were neither popular nor politically correct. We think of Jeremiah, who had a rich experience speaking and calling out the kings of Isra’el and the spiritual leadership of Jerusalem to account. The weeping prophet experienced rejection, physical persecution, and loss of status. But to stand up against corrupt laws, evil practices, and injustice is the right thing to do. Someone has to have the courage to stand up and take a clear stand to change the tide and protect God’s Name.

The principle that I think that every believer has to have is a commitment to honor God and His cause. Second, every believer has to have courage to stand up against the majority against the politically correct culture for God and what is holy and pure without calculating what will be personally gained or lost. I pray that you and the leadership in your synagogue or church will have the character of Phinehas. To stand up for righteousness and holiness and justice in your camp. If not, who is going to stand up for God and for His word, and for The Torah and the prophets, and the Good News, for the Jew first, and also for the Gentiles? We need to stay on the side of faith and with God’s people, and don’t trust all the fake politicians of the world who want to destroy and uproot the Jewish nation of Isra’el from God’s promises. The goals of the greedy and power mongering world of famous politicians are the same as the goals of Balak, King of Moab, and Balaam.⁵⁶¹

Haftarah Balak: Micah 6:8
(see the commentary on Deuteronomy Af – Parashah)

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what ADONAI requires of you; but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? What is good? Some have called this the most important saying in prophetic literature. The question asks what is the way of true worship. Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah and the first to predict the coming destruction of Jerusalem (Micah 3:12), answers. With a rhetorical question, he makes the point that true worship requires more than merely going through the motions of righteousness, with its burnt offerings, offerings of yearling calves and rams, rivers of oil or even sacrificing their firstborns to atone for their sins (Micah 6:6-7). YHVH makes the case against Isra’el for breaking His covenant (Micah 6:1-2). He will cut off their horses, their cities, sorceries, idols, and centers of idolatry (Micah 5:10-13). Isra’el must walk in purity or face judgment. Most importantly, the LORD demanded three changes: do justice, love kindness (see Ruth Af – The Concept of Chesed), and walk humbly with God.

B’rit Chadashah Balak: Romans 11:32

For God has shut up all mankind, Jew and Gentile together in disobedience, in order that He might show mercy to all. Isra’el’s cumulative sins piled up to the heavens, triggering the wrath of Ha’Shem. Hardening and partial blindness resulted (Leviticus 26:14-16; Deuteronomy 28:65, 32:28-29; Isaiah 6:9-13). In a response of sheer mercy, God rips the scales off the eyes of Paul (Acts 9:18). And after the Gentile world enters in its fullness, then all Isra’el will be saved (Romans 11:26). God reveals a “mystery,” something once hidden and now is revealed. All mankind has been justly imprisoned, or shut up, in disobedience so that ADONAI could reveal His chesed to Isra’el: Out of Tziyon will come the Redeemer (Isaiah 59:20) . . . and this will be my covenant with them . . . when, as a nation, I will take away their sins (see the commentary on Romans Da – The Redemption of Isra’el). Until then, Gentiles must not be wise in their own eyes (Romans 11:25). Isra’el’s partial blindness blesses the Gentiles first. So that by [you Gentiles] showing [Isra’el, the Jews] the same mercy that God has shown you, they too may now receive God’s mercy (Romans 11:30-31). God used Jewish disobedience for His own purposes. But, in contrast with that, Gentiles now have the opportunity to be the conscious and intentional means of blessing to Isra’el. ADONAI has blessed the Gentiles by choosing them as His instrument for willingly blessing Isra’el and the Jews.⁵⁶²

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your wonderful love and perfect holiness. Your holiness dictates that no sin can enter heaven. And nothing unholy shall ever enter it, nor anyone doing what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Book of Life (Revelation 21:27). You so graciously paid the price for our sin and cloth with Messiah’s righteousness, those who love and accept You as their Savior (Romans 10:9-11). He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).

Your love is so great and Your compassionate heart is anxious to bring people away from the cancer of sin that kills, so that You might be able to bless. It is not kindness to tolerate sin in ourselves or in anyone else. You who are omniscient and see into each person’s heart (First Samuel 16:7) to see if their deeds were done out of selfish pride or out of a true love for You and Your honor. Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord!” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?” Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:21-23)!

Praise You for Your loving plan and purpose to unite all believers in Messiah. The plan of the fullness of times is to bring all things together in the Messiah – both things in heaven and things on earth, all in Him (Ephesians 1:10). It is so wonderful that you have included both Gentiles and Jews in Your plan of salvation. You [Gentiles] – being a wild olive – were grafted in among them and became a partaker of the root of the olive tree with its richness (Romans 11:17c). Lord, I desire to love You with all my heart, soul and mind, and to do my best to live a righteous life that honors You, for You are so worthy! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Balaam’s Seventh Oracle
24: 23-25

Balaam’s seventh oracle DIG: How do Balaam’s seven oracles relate to each other? What unifying theme do you see? How is this last oracle different from the other six? What do these verses teach you about ADONAI? About deliverance?

REFLECT: Life is full of ups and downs. When bad, or even tragic, things happen to you or the ones you love, do you blame God or Satan? Would you trade your free will to make sure everything goes smoothly in your life. Why or why not?

Balaam saw a troubled time ahead when empires would rise and fall,
each traipsing through the Land as if it was a highway from Egypt to Mesopotamia.

The remaining three oracles seem to spring almost involuntarily from the fourth oracle (to see link click Dw – Balaam’s Fourth Oracle). They overlap the promise of victory of Isra’el over all her enemies; hence these are “curse oracles.” It may be that these were similar to the types of oracles that Balaam intended to hurl against Isra’el. Instead, these harsh words lash out against the foes of the people of ADONAI. Here lies the final irony: Balak and Balaam had plotted to bring Isra’el under a curse, but their conspiracies only assured their own doom.

Concerning the Kenites’ demise (see Dy – Balaam’s Sixth Oracle), Balaam saw the rise of the Assyrian Empire. As he looked ahead he saw a troubled time when empires would rise and fall, each traipsing through the Promised Land as if it was a highway from Egypt to Mesopotamia. In fact, the strategic significance of the Promised Land is that it forms a natural bridge between the population centers of Mesopotamia and Egypt. In the Messianic Kingdom, it will serve the same purpose, a part of the pilgrimage of all nations to worship the God of Isra’el (see the commentary on Isaiah Eg – Blessed Be Egypt, Assyria and Isra’el).

Finally, Balaam spoke this oracle: “Alas, who can survive unless God has willed it (24:23)? The introductory words set a grim stage for the words to follow and lead one to a sense of utter dependence on ADONAI. This is the lesson that is taught throughout the oracles. None is able to live, except by the will of the LORD. Ah! For a brief moment, Balaam seemed to have a moment of spiritual clarity and grasped the ultimate futility of his vocation as a sorcerer.⁵⁴⁹

Balaam looked into the near historical future and spoke of the ships will come from the island of Crete; they will afflict (Hebrew: anah, meaning to be bowed down) Assyria and all the children of Eber (Genesis 10:21), in other words, the Hebrews. Assyria refers to the Eastern Shemites, and Eber to the Western Shemites. It was, in fact, Rome that finally drove Isra’el from her Land until May 14, 1948. The oracle of Rome afflicting the Hebrews was the first and only utterance against Isra’el that Balaam managed to deliver. But they, too, will come to destruction” (24:24). These words cannot relate to Assyria or Eber, for their fate is already announced in the word afflict, but only to Rome who was to come over the sea, and to which the others were to succumb.⁵⁵⁰

The cruelty of the Assyrian Empire alone would have been sufficient. But the Assyrians were just the first in a line of World Empires. We do not know much of the unfolding view of history that Balaam was allowed to see, but it is very interesting that he mentions the ships of Crete. In the prophecies of the book of Dani’el, written some eight centuries later, the term “ships of Crete” is used to refer to the Roman fleet that stopped the advance of Antiochus Epiphanes into Egypt (Dani’el 11:30). Balaam said that ships will come from the coast of Crete; they will afflict Assyria. The Assyrian Empire was long dead and gone by the time Rome rose to power, but the inheritors of the Assyrian Empire were the Babylonians (see the commentary on Revelation Ao – The First Beast of Dani’el: A Lion with a Head of Gold); and the inheritors of the Babylonian Empire were the Medo-Persians (see Revelation Ap – The Second Beast of Dani’el: A Bear with a Chest and Arms of Silver); and the inheritors of the Persian Empire were the Greeks (see Revelation Aq – The Third Beast of Dani’el: A Leopard with Thighs of Bronze). And as the Greek world divided into quarters and crumbled, the ships of the Romans were quick to pick up the pieces (see Revelation As – The Fourth Beast: The Roman Empire Stage). It was as if Balaam, under the influence of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, saw the four empires of Dani’el’s vision in rapid succession (see the commentary on Dani’el Ar – Dani’el Interprets the King’s Dream).⁵⁵¹

Then, with the promises of a future Deliverer ringing in their ears, the two collaborators departed. Balaam got up, left and returned home and king Balak went his way also (Numbers 22:5). This shouldn’t be interpreted to mean that Balaam returned home immediately to Pethor, since he was among those killed when Isra’el slaughtered the Midianites (see Fq – Report of the Battle). “Home” probably means the place where Balaam was staying while visiting Balak, and planning his next diabolical scheme to advise the king of Midian in his war against Isra’el (see Ea – Taking a Stand for God).⁵⁵²

The B’rit Chadashah does not cite the oracles of Balaam explicitly, but there are allusions to it in Luke 1:78; Second Peter 2:15-16; Jude 11; Revelation 2:14, 22:16, and of course Messiah’s birth was announced by the Star, or the Sh’khinah glory (see Dw – Balaam’s Fourth Oracle). If the primary fulfillment of Balaam’s near historical fulfillment was in the rise of David and the defeat of his foes, the far eschatological fulfillment must surely be seen in Yeshua, the son of David, who has conquered sin and death, and now reigns until He has put all His enemies under His feet (First Corinthians 15:25).⁵⁵³

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your Almighty power and Your wonderful love! Rulers and Kingdoms come and go but You will reign over an eternal Kingdom. “I was watching in the night visions. Behold, One like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days, and was brought into His presence. Dominion, glory and sovereignty were given to Him that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will never pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed (Dani’el 7:13-14).

What a joy and comfort it is to know that when there are problems, trials and the world seems to be spinning out of control, You, Father God, are still the Almighty, All-powerful, Sovereign Ruler. Your children do not need to fear, for though for a short time there will be persecutions on earth, Messiah Yeshua is preparing an eternal home in heaven for His children. Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you may also be (John 14:1-3).

Wow! An eternal home where there is no crying, no sadness, no pain. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city – the New Jerusalem – coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  I also heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is among men, and He shall tabernacle among them. They shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them and be their God. He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Nor shall there be mourning or crying or pain any longer, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:1-4).

Heaven’s future glory will be fantastic!  For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). No matter what is happening in the world, I can be filled with Your peace when I focus on Your Awesome love and the eternal home in heaven that You have for me. Thank you for being such a wonderful, wise and Almighty Heavenly Father! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Balaam’s Sixth Oracle
24: 21-22

The Kenites were destined to go into Assyrian captivity along with Isra’el.

The remaining three oracles seem to spring almost involuntarily from the fourth oracle (to see link click Dw – Balaam’s Fourth Oracle). They overlap the promise of victory of Isra’el over all her enemies; hence these are “curse oracles.” It may be that these were similar to the types of oracles that Balaam intended to hurl against Isra’el. Instead, these harsh words lash out against the foes of the people of ADONAI. Here lies the final irony: Balak and Balaam had plotted to bring Isra’el under a curse, but their conspiracies only assured their own doom.⁵⁴⁴ As Balaam stood on the top of the Pisgah Mountain Range, he had visions concerning other nations and predicted their destiny. They differ from the previous oracle against Mo’ab and Edom, in that they do not mention Isra’el. Indeed, from the Moabite plateau looking southward to the Negev, he could see the Amalekites, Kenites, and future rise of the Assyrians.

The Kenites were a clan of the Midianites (Exodus 3:1; Numbers 10:29), who lived in the hill country south-west of the Dead Sea, quite close to the Amalekites. But unlike the Amalikes, the Kenites were on good terms with Isra’el. Zipporah, the wife of Moshe, was a Midianite of the Kenite clan. Moses’ brother-in-law Habab was described earlier as a Midianite (10:29), but Hobab’s father, and thus Hobab, were Kenites (Judges 1:16).⁵⁴⁵ Furthermore, they settled with the people of Isra’el in the Land (Judges 1:16, 4:11 and 5:24). In addition, David treated them quite well (First Samuel 29:9-10 and 30:29), so the Jews and the Kenites had a long-term relationship. When Sha’ul went to battle against the Amalekites (see the commentary on the Life of King Sha’ul Cl – The Rejection of King Sha’ul), he first gave the Kenites the opportunity to withdraw from their lands so they wouldn’t be destroyed along with the Amalekites. Thus, the Kenites had a different relationship with Isra’el in the oracles of Balaam. They were not going to be dislodged by Isra’el because they had essentially joined Isra’el.

The Kenites put their faith in the security afforded them by their geographical location, nestled in the rocky highlands of southern Canaan. Though they felt as though their settlements were impregnable, when Balaam saw the Kenites (Hebrew: keini) from the top of the Pisgah Mountain Range, he made this oracle, “Though your dwelling is firm, your nest (Hebrew: kayin) set on rock; nevertheless, you Kenites will be destroyed and taken captive by the Assyrians.” There is a play-on-words here, the Kenites (keini) nest (kayin) will fail. This prophecy was fulfilled by Tiglath-Pilesser III in 742 BC, and Shalmaneser V in 722 BC. The point of this oracle is that the Kenites were destined to go into Assyrian captivity along with Isra’el (Second Kings 17:5-6). And they have not been heard of since.⁵⁴⁶

These three oracles (24:20-25), paint a picture of one nation raising and supplanting another, only to face its own doom (see Dz – Balaam’s Seventh Oracle). In contrast, there is the implied ongoing blessing on the people of Isra’el and their sure promise of a future Deliverer who will have the final victory. It is remarkable that God gave these visions to a covetous Gentile sorcerer instead of a dedicated Jewish prophet. But He is sovereign in all His ways, and His ways are higher than our ways (see the commentary on Isaiah Ji – My Word That Goes Out Will Not Return Empty).⁵⁴⁷

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that Your Kingdom is an eternal Kingdom! Then the Kingdom, power, and greatness of the kingdoms under all heaven will be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High. Their kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey Him (Dani’el 7:27). Your Almighty Sovereign power will sustain Your kingdom thru all eternity! Even when the Beast has taken over the world and all the armies of the world are gathered to fight against You. There is not even a battle, for You wipe them all out with the sword of your mouth. From His mouth comes a sharp sword – so that with it He may strike down the nations – and He shall rule them with an iron rod, and He treads the winepress of the furious wrath of Elohei-Tzva’ot. On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “King of kings, and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:15-16, 20-21b).

Your wisdom and omniscience extends to knowing all that will happen in the future. The future is in Your hands and your knowledge of what will happen is so exact and sure, that in many places in Your Word, future events are written in past tense, as though they already happened. Your ruling for all eternity, though still to come in the future, is sure and trustworthy. You are so incredibly mighty that Your throne is ablaze with flames and a river of fire flows out before You! While I was watching, thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His garment was as white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, its wheels a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him. Thousands of thousands attended Him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened (Dani’el 7:9-10) .

You accurately have prophesied the future, telling the name and describing all the future kingdoms of the world. It has all happened just as you said. Your Word is 100% true and always 100% accurate. You prophecy of Messiah’s coming Kingdom, an everlasting dominion that will never be destroyed, will also come true exactly as You said. Behold, One like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days, and was brought into His presence. Dominion, glory and sovereignty were given to Him that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will never pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed (Dani’el 7:13-14). What comfort it is to know that You, our wonderful and loving Heavenly Father, will be the final and supreme Ruler of the world. We bow in worship of You and we live our lives focusing on how to obey You. In Your holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Balaam’s Fifth Oracle
24: 20

There came a day of reckoning on the Amalekites that was dreadful.

The remaining three oracles seem to spring almost involuntarily from the fourth oracle (to see link click Dw – Balaam’s Fourth Oracle). They overlap the promise of victory of Isra’el over all her enemies; hence these are “curse oracles.” It may be that these were similar to the types of oracles that Balaam intended to hurl against Isra’el. Instead, these harsh words lash out against the foes of the people of ADONAI. Here lies the final irony: Balak and Balaam had plotted to bring Isra’el under a curse, but their conspiracies only assured their own doom.⁵⁴² As Balaam stood on the top of the Pisgah Mountain Range, some 2,600 feet above sea level, he had visions concerning other nations and predicted their destiny. They differ from the previous oracle against Mo’ab and Edom, in that they do not mention Isra’el. Indeed, from the Moabite plateau looking southward to the Negev, he could see the Amalekites, Kenites, and the Asshurites.

Balaam saw Amalek and made this oracle, “First among nations [was] Amalek” (24:20a). Amalek, the tribal ancestor of the Amalekites is here used as a synonym for the tribe. They were first among the nations in two ways. First, they were first among the nations in the sense that their ancestry could be traced all the way back to Esau, making them an ancient people (Genesis 36:16). And secondly, they were the first nation to take up arms against Isra’el. They attacked the Israelites just after they left Egypt (see the commentary on Exodus Cv – The Amalekites Attacked the Israelites at Rephidim). To remember the attack, Jewish communities around the world observe Shabbat Zachor (Shabbat of Remembrance). It is the Shabbat immediately preceding Purim when the attack is remembered. There is a tradition from the Talmud that Haman, the antagonist of the Purim story, was descended from Amalek. The portion that is read includes a commandment to remember the attack by Amalek, and therefore at the public reading, both men and women make a special effort to hear the reading.

But, there came a day of reckoning on the Amalekites that was dreadful. Balaam concluded: their destiny [will be] destruction (24:20b). In the near historical future, at the request of God, king Sha’ul seemed to defeat the Amalekites, but disobeyed when the prophet Samuel placed them under His cherem judgment (see the commentary on the Life of King Sha’ul Cl – The Rejection of King Sha’ul). Later, David defeated the Amalekites. He fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day. The attack was massive, bloody, and decisive. None of them got away, except for four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled (see the commentary on the Life of David Cb – David Defeats the Amalekites). Later, they were totally destroyed by the tribe of Simeon in Hezekiah’s time (First Chronicles 4:43). However, the Exodus passage above ends with the statement: ADONAI will wage war against the Amalekites from generation to generation, symbolizing all of God’s enemies (Exodus 17:16). Therefore, this oracle of doom will also extend into the far eschatological future where the Messiah will secure the final victory over all His enemies (see the commentary on Revelation Fl – When the Thousand Years Are Over).

These three oracles (24:20-25), paint a picture of one nation raising and supplanting another, only to face its own doom (see Dz – Balaam’s Seventh Oracle). In contrast, there is the implied ongoing blessing on the people of Isra’el and their sure promise of a future Deliverer who will have the final victory. It is remarkable that God gave these visions to a covetous Gentile sorcerer instead of a dedicated Jewish prophet. But He is sovereign in all His ways, and His ways are higher than our ways (see the commentary on Isaiah Ji – My Word That Goes Out Will Not Return Empty).⁵⁴³

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being such a wonderful Heavenly Father, completely loving yet also fair and righteous in judgment. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne. Lovingkindness and truth go before You (Psalms 89:14). Messiah Yeshua called out to all that they should come to him. Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).

The prophet Isaiah spoke of the importance of coming to God, not just knowing about Him, but to answer the LORD’s invitation and come to Him so that their soul may live. Everyone who thirsts, come to the water . . . open your ears and come to Me. Listen, so that your soul may live (Isaiah 55:1 and 3). Messiah calls out for all to come to His gracious offer of living water. On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Yeshua stood up and cried out loudly: If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, ‘out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.  Now He said this about the Ruach, whom those who trusted in Him were going to receive; for the Ruach was not yet given, since Yeshua was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39).

Many do not want to humble their hearts before You. They do not want to answer Your gracious invitation to come to You by making You their Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-11). They choose to follow their own selfish hearts desires and ignore Your merciful call. You will judge each one fairly. Then Yeshua began to denounce the towns where most of His miracles had happened, because they did not turn from their sins. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have turned long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  Nevertheless I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the Day of Judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum? Will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will go down to Sheol! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I tell you that it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom on the Day of Judgment than for you (Matthew 11:21-24).

Praise Your great love that calls all to come, and Your righteousness and justice that will judge with fairness Your enemies. Life is so short and eternity is so long. It is foolish to be Your enemy. What joy it is to love and follow You and be rewarded by a home in heaven for all eternity (John 14:1-3, Revelation 21:1-4)! Praise You always! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Balaam’s Fourth Oracle
24: 15-19

Balaam’s fourth oracle DIG: How is this oracle similar or different from the previous one? How does it continue the “theme song” of the “Balaam and Balak show?” In these oracles who is the “Star” on the horizon (compared to Revelation 22:16)? What is the scepter a symbol of? Who is the Ruler of Jacob? What near historical and far eschatological fulfillments of these prophecies do you see? How do these oracles relate to each other? What does this passage teach you about God?

REFLECT: What people or things do you face every day that keep you from doing God’s work? How are these “enemies” similar to those facing ancient Isra’el? In the face of such “enemies,” what hope can you draw from this passage? In the past year, how has God removed obstacles keeping you from serving Him? What part did you play in this? If you were to hitch your wagon to the “Star” of this story, where would it lead you? Thank the Lord that He uses us even though we are not perfect.

If there is any one verse in Torah in which the Messiah is revealed to us,
it is in this verse about the “Star.”

Hebrew poetry is not based on the concept of Western meter. The poetry of Isra’el was infused with rhythm, and the accentuation (with basically one “beat” per word) most likely signifies that pattern. The predominant feature of Hebrew poetic structure is the repetition of meaning in parallel expressions . . . or poetic parallelism. The biblical verse of poetry normally has two or more of these parallel units. The first line makes a statement, followed by the second line which elaborates on it in some manner. The words are not meant to rhyme, but are parallel in thought. Therefore, Balaam’s fourth oracle is written in five tightly parallel couplets. At the beginning of the oracle proper, the speaker shifts from third to first person, with Balaam now speaking in his formal role as the oracle speaker.

This oracle is not an attempted curse Isra’el; rather, it’s a glimpse into the future of Isra’el and her relationship with her neighbors. The fourth oracle that Balaam pronounced was specifically directed toward the Moabites. Balaam kept on insisting to Balak that he would not curse the Israelites. But Balak continually put him up to it. Three times Balak made Balaam go through the standard ritual for sorcery which was prevalent in the ancient Near East. When the ritual was finished, the sorcerer was supposed to either see a demon or hear from him the curse that was to be pronounced. However, despite the fact that the ritual was done three times, it was never effective. Balaam never cursed Isra’el.

Finally, after the third attempt at sorcery, Balaam spoke the Word of God, not just in blessing Isra’el, but in cursing Mo’ab! The tables were completely turned. Balak must have been completely shocked. He was the one who hired Balaam to curse his enemy Isra’el. Now he heard that the God of Isra’el intended to use Isra’el to be a means of cursing for him and the rest of the Moabites. Yikes! The main figure who would lead Isra’el in destroying the Moabites (as well as other enemy nations mentioned in Balaam’s fourth oracle) would be a figure referred to as the “Star.” But who or what was that “Star?”

Today, most Jewish scholars see the fulfillment of Balaam’s oracle in king David. However, the ancient rabbis have habitually interpreted this passage to be speaking about someone who would be more than king David. They thought it had something to do with the Messiah. According to Alfred Edersheim (the brilliant Messianic believer who lived from 1825 to 1889), both the Targum Onkelos and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan paraphrased it the way, as well as some ancient midrashim (Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Volume 2, page 714). Moreover, such an eminent authority as Rabbi Akiva also understood “the Star” as speaking of the Messiah.⁵³¹

Then Balaam spoke under the control of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh (24:15-16), saying: This is the oracle of Balaam, son of Beor; the oracle of a man whose eyes have been opened, more aware now than he was before; the oracle of him who hears the words of God; who knows what ‘Elyon knows, who sees what Shaddai sees, who falls down with eyes wide open (24:16). These verses form the introduction to the oracle; except for the one exception of the mention of ‘Elyon, they are identical to 24:3-4. Balaam was unworthy of the words that passed through his lips, even as others were unworthy of the role they played in salvation history of the Bible. But his words were not compromised; for it was the LORD who put His words in his mouth as the Spirit of God came upon him (24:2b).⁵³¹

(A) I see Him, but not here and now, with the near historical fulfillment of king David,
(A) I perceive Him, but far in the distant future (24:17a), with the far eschatological fulfillment of King Messiah. This verse presents the grand idea that Isra’el has a coming Deliverer. But when will that happen? How will it happen? It is safe to say that there has never been a period of Isra’el’s history when she experienced absolute peace and security from all her external dangers. There were two periods when Isra’el was close.

The first was during the period of the conquest of the Promised Land by the wilderness generation. At that time, at least there was great potential for absolute peace; and in fact, for a brief moment it seemed like it was so. We read in Joshua 2:7 that after the Land was conquered: The people served ADONAI throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things YHVH had done for Isra’el. For this to continue, it seems like all Isra’el had to do was to follow the LORD and He would have given them victory over all the enemies in the land of Canaan. Correct? No, wrong! Judges 3:1 indicates that Ha’Shem left certain nations in the Land that Joshua’s generation did not conquer, to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan. God left a test for them; however, they didn’t fare too well. Shortly after Joshua died, Isra’el proved unfaithful to El Shaddai and it has been that way ever since!

The second was during the reign of king David, when Isra’el almost gained absolute peace and security from her neighboring countries. Under David’s and Solomon’s leadership, Isra’el’s borders expanded and she entered into a time when there was godly leadership. Yet, there was still an external threat from various enemies. After their reigns, the Kingdom divided (see the commentary on the Life of King Solomon, to see link click By – The Fall of the House of David). The northern kingdom of Isra’el fell quickly into idolatry (see the Life of Solomon Dd – Golden Calves at Dan and Bethel) and was swallowed up by the Assyrians in 722 BC. The southern kingdom of Judah lasted longer but suffered continually under threat from the Assyrians. Isra’el’s history could, in fact, be outlined by examining the curses and blessings found in Deuteronomy Chapters 27-29. As Isra’el was unfaithful to her God, He disciplined her with more dangers, especially external menaces like the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.

It seems that only the Messiah could completely deliver Isra’el from the threat of destruction. He would have to do a spiritual work among the Israelites that would cause the curses for disobedience to be lifted from her (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Ff – Curses for Disobedience). That would mean He would have to work a spiritual revival in Isra’el of such magnitude that she had never experienced before (see the commentary on Ezeki’el Ea – The Valley of the Dry Bones). The sages of the Talmud (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law) predicted that such a revival would come. However, according to Sanhedrin 96-99, Isra’el herself would do the work of repentance. They teach that the Messiah would only come when Isra’el was spiritually deserving to receive Him. Moreover, the Messiah would only be a mighty general who would defeat armies.

There is only one kind of Messiah who could cause both a spiritual revival and a decisive military victory for Isra’el. He is described in Zechariah Chapters 12 and 14. There we read of a predicted time in Isra’el’s future when the armies of the world would come against Isra’el. When all seems lost, the leadership of Isra’el will cry out for Yeshua to return (see Revelation Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ). Then, at the most critical point, the Messiah will reveal Himself to Isra’el (see the commentary on Isaiah Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Bozrah). Zechariah says: And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son . . . On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity (Zechariah 12:10 and 13:1). Furthermore, the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as He fights on a day of battle. On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives (see Revelation Ex – The Eight Stage Campaign of Armageddon). Thus, we have a Messiah who will both cleanse Isra’el from sin and defeat her enemies. He is the One who will rule and reign in the golden age of peace and security that Balaam predicted (see Revelation Fh – The Dispensation of the Messianic Kingdom).⁵³²

(B) A “Star” will come out of Jacob. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, Joseph and Mary evidently decided to continue to stay and live in the town of their ancestry. Two years later, during the reign of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. They asked repeatedly: Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews (Matthew 2:1-2a)? The word asked is a present participle, emphasizing continuous action. They kept on asking and asking. They had calculated exactly how many years would transpire before the Messiah would come (Daniel 9:24-27). Although they were familiar with the book of Dani’el and the book of Numbers, they were, however, not familiar with the book of Micah, where in Micah 5:2 it predicted that the Messiah would be born in the town of Bethlehem. As a result, they came to Jerusalem because they were desperate to find Him (see The Life of Christ Av – The Visit of the Magi).

There are several misconceptions in the common nativity scene. First, is the very popular Christmas song that begins with, “We three kings of Orient are.” There is no way of knowing how many there were. The Bible merely mentions them in the plural. There could have been two, twenty or a hundred. We don’t really know. The second misconception is that they were kings. They were not kings, but magi, or astrologers, from the east. Why would those Gentile astrologers want to worship a Jewish king? These were magi from Babylon. In the past, Dani’el had saved the lives of all the magi of Babylon by interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (see my commentary on Jeremiah Dq – Nebuchadnezzar’s Troubling Dream). The source of Daniel’s ability was not the stars of the heavens but the God of Heaven. As a result, a line of Babylonian astrologers spanning generations worshiped the One true God, and having Dani’el’s prophecy, looked forward to the coming of the King of the Jews. We can conclude from the book of Dani’el that Babylonian astrologers did know the time Messiah was to be born. But Dani’el says nothing about a star that would proclaim the birth of the King of the Jews. So how did the magi know about it?

Balaam, a Babylonian sorcerer, had the Spirit of God place these words in his mouth: A “Star” will come out of Jacob; a scepter will arise out of Isra’el (Numbers 24:17). But it was not a literal star because the “Star” and the scepter in this verse are one and the same. We know this because Balaam’s prophecy is in the form of Hebrew poetry, which is not based on rhythm or rhyme but on parallelism. The term scepter is a symbol of royalty. This “Star” that would come out of Jacob, be a symbol of God Himself.

Furthermore, Balaam’s occupation was that of a sorcerer/astrologer. Even more significant is that he came from Pethor, a city on the banks of the Euphrates River in Babylonia (Numbers 22:5; Deuteronomy 23:4). With the book of Dani’el and the prophecy of Balaam, we have a double Babylonian connection. Therefore, the revelation of a “Star” in relation to Messiah’s birth came by means of a Babylonian astrologer who, no doubt, passed the information down to his colleagues. Centuries later, Dani’el was able to give further details to the Babylonian astrologers about the time that the “Star” of Jacob would appear (see the commentary on Dani’el Cm – The Beginning of the Great Tribulation).⁵³³

These magi said that they saw His “Star” when it rose and had come to worship Him (Matthew 2:2b). The Greek word translated star is aster, and means light, radiance or brilliance. What they actually saw was the Sh’khinah glory, or the visible manifestation of God Himself (see the commentary on Isaiah Ju – The Glory of the LORD Rises Upon You). There are five reasons why this could not be a literal star. First, it was uniquely the Messiah’s “Star” because it is called His “Star” . . . and in that way, it is not true of any other star. Second, this “Star” appears and disappears. Third, this “Star” moved from east to west, from Babylon to Tziyon. Fourth, it moved from north to south, from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Fifth, it hovered over the very house where the child was living. A literal star cannot hover in one place. So, just as the Sh’khinah glory was used to announce the birth of the King of the Jews to Jewish shepherds (see The Life of Christ Ar – The Shepherds and the Angels), the Sh’khinah glory was also used to announce the birth of the King of the Jews to Gentile astrologers (see my commentary on Genesis Lw – The Witness of the Stars).⁵³⁴

(B) A scepter will arise from Isra’el (24:17b). Balaam saw the scepter as a Davidic King who would rise out of Jacob like a “Star,” sometime in the distant future. The scepter is yet another allusion back to Jacob’s prophecy over Judah (see Genesis Lg – The Scepter Will Not Depart from Judah Until He Comes to Whom It Belongs). The One who has the right to the throne would be King Messiah – the Kosher King from Judah to whom the throne rightfully belongs. There were other godly kings from Judah, like David, Solomon, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Uzziah, Hezekiah and Josiah. But the sad prophecy of Ezekiel 21 says remove the crown, it’s done. The kings of Judah stopped in 586 BC with the destruction of the Temple. There will be no more until He comes to whom it rightfully belongs (see my commentary on Revelation Ce – The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David Has Triumphed), and to this very day not one king of Judah has been crowned. The Maccabees were Levites. In fact, the Hasmonean Empire ran into trouble precisely because they were priests who tried to become kings later on. What about King Herod? His family was converted to Judaism. He was really a Roman king. In 1948 David Ben-Gurion didn’t call himself a king. So, for about 2,500 years – there has been no king of Judah. This is why Rashi, and many other rabbis, believe that the last King of Judah has to be King Messiah.

Historically, this prophecy has already been fulfilled. Once the tribe of Judah, under king David, attained leadership over the nation, the scepter (or the symbol of the king) never departed from Judah until after Messiah was born.⁵³⁵ About that time the Romans, who had the right to rule, took away the scepter, the right of capital punishment, from the Jews. This changed the death penalty from stoning to the Roman method of crucifixion for the Jews (John 18:31-32). When this happened, the high priest went throughout the city of Yerushalayim wearing sackcloth and ashes saying, “Woe to us for the scepter has been taken from Judah and he to whom it belongs has not come.” They thought the word of God had been broken because they didn’t know that up in a Nazareth carpenter’s shop, little Yeshua, the One to whom the scepter belonged, had come, and Genesis 49:10 had been fulfilled.

(C) It will crush the heads of Mo’ab’s people (24:17c). This phrase was a symbol of defeating one’s enemies in Hebrew literature. Mo’ab would be destroyed as a nation because she defiled YHVH (Jeremiah 48:40-42), but a believing remnant will survive. Mo’ab had become a satellite of Assyria by the late 8th century BC and was conquered by the Babylonians in 582 BC, upon which the Moabites disappeared from history as a nation. Their territory was resettled by the Nabataeans in the fourth/third century BC.⁵³⁶ However, by the grace of God, the descendants of Mo’ab were not totally obliterated (see the commentary on Jeremiah Dl – The Punishment and Restoration of Moab). Those who survived repented and became a faithful remnant (see the commentary on Isaiah Dw – The Hope of Moab’s Salvation). So peace will come between Mo’ab and Isra’el by means of a partial destruction that will lead to a national regeneration of Mo’ab. As such, there will be a saved nation called Mo’ab during the Messianic Kingdom.

(C) and subdue all descendants of Seth (24:17d). These are probably not the descendants of Seth who were the descendants of Adam, for that would imply the annihilation of a major portion of the human race. But instead, the phrase the descendants of Seth would be the equivalent of the phrase the people of Mo’ab in this couplet. Such parallelism is reinforced by the couplet of Edom and Seir below.⁵³⁷ King David accomplished all of this. Ironically, king David’s great grandmother was Ruth, a Moabitess (see the commentary on Ruth Bd – Coda: The Genealogy of David). At one point, David was on good terms with the king of Mo’ab. He even left his mother and father in the protection of the king of Mo’ab so that Sha’ul could not kill them in his madness (First Samuel 22:3-4). Yet, when David took the throne of Isra’el, the Moabites challenged him and he went to war with them, defeating them and collecting tribute.⁵³⁸

There is a sense in which the modern reader might regard 24:18 and 19 as somewhat anticlimactic to what it followed. Yet, this is not at all unusual in biblical prophecy. One can pick almost any well-known messianic text (Isaiah 9:6-7 or Micah 5:2 for example) and find it to have what appear to be rather humble associations. However, the wording of these two verses are significant for the advance the idea of 24:17, that the coming Deliverer will have a great victory and will provide a Kingdom for His people.⁵³⁹ With a slight rearrangement of the Hebrew text, these verse may be read:

(D) Edom we be conquered,
(D) and Seir will be conquered, when Isra’el grows strong (24:18). Edom and Seir are synonymous terms (Genesis 32:3, 36:8-9; Deuteronomy 1:44, 2:4, 8 and 12, etc). The paring of the two words may help us understand the pairing of Mo’ab and Seth (24:17c and d). In Moshe’s day, Edom was a nation that Isra’el was forbidden to attack. The future projection of the text assumes a time when Edom attacked Isra’el (see the book of Obadiah), for which Edom finally receives her punishment for refusing passage to the Hebrews in route to the Promised Land (see De – The Resistance of Edom).⁵⁴⁰ In the near historical fulfillment, king David was victorious over Edom. He defeated the Edomites and they became his servants (see the Life of David Cx – David’s Victories: Edom defeated in the south). This was predicted in Obadiah 18-21. In the narratives of the books of Kings, we read that David’s conquest of Edom was extremely brutal. First Kings 11:15-16 tells of how David’s general, Joab, occupied Edom for six months in an attempt to slaughter every male Edomite. And one of David’s mighty warriors, is credited with striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt (see the Life of David Ej – David’s Mighty Warriors: Abishai).⁵⁴¹ The words contrasting the ultimate downfall of Edom are to be stressed: Isra’el will grow strong while her enemies languish. This is the promise of 24:19, Jacob will provide a Ruler who will finally destroy all of the enemies of God.

(E) And a Ruler will come out of Jacob,
(E) who will destroy the survivors of the city of Babylon (24:19). In the far eschatological fulfillment, Ha’Shem will destroy the kingdom of Darkness during the Great Tribulation. However, as a display of His grace, the Lord will restore the believing remnant of countries during the Messianic Kingdom that had previously opposed Him and His people Isra’el (see Revelation Fk – Gentiles in the Messianic Kingdom). The entire world will be fruitful and very productive. Yet, there will be two areas of perpetual desolation during the entire thousand years. The first of these two desolate areas, Babylon, will be the former commercial and political capital of the antichrist (see Revelation Em – Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She Has Become a Home for Demons); and the second desolate area will be Edom (see the commentary on Isaiah Gi – Edom’s Streams Will Be Turned into Pitch). Messiah will ultimately exercise dominion over all nations, tribes, and peoples. The theme of the oracle is constant: Isra’el’s ultimate blessing is dependent on her Deliverer.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your incredible love that was willing to bear the great shame and pain to be the spotless Lamb of God (John 1:29; First Corinthians 5:7; Romans 8:34) bearing my punishment of death because of my sin. Your love is so great that you withhold nothing that will bless those who love You (Psalms 84:11). It is so comforting to know that nothing can separate me from Your love, neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua, our Lord (Romans 8:35-39). What a wonderful blessing it is to be Your child! It is a blessing that no one can take away.

Isra’el is Your first born and You so desire to bless Isra’el. This is what ADONAI says: Isra’el is My son, My firstborn (Exodus 4:22b-c). Your promise of blessing is so definite, that Your promised blessing extends even to those who also bless Isra’el. My desire is to bless those who bless you, but whoever curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3). No sorcerer, or anyone else, can ever take away the blessing that You so desire to pour on Isra’el.

Israel itself by its disobedience, brought on discipline when it refused to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 14:22-35) out of a fear of the giants rather than trusting in Your Almighty power. That disobedience was a thing of the past for now the new generation vowed to obey God by entering and conquering the Promised Land. Then Isra’el vowed to ADONAI and stated, “If you deliver this people into our hand, we will put their cities under the ban of destruction” (Numbers 21:2)! As the people obeyed, God was able to fulfill His promise to bless Isra’el.

Trials and suffering in this world often comes, but it will soon be over and for all who love you, Messiah Yeshua is preparing a heavenly home of eternal joy and peace (John 14:1-3). You always keep Your promises! You kept Your Word to bless Isra’el and You will also keep Your Word to bring those who love You home to live with You in heaven, where there will be eternal joy and peace (Revelation 21:1-4). Praise and thank You for always being so faithful, even when I am not! It is a joy to think of praising You forever in heaven! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Balaam’s Third Oracle
23:27 to 24:14

Balaam’s third oracle DIG: Based on these three oracles, how would you describe Balak’s view of God? Do you think Balaam has changed since the first oracle? How so? Which Jewish king is referred to in this prophecy? How is Balaam remembered in the Bible (Second Peter 2:15 and Jude 11)? What do you see as God’s purpose in giving these oracles to someone as greedy or as pagan as Balaam? This oracle emphasizes the contentment of God’s people in their own land. What reasons did they have for contentment? Who do you think these oracles were aimed at? Balak? Balaam? Isra’el? Explain.

REFLECT: Do you think that God wishes for you all the goodness that he decrees for the Israelites in these oracles? Why or why not? In what ways has He blessed you this past year? How does that make you feel? Do you always believe that God wants only good for you? When is the most difficult time to believe that? If you could believe this at all times, how would it change your prayer life? Your view of God? What is one thing God has given you that moves you toward contentment? How could Balaam have such a powerful experience with ADONAI and still not have saving faith? What can you learn from this?

The third attempt at cursing Isra’el corresponds to the third time ADONAI blocked Balaam’s way. Just as the donkey lay down under Balaam, refusing to go any further, so, too, the LORD intervened a third time putting His words in Balaam’s mouth to speak a third message of blessing over Isra’el (22:26-30).

Hebrew poetry is not based on the concept of Western meter. The poetry of Isra’el was infused with rhythm, and the accentuation (with basically one “beat” per word) most likely signifies that pattern. The predominant feature of Hebrew poetic structure is the repetition of meaning in parallel expressions . . . or poetic parallelism. The biblical verse of poetry normally has two or more of these parallel units. The first line makes a statement, followed by the second line which elaborates on it in some manner. The words are not meant to rhyme, but are parallel in thought. Thus, Balaam’s third oracle is written in one triplet and ten tightly parallel couplets. At the beginning of the oracle proper, the speaker shifts from third to first person, with Balaam now speaking in his formal role as the oracle speaker.

The setting of the oracle (23:27 to 24:2): Disappointed, but not deterred, King Balak took Balaam to the top of another mountain. He said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to one more high place” (23:27). The high places, very simply, were places of worship on elevated pieces of ground. High places were originally dedicated to idol worship (Numbers 33:52; Leviticus 26:30), especially among the Moabites (Isaiah 16:12). These shrines often included an altar and a sacred object such as a stone pillar or wooden pole in various shapes identified with the object of worship (animals, constellations, goddesses, and fertility deities). It seems that, at times, high places were set up in a spot that had been artificially elevated, like the tower of Babel (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Dl – The Tower of Babel).

The Israelites, forever turning away from God, worshiped Molech and built high places for Ba’al (Jeremiah 32:35). Although Solomon built the Temple of God in Jerusalem, he later established idolatrous high places for his foreign wives outside of Jerusalem and worshiped with them (see the commentary on the Life of Solomon Bx – Solomon’s Wives), causing him to lose his Kingdom (First Kings 11:11). The people were still sacrificing at the pagan high places before the Temple was built, and Solomon joined them. After God appeared to him in a dream at Gibeon, the king returned to Jerusalem and sacrificed offerings; however, he continued to waver between the two places of worship.⁵²¹

You would have thought that Balak would have given up by now, but evil is persistent, so he decided to have Balaam make one last attempt to curse Isra’el. King Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to one more place. Perhaps it will please God for you to put a curse on them from there.” But, God had just spoken to king Balak directly and explained in no uncertain terms that Isra’el was blessed and could not be cursed. However, Balak had ignored the warning and took Balaam to another high place of a local god on the top of Peor, overlooking the desert. Again making the foolish assumption that changing locations would change his luck. Once more, Balaam said to Balak, “Build me the obligatory seven altars here, and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams.” The same old pagan customs continued. Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar (23:27-30).

Balaam did three things differently when giving this third oracle, then he did in the previous two. First, he didn’t leave Balak and the rulers by themselves; secondly, he didn’t even think about using sorcery because he knew it was useless; and thirdly, the Spirit of God took control and put the words in his mouth.

But despite the token efforts of seven more altars and fourteen more sacrifices, Balaam had already given up. He realized that ADONAI was determined to bless Isra’el, because God had already declared that no black magic would work against Isra’el (23:23a). Instead, he raised his eyes and saw Isra’el encamped tribe by tribe. Then YHVH intervened, taking control of Balaam, the LORD put His Words in his mouth as the Spirit of God came upon him (24:1-2). In regard to the two former oracles, it says that ADONAI put a Word in the mouth of Balaam (Numbers 23:5 and 15). In the present case the Spirit of God came upon him. The same expression is used of the messengers of king Sha’ul (First Samuel 19:20), and of king Sha’ul himself (First Samuel 10:9-12). The prophecy of Caiaphas (John 11:46-52) affords another instance of the sovereign power of the Spirit as displayed through the medium of wicked men. From this we can conclude that the Spirit of God can use anyone whom He wants to use for His purposes.⁵²²

As Sha’ul had his experience on the road to Damascus (see the commentary on Acts Bc – Sha’ul Turns from Murder to the Messiah), so also, Balaam had his experience on the road to Mo’ab. In both cases there was Divine revelation. In the case of Sha’ul, the revelation was one of grace; in the case of Balaam, it was one of judgment. But both revelations included the protection of the true people of God from those who wished to do them harm.⁵²³

The oracle: the beauty and strength of Isra’el (24:3-9): Balaam’s third oracle followed the same style of parallelism and repetition established in the first two oracles, but this one is far less mechanical than the previous two. It erupts like an explosion of poetry, rich with rhyme, meter and metaphor. Instead of following the rigid pattern of parallel couplets, this third oracle begins with a triplet, each line starting with a phrase: the oracle. And he made his third oracle, saying:

(A) This is the oracle of Balaam, son of Beor,
(A) the oracle of a man whose eyes have been opened
(A) the oracle of him who hears the words of God (24:3-4a). These verses form the introduction to the oracle; with one exception they are identical to 24:15-16. Despite its formal drumbeat of pomp and circumstance, these introductory lines of the oracle are supposed to be amusing to the reader. Balaam described himself as a man whose eyes have been opened, who sees a vision of what Shaddai sees. Yet we remember well that his donkey saw the Angel of ADONAI far more clearly than Balaam did. He claimed to be a man who hears the words of God, yet we recall that His donkey had to tip him off that God had something to say.⁵²⁴

(B) who sees a vision of what Shaddai sees,
(B) who falls down with eyes wide open (24:4b). When YHVH had stood in the way of the donkey for the third time, Balaam’s eyes were opened at last. Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, so that he could see the Angel of ADONAI standing in the way with His drawn sword in his hand, and he fell on his face. Here, Balaam, once again (22:31), fell face down as a result of being in the presence of God. This was a common occurrence when people were faced with the living God. Abraham fell on his face when YHVH appeared to him (Genesis 17:1-3, 17); the people fell on their faces when fire came out from before the LORD (Leviticus 9:24); Moses and Aaron fell on their faces (Numbers 14:5, 16:20-22); Joshua fell on his face (Joshua 5:14); Ezeki’el fell on his face (Ezeki’el 44:4), and Dani’el fell on his face (Dani’el 8:17); three apostles fell on their faces on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:6), a man full of leprosy fell on his face before Yeshua (Luke 5:12), and a healed leper fell on his face before Messiah giving Him thanks (Luke 17:15-16), and finally the twenty-four elders in heaven fell on their faces worshiping ADONAI (Revelation 11:16). You would think that such a remarkable experience with the living God would have brought Balaam to a place of submission and faith, but it did not. It only shows that an unbeliever can intellectually come to a knowledge of the LORD and yet not step over the line from knowledge to faith (see the commentary on Hebrews Al – How Shall We Escape If We Ignore So Great a Salvation). Balaam is the Judas Iscariot of the Torah. Both received so much revelation; both spoke to God; and both sold their gifts for money.

(C) How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,
(C) your dwellings, O Isra’el (24:5)! Balaam compared Isra’el’s future settlements in Canaan to the strong trees growing by life-giving streams of water. He offered a pulsating description of Isra’el, so beautiful that it has become a permanent part of Jewish liturgy. As Balaam was looking down at the tents in the wilderness, the Spirit of God gave him a vision of future cities with homes and buildings.

(D) They spread out like valleys,
(D) like gardens by the riverside (24:6a). In an attempt to describe his vision of the camp of Isra’el, Balaam launched into a four-line series simile which describes Isra’el as a lush, well-watered garden with aloes and cedar trees planted by the water. He described the blessings that YHVH would bestow upon the people of Isra’el in their future dwelling in the new Land. These words are among the most treasured in the Torah regarding the blessings of ADONAI upon His people.

The image of Isra’el as a well-watered garden planted by the LORD, is another picture that takes us back to Genesis 13. There we find Lot, the forefather of Mo’ab, quarreling with Abraham, the forefather of Isra’el, over pastureland. It says: Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valleys of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere . . . like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt are you to Zoar (Genesis 13:10). Lot chose those well-watered valleys for himself, but that choice proved to be his undoing.

Now things have come full circle as the descendants of Abraham are described in much the same terms. They were camped in the plains of Mo’ab beside the Jordan river, across from Jericho. As Balaam looked out over these encampments, he observed that they were like the well-watered valleys of the Jordan, described as valleys that spread out, like gardens by the river. They were like the garden of the LORD in as much as they were planted by the LORD.⁵²⁵

(E) like succulent aloes planted by ADONAI,
(E) like cedar trees beside the waters (24:6b). In a crescendo of phrases, the geographical and floral aspects refer to the highly prized bodies of water that Isra’el would possess in great abundance in the Promised Land. Some, more concerned with scientific accuracy than poetic imagery, have been concerned with cedar trees pictured beside the waters. This is poetry not botany. Cedars do not grow beside rivers; they grow in the mountains. So why would Balaam liken Isra’el to one here? Cedars’ strength is exceptional without a river running nearby, but Isra’el will be even stronger, like a cedar beside a river.

(F) Water will flow from their buckets,
(F) their offspring will have plenty of water (24:7a). Here is the image of a man with two pails hanging from his shoulders, overflowing with water. Again, water is being used as a symbol of great fruitfulness. Although the reference could again be to the fertility of the land, resulting from the abundance of rain, it more probably refers to a growing population. Drink the water from your own cistern, fresh water from your own well. Let what your springs produce be dispersed outside, streams of water flowing in the streets; but let them be for you alone and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain, the wife of your youth, be blessed and find joy in her (Proverbs 5:15-18). Although Isra’el may already be too many to count (23:10a), Balaam declares they will multiply even more.

(G) And their future King will be greater than Agag,
(G) and His Kingdom high and lifted up (24:7). Here, Balaam first broached the topic of Isra’el’s future King, a theme he develops more fully in the following oracle. Their King, promised by God to the patriarchs (Genesis 17:6 and 16, 35:11) will be greater than a king considered great in ancient times. Sha’ul, the first king of Isra’el, defeated Agag, the king of the Amalekites (First Samuel 15:8), and this word of Balaam would appear to be foretelling of the eventual destruction of Isra’el’s oldest enemy (see the commentary on Exodus Cv – The Amalekites Attacked the Israelites at Rephidim). Moreover, during the promised Messianic Kingdom, the land of Isra’el will become like the garden of Eden (see the commentary on Isaiah Gk – The Desert and the Parched Land Will Be Glad).⁵²⁶

(H) God, who brought them out of Egypt,
(H) gives them the horns of a wild ox (24:8a). Isra’el’s strength came out of God’s strength. Verses 8 and 9 depict Ha’Shem leading Isra’el out of Egypt like a conquering army, decimating any enemy who would stand in their way. In the second oracle we learned that God gave Isra’el the strength (Hebrew: toaphah, meaning horns) of a wild ox (23:22). Now, 24:8–9 are an expansion of 23:24 of the second oracle (see Du – Balaam’s Second Oracle). The term horns of a wild ox is a biblical, poetic idiom for strength, pride and power. God is described as going before Isra’el like horns of a wild ox. The horns of the fearsome beast gore and tear anyone foolish enough to get in its way. So, too, Ha’Shem will go before Isra’el, goring and removing anyone who would oppose His people.

You will recall that Balak had already compared Isra’el to an ox. He had said: This horde will lick up everything around us, the way an ox licks up grass in the field (22:4). In his simile, he compared Isra’el to a shor, meaning a domesticated ox. In this oracle, however, he compared Isra’el to a reim, a far more dangerous wild ox. It is like the difference between a barnyard pig and a wild boar.⁵²⁷

(I) He will devour hostile nations,
(I) And will break their bones into pieces, and pierce them with his arrows (24:8b).

In both the second and third oracles, Balaam compares Isra’el to a lion. In the second oracle, the lion is seen as rising, crouching as if to pounce, devouring its prey and lapping up its blood before laying down again (23:24b). This will be the case during the conquest of the Promised Land (see the commentary Deuteronomy Ag – The Problem of Holy War in the TaNaKh). The animal images are not over yet, though.

(J) Like a lion He crouches and lays down,
(J) as a lion, who dares to provoke him (24:9a)? In the days that followed the conquest of Canaan, Isra’el, in its own land, will be like a lion/lioness resting, unconcerned and satisfied, yet still dangerous and fearsome. The nations around Isra’el will rouse it at their own peril. The image of the lion, laying down, is taken directly from Jacob’s blessing over Judah. You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness – who dares to rouse him (Genesis 49:9)? Therefore, we should take it as a reference to the Messianic King (see the commentary on Revelation Ce – The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David Has Triumphed).⁵²⁸

(K) May those who bless Isra’el be blessed,
(K) and those who curse Isra’el be cursed (24:9b)! At last Balaam ends the oracle with a final concise statement which summarizes all three failed attempts to curse Isra’el. The irony cannot be missed. In his actions, Balaam brings a curse upon his own head even as he speaks words of blessing! Those who attempt to curse the children of Abraham will find themselves cursed. This is a reaffirmation of the Abrahamic Covenant, when God said: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse. Therefore, the promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3 and 22:18), to Jacob (Genesis 27:29) and to the Israelites (Exodus 23:22) was fulfilled by Balaam.⁵²⁹

The Moabites’ failed attempt to curse the children of Abraham returned to them like a boomerang. The descendants of Lot were cursed, while Isra’el, the descendants of Abraham, were blessed. The score between Abraham and Lot was finally settled on the plains of Mo’ab. Lot went for the quick and easy reward; while Avraham held onto the promises. In the end, Abraham was vindicated. God is the Promise Keeper.⁵³⁰

Balak’s angry response (24:10-11): Balak’s anger burned against Balaam after his third blessing upon Isra’el. Then, Balak flew into a rage against Balaam. He angrily struck his hands together (see Job 27:23 and Lamentations 2:15) and shouted, “I called you to put a curse on my enemies. Instead, you have done nothing but bless them – three times already! At least Balak got that much right. Now get out of here! Go back home! I had planned to reward you very well, but now ADONAI has deprived you of payment.” As far as the king was concerned, all his efforts had amounted to nothing.

Balaam’s response (24:12-14): Balaam, although clearly disappointed, reminded the king, “Didn’t I tell the messengers you sent me that even if the king would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of ADONAI. I told you that I could only say what ADONAI has put in my mouth? Balak should have known that the whole thing would end in failure. Then, the defeated sorcerer declared: I am going back to my own people. But first let me warn you what the Israelites will do to your people in the future Messianic age (see Dw – Balaam’s Fourth Oracle: the far eschatological fulfillment).

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being so very Awesome with Almighty power! Your strength and wisdom are so great that there is no possibility of You ever making even the slightest mistake. You not only have total power but your omniscient wisdom guides You to know what will take place hundreds of years in the future, and you already have the plan on how to win the victory! Praise Your infinite wisdom! In the days of Dani’el, You foretold and described all the future world kingdoms, thousands of years before the kingdoms even began to exist (Daniel 2:31-45, 7:1-27).

What a comfort it is that you prepare in advance for the right people to be in exactly the right place to win the battle. When Haman plotted to destroy the Jews, you already had the perfect Jewish woman in place to be the queen whom You would use to move the king’s heart to reverse Haman’s demonic plan. Haman’s plan backfired on him for instead of Jews being killed, it was evil Haman himself who was impaled on the Pole he had set up for Mordecai (Esther 7:10). Also, not only were the Jews not killed, but King Ahasuerus’ new decree allowed the Jews to defend themselves and 75,000 of their enemies were killed (Esther 9:16). The Jews who at one time were the cursed people, then became the blessed people. Many Gentiles of the land were circumcised and became proselytes because the fear of the Jews had overcome them (Esther 8:17c). You so wisely put everything carefully in place for future victory! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Balaam’s Second Oracle
23: 13-26

Balaam’s second oracle DIG: Why is Balak back again giving it the old college try? What does he know about Balaam or God that leads him to believe either one can be bought? What is God’s answer to this presumption of Balak’s? What do you see as the central message or key verse of this oracle? How does the blessing of this second oracle compare in scope to the first one? What is Balak’s response to this greater blessing? What truths about the people of Isra’el did God’s message to Balaam reveal? What can we learn from Balaam’s first two oracles that is relevant today?

REFLECT: When are God’s decrees hardest for you to accept? How is God not like a parent or a spouse or a politician who can, and do, change their minds? How do your reactions at these times help you to understand Balak in this story? If you could give Balak one piece of advice, what would it be? What will you do to ensure you follow your own advice? In verse 25 Balak admits that this whole exercise is backfiring. When have you felt like Balak in this regard? How can you avoid situations like that in the future? How might the story of Balak and Balaam help you to do just that, “the next time?”

The second intervention on God’s part corresponds to the second time the donkey was turned aside (22:24-25); just as the Angel of ADONAI forced the donkey against the vineyard wall, once again,
God forced Balaam to turn aside from cursing Isra’el (22:23).

Hebrew poetry is not based on the concept of Western meter. The poetry of Isra’el was infused with rhythm, and the accentuation (with basically one “beat” per word) most likely signifies that pattern. The predominant feature of Hebrew poetic structure is the repetition of meaning in parallel expressions . . . or poetic parallelism. The biblical verse of poetry normally has two or more of these parallel units. The first line makes a statement, followed by the second line which elaborates on it in some manner. The words are not meant to rhyme, but are parallel in thought. Thus, Balaam’s second oracle is written in eleven tightly parallel couplets. At the beginning of the oracle proper, the speaker shifts from third to first person, with Balaam now speaking in his formal role as the oracle speaker.

Disappointed, but not deterred, King Balak took Balaam to the top of another mountain. He said to Balaam, “All right, come with me to another high place where you can see the Israelites” (23:13a). Obviously the king thought that a change in locations would change his luck. The high places, very simply, were places of worship on elevated pieces of ground. High places were originally dedicated to idol worship (Numbers 33:52; Leviticus 26:30), especially among the Moabites (Isaiah 16:12). These shrines often included an altar and a sacred object such as a stone pillar or wooden pole in various shapes identified with the object of worship (animals, constellations, goddesses, and fertility deities). It seems that, at times, high places were set up in a spot that had been artificially elevated, like the tower of Babel (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Dl – The Tower of Babel).

The Israelites, forever turning away from God, practiced Molech worship and built high places for Ba’al (Jeremiah 32:35). Although Solomon built the Temple of God in Jerusalem, he later established idolatrous high places for his foreign wives outside of Jerusalem and worshiped with them (see the commentary on the Life of Solomon Bx – Solomon’s Wives), causing him the loss of his Kingdom (First Kings 11:11). The people were still sacrificing at the pagan high places before the Temple was built, and Solomon joined them. After God appeared to him in a dream at Gibeon, the king returned to Jerusalem and sacrificed offerings; however, he continued to waver between the two places of worship.⁵⁰³

God met Balaam (23:13b-16): So Balak took Balaam through the field of Tzofim to the top of the Pisgah Mountain Range, some 2,600 feet above sea level, the very place where Moses would view the whole Land before he died (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Gj – The Death of Moses). Again, they built seven altars and offered the bribe-sacrifices of a bull and a ram on each altar. The king declared: You will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp. And from there, you can curse them for me. Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD over there.” YHVH met Balaam, put a Word in his mouth and said, “Go on back to Balak, and speak as I tell you.” Rather cursing Isra’el, God’s Word was a message for Balak.

Balak met God (23:17-24): So Balaam went back and found Balak standing by his burnt offering, along with all the Moabite rulers. Balak asked him, “What did ADONAI say” (23:17)? It is remarkable that Balak, the Moabite king, would even inquire of the God of Isra’el. But Balaam had given him no choice, so the mouthpiece of the Most High made his pronouncement (23:18a):

(A) Get up, Balak, and listen!
(A) Turn your ears to me, son of Zippor (23:18b)! Ha’Shem called the king to attention, preparing him to receive the coming remarkable pronouncement. The naming of Balak in the second line as son of Zippor is a fine example of parallelism.

(B) God (El) is not a human being who lies,
(B) or a mortal who changes His mind (23:19a). Balaam is himself a foil for God. The sorcerer was constantly shifting, evading, vacillating – he is the prime example of the distinction between God and mortal human beings.⁵⁰⁴ Through the mouth of Balaam, El explains to Balak why Isra’el cannot be cursed. Three times in his oracle (23:19a, 22, and 23b) the word for God is El, which derives from the basic word for deity in Semitic languages. Most often the term in the TaNaKh occurs in the plural form Elohim, denoting the power and majesty of the One True God.⁵⁰⁵ God is not fickle. Having already promised to bless Isra’el, He could not reverse Himself. The LORD cannot change His mind. Unlike mortal human beings, He cannot be manipulated by black magic or dictated to by sorcerers, even those of the stature of Balaam. He is the Creator, not a creature. It is people who are unreliable and fickle, God is neither. Therefore, any attempt to place a curse upon Isra’el was, and is, utterly futile. We already know that YHVH has declared a blessing on Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:2-3a).⁵⁰⁶ Moreover, God doesn’t lie, so God always keeps His promises; He doesn’t change, so His character remains the same. He isn’t weak, so He is able to fulfill what He promises. He was, and is, faithful to the people of Isra’el and continues to reign throughout history as their King.⁵⁰⁷

Here we have an antimony, God disciplines Isra’el, yet God blesses Isra’el. An antimony means two things that are mutually exclusive, but both are true. For example, the Trinity in an antimony, where you have God as being three distinct people, Father, Son, and Spirit, yet the Bible teaches that God is One (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). The antimony here is that sometimes Scripture clearly says that God never repents (First Samuel 15:29; Malachi 3:6; Romans 11:29; James 1:17). But sometimes it does say that God does relent (Genesis 6:6). God’s larger purpose does not fail, but His relationship with mankind will vary with certain individual cases. For example in Exodus 32:14, ADONAI relented about the disaster He had planned for His people after the intercession of Moses. Now it is obvious that in God’s overall plan, He would never destroy Isra’el because of His covenantal promises Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the means of the people’s survival included Moshe’s intercession. Jeremiah 18:8 says: If a nation turns from evil, which prompted Me to speak against it, then I relent concerning the disaster I had planned to inflict on it. But this also was part of God’s overall plan, so the change is only apparent on a human level. The same thing is true in Jeremiah 26:3. And in Amos 7:3 and 6 we read how the prayer of Amos averted a divine judgment, but that also was part of God’s overall plan. This can also be seen in Jonah when the Ninevites repented and God relented (see the commentary on Jonah Az – Jonah’s Anger at the LORD’s Mercy).⁵⁰⁸

(C) When he says something, He will do it;
(C) when He makes a promise, He will fulfill it (23:19b).

(D) Look, I am ordered to bless;
(D) and when He blesses, I can’t reverse it (23:20). These two verses explain 23:19a in greater depth. What YHVH has said will come true without fail, and what God has said is that Isra’ael is blessed (23:7-10). This concept, of course, would contradict Balak’s understanding of God. The king’s whole motive in moving the site of the second oracle was to force El to change His blessing into a curse. As a result, Balaam rebukes Balak for his idea of God, and in essence, tells the king that his plan was doomed. No human – sorcerer or otherwise – can contradict the revealed will of God.⁵⁰⁹

(E) He has not planned misfortune, or evil, for Jacob,
(E) no trouble is in store for Isra’el (23:21a). At first blush the wording of this verse is seemingly farfetched. The whole course of Isra’el’s experience in the wilderness was one misfortune after another. Yet, it was evidently their standing before Him that is in view here, rather than their sinful nature. God didn’t have to plan for their misfortune, they were perfectly capable of handling that on their own! Nevertheless, with God in their midst, they were safe from utter destruction.⁵¹⁰

When God looked upon Isra’el, He didn’t see any evil; and therefore, had reason to judge them. They were a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6), even though He had to discipline them for their unbelief and disobedience (see the commentary on Hebrews Cz – God Disciplines His Children). Believers today are God’s chosen people (Ephesians 1:4), hidden in Messiah (Colossians 3:3), clothed in His righteousness (Second Corinthians 5:17 and 21), sealed with the Ruach (Ephesians 1:13b-14) and seated with Him in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:4-6). Because we are in Messiah, God sees us as His own special people (First Peter 2:5, 9-10), and He loves us unconditionally, and eternally (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer). Once again, God turned the curse into a blessing!⁵¹¹

(F) Elohim their God is with them,
(F) and the shout for a King is among them (23:21b). As 23:21a is negative, 23:21b is positive. What set Isra’el apart was not their population, their power, or their perseverance over the past forty years; what set Isra’el apart was their God. Isra’el was, and is blessed, because ADONAI goes with them. Opposed to king Balak, YHVH is the King in the midst of Isra’el. The word translated as shout in Hebrews is teruah. It is the same word commonly used for the shofar blast. Therefore, the second line could be translated as the trumpet blast of the King is among them.⁵¹² This was a joyful shout for a King, and their King was not in some far-off, remote place, but was in their very midst. The Divine Presence was, of course, in the Tabernacle (see Exodus Hh – The Glory of the LORD Filled the Tabernacle), with the camp of Isra’el around Him.⁵¹³ And, of course, in the far eschatological future, Messiah will rule and reign as King of Isra’el during the Messianic Kingdom.

(G) God (El) has brought them out of Egypt,
(G) He gives them the strength (Hebrew: toaphah, meaning horns) of a wild ox (23:22). It was God who gave the Israelites their victories, beginning with their exodus from Egypt. The nation was like an ox in its strength, in particular the powerful and protruding horns of the animal, and like a lioness and a lion in its determination to catch its prey and kill it. Therefore, no sorcery could succeed against God’s people because He was at work in them and through them.⁵¹⁴

(H) Surely, no one can put a curse on Jacob,
(H) no black magic will work against Isra’el (23:23a). The oracle specifically speaks against Balaam being able to put a curse on Jacob. Isra’el did not need sorcerers or magicians to have success against their various enemies. Balaam speaks here from his fearsome experience. Those who practiced black magic try to determine the will of God through the casting of lots via dice or darts, the consulting of domestic deities, or in reading the patterns animal entrails via liver dissection or intestinal examination. The denial regarding Isra’el’s possession or adherence to black magic is remarkably contrasted with the positive praise of what God has done on behalf of Isra’el.⁵¹⁵

(I) For now it can now be said of Jacob,
(I) Oh, what wonders God (El) has done for Isra’el (23:23b)! As 23:23a is negative, 23:23b is positive. The second line builds the crescendo of thought, erupting in this compelling confession: Oh, what wonders God has done for Isra’el! This verse is the key to all of Balaam’s pronouncements. He had come to use his black magic on Isra’el, but in the end, he wanted his end to be like theirs (23:10b). He had come to bring a curse, but he found them blessed. He had come to use his sorcery, but he found it ineffective. God was in control, and Balaam was His puppet in this spiritual battle.⁵¹⁶

(J) These people rise up like a lioness,
(J) like a lion raising himself up (23:24a). Rather than delivering a curse, Balaam compares the camp of Isra’el (see Am – The Camp of the Twelve Tribes of Isra’el) to a lion, rising up to pounce upon its prey. The lion imagery points back to Jacob’s blessing over Judah (see the commentary on Genesis Lg – The Scepter Will Not Depart from Judah Until He Comes to Whom It Belongs).⁵¹⁷

(K) They will not lie down until they have eaten up the prey,
(K) and drinks the blood of the slain (23:24b). As a lioness, Isra’el was about to rouse herself and would soon bring her foes to destruction. She would not rest until the enemy was devoured; its blood licked clean at the end of the chase. The effectiveness of the lion image was not lost on the northern kingdom of Isra’el. Witness the seal from Megiddo with the figure of a roaring lion, inscribed, “Belonging to Schema, servant of Jeroboam.” The use of the image of the lion was a way of speaking of Isra’el’s destiny as the warrior of God.

The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which mauls and mangles as it goes, there is no one to rescue them (Micah 6:8).⁵¹⁸ As long as Isra’el walked with God and obeyed His will, they were an undefeated nation and God did great wonders for them.

And this is the victory that has overcome the world . . . our faith (First John 5:4). The battles God’s people fight today are not with flesh and blood, but with Satan’s demons (see the commentary on Ephesians Ca – The Spiritual Battle), and we can’t win the victory in our own strength. We must first see ourselves as the people of God, purchased by the blood of Messiah, indwelt by the Spirit of God, and more than conquerors through Messiah (Romans 8:37). Our protection is the whole armor of God (see Ephesians Cb – The Armor of God), and our chief weapons are the Word of God and prayer (see Ephesians Ci – Praying at All Times).⁵¹⁹

Balaam’s warning (23:25-26): Balaam declared that just what Balak feared would happen: Isra’el would destroy their enemies and nothing could stop them. At that news, Balak appeared incredulous and was angry once again by Balaam’s defiance of his request to curse Isra’el. He gasped: Obviously, you won’t curse them. But at least don’t bless them already!” In other words, “Shut up!” Balak preferred silence to the words of blessing. But Balaam, once again, reminded the king, “Didn’t I warn you that I must do everything ADONAI says?” Balak was now growing weary of hearing this (22:38, 23:3 and 12). I am sure it reverberated through his heart and mind, but he would hear it again after the third oracle (24:13).⁵²⁰

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your promise to bless those who love You. Your promises are as a solid rock that can always be counted on. You allow trials into my life, but they are allowed for the purpose of blessing me by giving me an opportunity to be shaped by Your loving hand and result in praise and glory. These trials are so that the true metal of your faith (far more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire) may come to light in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Messiah Yeshua (First Peter 1:7).

It is always wise to trust Your hand of love and mercy, even when the skies look dark, for You are Almighty and the God of compassion. For ADONAI Elohim is a sun and a shield. Adonai gives grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. ADONAI-Tzva’ot, blessed is the one who trusts in You (Psalms 84:11-12). There is evil in this world, but You can turn what someone means for evil – into good! Yes, you yourselves planned evil against me. But God planned it for good (Genesis 50:20a). Praise and thank You for Your great and merciful love for me. For God Himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5c). You never sleep, never yawn (Psalms 121:4); but are always watching over me with a father’s tender heart of compassion, seeking to guide and bless me as I obey Your Word. What a comfort it is to trust in Your almighty power and tender love at all times! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Balaam’s First Oracle
22:41 to 23:12

Balaam’s first oracle DIG: In this first oracle, what is Balak’s desire? Balaam’s desire? God’s desire? How would each see the function of the seven altars and seven sacrifices? Why can’t Balaam bring himself to curse Isra’el? What secures Isra’el’s blessing forever? What truths about the people of Isra’el did God’s message through Balaam reveal to Balak? In what ways are God’s people separate from the world?

REFLECT: When you want to know God’s will for your life, what do you do? When are your desires most likely to conflict with God’s desires? Have you ever tried to convince God that your way is better? What was the result? What can you do to ensure that, unlike Balaam, you mold your desires to fit God’s desires? How are you like the world? How are you separate from the world (First John 2:15-16)?

The first intervention on God’s part corresponds to the first time the donkey turned aside;
for just as God forced the donkey off the road, He forces Balaam to turn aside from cursing Isra’el (22:23).

The high places of Ba’al (22:41 to 23:6): The next morning after their meeting (to see link click Dr – Balaam and the Donkey: Preparation for the first oracle), Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Ba‘al (22:41). The high places, very simply, were places of worship on elevated pieces of ground. High places were originally dedicated to idol worship (Numbers 33:52; Leviticus 26:30), especially among the Moabites (Isaiah 16:12). These shrines often included an altar and a sacred object such as a stone pillar or wooden pole in various shapes identified with the object of worship (animals, constellations, goddesses, and fertility deities). It seems that, at times, high places were set up in a spot that had been artificially elevated, like the tower of Babel (see the commentary on Genesis Dl – The Tower of Babel).

The Israelites, forever turning away from God, practiced Molech worship and built high places for Ba’al (Jeremiah 32:35). Although Solomon built the Temple of God in Jerusalem, he later established idolatrous high places for his foreign wives outside of Jerusalem and worshiped with them, causing him the loss of the Kingdom (First Kings 11:11). The people were still sacrificing at the pagan high places before the Temple was built, and Solomon joined them. After God appeared to him in a dream at Gibeon, the king returned to Jerusalem and sacrificed offerings; however, he continued to waver between the two places of worship.⁴⁹⁰

In Chapter 25, we will see the Midianites and Moabites worshiping Ba’al (see Ea – Taking a Stand for God), a local deity, perhaps associated with the Canaanite Ba’al cult which will plague Isra’el in later years. From there, the sorcerer could see the outskirts of the Israelite camp (see Am – The Camp of the Twelve Tribes of Isra’el). But after his encounter with ADONAI on the road the previous day, Balaam understood the situation better than Balak. Chemosh, Ba’al and the Ba’al of Peor would be of no assistance.

Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams here.” Balak did as Balaam said, then Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. Through the means of the sacrifices, Balaam hoped to appease the angry Deity that had nearly decapitated him the day before. The sorcerer reasoned that seven sacrifices might change God’s mind about the whole cursing thing. Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering while I go off. Perhaps ADONAI will come and meet me; and whatever He reveals to me I will tell you” (23:3). Then he went off to a bare hill. God met with him, and Balaam said to God, “I prepared the seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. But all of these were of pagan origin and were hardly impressive to YHVH. So the bribe failed. Then ADONAI put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said: Go on back to Balak, and speak as I tell you. So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite rulers.⁴⁹¹ The scene is dramatic as Balaam returned to those who had sent for him. They were all standing by the seven altars and hoping for a word from heaven that would destroy their presumed foe. They received a word from heaven all right; but that word was far from what they expected.⁴⁹²

The first oracle (23:7-10): Hebrew poetry is not based on the concept of Western meter. The poetry of Isra’el was infused with rhythm, and the accentuation (with basically one “beat” per word) most likely signifies that pattern. The predominant feature of Hebrew poetic structure is the repetition of meaning in parallel expressions . . . or poetic parallelism. The biblical verse of poetry normally has two or more of these parallel units. The first line makes a statement, followed by the second line which elaborates on it in some manner. The words are not meant to rhyme, but are parallel in thought. Thus, Balaam’s first oracle is written in seven tightly parallel couplets. From atop the high places of Ba’al, Balaam looked out over a portion of the camp of Isra’el and spoke his oracle (Hebrew: mashal, usually translated as a proverb). At the beginning of the oracle, the speaker shifts from third to first person, with Balaam now speaking in his role as the oracle speaker.

(A) Balak brought me from Aram,
(A) the king of Mo’ab from the eastern mountains (23:7a). In the first couplet, Balak summons Balaam from his homeland, the country of Aram, which is northeast of Isra’el in northeast Syria and northwest Mesopotamia. This area is in agreement with the location of Pethor (22:5). Thus, the eastern mountains are the mountains that run through the eastern Syrian-Arabian desert up toward Pethor.

(B) Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;
(B) come and denounce Isra’el (23:7b). The second couplet gives the reason for which Balaam brought Balaam to Mo’ab: to curse and to denounce. The first of these verbs (Hebrew: ‘arar) commonly means to utter a curse and in the present context probably means something like to put under an evil spell. The second of these verbs (Hebrew: za’am) means to threaten or injure. When taken together the two words indicate that Balaam’s job was to put Isr’ael under an evil spell that would threaten or injure her.⁴⁹³ These verbs work together to give the sense of anger and indignation. Jacob and Isra’el are regularly occurring pairs, and, of course, they are interchangeable words marking out the people of God’s covenant. In these words there is a call, deliberate or not, for YHVH to break His promise to the patriarchs.⁴⁹⁴

(C) How am I to curse those whom God has not cursed?
(C) How am I to curse those whom ADONAI has not denounced (23:8)? In the third couplet, we discover that Balaam couldn’t do what he’d been hired to do. The blessing of Isra’el was sacred and holy and Balaam had no power to attack their blessing. God forbade him to speak in a curse on his people, who were unlike the nations of the world.⁴⁹⁵ Balaam stayed true to his promise to speak only what God allowed him to say.

(D) From the top of the rocks I see them,
(D) from the hills I behold them (23:9a). In the fourth couplet, we are brought alongside Balaam, and with him look down at the camp of Isra’el. Along with him we affirm that these people are not like any other; they live apart to this very day, not a part of the families of the nations. Their distinction was in their relationship with their God. As He is holy, so they are holy.⁴⁹⁶ Ha’Shem has judged every ruler or nation that has caused His people to suffer, including Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and, of course, Nazi Germany.

(E) I see a people who live apart,
(E) and do not consider themselves one of the nations (23:9b). In the fifth couplet, we are reminded that Isra’el is a separate people. This was true even when Isra’el dwelt among other nations and is a characteristic which defines them even to this day. They are fundamentally different. There should be no difficulty in distinguishing them from the other Gentile nations. The significance of this observation may refer back to the story of Abraham and Lot. When Abraham and Lot separated, the Torah tells us that Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against ADONAI (Genesis 13:12-13). Lot failed to live apart from the wicked culture around him. Unlike Abraham and his descendants, Lot found himself numbered among the Gentile nations.⁴⁹⁷

Isra’el’s great temptation was wanting to be like the other nations, and this is what led to their downfall and captivity. Instead of rejoicing in their uniqueness as the people of the true and living God, they imitated their neighbors in their worship and conduct, and Ha’Shem had to discipline them. Instead of letting God rule as their King, they asked for a king like all the other nations (see the commentary on the Life of King Sha’ul Br – Give us a King), and this brought the nation nothing but trouble and heartache.

Unfortunately, many people in the Church today have the mistaken belief that being like the world is the way to reach the world. They forget that the Church is the people of God, a very special people, saved by His grace. Instead of maintaining separation (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Bi – Do Not be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers), they promote imitation (First John 2:15-16; Romans 12:2), so that it’s becoming more and more difficult to distinguish the people of God from the people of the world. And yet, as Campbell Morgan famously reminded us, “The Church did the most for the world when the Church was the least like the world.”⁴⁹⁸

(F) Who can count the dust of Jacob,
(F) or numbered even a fourth part of Isra’el (23:10a)? The sixth couplet describes the outward sign of Isra’el’s election and blessing of God. The numerical strength of Isra’el (see Ep – The Numbering of the Eleven Tribes) was, of course, the reason why the Moabites were fearful and decided to call Balaam in the first place (22:3-6). They seemed as numerous as the dust on the ground. Here, Balaam sees that their strength was no mere accident, but was the sign of Isra’el’s separate status and the blessing of YHVH. The Israelites were divided into four great camps, north, south, east, and west (Numbers 2). It seems that Balaam could only see one of those campsites, or a fourth part of Isra’el, as it were, from the high places of Ba‘al (22:41).⁴⁹⁹

(G) May I die as the righteous die!
(G) May my end be like theirs (23:10b)! After describing his target, Balaam was expected to deliver a devastating curse upon them. It should have spelled out some nasty, horrid death for the Israelites. Something like a plague, starvation, or military defeat. Instead, the seventh couplet closes the oracle with a personal reflection by Balaam. Here, Balaam’s wistful desire was to share in Isra’el’s blessing! He who had come to curse the people of God wished himself to be blessed along with them (Genesis 12:3).⁵⁰⁰ The irony was so thick he could eat it with a spoon! You don’t die the death of the righteous unless you live the life of the righteous, and that was something Balaam wasn’t prepared to do. His love of money so controlled his life that he would do anything to obtain great wealth. Balaam died with the wicked when Isra’el defeated the Midianites (see Fq – Report of the Battle), and he joined Hitler and many others in eternal judgment.⁵⁰¹

Balak’s response to Balaam (23:11-12): Balak’s furious response came as expected, since, as the king of Mo’ab, he had spent so much time and money personally working toward the desired end of condemning Isra’el to destruction. Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me?! I brought you to put a curse on my enemies; but, here, you have done nothing but bless them!” He took Balaam’s actions and words as a personal and professional affront, yet his words expressed the reality of the situation. God would curse any who would try to destroy His people. Then Balaam reminded Balak of what he had been communicating from the beginning. Must I not take care to say just what ADONAI puts in my mouth?⁵⁰²

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that what You say, You will always do. Thank You for adopting those who love and trust You to be Your children. But whoever did receive Him, those trusting in His name, to these He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12 and Ephesians 1:5). Your Word is totally reliable (Second Corinthians 1:20). You are always everything that I could possibly need. You are my shield when I am in a battle. ADONAI is my strength and my shield. My heart trusts in Him, and I was helped. Therefore my heart leaps for joy, and I will praise Him with my song (Psalms 28:7). You are my rock when I need a safe place to run to for protection. There is none holy as ADONAI, for there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God (First Samuel 2:2). You are my wisdom when I don’t understand or know what to do. I can trust in Your Word.

Praise You for Your everlasting love! “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. (Jer 31:3b). I know I can trust You with complete confidence! Thank You for Your promise that You will take me to Your wonderful eternal heavenly home of peace and joy, to live with You eternally. Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you may also be (John 14:1-3). You are so wonderful! In Messiah holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Balaam’s Seven Oracles
22:41 to 24:24

What are the oracles of God? There are several places in the Bible that mention the oracles of God, which refer to the words of God. These verses form a close unit based on the oracles of Balaam. Characteristically of the elegant Semitic style, these oracles come in a set of seven. The first four oracles are lengthier, and the last three brief; nonetheless, each oracle has its own independent nature within the overall body and is introduced in the same manner (23:7a, 23:18a, 24:3a, 24:15a, 24:20b, 24:21b, 24:23a). Considering the role that the number seven plays in the narrative of this section (see the sevens in 23:1, 14 and 29), and in the Bible in General (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Ag – The Importance of the Number Seven in the book of Revelation), this feature can hardly be accidental. The oracles show a sense of progression and development. The structure shows a repetitive nature, but the repetition is not static, as the text displays a development, a growing intensity – indeed, a crescendo.⁴⁸⁹

1. Balaam’s First Oracle – 22:41 to 23:12 (Dt)

2. Balaam’s Second Oracle – 23:13-26 (Du)

3. Balaam’s Third Oracle – 23:27 to 24:14 (Dv)

4. Balaam’s Fourth Oracle – 24:15-19 (Dw)

5. Balaam’s Fifth Oracle – 24:20 (Dx)

6. Balaam’s Sixth Oracle – 24:21-22 (Dy)

7. Balaam’s Seventh Oracle – 24:23-25 (Dz)

Balaam and the Donkey
22: 21-40

Balaam and the donkey DIG: Since Ha’Shem had given his permission for Balaam to go with the rulers, why was He so angry with Balaam for going? What impresses you about the donkey? Why wasn’t Balaam shocked when this donkey spoke to him? Judging from your prayer life, are you doing God’s bidding? Or is He doing yours? What does that say about your relationship? What was the biggest lesson Balaam had to learn? Do you identify with Balaam at all? How so? Why not?

REFLECT: Why didn’t Balaam’s words, “I have sinned” (22:34) count as true repentance? How is this relevant today? How aware are you of the realm of the supernatural? Have you ever ignored what the Spirit wanted you to do? How so? How did that turn out? Do you think it is possible to always know God’s will every step of the way? Why or why not? Judging from your prayer life, are you doing God’s bidding? Ask the Lord to help you open your eyes to any blind spots you may have.

The donkey had more spiritual insight, and a better vision of God than Balaam did.

In the days of the apostles, Simon Peter compared Balaam to those who loved the wages of unrighteousness (Second Peter 2:15). To the apostolic community, Balaam was the example of a man who exploits religious authority for his own profit. Regarding such a person, Jude, the brother of the Master, says: for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam (see Jude, to see link click Aq – They Have Taken the Way of Cain, Rushed into Balaam’s Error). The error of Balaam was that he obeyed his greed rather than the LORD. Though God strictly warned Balaam to speak only when he was told (22:12 and 22:20), the sorcerer intended to curse Isra’el and earn that house full of gold and silver which Balak had offered him (22:16).

The Master railed against those who exploited the sacred as a means of dishonest gain. We remember well His anger toward the money-changers in the Temple (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bs – Jesus’ First Cleansing of the Temple at the Passover). He overturned their tables and drove them out of the courtyard. Interestingly, the Midrash Rabbah refers to Balaam as a money changer because the kings of the nations rushed to him for counsel in the same way that people rush to a money-changer to change their money (Numbers Rabbah 20:7).⁴⁷⁹

Up to this point, Balaam, the internationally known sorcerer, had been portrayed as a man of great spiritual stature, who could meet with God when he wanted and whose words had tremendous effects on the fate of nations. Here, however, his spiritual blindness and weakness are exposed. He was so spiritually dead that he could not see the Angel of ADONAI standing in his path, though his donkey could. Furthermore, he saw no significance in her behavior, though strange actions by animals were often regarded as omens in Mesopotamia. As a specialist in black magic, he should have realized the Deity had a message for him. Instead, he beat his donkey three times, an ungodly act in itself (Proverbs 12:10).⁴⁸⁰

The error of Balaam (22:21-22): During the previous night, God came to Balaam and said to him, “Since the rulers of Mo’ab have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you (22:20).” So, the next morning, Balaam didn’t wait for them to come to him; he got up, saddled his donkey and along with his two servants, and went to the place where the delegation was camped. But God was very angry because he went. Angry! Why was He angry? Didn’t God already give Balaam permission to go? Why, then, would He be angry? It was because YHVH knew Balaam’s heart. The LORD knew full well that despite all his superficial piety, Balaam fully intended to curse Isra’el and get his reward from Balak. God was angry at Balaam for defying His will and allowing the love of money to control him.⁴⁸¹

But the Angel of ADONAI stationed Himself on the path to block his way (22:21 and 22:22b). This is a unique Person. He is called the Angel of the ADONAI 58 times and He is called the Angel of God 11 times in the Bible. This is never a common angel, but the second Person of the Trinity, Yeshua. This is always a reference to the pre-incarnate Messiah. Significantly, the rabbis teach that the phrase the Angel of the ADONAI is sometimes used to refer to God Himself. The Angel of ADONAI blocked Balaam’s path three times. Each time, Balaam did not see the Angel, but the donkey did. This is more than just good story telling. The three interventions are meant to correspond to Balaam’s three attempts to curse Isra’el in Chapters 23 and 24. Three times Balaam will attempt to utter a curse against the people of Isra’el, but each time God will stand in his way, so to speak, and change Balaam’s curse into a blessing.

There is a considerable amount of irony in the story of Balaam and his donkey. For example, Balaam referred to himself as a man with his eyes wide open (24:4), as the man who hears the words of God, who knows what ‘Elyon knows, and who sees what Shaddai sees (24:16). Basically, he was full of himself! He is the model of spiritual pride. He sees himself as the man who sees with his eyes wide open, but his donkey disagreed with that self-assessment. Balaam, the man who knows what ‘Elyon knows, and who sees what Shaddai sees, did not see as clearly as his donkey. The donkey had a better vision of God than Balaam did and had more spiritual insight than Balaam did.⁴⁸²

The first intervention (22:23): When the donkey saw the Angel of ADONAI standing on the road with a drawn sword in hand, a position of judgment; this terrified the donkey and she was forced to turn off the road into an open field. Balaam, not knowing the problem, had to beat the donkey to get her back on the road (22:23).

The second intervention (22:24-25): Then, again, the Angel of ADONAI stood on the road where it became narrow as it passed among the vineyards and had stone walls on both sides. The donkey saw the Angel of ADONAI, and trying to get around Him, she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot. So he beat the donkey again (22:24-25).

The third intervention (22:26-30): Simon Peter tells us that Balaam received a rebuke for his own lawlessness, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the “prophet” (2 Peter 2:16). Balaam’s madness was his greed for reward. Though he had been sternly warned, he was determined in his heart to curse Isra’el. In the climactic scene, the Angel of ADONAI moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where it was impossible to turn, either right or left. Again, when the donkey saw the Angel of ADONAI, it lay down under Balaam, which made him so angry that he beat the donkey with his stick again. But ADONAI enabled the donkey to speak, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times.” Balaam answered the donkey, saying: It’s because you’ve been making a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand; I would kill you on the spot! The donkey said to Balaam, “I’m your donkey, right? You’ve ridden me all your life, right? Have I ever treated you like this before?” “No,” he admitted. Why wasn’t Balaam shocked when his donkey spoke to him? It certainly wasn’t an everyday occurrence, even for a professional sorcerer. Satan spoke through a snake when he deceived Eve (Gen 3:1-6; 2 Cor 11:3), and it’s possible that in the past, Satan’s demons had spoken to Balaam through animals.⁴⁸³

The rebuke (22:31-35): Then ADONAI opened Balaam’s eyes, so that he could see the Angel of ADONAI standing in the way, only a few paces ahead of him, with His drawn sword in his hand. Then Balaam bowed his head and fell on his face (22:31). The sages of the midrash noticed the absolute irony of such a statement from a man who allegedly could defeat an entire nation simply by the power of his words, but he needed to beat his donkey with a stick and wished for a sword to kill her. “This villain was going to curse an entire nation which had not sinned against him [by the power of his words], yet he had to beat his donkey [by the power of his hand] to prevent her from going into a field! The donkey spoke to Balaam saying, ‘You need a sword in your hand to kill me? How then do you intend to uproot an entire nation with only your words?’ Balaam could not think of an answer, so he kept silent” (Numbers Rabbah 20:14).⁴⁸⁴

The Angel of ADONAI said to him, “Why did you hit your donkey three times like that? I have come out as an adversary (Hebrew: satan, used here as an adjective) to bar your way, because you are rushing to oppose me. Balaam had hoped to employ the power of the Adversary (Hebrew: satan), in other words sorcery, against Isra’el. Now Ha’Shem opposes him as an adversary, turning the tables completely. If not for the quick thinking of Balaam’s donkey, he would have died on the spot. The donkey saw me and turned aside these three times; and indeed, if she hadn’t turned away from me, I would have killed you by now and saved your donkey” (22:32-33). Then, Balaam had a temporary moment of regret and confessed to the Angel of ADONAI, “I have sinned.” These words might lead us to think that he was truly repentant. Only later in the story do we find out that this confession was false (see Ea – Taking a Stand for God). While it appeared to be a confession of sorts, it was a confession that fell short of the repentance of saving faith. Doubtless, Balaam confessed with one eye on the Angel’s sword held menacingly above his head.⁴⁸⁵

Balaam declared: I didn’t know that You were standing on the road to block me. Now, therefore, if what I am doing displeases You, I will go back home.” He mistakenly assumed that the reason the Angel of ADONAI was blocking his path was to prevent him from going to Balak. But the Angel of ADONAI said to him, “No, go on with the men. However, ADONAI reminded him of the original terms, saying: “You are to say only what I tell you to say.”⁴⁸⁶ So, Balaam went along with the rulers of Mo’ab (22:34-35).

The lesson here is profound. Here was a man bent on doing evil. He came into direct contact with the realm of the supernatural – and did not even notice it. Instead, his own donkey did! In like manner, how many of us do not see what God is doing or hear what He is saying because we are set on acting according to our flesh, ignoring what the Spirit wants to do?⁴⁸⁷

Balaam meets with Balak (22:36-38): When King Balak heard that Balaam had come, he was so anxious to have him start his work of cursing Isra’el that he traveled some distance to meet him in the Moabite town of Ar on the northern border between Mo’ab and Ammon, in the farthest reaches of the territory. The fact that the king went out to meet Balaam, showed his high regard he had for the sorcerer. Nevertheless, the king berated Balaam for his delay, saying: I sent more than once to summon you! Why didn’t you come to me? Did you think I couldn’t pay you enough.” He mistakenly believed that money was at the heart of the issue, but in fact Balaam’s real concern was that he would only be able to say what had been revealed to him by YHVH. Balaam repeated what he had surely learned even more emphatically along his journey. Then he confessed: I have no power of my own to say anything. I must speak only what God puts in my mouth (22:38). Apparently, the sorcerer had come to the full realization that he would simply be God’s mouthpiece of revelation. He did not, however, inform Balak of his earlier revelation, that God had said he could not curse Isra’el because she was to be the recipient of His blessing.

Preparation for the first oracle (22:39-40): Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath-Huzoth, where they prepared for the next divine encounter by which the Moabite king still expected the sorcerer to fulfill his commissioned duty of cursing Isra’el. When they arrived, Balak had cattle and sheep sacrificed to Chemosh (21:29), which would have been the normal hospitable practice for visiting dignitaries. Then Balak sent some of the sacrifices to Balaam and the rulers who were with him (see Dq – Balaam’s Second Encounter with God). All this was in preparation for the black magic that was supposed to take place the next morning.⁴⁸⁸

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that though Satan does have some power, His power is limited by You and is nothing compared to Your awesome Almighty power. For nothing will be impossible with God (Luke 1:37). I can always rest in the comfort of knowing that Your power is so much greater than any evil power. Even when all the armies of the world come against you, you only need to speak and the enemy is completely defeated. From His mouth comes a sharp sword – so that with it He may strike down the nations – and He shall rule them with an iron rod, and He treads the winepress of the furious wrath of Elohei-Tzva’ot. On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” . . .  Then the beast was captured, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs before him by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast, as well as those who had worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the One riding on the horse (Revelation 19:15-16, 20-21b). In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Balaam’s Second Encounter with God
22: 15-20

Balaam’s second encounter with God DIG: Why do you think God did not allow Balaam to speak false prophecies, even though He allowed other false prophets to speak in other situations? Why did Balaam think that ADONAI would change His mind? Why is there no inconsistency between 22:12 and 22:20?

REFLECT: Balaam’s words in 22:18 sound so great. Do you think they were sincere or just pious talk? How can we know if a person is sincere? Why is the love of money so destructive? Have you ever had selective listening from the LORD so you could do what you wanted to do? How did that turn out?

Balaam heard the first part of the LORD’s command: get up and go with them;
but not the second part: but do only what I tell you.

Further negations (22:15-17): Undaunted in his pursuit of victory over Isra’el, Balak sent Balaam a larger and even more impressive delegation of rulers of the two nations with the promise of paying any fee Balaam asked, plus bestowing royal honors on him.⁴⁷⁴ Then King Balak sent rulers, more numerous and more distinguished than the first group to persuade the reluctant sorcerer (22:15). He assumed everyone could be bought for a price, and must have thought that Balaam’s first refusal was merely a negotiating tactic. Thus, they told Balaam that he could name his own price, and offered him a blank check, so to speak. Here is what King Balak says: Please don’t let anything keep you from coming to me. I will reward you very well, and whatever you say to me I will do. So please come, and curse these people for me” (22:16-17).

Paul warned Timothy that people who long to be rich fall into temptation, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (First John 2:16), and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction will come upon them suddenly without warning. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. To illustrate his point, Paul referred indirectly to some people undoubtedly known to Timothy, who had fallen into the trap of craving money, and had wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. But Paul’s solution for the believer is to flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness (First Timothy 6:9-11 NLT).

Balaam’s greed (22:18-19): Knowing God’s will in the matter, Balaam should have refused to even consider this second offer, but the greedy sorcerer was still hoping to find some way to circumvent the will of ADONAI. His words were simply pious talk. With his lips he professed to obey the LORD, but in his heart, he coveted the money and hoped YHVH would change His mind.⁴⁷⁵ But Balaam answered the rulers of Balak, “Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of ADONAI Elohim to do anything, great or small” (22:18). We must remember that Balaam was polytheistic and ADONAI would have been one of the many gods in his pantheon. Here, his use of the name of Isra’el’s God was one of fraudulent boasting.

Imagining a house full of silver and gold, Balaam was greatly tempted by the new offer. However, he remembered how sternly Ha’Shem had forbidden him to go the last time. He already knew God’s will in the matter. Nevertheless, he decided to implore Him once again. Now, please, you too, stay here tonight; so that I may find out what else ADONAI will say to me” (22:19).

God’s answer (22:20): As was likely the case in the first encounter (see Dp – Balaam’s First Encounter with God) this second encounter with Elohim took place at night, a time recounted in the TaNaKh for revelations, dreams, and visions. As He did so with Abimelech (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Fe – Then God Came to Abimelech in a Dream); Laban (see Genesis Hr – Laban Pursues Jacob); and twice we see this in the book of Dani’el, first with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (see the commentary on Dani’el Ak – Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream), and secondly with Nebuchadnezzar’s vision (see Dani’el Bf – Nebuchadnezzar’s Vision of a Great Tree).God came to Balaam during the night and said to him, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you (22:20).”

Perhaps YHVH will change His mind. Such was indeed the unspoken premise behind all sorcery. The same ritual procedures were repeated by the ancients until a favorable omen was received. It was common to sacrifice three times on two or three consecutive days, based upon this hope. So, Balaam would have had king Balak repeat the same sacrificial ritual, although in different places, in order to get the desired result. Even in dream interpretation, a single dream was not decisive, as in the case of Pharaoh in Genesis 41:5. Therefore, Balaam assumed that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was fickle, and attempted to exploit his delusion with the aid of sorcery, without a drop of success.⁴⁷⁶

There is no real inconsistency with Numbers 22:12, “You are not to go with them; you are not to curse those people, because they are blessed.” The absolute and unchanging ban there had to do with not putting a curse on the Israelites. Going with the princes, which was forbidden in mercy in 22:12, was ordered as a judgment here at 22:20. Ha’Shem often punishes disobedience to His declared will by permitting the rebels to eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, thus choking on their own schemes (Proverbs 1:31 NLT). Thus, He gave Balaam the desires of his evil heart; but sent a wasting disease into his soul (Psalm 106:15 ERV; also see Psalm 81:12; Isaiah 66:4; Jeremiah 2:19; Romans 1:28-32). After many attempts to rescue Judas from hell, Yeshua told him, “Go, do what you have to do,” even though the Master knew the evil in Judas’ heart. The same is true here, God said, “Get up and go with them,” even though He knew the evil in Balaam’s heart.

Overjoyed at the opportunity to make a fortune, Balaam immediately set out. Blinded by money, he had every intention of cursing Isra’el when he arrived. Despite ADONAI’s warning, Balaam was intent on earning his wages, ignoring the fact that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a). He heard the first part of the LORD’s command: get up and go with them; but not the second part: but do only what I tell you. He only heard what he wanted to hear. Often, we find ourselves suffering from the same selective listening. We will quote a proof text or passage that supports our position, while ignoring those that do not. Mitzvot contrary to our wishes are easily ignored while those that affirm us are waved around like flags. Lest we fall into the error of Balaam, we must be careful to obey the whole Word of God (Acts 20:27).⁴⁷⁷

God was protecting the Israelites by stifling the powers of the demons and idolatrous nations who wanted to consume them. It was a mighty, supernatural protection against attacks from the vicious and powerful forces of darkness whose sole intent was to destroy God’s people, thereby foiling God’s plans. He was turning curses into blessings.⁴⁷⁸

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for the blessings that You love to pour on those who love You. What a comfort it is that Messiah Yeshua is preparing a home in heaven for those who love You. Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you may also be (John 14:1-3). The riches of this world will soon be gone. What lasts for eternity is our love for You and the deeds Your children do for You with their heart of love. You see the heart motive for all deeds and You have promised to reward those whose deeds pass through fire which tests the heart motive. For no one can lay any other foundation than what is already laid – which is Yeshua the Messiah.  Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear. For the Day will show it, because it is to be revealed by fire; and the fire itself will test each one’s work – what sort it is. If anyone’s work built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.  (First Corinthians 3:11-14). Only one life will soon be past – Only what’s done for Messiah will Last! It is a delight to serve You with our whole heart! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and the power of His resurrection. Amen

Balaam’s First Encounter with God
22: 7-14

Balaam’s first encounter with God DIG: What did the offer of the payment for sorcery imply? Why did Balaam refuse to go with the princes in this first encounter?

REFLECT: In what ways are God’s people to be separate from the world? How do you work this out in your own life? How can we do this and still reach out to the world?

You are not to curse the Israelites, because they are blessed.

Convinced of Mo’ab’s military weakness before Isra’el, King Balak resorted to unconventional warfare. He sent messengers to Balaam, asking him to come and curse Isra’el, because “they are stronger than I am” (22:6a). As the story unfolds, the irony of Balak’s final words in his message will come back to haunt the king, “. . . for I know that whoever you bless is in fact blessed, and whoever you curse is in fact cursed” (22:6b).

The princes (22:7): The messengers that Balak sent to summon Balaam were not mere servants sent to run an errand, they were the princes of Mo’ab and Midian. In doing so, Balak treated Balaam like he was a head of state. The actual details of such a meeting would have entailed the standard hospitality process of formal greetings, the sharing of preliminary gifts, the sharing of a meal, and probably an extended discussion of the events leading up to the visit, and then a formal presentation of a letter.⁴⁶² They also took with them the payment for sorcery, a common practice in ancient times (1 Samuel 9:8; 1 Kings; 2 Kings 8:8-9; Micah 3:11), and relayed the message sent by King Balak. They assumed that paying him for his services would guarantee that he would say only what they wanted him to say, namely, to put a curse on their supposed enemy Isra’el.

The Midianites were a semi-nomadic people who also claimed Abraham as their ancestor. Midian was a son of Abraham’s second wife Ketura following the death of Sarah. Since then, the Midianites were seen in the Torah as the merchant caravan that purchased Joseph from his brothers and brought him to Egypt (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Jb – Joseph’s Brothers Sold Him for Twenty Shekels of Silver). Moses had lived among a clan of the Midianites during his forty years living there. His first wife Zipporah was a Midianite. But now, we find the Midianites conspiring along with Balak.

Joshua 13:21 explains that the princes of Midian were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba, representing Sihon, who probably appointed five Midianite warlords as administrators over the territory he had conquered. The Midianite forces were probably something of a militia army under Sihon. So, after the Israelites defeated Sihon and the Amorites (see Dk – The Defeat of Sihon of Heshbon), the Moabites and the Midianites thought that they were the next target. Thus, they banded together and weighed their options. You know that things are desperate when relying on sorcery is your best bet.⁴⁶³

The negotiations (22:8): Balaam said to them, “Stay here tonight, and I will bring you back whatever answer ADONAI tells me.” So the princes of Mo’ab and Midian stayed with Balaam. Notice the name Balaam uses: ADONAI. This means that intellectually, he was familiar with God therefore and went to Him. It seems probable that Balaam was a polytheist who regarded the LORD as one god in the pantheon of gods. But why did he go to YHVH and not some of the other gods he obviously worshiped? That was because of a pagan concept which was that a people’s own god’s had the greatest power over them for good or bad. In theory, had he been hired by Isra’el to curse the Moabites, he would have inquired of Chemosh, the god of the Moabites. Thus because Balaam knew that ADONAI is the God of Isra’el, he went to Him.⁴⁶⁴ However, Balaam was about to encounter YHVH in a way that would transcend any other deity that he had ever experienced; and in addition, he was about to become an unwitting instrument of God for revelation and the blessing of Isra’el.⁴⁶⁵

Not only was Balaam familiar with ADONAI, but he considered himself to be the premier prophet of God. He referred to himself proudly as the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, and who sees the vision of the Almighty (24:15-16). Balaam is the model of spiritual pride. He thought he had God figured out. He thought that he had the corner on spiritual truth and revelation. The story of Balaam is further evidence that it is possible to be utterly self-deceived about one’s relationship with God. Balaam was like the patron saint of spiritual pride. And, as we shall see in his story, spiritual pride equals spiritual blindness.⁴⁷⁰

The divine revelation (22:9-11): That night, Elohim, the powerful One, came to Balaam. It is important to realize that it was Elohim who came to Balaam, not Balaam who brought himself to Elohim. And just because Elohim came to Balaam, it did not mean that Balaam was a prophet of God. Because we know at certain times, that YHVH revealed Himself to pagans. He did so with Abimelech (see the commentary on Genesis Fe – Then God Came to Abimelech in a Dream); He did this with Pharaoh (see Genesis Jr – Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams); He did this with Laban (see Genesis Hr – Laban Pursues Jacob); and twice we see this in the book of Dani’el, first with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (see Dani’el Ak – Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream), and secondly with Nebuchadnezzar’s vision (see Dani’el Bf – Nebuchadnezzar’s Vision of a Great Tree).⁴⁷¹

ADONAI asked: Who are these men with you (22:9)? The question posed to Balaam was rhetorical, since YHVH obviously knew who those men were and why they were there. This method of beginning an encounter with God and man recalls similar expressions in Genesis 3:9 between God and Adam, and in Genesis 4:9 between God and Cain.⁴⁷² The questions in Genesis were to get Adam and Cain to admit what they had done; here, however, the question was to get Balaam to think about what he was doing. Balaam said to the God of Isra’el, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Mo’ab, has sent me this message: ‘The people who came out of Egypt have spread over the land; now, come and curse them for me; maybe I will be able to fight against them and drive them out’ (22:10-11).”

God’s blessing (22:12): But Elohim answered Balaam, and made His will very clear: You are not to go with them; you are not to curse those people, because they are blessed (22:12). That is quite a statement to make in light of the fact that Isra’el had been under divine judgment for the preceding thirty-eight years. But this shows the difference between Isra’el’s position and her experience as related to YHVH. Positionally, Isra’el had always been in a place of blessing because of her conventional standing (see the commentary on Genesis Dt – I Will Bless Those Who Bless You and Whoever Curses You I Will Curse), but experientially, she could experience cursing for disobedience (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Ff – Curses for Disobedience). The story of Balaam is thus an example of the madness of attempting to destroy the eternal blessing of the children of Abraham. And those who oppose Isra’el today, and wish for her destruction, should take note.

God’s rejection (22:13-14): Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s princes, “Return to your own land, because ADONAI refuses to give me permission to go with you.” The princes of Mo’ab got up, returned to Balak a month later and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.” Balaam responded obediently to the revelation granted to him by God, but Balak only knew that the sorcerer had refused the invitation, not that it was Isra’el’s God who prevented him from going. Balaam was on the horns of a dilemma, trapped between the demands of Balak and the commands of ADONAI. It is this conflict that sustains the whole drama that follows.⁴⁷³

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that when there is drama and uncertainty for what the future holds, You are completely omniscient, loving and Almighty. Those who love You can hold tightly to Your hand, look up into Your wise face, and trust completely that You are totally in control in all situations. Your Almighty power is greater than any evil force that may try to come against You or Your children. Your omniscient wisdom already knows the plan of anyone who may try to harm Your children and you have already moved with precision the right people and events into place to ensure that Your will is ultimately done.

You are a holy God (Isaiah 6:3) who cannot tolerate evil. You timed everything perfectly when you brought out Your people from Egypt. You who knew all that would happen in the future, and waited till the sin of the Amorites had reached its full measure. Your timing was neither too early nor too late, but your timing was just right! But I am going to judge the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will go out with many possessions.  But you, you will come to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they will return here – for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete (Genesis 15:14 and 16).

You disciplined Isra’el for their refusal to obey You and enter the Land. You made them wander a year for each of the forty days the spies were in the land (Numbers 14:26-35). Their years of wandering were coming to a close and the new generation was ready to follow and obey You. Your heart of love was about to bring the new obedient generation into the Promised Land. No way would you allow them to be cursed.

What comfort it is that the power of victory is not in who is the enemy, but the power of victory is in Your hands of our Loving and Almighty Heavenly Father. It is Your power that wins battles and Your love and power that gives eternal life to all trust You as their Lord and Savior. For if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart it is believed for righteousness, and with the mouth it is confessed for salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever trusts in Him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11). Your powerful hands hold Your children tightly.   I give them eternal life! They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand (John 10:28). Thank You for being such a wonderful Heavenly Father that we can trust when there is drama, for we know it is all in Your Almighty hands! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Balak’s Dilemma
22: 2-6

Balak’s dilemma (DIG): Given the events of the previous chapter, but with no sign that Isra’el is intent on attacking him, why is Balak worried about Isra’el? How is his reaction to Isra’el’s “threat” like, or unlike, that of Sihon and Og? What does the fact that Balak sent rulers all the way to Mesopotamia say about Balak’s fear? About Balaam’s popularity?

REFLECT: What dilemma are you facing right now? Who, or what, are you relying on to resolve it? How far do you have to go to find the answer? How much will it cost? Who is relaying your message? Mo’ab feared the Israelites when they realized that the favor of God was upon them. What is the evidence that God’s favor is upon you?

Parashah 40: Balak (Destroyer) 22:2 to 25:9
(See my commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Af – Parashah)

The Key People are Balak, Balaam, the rulers of Mo’ab and Midian, the donkey, the angel, Amalekites, Kenites, Isra’el, Moabite women, and Phinehas.

The Scenes are Mo’av, Pethor, the Arnon border, Kiriath Huzoth, Bamoth Ba’al, the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, the top of Pisgah, the top of Peor, and Shittim.

The Main Events include Balak buying curses, Balaam’s donkey balking and talking, permission to speak only the words of God, three high places visited, altars built, Balaam’s blessing Isra’el, saying a prayer, and prophesying the destruction of his enemies, Israelite men having sex with Moabite women and committing spiritual adultery in the camp of Isra’el, the resulting plague sent by Ha’Shem, and Phinehas spearing a couple to stop the plague.

Balaam was not a man of God, but a sorcerer for hire.

Up until the Israelites had burst onto the scene, Balak, the king of Mo’ab (Judges 11:25), was a vassal under Sihon, king of the Amorites (to see link click Dk – The Defeat of Sihon of Heshbon). No wonder he dreaded the Israelites. The Amorites had soundly beaten the Moabites. How much more so would Isra’el decimate the land and people of Mo’ab.

Balak’s dilemma (22:2-5): Now Balak (Hebrew: meaning destroyer) the son of Zippor (the feminine form of this word, Zipporah, was the name of Moses’ first wife) saw all that Isra’el had done to the Amorites (22:2). As a result, Mo’ab was extremely afraid of the Israelites, because there were so many of them, and he feared they would attack. Mo’ab was overcome with dread because of the people of Isra’el (22:3). However, Balak’s fears were unfounded. ADONAI had already commanded Isra’el not to harass the Moabites or provoke them to war: For I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession (Deuteronomy 2:9). Isra’el was simply passing through his territory. They had paused in Balak’s back yard for a short while in preparation for the siege of Canaan, but they had no intention of going to war with Mo’ab. An army of 600,000 (26:51), however, would be frightening for any country. Only it was even more so for Mo’ab, for there was some bad blood between Isra’el and Mo’ab.

The Moabites were descendants of Lot (see the commentary on Genesis Fb – Let’s Get Our Father to Drink Wine, and then Lie with Him to Preserve Our Family Line). The Israelites were the descendants of Abraham. The two had originally separated precisely over these types of matters. In Genesis 13:5-6 we read: Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. So, it seems that the deeds of the fathers were signs for the sons. Balak, the descendent of Lot, looked out over the children of Abraham and declared: Look, a people have come out of Egypt, and spread over all the land (22:5b). Just as the herdsmen of Abraham and Lot quarreled because the pasture was not sufficient to sustain them both; so, too, Balak saw that the land was covered with Israelites. From Balak’s perspective, the plains of Mo’ab weren’t big enough for both of them.

When Abraham and Lot were contending for pastureland, Abraham settled the dispute by letting Lot choose the land he wanted. Abraham was willing to sacrifice everything of value, even the best of the land, in order that there might be peace between him and his nephew. Similarly, since Isra’el had not come to oust the Moabites, Balak should not have worried. On the day that Abraham and Lot parted company, ADONAI gave Abraham all the land of Canaan. After Lot had gone, the LORD said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction – north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted (Genesis 13:14-16 NLT)! These Genesis passages are important background information for the story of Isra’el, Mo’ab, and the “blessings” of Balaam.⁴⁵⁴

Alliance with the Midianites (22:4a): The Moabites communicated their concern to the rulers of Midian. The Midianites both lived in the Sinai (Exodus 2:15-16; Numbers 10:29-30) and on Mo’ab’s border (Genesis 36:35). Both the Midianites and the Moabites had been under the domination of Sihon, which made their communication natural at this point. As Balak surveyed the millions of Israelites, they seemed to be an innumerable horde to him. So Balak said to the rulers of Midian “This horde will lick up everything around us, the way an ox (Hebrew: shor, meaning a domestic ox) licks up grass in the field (22:4).” The proverbial figure of an ox licking the grass is particularly fitting for a pastoral people. Balak knew how quickly the fragile grasses of the lands of Mo’ab could be eaten by a large number of animals given free range. The image of Isra’el as an ox is an emphatic symbol of her strength and power. And the association of Mo’ab to the Midianites in this verse is more significant than we might first think. There would soon be another plot developed by the Midianites in collusion with Mo’ab that would foreshadow a great disaster on Isra’el (see Ea – Taking a Stand for God).⁴⁵⁵

Balaam, doctor of sorcery (22:5a): So, Balak sent messengers to Balaam Hebrew: meaning devourer of the people) the son of Beor (22:5a). Balaam is never referred to in the Hebrew text as a prophet. Not once. Not even a seer. He is always referred to as a sorcerer (Joshua 13:22), and this word is never used in the TaNaKh for a true prophet of God. In fact, ADONAI forbid sorcery (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31), and the word sorcery is always used in a negative sense in the Hebrew bible (First Samuel 15:23; Second Kings 17:17; Ezeki’el 13:23). It is always the mark of a false prophet (Isaiah 3:2; Jeremiah 14:14; Ezeki’el 13:9; Numbers 22:28). Furthermore, in Numbers 24:1 we find Balaam using divination, which was also forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:9-14. Now obviously, Balaam had knowledge of YHVH, yet just because Ha’Shem spoke to him directly, did not make him a true prophet. YHVH also talked directly to the Adversary (Job 2:1-6).⁴⁵⁶ When Balaam set out, he had every intention of cursing Isra’el, and did his best to do so. The blessings he spoke over Isra’el were unintended. God placed them in his mouth against his will.₄₅₇ Therefore, Balaam was the enemy of God (James 4:4b), and must have thought that YHVH was like any other deity he could manipulate by sorcery.⁴⁵⁸

The B’rit Chadashah also condemns Balaam. Peter compares false prophets with men like Balaam. They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong. But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice (Second Peter 2:15-16 NLT). A more remarkable passage comes from Jude, who gives several examples of the worst kinds of godless people: Cain, Korah, and Balaam. He says that these godless people . . . serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire (Jude 7).⁴⁵⁹

The call (22:5b-6): Balak knew the forces of Mo’ab, even with the help of their allies the Midianites, would never withstand Isra’el’s army and Isra’el’s God. Conventional warfare was out of the question. Mo’ab and Midian needed help from the Devil, and Balaam was in touch with the Devil. This would be an invisible war, the conflict between ADONAI and Satan that began when God cursed the serpent in the Garden (Genesis 3:13-15).⁴⁶⁰ Therefore, Balak sent rulers from Mo’ab and Midian to Balaam at Pethor, his native land, near the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). Pethor was about 420 miles north of Mo’ab, and probably took about twenty-five days in each direction. So, even with only a brief time in between each trip, it meant that the correspondence process would have taken nearly four months at a minimum to complete.

When the rulers finally reached Balaam, they said: Look, a people have come out of Egypt, spread over all the land and settled down next to us (22:5b). Therefore, please come, and curse these people for us, because they are stronger than we are. The distance from Mo’ab to Pethor was a serious journey. The fact that Balak even heard of Balaam suggests that he was famous throughout the Ancient Near East for his powers. Balak hoped that Balaam would be able to defeat the Israelites and drive them out of the land, relaying the message through his rulers, declaring: For I know that whoever you bless is in fact blessed, and whoever you curse is in fact cursed (22:6). As the reader, we are meant to hear the irony in Balak’s confidence. We already know that Isra’el was, and is, under the blessing that God gave to Abraham (see the commentary on Genesis Dt – I Will Bless Those Who Bless You and Whoever Curses You I Will Curse). Therefore, as Balak positioned himself to curse Isra’el, we know that he was actually inviting a curse upon himself and his own people.⁴⁶¹

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise you for your great “Chesed” steadfast love! No one, no matter how strong, can curse those whom you want blessed! Thank You that Your love is a mighty and protective love that will harm those who try to harm those who love You. You are always right there with me at all times. For God Himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5c).

You are the perfect Heavenly Father who sees into each person’s heart and You wisely pour out justice. In fact, righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. (Psalms 89:14). In your heavenly Kingdom, what is important is the fruit that someone produces from a pure and loving heart. Every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.  So then, you will recognize them by their fruit (Mathew 7:19-20). Someone’s good deeds may look very impressive to their friends, but you see clearly what their motive is when they do good deeds. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?’  Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness’ (Matthew 7:22- 25)!” Lord, I love You and desire to please You with all my hearts. In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Balaam’s Three Encounters with God
22: 2-40

Numbers 22:2-7 sets the stage, King Balak of Mo’ab was very much afraid of the Israelites because he saw all that Isra’el had done to the Amorites, and because there were so many of them (22:2-3). Mo’ab tells the leaders of Midian that this horde of Israelites will lick up everything around us, the way an ox licks up grass in the field (22:4a). However, the Moabites and the Midianites would eventually learn that the devouring and mighty ox was not Isra’el itself, but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who stood behind Isra’el. “God, who brought them out of Egypt, gives them the strength of a wild ox. They will devour the nations opposing them, breaking their bones, and piercing them with arrows” (24:8). The mention of Mo’ab and Midian together in 22:4 and again in 22:7 suggests that the two nations were equals, although Mo’ab had overwhelmed Midian in battle; thus, Mo’ab was the sovereign and Midian the vassal state. These facts prepare us for the involvement of both nations in the story (to see link click Ea – Taking a Stand for God).

The first encounter: Convinced of Mo’ab military weakness before Isra’el, King Balak resorted to unconventional warfare. He sends princes to Balaam, asking him to come and curse Isra’el, because they are stronger than I am (22:6a). As the story unfolds, the irony of Balak’s final words in his message will come back to haunt the king, “. . . for I know that whoever you bless is in fact blessed, and whoever you curse is in fact cursed” (22:6b). Princes from Mo’ab and Midian were sent with the payment for sorcery in hand to hire the sorcerer. They assumed that paying him for his services would guarantee that he would say only what they wanted him to say, namely, to put a curse on their supposed enemy Isra’el. Balaam asked the money-toting princes to spend the night and promised a response in the morning. That night, ADONAI came to Balaam, saying: You are not to go with them; you are not to curse those people, because they are blessed. The next day, Balaam reported to Balak’s princes, “ADONAI refuses to give me permission to go with you” (22:12-13). When the princes reported back to King Balak, they mention nothing of ADONAI’s refusal, only saying: Balaam refuses to come (see Dp – Balaam’s First Encounter with God).

The second encounter: Balak assumed everyone could be bought for a price. He must have thought that Balaam’s first refusal was merely a negotiating tactic. So, Balak sent another group of rulers, more numerous and more distinguished than the first group with payment in the form of a blank check: Whatever you say to me I will do (2:17). But Balaam replies that even Balak’s own palace filled with silver and gold would dissuade him from speaking only what ADONAI commands. Balaam again tells the rulers of Balak to stay the night while he consults with the LORD. In this second encounter with YHVH and Balaam, God tells him to go with the rulers, but warns him, “Do only what I tell you” (22:20). At this point, the reader begins to wonder why Ha’Shem has relented and allowed Balaam to go after first saying no (see Dq – Balaam’s Second Encounter with God). The mystery grows even deeper as we move to the third encounter between Balaam and God, who appears as the Second Person of the Trinity, the Angel of ADONAI.

The third encounter: Numbers 22a introduces a jarring note immediately after we hear that God commanded Balaam to go to Balak, “But God was very angry because he went, and the Angel of ADONAI stationed Himself on the path to block his way.” The LORD had already given Balaam permission to go (22:20), so His anger was not against his going, but against the sorcerers unspoken motive, that despite God’s command that he speak only the words given to him by YHVH, Balaam was still intent on putting a curse on Isra’el and thus earning his financial reward from Balak (see the commentary on Jude Aq – They Have Taken the Way of Cain, Rushed into Balaam’s Error). The plot of this encounter thickens as Balaam’s donkey begins to see things that the famous “seer” could not see (see Dr – Balaam and the Donkey). In case Balaam had any thoughts that he could make an end run around God, the Angel of ADONAI taught Balaam that he must lay down his own initiative in cursing Isra’el and allow YHVH to use him as He saw fit. Balaam confessed his sin and offered to return home. But the Angel of ADONAI said to Balaam, “No, go on with the men; but you are to say only what I tell you to say” (22:35a). Balaam eventually reached Mo’ab where he found King Balak anxiously waiting at the border. Balaam repeats what he had surely learned even more emphatically along his journey: I have no power of my own to say anything. I must speak only what God puts in my mouth (22:38). Balak, even more determined to the contrary, sent sacrifices to Balaam in preparation for the sorcery that the king hoped would end in Isra’el being cursed (22:40).⁴⁵³

Taking a Stand for God
25: 1-9

Taking a stand for God DIG: What was Balaam’s evil plan? How did Isra’el curse themselves? What is the sin for which Yeshua rebuked the church at Pergamum? Who were the Nicolaitans? How has the teaching of Balaam harmed the Jews through the centuries? How did Peter compare false teachers to Balaam? What instruction did Moses receive from God? Who carried it out? Why was it difficult to carry out? God says, “Do not murder,” what made the actions of Phinehas different than murder?

REFLECT: Is someone that you know walking in the way of Balaam? What does that mean? How can you pray for them? How can we be careful to avoid being religious, and yet love the wages of wickedness? How does the zeal of Phinehas compare with Messiah’s coming as our Kinsman Redeemer? When have you received instruction from God’s Word that was difficult for you to follow? What are some current practices that could erode the faith? What does it mean to be zealous of the Lord in today’s culture?

Every believer has to have courage to stand up against the politically correct culture for God;
for what is holy and pure without calculating what will be personally gained or lost.

While the wilderness generation was more faithful than their parents, they were no less sinful. The human tendency to lapse into unfaithfulness (see Romans, to see link click Bm – The Consequences of Adam), even after some of the most dramatic demonstrations of the lover and power of ADONAI, is underscored by the positioning of the apostasy seen here immediately after the successful victories of the Israelites over Sihon and Og of the Amorites in the Transjordan, and the climactic work of God is using a pagan sorcerer to pronounce a blessing upon His people.⁵⁵⁴ The Bible startles us by the way it contrasts the brightest revelations with the darkest sins. The giving of the Torah at Sinai was following by the golden calf incident, the ordination of Aaron by the disobedience of his sons, the covenant with David, followed by the affair with Bathsheba, Palm Sunday by the cross. Here we have another classic example of this pattern. In this way Scripture teaches us the full wonder of God’s grace in the face of our habitual tendency to sin.⁵⁵⁵

Balaam had failed to curse Isra’el. Worse yet (in his eyes), he had failed to win a large reward from Balak. But then, from his black heart, a thought occurred to him. Instead of cursing Isra’el, he could induce Isra’el to curse themselves. In 31:16 we learn that the sorcerer conspired with the Midianite and Moabite leaders and suggested a plan. Rather than march out to war with Isra’el, he advised them to invite Isra’el to a party, errrr, an orgy. Their own daughters were to be the hostesses. They were to be used as bait to lure the Israelite men to an idolatrous feast. Even the infamous Cozbi (the three consonants of Cozbi’s name in Hebrew, kzb, form the verb to lie, to deceive) the daughter of Tzur, head of the people in one of the clans of Midian (25:15) prostituted herself to Isra’el. When Moshe realized what was happening, he declared: See, these are the ones who – because of Balaam’s advice – caused the people of Isra’el to rebel, breaking faith with ADONAI in the Peor incident, so that the plague broke out among ADONAI’s community (31:16)!

The idolatry of Israelite men (25:1-3): While the Israelites were camped at Shittim on the plains of Mo’ab, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. These women invited them to the sacrifices of their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Mo’ab, breaking the first commandment (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Bl – Have No Other Gods). This what happens when we forget who we are. In that way, Isra’el joined in the worship of Ba‘al of Peor, the local god, causing the anger of ADONAI to burn against Isra’el. The choice of words is intentionally suggestive of sexuality, a theme that the prophet Hosea picks up in his rebuke regarding the Israeitle fertility cult, when he said: They came to Ba’al Peor and devoted themselves to shame, and they became as detestable as that which they loved (Hosea 9:10). The Salter declares that they joined themselves to Ba’al Peor and ate meat sacrificed to the dead (Psalm 106:28). We must always remember that happiness, joy, and contentment cannot be found apart from the ways of our God. King David found that out the hard way.

The appetite for wine and sex ended in idolatry. This brings to mind the apostolic injunctions on the Gentile believers in Acts 15 (see the commentary on Acts Bt – The Council’s Letter to the Gentile Believers). Each of their four minimum requirements for fellowship prohibited something from the categories of food, sexuality, or idolatry. In Exodus, the LORD specifically warned Isra’el about the combination of sexual immorality, appetite and idolatry. When discussing the prohibition on eating food sacrificed to idols, Moses warned: Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the Promised Land. This was not because of a lack of neighborliness or for ethnic or racial reasons but because when they prostituted themselves to their gods and sacrificed to them, the Israelites would eventually eat their sacrifices and accept their gods. And if the Canaanites chose some of their daughters as wives for the Hebrew men and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they would lead the Hebrew men to do the same. As a result, they would be led back into spiritual adultery (Exodus 34:15-16).

In the book of Revelation, Yeshua rebukes the church at Pergamum for eating food sacrificed to idols and engaging in sexual immorality under the influence of the teaching of the Nicolaitans (see the commentary on Revelation Bb – The Church at Pergamum). They seemed to have been an early antinomian sect that misused Paul’s teaching on grace as license for self-indulgence and compromise. Early on, they exhibited the syncretistic tendencies that later came to stumble the early Messianic movement. The Master referred to it as the teaching of Balaam, saying: Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:14-15).⁵⁵⁶

The Nicolaitans taught “When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Don’t be a ‘holier than thou’ isolationist. Be a good neighbor and a good sport. Be inclusive, and don’t be judgmental. After all, we live in a pluralist society, so learn to respect the way other people believe and live.” But from God’s perspective, what Isra’el did was compromise and a violation of their covenant made in Sinai (see the commentary on Exodus El – The Sinai Covenant Oath of Allegiance). The problem at Pergamum was that false teachers had gotten into the church and were enticing people to attend the feasts at the idol temples. As at Ba’al Peor, their sin was a combination of idolatry and immorality, but the false teachers didn’t present it that way. They taught that God’s grace gave His people the freedom to sin, what Jude called turning the grace of our God into immorality (also see the commentary on Romans Bq – The Background of the Messianic Mikveh).

The Jews were, and are, God’s chosen people (Deuteronomy 14:2), set apart from the rest of the nations to serve and glorify Him. They were, and are, not to worship the gods of their neighbors or share in their pagan festivities. When they entered the Promised Land, they were to tear down the pagan temples and altars and destroy the idols (Deuteronomy 7 and Joshua 23), to prevent Isra’el being tempted to turn from the true and living God and start imitating the heathen neighbors. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened after the death of Joshua (Judges 2:10 to 3:7).

The doctrine of Balaam (Revelation 2:14-15) is the lie that it’s acceptable for the children of God to live like the devil, that God’s grace gives us the right to disobey the Word of God. Throughout the TaNaKh, Isra’el’s compromise with idolatry is called spiritual adultery, for the nation was the wife of ADONAI and “married” to YHVH at Mount Sinai (Jeremiah 2:19-20 and 3:1-11; Ezeki’el Chapters 16 and 23; Hosea Chapters 1 and 2). This same marriage is implied to Messiah and the Church in the B’rit Chadashah (Second Corinthians 11:1-4; Ephesians 5:22-33 and Revelation 19:6-9). The believer compromising with sin is like the husband or wife committing adultery in their marriage.

Any teaching that makes it easy or permissible to sin is false doctrine, because the Word of God was given to us as our blueprint for living, enabling us to live holy lives (First Timothy 6:3-4 and Titus 1:1). Paul emphasized the need in the Church for sound doctrine, which means “healthy doctrine” (First Timothy 1:10; Second Timothy 4:3; Titus 1:9 and 2:1). He compared false doctrine to a cancerous growth in the Body (Second Timothy 2:17). And when Isra’el killed Balaam many centuries ago, they couldn’t kill the lies he turned loose in the world, lies that still influenced the Israelites after they had conquered Canaan (Joshua 22:15-18). These lies influence individual believers and the congregations of God today. The cancer of compromise weakens our witness and saps our spiritual strength (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Bi – Do Not be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers). Peter warned us about such false teachers when he said: They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness (Second Peter 2:15).⁵⁵⁷

Moshe’s instruction from God (25:4-5): To stop the plague (31:16), atonement had to be made and those who were the leaders of the people in this awful act of sinfulness were to be put to death. The gravity of the sin called not only for death, but also for a special display of the corpses of the offenders in broad daylight. ADONAI said to Moshe, “Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before ADONAI in broad daylight, so His fierce anger will turn away from the people of Isra’el.” So, Moshe ordered Isra’el’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those in his tribe who have joined themselves in worshipping Ba‘al of Peor.” At times we have trouble coming to grips with TaNaKh’s commands that Isra’el kill her enemies (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Ag – The Problem of Holy War in the TaNaKh). But this chapter is even more difficult for us to face, for it commands Hebrews to kill fellow Hebrews. But those rebellious Israelites were like a cancer and would have eventually ruined the whole nation.⁵⁵⁸

The zeal of Phinehas (25:6-9): Just then one of the Israelite men, Zimri the son of Palu, the prince of the tribe of Simeon, and a Midianite woman, Cozbi the daughter of Zur, a princess of Midian (25:14-15), were having sex right before the eyes of Moshe and the elders of Isra’el, as they were praying and weeping at the gate to the Tabernacle (see the commentary on Exodus Ez – The Gate of the Tabernacle: Christ, The Way to God). The brazenness of the Bonnie and Clyde of the Torah made them not just sinners but an abomination to ADONAI. It would have been bad enough had this been a foreign man with a foreign woman. But it was a leader from the tribe of Simeon. The point was that in starting the sexual frenzies of the sacrificial feasts of Ba’al, Zimri and his priestess partner were attempting to transform the worship of ADONAI into Canaanite worship.⁵⁵⁹ In the heat of the moment, Moses didn’t know what to do. He just stood there wringing his hands, “Oy Vey! Oy Vey!” But when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the high priest, saw it, he jumped up and left the congregation, took a spear in his hand (probably from a nearby soldier), and pursued the Israelite right into the inner part of his vaulted canopy (Hebrew: hakkubbah), where, taking the law into his own hands, he thrust his spear all the way through both of them – right through the Israelite and into the woman’s stomach. Therefore, Balaam’s wicked plan succeeded. He managed to entice Isra’el into sin, bringing a curse down upon her own head.

With this bold act of the young priest, the plague was stopped, which indicates that this couple’s act was not just a singular outrageous instance of debauchery; rather, likely they were the instigators of the pagan rites! Nevertheless, 24,000 died in the plague. This was a physical atonement, not a spiritual atonement, with 24,000 perishing instead of the whole nation. This incident at Ba’al of Peor is also referred to in Deuteronomy 4:3-4; Psalm 106:26-29; Hosea 9:10. First Corinthians 10:8 says 23,000 people died in this incident, whereas here in Numbers 25:9 it has 24,000 people dying. This apparent discrepancy can be explained by Paul’s mention of “a single day” in First Corinthians 10:8, with the understanding that only 1,000 died the next day.⁵⁶⁰ Thus, it seems that if Pinehas had not acted as quickly as he did, on each preceding day, another 23,000 would have died.

Here is when Phinehas comes into the picture. Moses and the elders were in total shock and tongue-tied. The leadership of Isra’el was paralyzed because they couldn’t imagine that such an abomination would ever take place before the Tabernacle, the holy things, and the LORD Himself. You would think that God would be very upset that this young Levite who had no legal authority and took the law into his own hands and executed Zimri and Cozbi in public. Under the laws of most Western countries, a person like Phinehas, who takes the law into his own hands without authority and permission, and kills two people in public, would be charged with a crime. However, this was a man after God’s own heart and we learn that He rewarded Phinehas with an eternal priesthood (see Eb – God’s Covenant with Phinehas) for taking the initiative and killing those two blasphemers (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Bq – Do Not Murder).

Phinehas was not concerned for himself or what might happen to him for killing those two people who were challenging the Tabernacle of God and His Presence. Not only that, he challenged the authority of Moses, the elders of Isra’el and the priests of the LORD who stood there with their mouths wide open. Phinehas was not trying to be politically correct. He was only concerned about stopping the depravity of Zimri and Cozbi

We can learn from Phinehas that there are moments when we have to stand for what is right, just and holy, by defending God’s honor, even at a high personal cost. Every prophet of God had the courage to speak out about things that were neither popular nor politically correct. We think of Jeremiah, who had a rich experience speaking and calling out the kings of Isra’el and the spiritual leadership of Jerusalem to account. The weeping prophet experienced rejection, physical persecution, and loss of status. But to stand up against corrupt laws, evil practices, and injustice is the right thing to do. Someone has to have the courage to stand up and take a clear stand to change the tide and protect God’s Name.

The principle that I think that every believer has to have a commitment to honor God and His cause. Second, every believer has to have courage to stand up against the majority against the politically correct culture for God and what is holy and pure without calculating what will be personally gained or lost. I pray that you and the leadership in your synagogue or church will have the character of Phinehas. To stand up for righteousness and holiness and justice in your camp. If not, who is going to stand up for God and for His word, and for The Torah and the prophets, and the Good News, for the Jew first, and also for the Gentiles? We need to stay on the side of faith and with God’s people, and don’t trust all the fake politicians of the world who want to destroy and uproot the Jewish nation of Isra’el from God’s promises. The goals of the power mongering world of famous politicians are the same as the goals of Balak, King of Moab, and Balaam, the son of Beor.⁵⁶¹

Haftarah Balak: Micah 6:8
(see the commentary on Deuteronomy Af – Parashah)

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what ADONAI requires of you; but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? What is good? Some have called this the most important saying in prophetic literature. The question asks what is the way of true worship. Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah and the first to predict the coming destruction of Jerusalem (Micah 3:12), answers. With a rhetorical question, he makes the point that true worship requires more than merely going through the motions of righteousness, with its burnt offerings, offerings of yearling calves and rams, rivers of oil or even sacrificing their firstborns to atone for their sins (Micah 6:6-7). YHVH makes the case against Isra’el for breaking His covenant (Micah 6:1-2). He will cut off their horses, their cities, sorceries, idols, and centers of idolatry (Micah 5:10-13). Isra’el must walk in purity or face judgment. Most importantly, God demanded three changes: do justice, love kindness (see the commentary on Ruth Af – The Concept of Chesed), and walk humbly with Him.

B’rit Chadashah Balak: Romans 11:32

For God has shut up all mankind, Jew and Gentile together in disobedience, in order that He might show mercy to all. Isra’el’s cumulative sins piled up to the heavens, triggering the wrath of Ha’Shem. Hardening and partial blindness resulted (Leviticus 26:14-16; Deuteronomy 28:65, 32:28-29; Isaiah 6:9-13). In a response of sheer mercy, God rips the scales off the eyes of Paul (Acts 9:18). And after the Gentile world enters in its fullness, then all Isra’el will be saved (Romans 11:26). God reveals a “mystery,” something once hidden and now is revealed. All mankind has been justly imprisoned, or shut up, in disobedience so that ADONAI could reveal His chesed to Isra’el: Out of Tziyon will come the Redeemer (Isaiah 59:20) . . . and this will be my covenant with them . . . when, as a nation, I will take away their sins (see the commentary on Romans Da – The Redemption of Isra’el). Until then, Gentiles must not be wise in their own eyes (Romans 11:25). Isra’el’s partial blindness blesses the Gentiles first. So that by [you Gentiles] showing [Isra’el, the Jews] the same mercy that God has shown you, they too may now receive God’s mercy (Romans 11:30-31). God used Jewish disobedience for His own purposes. But, in contrast with that, Gentiles now have the opportunity to be the conscious and intentional means of blessing to Isra’el. ADONAI has blessed the Gentiles by choosing them as His instrument for willingly blessing Isra’el and the Jews.⁵⁶²

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your wonderful love and perfect holiness. Your holiness dictates that no sin can enter heaven. And nothing unholy shall ever enter it, nor anyone doing what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Book of Life (Revelation 21:27). You so graciously paid the price for our sin and cloth with Messiah’s righteousness, those who love and accept You as their Savior (Romans 10:9-11). He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).

Your love is so great and Your compassionate heart is anxious to bring people away from the cancer of sin that kills, so that You might be able to bless. It is not kindness to tolerate sin in ourselves or in anyone else. You who are omniscient and see into each person’s heart (First Samuel 16:7) to see if their deeds were done out of selfish pride or out of a true love for You and Your honor. Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord!” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?” Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:21-23)!

Praise You for Your loving plan and purpose to unite all believers in Messiah. The plan of the fullness of times is to bring all things together in the Messiah – both things in heaven and things on earth, all in Him (Ephesians 1:10). It is so wonderful that you have included both Gentiles and Jews in Your plan of salvation. You [Gentiles] – being a wild olive – were grafted in among them and became a partaker of the root of the olive tree with its richness (Romans 11:17c). Lord, I desire to love You with all my heart, soul and mind, and to do my best to live a righteous life that honors You, for You are so worthy! In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Story of Balaam
22:2 to 24:25

After the death of the Exodus generation and the birth of the wilderness generation, God confirmed the divine commitment to bless Isra’el through some of the most lavish words of blessing and promise in the entire Torah. Moreover, ADONAI speaks these words of blessing and promise not through an Israelite, but through an Aramean sorcerer! As Hobab had joined YHVH in guiding Isra’el (to see link click Bn – Leaving Sinai: Hobab the Midianite), so Balaam the sorcerer was used by God to bless Isra’el.

Four main characters are at work in this enigmatic story.

The first main character is Balaam, a Gentile, and master sorcerer, who lived in Pethor, four hundred miles north of Mo’ab on the banks of the Euphrates River in Babylon (Numbers 22:5 and Deuteronomy 23:4). He had a reputation as a sorcerer and traveled extensively throughout the Near East to curse military enemies for money. He was a kind of unattached hired gun, a mercenary, but his only weapons were words that had the power to curse or to bless.⁴⁵⁰ He was not a good “prophet” who went bad, or a bad “prophet” trying to be good. He was altogether outside Isra’el’s prophetic tradition, but he must have thought that ADONAI Elohim, the God of Isra’el was like any other deity he could manipulate with his black magic. But he found out differently.⁴⁵¹ On His way to Jerusalem, Yeshua sent out seventy messengers, two by two ahead of Him, to all the towns in order to give people opportunities to accept the Good News. After completing the ministry entrusted to them, they returned to Him with joy and said: Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Gv – Jesus Sends Out the Seventy). Therefore, just because the demon possessed Balaam submitted to the will of ADONAI, did not mean he was a righteous man; but like a demon, would have carried out his own wicked desires if only he had been left alone to do so. In other words, had it not been for the intervention of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Balaam surely would have put a curse on Isra’el.

The second main character is Balak. Mo’ab was the nation that shared a border with Canaan on the eastern edge of the Promised Land. Balak, the king of Mo’ab, was merely a vassal king, ruling a puppet government under Sihon, king of the Amorites (see Dk – The Defeat of Sihon of Heshbon). The Israelites had crushed the Amorites in battle, so Balak reasoned correctly that Mo’ab would be no match militarily. So, having no faith in his own army, Balak decided to turn to a non-military means of attacking Isra’el. As a result, he tried to hire the sorcerer Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites.

The third main character is ADONAI, who has several different names in this text, a reflection of various early and later traditions that were brought together to form the story. He is called God (Hebrew: Elohim) in 22:9; ADONAI (Hebrew: YHVH) in 22:13; Elyon (Hebrew: Almighty) in 24:16; Almighty (Hebrew: Shaddai) in 24:16. While King Balak thinks he has found a way to curse Isra’el and thus shape the course of Isra’el history, God emerges as the one character who truly has the power and will to ensure Isra’el’s ultimate destiny. ADONAI determines that destiny to be one of blessing rather than a curse.

The fourth main character are those who had no active role at all in the drama. Throughout the story Balaam, the people of Isra’el were passively camped in the plains of Mo’ab beyond the Jordan River, opposite Jericho (22:1). There was an invisible war going on, and the Israelites were completely oblivious to the intense life and death struggle going on between Balak’s desire to curse Isra’el and God’s commitment to bless them. Another character was Balaam’s donkey who has a brief speaking part in 22:28-30.

The Balaam cycle in Numbers 22:2 to 24:25 falls into three large sections: First, Numbers 22:2-40, Balaam’s three encounters with God as King Balak calls Balaam to curse Isra’el; second, Numbers 22:41 to 24:14 describe Balaam’s three attempts to curse Isra’el foiled by three blessings of Balaam, who could only say what ADONAI had put in his mouth; and third, Numbers 24:15-19, Balaam’s fourth and climactic far eschatological blessing beyond the present generation of Israelites.⁴⁵²

The Defeat of Og of Basham
21:33 to 22:1

The defeat of Og of Basham DIG: What does Jewish literature say about him? What was true about him? What did the defeat of Og do for Isra’el? How had God shown long-suffering patience to the Amorite people? What lesson had the wilderness generation learned?

REFLECT: When have you discovered that a problem that you had was not as big as you thought it was? Did you defeat it? Why not? How so? How can you help others with their giants? How has God shown long-suffering patience to you? How can you show it to others?

The conquest had begun.

Moses led the Israelites on to Ja’zer, defeating the Amorites there (to see link click Dk – The Defeat of Sihon of Heshbon). Apparently the only other significant military force on the east side of the Jordan was the Amorite force of Og. He and his people occupied the heights of Gilead and Bashan, the high, fertile grazing lands east of Galilee. Og is legendary in Jewish literature. He is considered to be one of the descendants of the Nephilim (see the commentary on Genesis Ca – The Sons of God Married the Daughters of Men). Rashi reports that Og was the descendent of the fallen angels that descended before the Flood (Rashi in b. Niddah 61a). In the midrash, he makes frequent cameo appearances in the stories where he doesn’t belong, showing up with Noah and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His height is exaggerated to the ridiculous extreme. In the Talmud (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law) and Midrash Rabbah, in this battle with Isra’el, Og, receives Paul Bunyan-like, tall-tale treatment.⁴⁴⁴

All flights of midrashic fantasy aside, Og was a big man. The Torah tells us that the length of his bed was nine cubits long and four cubits wide (thirteen-and-a-half feet long and six feet wide), according to the cubit of a man (Deuteronomy 3:11). Thirty eight years earlier the Exodus generation had refused to go into the Promised Land because they said there were giants in the Land (see By – The Report of the Spies). But now, the Wilderness Generation, sustained by their faith, pushed forward into battle against that giant.

As the children of Isra’el turned and pushed north, they went up along the road to Bashan; and ‘Og, the king of Bashan, marched out against them, he with all his people, to fight at Edrei. ADONAI said to Moshe, “Don’t be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with all his people and his land. You will treat him just as you did Sichon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” The Amorites suffered an enormous defeat. Og was killed and all his armies with him. In a blinding slaughter, all the Amorites were put to the sword. So they struck him down, with his sons and all his people, until there was no one left alive. Og’s dynasty over Basham had come to an abrupt end, and no descendant of the king would be there to take his rightful place on the throne.⁴⁴⁵ And then they took control of his land, which is the modern day Golan Heights (21:3-35). So, Isra’el occupied all the Transjordan between Mount Herman (Deuteronomy 3:8) and the Arnon River and east as far as the land of the Amorites.⁴⁴⁶

This was a holy war (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Ag – The Problem of Holy War in the TaNaKh), with YHVH and the ark of the covenant leading the way. And as such, the Amorites were under the cherem judgment of the LORD (see the commentary on Leviticus Ff – Cherem). As they did with Sihon, king of Bashan, the Israelites completely destroyed the men, women, and children in every city (see Deuteronomy Av – Moshe Remembers The Conquest of Og). To some, the utter annihilation of the Amorites was harsh, even unthinkable. Yet for four-hundred years, Ha’Shem had been patiently watching the Amorite people. As He promised to give Abraham the land of Isra’el, He said: In the fourth generation [of your descendants] will return here, for the sin of the Amorites is not yet complete (Genesis 15:16). But, as Moshe and the children of Isra’el entered the Land, the iniquity of the Amorites was complete. Their sin had reached a point of no return; no more room for salvation. The justice of ADONAI was thorough, decisive and final, but His long suffering patience (Second Peter 3:9) had given the Amorites four-hundred years to repent.⁴⁴⁷

Then the people of Isra’el traveled on and camped in the plains of Mo’ab beyond the Jordan River, opposite Jericho (22:1). Isra’el was getting very close. For the first time since the spy story (see Bv – The Sin of Kadesh-barnea), Isra’el was once again at the edge of the Promised Land – God’s gift – was in view. Soon that Land would be theirs. But this verse also sets the stage for one of the most remarkable stories in the Bible – the dramatic encounter of Balaam, the Aramean pagan prophet for hire, with the God of Isra’el. Thus, Chapter 21 of Numbers presents a remarkable shift in the fortunes of the children of Isra’el. They were still rebellious, and would continue to be (see Ea – Taking a Stand for God), but they were now on the march to victory, not fearful of the Canaanites. At last they had learned this lesson: When God is for us, what can humans do against us (Psalm 118:6)? The Hebrews were now moving with God.⁴⁴⁸ The conquest had begun.

Haftarah Chukat: Judges 11:32-33
(see the commentary on Deuteronomy Af – Parashah)

Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Isra’el subdued Ammon (Judges 11:32-33). Despised because his mother was a prostitute and driven out by his siblings (Judges 11:1-2), Jephthah lived as an outcast in exile. But when his town of Gilead became desperate, they offered him the judgeship to fight the invading Ammonites (Judges 11:4). Jephthah consents, only if the town makes him their leader after he succeeds (Judges 11:9). Then a lengthy quote from parashah Chukat begins, which recounts that Gilead belongs to Isra’el as a result of their victory over the Amorites (Numbers 21:21-25; Judges 11:19-22; Deuteronomy 3:16). Jephthah offers peace to Ammon the aggressor, but negotiations fail (Judges 11:27). Before the battle, Jephthah utters a rash vow (Judges 11:30-31). Then he routed the Ammonites (Judges 11:32-33). The Haftarah ends abruptly, before Jephthah made good on his vow. Thus, the emphasis remains on the appeal for peace, the negotiations, and the ultimate victory.

B’rit Chadashah Chukat: John 3:21

But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God (John 3:21 BSB). Nicodemus was the teacher of Isra’el, but couldn’t grasp how being born again could relate to the kingdom of Heaven (John 3:4, 7, and 12). Yeshua alluded to the bronze snake being lifted up in the wilderness (John 3:14; Numbers 21:9). Those who were bitten and dying were not saved because of the snake, but because they were obedient to look at the bronze snake being lifted up. In like manner, those who are dying in the flesh are saved and lifted up (death and resurrection) when they look to the Son of Man with eyes of faith. ADONAI sheds light on acts which glorify Him (Matthew 5:16). Thus, the ones who walk with the Son of Man will come to the light and see Him lifted up. Those who choose evil cannot see the truth.⁴⁴⁹

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being Almighty and more powerful than any giants or problems in our lives! The issue that is the deciding factor for who wins, is not how big the giant/problem is; but rather how great and powerful our God is. You are: omniscient, all-knowing – including the future moves of this giant and everyone involved, omnipotent, all-powerful – For nothing will be impossible with God (Luke 1:37), and omnipresent, everywhere and always with me to help and guide me. For God Himself has said: I will never leave you or forsake you (Heb 13:5c).

When my heart is full of love for You, then I will never face a challenge too giant for you to handle. When young David faced Giant Goliath, he wisely knew that the battle would not be decided by the strength and power of the men involved; but rather Almighty God would win the battle. Then David said to the Philistine, “You are coming to me with a sword, a spear and a javelin, but I am coming to you in the Name of ADONAI-Tzva’ot, God of the armies of Isra’el, whom you have defied. This very day ADONAI will deliver you into my hand (First Samuel 17:45-46a).

King Hezekiah, faced an insurmountable giant problem. Assyria had not only conquered the entire northern kingdom of Isra’el, but Assyria had also conquered 46 of the cities of Judah, Hezekiah’s kingdom. Only Jerusalem was left. Even with only one city still remaining, God still had the power to defeat the enemy. No matter how much damage the enemy has already done – Ha’Shem is still in control and God is able to conquer using ways and methods that belong only to Him!

Wisely King Hezekiah, instead of complaining or pouting, brought the problem before his Lord, placing it in ADONAI’s hands and asking God to be the victor that all nations would give Him the honor and glory. Hezekiah went up to the House of Adonai and spread it before ADONAI.  Hezekiah prayed before ADONAI, saying, “ADONAI, God of Isra’el, who is enthroned upon the cherubim. You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth.  Incline Your ear, ADONAI, and hear! Open Your eyes, ADONAI, and see! Listen to the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to mock the living God.  It is true, ADONAI, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire – for they were not gods, but the work of human hands – wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.  Now, ADONAI our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, ADONAI, are God” (Second Kings 19:14c-19).

May your children always remember David’s words of wisdom: – for the battle belongs to ADONAI – (First Samuel 17:47). May I also act wisely by going straight to You with the giant problem, placing it in your hands – that You may be glorified when You win the victory and You be given the honor. Now, ADONAI our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, ADONAI, are God (Second Kings 19:19). In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Defeat of Sihon of Heshbon
21: 21-32

The defeat of Sihon of Heshbon DIG: How do you see God’s plan unfolding in Sihon’s attack on Isra’el? How do the events here compare to those in Numbers 20:14-21? How do you account for such different outcomes this time around?

REFLECT: When confronted by opponents, are you more likely to “fight” or “flee?” Why? What does that say about you? Is it always right to fight? To retreat? How can Isra’el’s encounter with Edom and Sihon help you to sort out a proper response?

Woe to you, Mo’ab! You are destroyed, people of Chemosh, the God of the Moabites!

Suddenly the tempo of the march has picked up, Isra’el is on the march, poetry is recited, songs are sung, and progress is being made. There is a sense of something building, some heightened expectations, some glorious good news around the corner. That will come with the great oracles of blessing and promise spoken by the pagan prophet Balaam (Numbers Chapters 22-23).⁴³⁴ Probably still drawing from the Book of the Wars of the LORD (to see link click Dj – The Book of the Wars of the LORD), the Torah goes on to recount two battles with the Amorites. The first was Sihon of Hesbon who ruled part of the former territory of Mo’ab and all of Ammon. The second was the infamous Og, king of Bashan who held the territory of Bashan and Gilead (see Dl – The Defeat of Og of Basham).

The request (21:21-23): The Amorites, unlike the Edomites, were not related to the Israelites. But as in the case of their approach to Edom (see De – The Resistance of Edom), Isra’el first requested a rite of passage. Moving northward along the eastern (wilderness) edge of Mo’ab, Moses sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, with this message: “Let me pass through your land. We won’t turn aside into fields or vineyards, and we won’t drink any water from the wells. We will go along the King’s Highway until we have left your territory.” The language of the request was very similar to what he had said to the king of Edom. And the response of Sihon, king of the Amorites, was the same as Edom’s . . . a show of force to block the path of the Israelites.⁴³⁵ But God hardened his heart and Sihon would not allow Isra’el to pass through his territory. Instead, Sihon mustered all his people and went out into the wilderness to fight Isra’el. On reaching Jahaz, south of Pisgah, he fought Isra’el.

The victory (21:24-25): When Sihon tried to meet Isra’el with a show of force, he suffered an overwhelming defeat. Isra’el defeated him by force of arms and took control of his land to the wadi and the stream of Arnon, but only as far as the people of ‘Amon, because the territory of the people of ‘Amon was well defended and they were not conquered.⁴³⁶ Thus, the Amorites were conquered, but the Ammonites were not conquered because they, like the Moabites, were relatives of Isra’el (see the commentary on Genesis Fb – Let’s Get Our Father to Drink Wine, and then Lie with Him to Preserve Our Family Line). Isra’el took all these cities – Isra’el lived in all the cities of the Amorites, the main city occupied was Heshbon, and all its smaller surrounding suburbs.

The victory song (21:26-30): This poem is similar to the short quotation from The Book of the Wars of the LORD in Numbers 21:14-15. Both are verse units cited from outside the story of the Torah. Both poems make several geographical references; both specifically mention Mo’ab, ‘Ar and Arnon. For these reasons and because of their close proximity, it seems likely that both are from the same source.⁴³⁷

Sihon had previously defeated Mo’ab. The king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Mo’ab and conquered all his land above the wadi and stream of Arnon. Therefore, Balak, the king of the Moabites, was a vassal under Sihon, king of the Amorites. Yet, the Moabites became a real problem for Isra’el (see Dm – The Story of Balaam). After defeating Sihon in battle, his kingdom was Isra’el’s by right of conquest. However, because the Moabites, like the Edomites, were relatives of Isra’el, ADONAI would not allow Isra’el to continue to take his territory below the Aaron (see Deuteronomy  Ar – Events in Mo’av). Still, it was this victory that terrified the Moabites. Their deductive reasoning was clear: Sihon had defeated Mo’ab; Isra’el had defeated Sihon; Mo’ab was next, and their defeat seemed imminent. Thus, Balak, king of Mo’ab, wished to transfer the battle arena from the field of men to the realm of the gods.⁴³⁸ This is why the storytellers say: This was originally an Amorite victory song over Mo’ab. But now it was a victory song sung by the Israelites for their victory over the Ammorites. The poem is carefully crafted in chiastic form.

A. Come to the city of Heshbon. Let it be rebuilt! Let Sichon’s city be restored! The poem begins with a summons to rebuild Heshbon, the city of Sihon and the Amorites, but the main body of the poem is a taunt song against the hapless Moabites. It describes how Mo’ab was subjugated by the Amorites.

B. The armies of Sihon are metaphorically referred to as fire that went out from Heshbon to consume many cities of Mo’ab down to the wadi and stream of Arnon to the south. For fire burst out of Heshbon and conquered Mo’ab, like a flame the city of Sihon.

C. It consumed ‘Ar, another key city of Mo’ab, the lords of Arnon’s high places (possibly the city of Bamoth, which means high places). Arnon was the original northern border of Mo’ab. The Moabites had conquered north of Arnon, but then they had been driven back to their original border by Sihon; and now that territory had been taken by Isra’el.

D. Woe to you, Mo’ab! You are destroyed, people of Chemosh, the national God of the Moabites (First Kings 11:7 and 33, Second Kings 23:13; and Jeremiah 48:46)! The god Chemosh, was also honored by the Ammonites (Judges 11:24). The “Taunt Song of Heshbon,” was originally an Amorite song celebrating their earlier victory over Mo’ab; thus the phrase: why the storytellers say. Since this was a song originally used against the Moabites, whom the Amorites had recently conquered, its reuse here by Isra’el against Mo’ab must have been particularly galling to the Moabites. Indeed, it must have served as the final “nail in the coffin,” and the reason why King Balak of Mo’ab was so desperately afraid of Isra’el that he sought out a professional cursing service in the form of Balaam (see Do – Balaam’s Dilemma). In any ancient taunt song such as this, more was at stake than the reputation of the armies or the kings who participated in the battle. Ultimately, the outcome of a war in the ancient Near East was evaluated in terms of victories or defeats of the country’s respective gods.⁴³⁹ Therefore, the implication of Isra’el’s impending victory over Mo’ab was that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was superior to Chemosh.

C. Chemosh let his sons be fugitives and his daughters’ captives. Sadly, the worship of Chemosh of Mo’ab was brought into the borders of Jerusalem in the tenth century BC, where the once-wise Solomon built a temple to Chemosh on the hill opposite that upon which the Temple of YHVH was built earlier in his reign (see the Life of Solomon Bx – Solomon’s Wives). The seeds of idolatry were planted in the City of David where ADONAI was to have been worshiped exclusively.⁴⁴⁰

B. Isra’el isn’t mentioned until now. For that reason, it seems that the song was originally an Amorite taunt against the Moabites, which Isra’el simply reused for their own purposes with a few small modifications. Though you, feeble Moabites, and your god too, could not resist Sihon, we Israelites, by the help of our God, have victoriously shot them down to the Arnon.

A. Heshbon is destroyed, all the way to Dibon-gad (32:34 and 33:45). The poem evidently concludes by listing the cities captured by Isra’el. We even laid waste to Nofach, which extends as far as Meidva.” If the Moabites thought that Sihon was bad, they hadn’t seen anything yet. There lies the taunt: “If you thought Sihon was tough, look out, Moabites, because we just wiped them out.” The poem revel’s in Isra’el’s complete and total victory over Sihon. They had taken all of his territory, the whole Meidva plateau. The victory over Sihon was the first conquest of the Promised Land.

The prophet Jeremiah some 700 years later again adopted this very same taunt song as a prophecy of judgment against Mo’ab (see the commentary on Jeremiah Dl – The Punishment and Restoration of Mo’ab). Over the years, Mo’ab gained more strength and proved to be a menace to Isra’el (see Ea – Taking a Stand for God). But afterwards, ADONAI says: I will bring back the exiles of Amon (Jeremiah 49:6). Interestingly enough, however, Jeremiah, in one Hebrew phrase, also predicts the ultimate restoration of the Moabite nation in the last days by the Lord Himself, as He turns them toward Himself (see the commentary on Revelation Fk – Gentiles in the Messianic Kingdom: Mo’ab).⁴⁴¹

The result (21:31-32): Thus, Isra’el lived in the land of the Amorites. Moshe sent men to spy out Ja‘zer; they captured its suburb towns and drove out the Amorites who were there. This conquest secured Isra’el from any further attacks from the south or from the east. These concluding verses are a dramatic mark of accomplishment. After forty years of wilderness wanderings in the Desert of Sinai, now, at last, the children of Isra’el had entered the land of the Amorites . . . the land that would become theirs.⁴⁴² Finally, the sin of the Amorites had been judged (see the commentary on Genesis Eg – I am the LORD, Who Brought You Out of Ur of the Chaldeans to Give You This Land).

Sihon went with his forces against Isra’el, out of his own borders, without provocation, and, as a result, ran upon his own ruin. The enemies of God’s Church often perish because they think they are wise in their own eyes. Wicked men do their utmost to protect themselves and their possessions against the judgments of God; but all in vain, when the day comes on which they must fall. ADONAI gave Isra’el success, while Moses was with them, that he might see the beginning of the glorious work, though he would not live to see it finished. We must prepare ourselves for fresh conflicts and enemies. We must make no peace or truce with the powers of darkness, nor even entertain them; nor should we expect any pause in our spiritual battle (see the commentary on Ephesians Bv – Walk by the Ruach, and Not the Desires of the Flesh). But, trusting in the Lord, and obeying His commands, we shall be more than conquerors, either in this world or the next, through Yeshua Messiah (Romans 8:39).⁴⁴³

The Book of the Wars of the LORD
21: 10-20

The book of the wars of the LORD DIG: What was the Book of the Wars of the LORD? Why would it be important that the Israelites remember this trip? How would the song of the well in this passage help them do that? What recurring themes do you see here? What pictures of our Lord Yeshua Messiah have we seen in the story of Number so far?

REFLECT: The Israelites were grateful for the well God provided. Why were they so grateful for water? What are you especially grateful for today? Which event in your spiritual pilgrimage during this past year was the most significant? Why is it important that you remember that event? What will you do to ensure you do? What are you looking forward to doing? 

The Transjordan would be the staging area for the wilderness generation,
as they prepared to advance into the Promised Land.

This section offers a summary of the military engagements of Isra’el’s march to the Transjordan, given in a fuller account later in the book (to see link click Gf – From Mount Hor to the Plains of Mo’ab). Since the battle with the Amorites clearly took place prior to Isra’el’s arrival at the Jordan valley, then chronologically 21:21-32 precedes 21:10-20. A few battles are cited from a poetic work, the Book of the Wars of the LORD and a second poem, the Song of the Well, is inserted into the narrative when Be’er was reached.⁴²⁴

The Edomites: At last the people were on the march toward their destination of the Transjordan, the area located east of the Jordan River and opposite the eastern boundary of Canaan opposite Jericho. The Transjordan would be the staging area and entry point for the wilderness generation as they prepared to advance into the Promised Land.⁴²⁵ The Israelites crossed to the highlands east of the Arabah and then turned north again. The path did lead them through Edomite territory, but they kept to the King’s Highway and passed through unchallenged. It may well be that the Edomites could not control the Desert Highway at that time. But the Israelites obeyed the command of ADONAI and avoided any confrontation with them as they passed through (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Aq – Moshe Remembered the Events in Seir).

The Moabites (21:10-13): After passing through the craggy heights of Edom, Isra’el entered the land of the Moabites. The list of camping places shows an interest in arriving at the eastern border of Mo’ab as quickly as possible and zeroing in on the Amorite land. Ha’Shem also commanded the Israelites not to attack the Moabites (see Deuteronomy Ar – Moshe Remembered the Events in Mo’av). The people of Isra’el traveled on and camped at Oboth. From Oboth they traveled and camped at ‘Iye Abarim, in the desert bordering Mo’ab to the east. From there they traveled and camped in Zered Valley, having moved from the west of Edom to the east of Edom. The Israelites were then in Moabite territory. From there they traveled and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness; this river comes out of the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border between Mo’ab and the Amorites.

The book of the wars of the LORD (21:14-15): At this point in the description of the journey, the Torah cites a proof-text from another collection entitled The Book of the Wars of the LORD. The passage cited is a short poetic unit which simply describes the local geography, confirming that the valleys of Aron did indeed border Mo’ab.⁴²⁶ Then we are introduced to a strange book called the Book of the Wars of the LORD. This book is no longer in existence, but a fragment of the book contained truth that God wanted to preserve was recorded by Moses. Not all ancient books that the biblical writers mention are necessarily inspired. But some would contain truth that YHVH wished to preserve. This is why it says: Waheb (possibly a Moabite fortress) in Sufah (Hebrew: storm), the valleys of Arnon, and the slope of the valleys extending as far as the settlement of ‘Ar, which lie next to the border of Mo’ab.” With a slight modifying in the vowel patterns (because the vowels were added much later), a literal translation might be: The LORD came like a storm, He took Waheb, and marched through the valleys of the Arnon, extending as far as the settlement of ‘Ar, which lies next to the border of Mo’ab.⁴²⁷ This poem pictures the LORD as the Divine Warrior sweeping through the territory of Mo’ab ready for the great battles in the Transjordan that anticipated the conquest of Canaan.⁴²⁸

According to Ibn Ezra, this description of Isra’el’s position accords with Balak’s location of Isra’el’s encampment, saying: They have settled next to me (Numbers 22:5). Thus, this book supplied another confirmation that Isra’el avoided the territory of Mo’ab. It seems that the Book of the Wars of the LORD was a separate book which, together with the Book of Jashar (Joshua 10:13 and Second Samuel 1:18), were anthologies of early songs describing the saga of Israelite battles at the beginning of her national existence. But only a couple of small fragments in verses 17 and 18a survived.⁴²⁹

Jewish traditional explanations aside, it seems most likely that the Book of the Wars of the LORD was some type of chronicle of the military engagements that the children of Isra’el faced as they came up from the wilderness. The conservative view would suppose that it must have been written by Moses or one of the Wilderness Generation. In any case, it probably tells, with some detail, the story of the various battles that the Israelites faced in the wilderness and as they entered the Promised Land. The most significant battles were with Sihon (see Dk – The Defeat of Sihon of Heshbon) and Og (see Dl – The Defeat of Og of Basham). The book of Numbers treats these two major engagements sparingly, even though they figured significantly in the story. They are important military campaigns, long celebrated and long remembered. They are revisited in Deuteronomy numerous times. They are mentioned in Joshua. The story of the battle with Sihon is recounted in Judges. The Psalms refer back to the glory of those victories. One would imagine such celebrated victories would occupy a lot of text. But they do not. Perhaps the reason for the scarcity of detail regarding the battles with the Amorites is that another collection, The Book of the Wars of the LORD contained a full chronicle of those battles. The chronicle may have also contained detailed geographical information which Numbers 21 seems to draw upon. The movements of Isra’el are reported with a heightened sense of place and territorial relationship in these last chapters of Numbers. Unfortunately, we possess only five lines of the original work. The rest has been lost to time. But it is not unlikely that the song of the well in Numbers 21:17-18 and the poem relating the defeat of Sihon’s city of Heshbon in Numbers 21:27-30 are also extracts from the same source.⁴³⁰

The song of the well (21:16-18a): From the valleys of Arnon they went on to Be’er [which means well]; that is the well about which ADONAI said to Moshe, “Assemble the people, and I will give them water.” This is the first time in the Torah where the water is provided for the people prior to their complaining over the absence of water. Perhaps the incident with the serpents had made an impression upon Isra’el. They refrained from complaining, and as a result, God took the initiative Himself and met their needs. Then, as a result of getting water from the well, Isra’el sang this song, “Spring up, oh well! Sing to the well sunk by the tribal leaders, dug by the people’s leaders with the scepter, with their staffs!” The Midrash Rabbah views the well as the same rock that had followed them in the wilderness for the last forty years (Numbers Rabbah 19:25). But the plain reading of the text seems to suggest that this well was a new source of water. There are similarities though. Just as Moses struck the rock with his staff to bring forth the water, this well is said to be dug with the staff of the trial leaders.Just as Moses was to speak to the rock, the leaders of the people are portrayed speaking to the well and singing to it.