Numbers 24

Numbers 24:1 When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahveh to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens but set his face toward the open country.

Numbers 24:2 And Balaam lifted his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Breath of God came upon him,

Numbers 24:3 and he took up his parable and said, “The oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

Numbers 24:4 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling with his eyes uncovered:

Numbers 24:5 How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel!

Numbers 24:6 Like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that Yahveh has planted, like cedar trees beside the water.

Numbers 24:7 Water will flow from his buckets, and his seed will have much water; his king will be higher than Agag, and his kingdom will be exalted.

Numbers 24:8 God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he will eat up the nations, his adversaries, and will break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows.

Numbers 24:9 He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.”

Numbers 24:10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and notice, you have blessed them these three times.

Numbers 24:11 Therefore, now run away to your place. I said, ‘I will certainly reward you,’ but Yahveh has held you back from any reward.”

Numbers 24:12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your agents whom you sent to me,

Numbers 24:13 ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of Yahveh, to do either good or bad of my own will. What Yahveh speaks, that I will speak’?

Numbers 24:14 And now, notice, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”

Numbers 24:15 And he took up his parable and said, “The oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

Numbers 24:16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Highest, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling with his eyes uncovered:

Numbers 24:17 I see him, but not now; I notice him, but not near: a star will come out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel; it will crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.

Numbers 24:18 Edom will be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, will be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly.

Numbers 24:19 And one from Jacob will exercise dominion and exterminate the survivors of cities!”

Numbers 24:20 Then he looked on Amalek and took up his parable and said, “Amalek was the firstfruits among the nations, but its end is utter destruction.”

Numbers 24:21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable and said, “Enduring is your staying place, and your nest is set in the rock.

Numbers 24:22 Nevertheless, Kain will be burned when Asshur takes you away captive.”

Numbers 24:23 And he took up his parable and said, “Alas, who will live when God does this?

Numbers 24:24 But ships will come from Kittim and will discipline Asshur and Eber, and he too will come to utter destruction.”

Numbers 24:25 Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Numbers 24 quotes:

“Though all we may have to offer is words, the right words are often enough. Words of proclamation rather than propaganda. Words of witness rather than willfulness. Words of the sermon and words of the benediction. Words in the anthem and words in the aisle. Words offered in the hospital and the classroom and the office, by those who are ordained, nonordained, or not even in the family. When words are preceded by earnest listening to the Lord and followed by faithful proclamation, they do not return void but accomplish the things for which they are purposed (Isa. 55:11).”

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 224.

” … it is a future hope. Inevitably, at that time, Israel’s gaze was focused on the conquest of Canaan. Balaam’s concluding message transferred their thinking from the present to the future, from the immediate to the ultimate. No worthwhile community can live merely for today. It needs noble ambitions to lure it on to better things.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 222.

“What a faithful preacher he was, yet he served the pagan king! It is sobering to realize that I can have my way if I insist upon it, but I will forfeit God’s blessing. In that case I will not be able to accomplish anything, because God sets limits upon what I am allowed to do.”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 119.

“The next oracle of the seer was considerably shorter than the others, and he repeated his common introduction. Balaam described the bleak fortunes of Moab and Edom going against Israel. From Jacob would come a star and a scepter. The star (Heb. Kokab), once used by Isaiah to describe the king of Babylon whom some say represented Satan (Isa. 14:12), also depicted the “Root and the Offspring of David” (Rev. 22:16). Such a “ruler will come out of Jacob” and “rule in the midst of” her enemies (Ps. 110:2).”

Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002. p. 343.

“See the progress of thought in these four prophecies. In the first one the main thought is separation. “The people shall dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations” (23:9). In the next one, the particular thing is God’s presence: “The Lord his God is with him” (23:21). In the third prophecy, Israel is a channel of blessing to others: “He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters” (24:7) ; and in the fourth prophecy, we have a prediction of Christ: “There shall come a Star out of Jacob” (24:17). So in these four prophecies we see Israel, first, a separated people; second, a people among whom God dwelt; third, a people who are to be God’s channel of blessing; and fourth, a people through whom the Deliverer of the race is to come.

What could be more magnificent than that? How such a future stretching out before them should have aroused and inspired them to high and noble ideals ! But we, as Christians, have a still more glorious outlook. Why does it not lift us above the things that would discourage and drag us downward, and Inspire us to holy noble living every day?”

Saxe, Grace. Studies in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Grace Saxe, 1921. p. 49.