Numbers 23
Numbers 23:1 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
Numbers 23:2 Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram.
Numbers 23:3 And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your ascending offering, and I will go. Perhaps Yahveh will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height,
Numbers 23:4 and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”
Numbers 23:5 And Yahveh put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you will speak.”
Numbers 23:6 And he returned to him, and notice, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his ascending offering.
Numbers 23:7 And Balaam took up his chant and said, “From Aram, Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’
Numbers 23:8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom Yahveh has not denounced?
Numbers 23:9 Because from the top of the crags, I see him, from the hills I notice him; notice, a people staying alone, and not counting itself among the nations!
Numbers 23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!”
Numbers 23:11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I hired you to curse my enemies and notice you have done nothing but bless them.”
Numbers 23:12 And he answered and said, “Must I not be careful to speak what Yahveh puts in my mouth?”
Numbers 23:13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You will see only a fraction of them and will not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.”
Numbers 23:14 And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Numbers 23:15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your ascending offering while I meet Yahveh over there.”
Numbers 23:16 And Yahveh met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus will you speak.”
Numbers 23:17 And he came to him, and notice, he was standing beside his ascending offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has Yahveh spoken?”
Numbers 23:18 And Balaam took up his chant and said, “Rise, Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O son of Zippor:
Numbers 23:19 God is not human, that he should lie, or a son of a human, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Numbers 23:20 notice, I received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
Numbers 23:21 He has not envisioned misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. Yahveh, their God, is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.
Numbers 23:22 God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.
Numbers 23:23 Because no magic would work against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it will be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘Look what God has done!’
Numbers 23:24 notice, a people! As a lioness, it rises, and as a lion, it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.”
Numbers 23:25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.”
Numbers 23:26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that Yahveh says, that I must do’?”
Numbers 23:27 And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”
Numbers 23:28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert.
Numbers 23:29 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
Numbers 23:30 And Balak did as Balaam had said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Numbers 23 quotes:
“Balaam now opens his mouth and sings a song that would be music to Moses’ ears, but is a nightmare come true for Balak. First, he sets in contrast King Balak, who has brought him from the east, and King Yahweh, who alone has the power to curse or denounce (v. 7). If the Lord has not cursed or denounced Israel, Balaam declares, then neither can he (v. 8). This battle is over before it’s even started; Israel’s enemies had best get out of the way. Next, Balaam makes clear that this is indeed a nation like no other nation; a nation set apart and thus holy, consecrated by God (v. 9). This is truly a peculiar people, resident aliens, marked by “the loneliness of election” (Mays, Leviticus-Numbers, 124), not counting itself as just one nation among others (note the ambiguity of Israel’s “aloneness,” which can denote the isolation of the leper [Lev. 13:46]; the burden of the prophet [Jer. 15:17]; or the security of God’s people [Deut. 33:28]). It is a people “in whose existence the government of God is hidden” (Mays, 124) and from whom shall one day come a person in whom this same government will become clearer. They are indeed passing through this valley and through this world, and those who bless them will be blessed, and those who curse them will be cursed (Gen. 12). Therefore, finally, by God’s promise, they are and will be like the dust of this earth, spreading and swirling where it will. Those who are wise, like Balaam, will long to be part of this parade (Num. 23:10). Those who are fools, like Balak, will find Israel to be a stumbling block in their path, revealing their true faith and loyalty, and marking them as in opposition to the growth of God’s kingdom in the world. Like another child to follow, this child, Israel, “is destined for the falling and the rising of many . . . , a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).”
Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 218.
“In the context of threatened cursing they were reminded of promised blessing. This first oracle’s language, graphic wordpictures and leading ideas deliberately echoed the great patriarchal stories in Genesis about the blessing of Abraham and his family. Like themselves, Abraham was on pagan territory when God told him to embark on a journey into the land now confronting the travellers. He too was a pilgrim, with limited physical resources, but the Lord promised this elderly, childless man that from his eventual family would emerge a ‘great nation’. The travellers were unaware of the threat of intimidating curses, but God was renewing the Abrahamic promise of undeniable blessing, and using familiar words and phrases to do so. The patriarch had been firmly assured: ‘I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.’”
Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 211.
“When Balak asked Balaam to curse Israel, Balaam opened his mouth and pronounced great blessing upon Israel. The king said, “That is not what I asked you to do.” But Balaam again pronounced great blessing upon Israel, finally saying, “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his” (Numbers 23:10). Balak understood that Balaam was actually blessing Israel, when Balaam told the king, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent” (Numbers 23:19). Then Balaam told Balak again, “I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it” (Numbers 23:20). And again Balaam said, “All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do” (Numbers 23:26).”
Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 119.
“Balak was probably accustomed to convincing people to change their minds. As king he could employ any methods he chose, such as bribery or threat of force, to achieve his sinful aims. But now he sought to move the hand of God. But with God, “who does not change” (Vas. 1:17) and “who does not lie” (Titus 1:2), no amount of human persuasion can force his hand. And God did constrain Balaam to speak and act accordingly. Other nations, such as Egypt, mounted great offenses against Israel to no avail. Furthermore, no amount of sorcery against Jacob could succeed. Balaam compared Israel to a lion known for its courage and strength. He knew God’ protecting hand was on the nation.”
Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002. p. 342.
“From these last passages we gather that Balaam had failed to get Balak’s gold by cursing the people, but yet he was determined to have it. So, back from his far-off northern home he comes, and counsels Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, by inviting them to join in the worship of their gods, which worship was accompanied by vile and obscene practices. Of course, if Israel had joined the Moabites and Midianites in worship, there was no fear of hostilities, and this is what Balak sought to avoid. So the women of these heathen tribes beguile the Israelites, and we read in Numbers 25:1, 2 and 31 :15, 16 the sad result. Balaam perishes with these people who have hired him against Israel (Numbers 31 :8). Poor, wretched, self-willed, covetous Balaam! He said in one of his parables: “Let me die the death of the righteous.” Many others would like to die the death of the righteous; but they forget that the way to die the death of the righteous is to possess and exhibit the life of the righteous.”
Saxe, Grace. Studies in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Grace Saxe, 1921. p. 48.
Numbers 23 links:
a realistic walk
Dead souls, dying souls
have you been listening-
look what God has done
withholding judgment
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