Numbers 22:1

Num_22:1. The verse appears to be the continuation of P’s itinerary in Num_21:10-11; cf. Num_33:48.

the steppes of Moab] A term, peculiar to P , which denotes the open plain, immediately to the north of the Dead Sea, about 9 miles from north to south and from 5 to 7 miles broad. The similar plain on the west of Jordan is named ‘the steppes of Jericho’ (Jos_4:13; Jos_5:10).

on the other side of the Jordan] i.e. on the east. The expression is from the point of view of a writer in Palestine.

the Jordan at Jericho] lit. ‘the Jordan of Jericho,’ i.e. that portion of the river which flows by the town. Cf. ‘the waters of Megiddo’ (Jdg_5:19).

Num_22:2-24. The story of Balaam (J E ).

The narratives of J and E are, to a large extent, so closely interwoven that it is difficult to separate them. But in certain portions the differences between them stand out clearly, and will be indicated in the notes.

An approximate analysis is as follows:—

E . Num_22:2-3 a, Num_22:5 a (to ‘River’), Num_22:8-10; Num_22:12-16; Num_22:19-21; Num_22:35-41.

J . Num_22:3 b, Num_22:4, Num_22:5 b – Num_22:7; Num_22:11; Num_22:17-18; Num_22:22-34.

The object of this well-known narrative is to illustrate the all-important thought ‘if God be for us who can be against us?’ Jehovah holds Israel under His protection, and therefore provides that they shall receive a blessing and not a curse. Pharaoh’s obstinacy in opposing Jehovah in Egypt is paralleled, at the end of the journeyings, by the obstinacy of Balak, and the result is that the divine curse falls upon Moab (Num_24:17) among other foes of Israel. A further interest in the story is the character of Balaam, which, however, has sometimes been allowed such undue prominence as to throw into the shade the real religious import of the narrative. His character has been very variously estimated according as one or another feature in the narrative is emphasized; see e.g. Stanley, Jewish Church, and Lock in J.Th.S. ii. 161–3. This variety of estimate results from the fact that the narrative is not homogeneous. In E , so far as it has been preserved, no blame attaches to his character. It is true that in J (Num_22:5 b – Num_22:7; Num_22:11; Num_22:17-18) Balak expects him to do the work of a prophet for money, but this did not necessarily imply avarice; it was a not uncommon feature of early Israelite life; Samuel (1Sa_9:8), Ahijah (1Ki_14:3), Elisha (2Ki_8:8 f.) and Amos (Amo_7:12) were expected to do the same. [Note: Amos’ reply to Amaziah (Amo_7:14) shews that the great prophets of Israel rose superior to the practice of the earlier ‘sons of the prophets’; he had never been one who would ‘eat bread’ by prophesying. And from that time onwards it is probable that prophesying for payment was condemned by the better minds in the nation.] And when it came to the point, Balaam declared that no amount of gold or silver would persuade him to oppose the will of Jehovah his God by cursing Israel. The idea that he was forced to utter blessings mechanically though he wanted to curse is quite absent from the story, and ought not to be read into it. In J we only learn that Jehovah was angry with him because he went (see on Num_22:22), no reason being assigned, or perhaps rather the reason assigned having dropped out of the narrative when it was combined with E . In D (Deu_23:4 f., Jos_24:9 f.) we meet for the first time with the thought that Balaam wanted to curse for hire, but was prevented by God, cf. Neh_13:2. Lastly in P (Num_31:16) a different, and terrible, sin is related of him. He persuaded the Israelites to commit sin with the Midianite women at Peor, and thus brought calamity upon God’s people after all (Num_31:16). The dark estimate of his character is adopted in the N.T.: avarice (Judges 11, 2Pe_2:15-16), and the teaching of idolatry and fornication (Rev_2:14).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Num 22:1 And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan [by] Jericho.

Ver. 1. In the plains of Moab.] Once of Moab, then of the Amorites, now of the Israelites. Lands and lordships often change masters; Adeo nihil certi est in rebus humanis, &c. In the greatness of the Turkish empire is at this day swallowed up the name and empire of the Saracens, the most glorious empire of the Greeks, the renowned kingdoms of Macedonia, Peloponnesus, Epirus, Bulgaria, Servia, Bosnia, Armenia, Cyprus, Syria, Egypt, Judea, Tunis, Algiers, Media, Mesopotamia, with a great part of Hungary, as also of the Persian kingdom, and, besides all those famous Churches spoken of in Scripture, so much in Christendom, as far exceedeth that which is thereof at this day left; yet, no doubt, time shall triumph over this so great a monarchy, when it shall but then live by fame as others now do. {a} It laboureth with nothing more already than with the weightiness of itself.

{a} Turk. Hist., Preface.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Num 22:1. The plains of Moab — Which still retained their ancient title, though they had been taken from the Moabites by Sihon, and from him by the Israelites. By Jericho — That is, over against Jericho.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

We now enter upon the last division of this Book, which comprises fifteen chapters (22–36).

“In the steppes of Moab the Israelites encamped upon the border of the Promised Land, from which they were only separated by the Jordan. But before this boundary line could be passed, there were many preparations that had to be made. In the first place, the whole congregation was to pass through a trial of great importance to all future generations, as bearing upon the relation in which it stood to the heathen world; and in the second place, it was here that Moses, who was not to enter Canaan because of his sin at the water of strife, was to bring the work of legislation to a close before his death, and not only to issue the requisite instructions concerning the conquest of the promised inheritance, and the division of it among the tribes of Israel, but to impress once more upon the hearts of the whole congregation the essential contents of the whole law, with all that the Lord had done for Israel, that they might be confirmed in their fidelity to the Lord, and preserved from the danger of apostasy. This last work of the faithful servant of God, with which he brought his mediatorial work to a close, is described in the book of Deuteronomy; whilst the laws relating to the conquest and partition of Canaan, with the experience of Israel in the steppes of Moab, fill up the latter portion of the present book.”—Keil and Del.

In this and the succeeding two chapters we have the record of Balaam and his prophecies.

Num_22:1. “The plains. Heb. araboth; the word is the plural of that which is used to denote the whole depressed tract along the Jordan and the Dead Sea, and onward, where it is still called the Arabah, to the Elanitic gulf. Near the mouth of the Jordan this tract is about eleven miles across, a breadth of from four to five miles being on the eastern bank. The space occupied by the Israelitish camp consisted, in the main, of a large and luxuriant oasis upon this bank, slightly raised above the barren flat, sultry because sheltered by the Peraean hills which bear up the fertile plateau above, and watered by the brooks which, descending from those hills, run westward across the plain into the Jordan (see Tristram, ‘Land of Israel,’ pp. 528 sqq.).”—Speaker’s Comm.

Plains of Moab: See on Num_21:20.

On this side Jordan by Jericho. Keil and Del. translate, “Beyond the Jordan of Jericho.”

Num_22:2. Balak = waster, destroyer.—Fuerst.

Zippor = a bird.

Num_22:3. “Was distressed because of. Lit. ‘shrank from before them’ in terror.”—Speaker’s Comm.

Num_22:4. Midian. “The Midianites, who are referred to here, must be distinguished from the branch of the same tribe which dwelt in the peninsula of Sinai (Num_10:29-30; Exo_2:15-16; Exo_3:1). They had been settled for a long time (cf. Gen_36:35) on the eastern border of the Moabitish and Amoritish territory, in a grassy but treeless steppe-land—where many ruins and wells are still to be found belonging to very ancient times—and lived by grazing (Num_31:32, sqq.) and the caravan trade. They were not very warlike, and were not only defeated by the Edomites (Gen_36:35), but were also subdued and rendered tributary by Sihon, king of the Amorites.”—Keil and Del.

“The elders of Midian are heads of tribes who administered the general affairs of the people, who, like the Israelites, lived under a patriarchal constitution. The most powerful of them bore the title of ‘kings’ (Num_31:8) or ‘princes’ (Jos_13:21).—Ibid.

Num_22:5. Balaam = “devourer of the people” (Hengstenberg); or, “one not belonging to the people, i.e., a foreigner; or, conqueror, corrupter of the people.”—Fuerst.

Beor is regarded by many as derived from בָּעַר, to burn, to consume. Fuerst says it signifies shepherd, and is from בְּעִיר, cattle. In 2Pe_2:15 the name is written Bosor.

“Pethor, which is by the river, &c. Rather, ‘which was on the river’ (i.e., the Euphrates, so called here and elsewhere by pre-eminence) ‘in his native land.’ ”—Speaker’s Comm.

Pethor was a city of Mesopotamia (Deu_23:4) on the Euphrates. Its site is unknown.

Num_22:7. Rewards of divination. “The soothsayers’ wages” (comp. 2Pe_2:15).

Num_22:15. Princes, more, and more honourable; i.e., more in number and of more exalted rank, and with more splendid presents or proffers of reward.

Num_22:36. A city of Moab. Heb., Ir-Moab. See on Num_21:15.

Num_22:39. Kirjath-huzoth. Margin: “a city of streets.” Fuerst: “city of the steppes.” From the context, it was “apparently within Balak’s dominions, and therefore south of the Arnon. Hardly however far south, for from it, on the morrow, the company proceeded to Bamoth-Baal, which lay north of the Arnon. It was probably a place of importance, and possibly that of Balak’s residence.… All the conditions implied as to the site of Kirjath-huzoth in the Scriptural notice of it are satisfied by the ruins of Shîhân, four miles west by south of the site assigned to Ar or Ir. They stand on a slight but insulated eminence, and form a conspicuous object to all the country round.”—Speaker’s Comm.

Num_22:41. The high places of Baal; or, Bamoth-Baal. See on Num_21:19.

The utmost part of the people; or, “the end of the people,” i.e., the outermost portion of the camp of Israel. Balak seems to have thought that Balaam must have the Israelites in view to curse them effectually.

PILGRIMS NEARING HOME

(Num_22:1)

The Israelites have now ended their wanderings. They have encamped for the last time. When they strike their tents again it will be to march forward towards the Jordan to enter the Promised Land. Viewing them in their present position, we regard them as an illustration of the Christian approaching the end of his pilgrimage. There is an analogy in the following particulars. The Christian as he draws near to the end of his pilgrimage,—

I. Is cheered by delightful prospects.

From their present encampment the Israelites could behold the land promised to their fathers. They looked forward to—

1. Rest from their toils and wanderings. The Christian nearing home anticipates rest from sin and sorrow, from toil and trial, from doubt and fear. Soon they shall “rest from their labours,” &c. (a)

2. Possession of the inheritance. The “inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,” will soon be entered upon by the Christian who has the end of his journey in view.

3. The realisation of precious and long-cherished hopes. For generations past the noblest of the Israelites had been animated by the hope of the possession of Canaan; and now that hope is on the point of fruition. The Christian hopes for freedom from sin, for holiness, for likeness to Christ, for the vision of God (1Jn_3:2-3); and as he nears the bourne of his pilgrimage the realisation of these splendid hopes comes into clear and clearer view. Most brilliant and blessed are his prospects. (b)

II. Needs preparation for the new state into which he is about to enter.

In this encampment in the plains of Moab much preparatory work had to be done amongst the Israelites before they could advance to the possession of Canaan. This preparatory work is narrated in the last eleven chapters of this book, and in the book of Deuteronomy. Moses completed his work as legislator for them, gave them directions as to the conquest and division of the land, took great pains to guard them against apostasy, to confirm them in their covenant relation to God, and to strengthen their loyalty to Him. And as the Christian approaches the end of his pilgrimage, the progress of his preparation for heaven is often manifest to the spiritual observer. His increasing meetness for his inheritance may be seen in the beautiful ripening of his character, which grows rich and mellow. His life becomes luminous with fore-gleamings of the great glory to which he approaches. Gradually he is “made meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light.” (c)

III. Is still subjected to trials and difficulties.

While encamped in the plains of Moab, and before entering the Promised Land, the Israelites experienced—

1. Perilous temptations. In the twenty-fifth chapter we have an account of temptations arising from their association with idolatrous peoples and practices, to which great numbers of the Israelites yielded. The true child of God is sometimes sorely tempted and tried, even when he has the heavenly Canaan within his view.

2. Painful separations. Their great emancipator and leader, “Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab.… And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days.” And the aged pilgrim nearing the end of his course often experiences painful separations. The dear partner of his life is perhaps summoned home before him, leaving him to finish his journey alone in weariness and sorrow. The end of the pilgrimage always involves separations, and very often trying ones.

3. Formidable difficulties. Jordan had to be crossed before the Israelites entered into Canaan. And death is an experience which must be passed through by the Christian pilgrim before he gains the heavenly rest; and to some this is a source of great anxiety and trial. (d)

Ye aged pilgrims, and ye who by reason of sickness or weakness are nearing home, be of good cheer, for your heavenly inheritance is at hand. Be ye also diligent that when the summons to arise and depart is given to you, ye may be ready joyfully to obey it.

ILLUSTRATIONS

(a) O weary sons and daughters of Adam! you will not have to drive the ploughshare into the unthankful soil in heaven; you will not need to rise to daily toil before the sun hath risen, and labour still when the sun hath long ago gone to his rest; but ye shall be still, ye shall be quiet, ye shall rest yourselves. Toil, trouble, travail, and labour are words that cannot be spelled in heaven; they have no such things there; for they always rest.—C. H. Spurgeon.

(b) I do not know a more beautiful sight to be seen on earth than a man who has served the Lord for many years, and who, having grown grey in service, feels that in the order of nature he must soon be called home. He is rejoicing in the first-fruits of the Spirit which he has obtained, but he is panting after the full harvest of the Spirit which is guaranteed to him. I think I see him sitting on a jutting crag by the edge of Jordan, listening to the harpers on the other side, and waiting till the pitcher shall be broken at the fountain, and the wheel at the cistern, and the spirit shall depart to God that made it. A wife waiting for her husband’s footsteps; a child waiting in the darkness of the night till its mother comes to give it the evening kiss, are portraits of our waiting. It is a pleasant and precious thing so to wait and so to hope—Ibid.

During the last days of that eminent man of God, Dr. Payson, he once said, “When I formerly read Bunyan’s description of the land of Beulah, where the sun shines and the birds sing day and night, I used to doubt whether there was such a place; but now my own experience has convinced me of it, and it infinitely transcends all my previous conceptions.” The best possible commentary on the glowing descriptions in Bunyan is to be found in that very remarkable letter dictated by Dr. Payson to his sister a few weeks before his death. “Were I to adopt the figurative language of Bunyan I might date this letter from the land Beulah, of which I have been for some weeks a happy inhabitant. The Celestial city is full in my view. Its glories have been upon me, its breezes fan me, its odours are wafted to me, its sounds strike upon my ears, and its spirit is breathed into my heart. Nothing separates me from it but the river of Death, which now appears but an insignificant rill, that may be crossed at a single step, whenever God shall give permission. The Sun of Righteousness has been gradually drawing nearer, appearing larger and brighter as He approached, and now He fills the who’e hemisphere, pouring forth a flood of glory, in which I seem to float like an insect in the beams of the sun, exulting, yet almost trembling, while I gaze on this blessed brightness, and wondering with unutterable wonder why God should deign thus to shine upon a sinful worm.”—George B. Cheever, D.D.

(c) Am I nearer heaven? then I will be doing more of the work which I shall do in heaven. I shall soon use the harp: let me be carefully tuning it: let me rehearse the hymns which I shall sing before the throne; for if the words in heaven shall be sweeter and more rich than any that poets can put together here, yet the essential song of heaven shall be the same as that which we present to Jehovah here below:

“They praise the Lamb in hymns above,

And we in hymns below.”

The essence of their praise is gratitude that He should bleed: it is the essence of our praise too. They bless Immanuel’s name for undeserved favours bestowed upon unworthy ones, and we do the same. My aged brethren, I congratulate you, for you are almost home: be yet more full of praise than ever. Quicken your footsteps as the glory land shines more brightly. You are close to the gate of pearl; sing on, dear brother, though infirmities increase, and let the song grow sweeter and louder until it melts into the infinite harmonies.—C. H. Spurgeon.

(d) In itself, death is the self-same thing to the righteous as to the wicked. It is the same painful, convulsive separation between soul and body, sometimes attended with greater suffering, sometimes with less, but always constituting the supreme last strife of agony endurable in this mortal tenement.…

Some wicked men have suffered much less in dying than some righteous men. “One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. Another dieth in the bitterness of his soul. They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.” It would be interesting to draw a comparison between the deaths and the death-beds of a number of the most remarkable wicked men, with an equal number of the most remarkable righteous man. The circumstances of disease, of mere material evil, are much the same, except that as material evils, they are always aggravated by spiritual distress; the pangs of conscience giving sharpness to the pangs of dissolving nature. Compare even the death-beds of Hume, Voltaire, and Paine, with those of Edwards, Brainard, Henry Martyn and Payson, and you will find that there is not much to choose as to the physical pain of dying. Take the deaths of Herod and of Paul, the one eaten of worms, consumed inwardly, and the last in all probability crucified, and there was about as much physical suffering in the one death as in the other. Take the deaths of Nero and of John, the one is a suicide, the last dying quietly at a hundred years of age; the pangs of dissolution in both cases were probably very nearly equal. The death of the righteous is no more exempt from physical distress and suffering than that of the wicked.—G. B. Cheever, D.D.

For another Illustration see the description of Christian and Hopeful passing through the river of Death in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.

NEEDLESS ALARM

(Num_22:2-4)

I. This alarm was great.

“Moab was sore afraid of the people, and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.” “As the Israelites passed by the eastern border of the land of Moab, the Moabites did not venture to make any attack upon them; on the contrary, they supplied them with bread and water for money (Deu_2:29). At that time they no doubt cherished the hope that Sihon, their own terrible conqueror, would be able with perfect ease either to annihilate this new foe, or to drive them back into the desert from which they had come. But when they saw this hope frustrated, and the Israelites had overthrown the two kings of the Amorites with victorious power, and had conquered their kingdoms, and pressed forward through what was formerly Moabitish territory, even to the banks of the Jordan, the close proximity of so powerful a foe filled Balak, their king, with terror and dismay, so that he began to think of the best means of destroying them.” Keil and Del. To go out and fight against them, to attempt to oppose their progress by force, were projects which could not be entertained even for a moment by the Moabites. They shrank from before them in extreme alarm.

II. This alarm seemed to be justified.

The historian mentions three things as giving rise to the terror of the Moabites.

1. The number of the Israelites. “Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many.” The number of men, “from twenty years old and upwards, able to go to war in Israel,” was at this time about 601, 730 (Num_26:51), not including the Levites.

2. The needs of the Israelites. “And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field.” The idea seems to be that so great a multitude would have great needs, and with their great power would seize and entirely consume all the possessions of the Moabites and the Midianites. The Israelites “seemed able to eat up the Moabites, to consume their towns, to possess their substance, and to take both their cities and substance into their own hands.”

3. The deeds of the Israelites. “Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.” They had conquered completely the former conqueror of the Moabites; how, then, could they expect to stand before them? It is probable that they had also heard of “the supernatural might of the people of God,” of the wonders which He had wrought for them, and this increased their terror by reason of them.

III. This alarm led to the formation of an alliance against Israel.

The Moabites induced their neighbours, the Midianites, to make common cause with them against the people who seemed such a dangerous foe to both of them. In this we have an illustration of many alliances which have been entered into against the cause and people of God. “Notwithstanding the differences and divisions amongst the enemies of God and His truth, they can join hand in hand together to oppress the Church.” We have illustrations of this in Jdg_6:3; 2Ch_20:1; Psa_83:5-8; Mat_22:15-16; Luk_23:12; Act_4:27; Act_6:9; Act_17:18.

IV. This alarm was needless.

“There was no ground for such alarm, as the Israelites, in consequence of Divine instructions (Deu_2:9), had offered no hostilities to the Moabites, but had conscientiously spared their territory and property; and even after the defeat of the Amorites, had not turned their arms against them, but had advanced to the Jordan to take possession of the land of Canaan.” We may regard this as an illustration of—

1. The groundless fears of the good. Thus “David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.” And the disciples of Christ “cried out for fear,” when Jesus came to them walking on the sea. (a)

But the terror of the Moabites more appropriately illustrates—

2. The groundless alarms of the wicked. “The wicked fleeth when no man pursueth.”

“Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind;

The thief doth fear each bush an officer.”

—Shakespeare.

“The evil man feareth oftentimes where no fear is, trembling at the fall of a leaf, starting at his own thought, and shaking at his own shadow.” “Conscience before sin committed, is a bridle to keep us from it, but when it is committed, a most sharp scourge and whip.” (b)

Lessons.

1. It is not always well to judge by appearances. In this respect the Moabites erred. (c)

2. No alliance can prevail against the cause of God.

3. The infallible antidote against alarm is firm faith in God (comp. Psa_56:3; Psa_56:11; Psa_112:7).

ILLUSTRATIONS

(a) I remember, when a boy, reading a story of a traveller, who arrived in the dusk of the evening at a place where two roads met, and was greatly alarmed by what appeared to him, at a distance, to be a frightful ghost, dressed in white, with arms extended, ready to seize him in his frightful embrace. Cautiously advancing, however, he soon discovered that what appeared to be a terrible monster, ready to clutch him, was only a guide-board to direct him on his journey. Such are the afflictions that often befall us in this life. Seen at a distance, in the feeble light of our dim faith, they are frightful apparitions that alarm and terrify us; but, in the event, they prove so many friendly guide-boards, that a wise and gracious Providence has placed by the wayside, to guide us on to glory.—Anon.

It often happens that the coming of Christ to His disciples, for their relief, is that which frightens them most, because they do not know the extent of God’s wardrobe; for I think that as a king might never wear the same garment but once, in order to show his riches and magnificence, so God comes to us in all exigencies, but never twice alike. He sometimes puts on the garments of trouble; and when we are calling upon Him as though He were yet in heaven. He is walking by our side; and that from which we are praying God to deliver us is often but God Himself. Thus it is with us as with children who are terrified by their dreams in the night, and scream for their parents, until, fully waking, behold, they are in their parent’s arms.—H. W. Beecher.

In regard to these temptations, Bunyan was sometimes just like a scared child that thinks it sees a ghost, or like a timid person in a wood by twilight, that sees in the stump of a tree a man crouched and lying in wait, and instead of daring to go boldly up to it to see what it is, stands shivering and almost dead with terror. Who has not realized this in his own experience, timid or brave? And just so Bunyan did not dare to go up to and examine and look in the face of the shocking blasphemies, accusations, and wrathful passages that Satan would be ever thrusting into his soul; but went cowering and shivering and bowed down as a man in chains under the weight of them. There was a time when all that Satan said to him he seemed morbidly inclined to take upon trust; and if it were a fiery passage of God’s Word, so much the worse; for instead of coming up to it as a child of God to see what it was, and whether it were really against him, he fled from it at once as from the fiery flaming sword in the gate of Eden. And nothing can be more curious, more graphic, more affecting in its interest, more childlike in its simplicity, than the manner in which Bunyan describes the commencement and progress of his recovery out of this state of condemnation and terror: how timidly and cautiously, and as it were by stealth, he began to look these dreadful passages in the face when they had ceased pursuing him, standing at first afar off, and gazing at them, and then, as a child that cannot get rid of its fear, slowly drawing near, and at length daring to touch them, and to walk around them, and to see their true position and meaning, but always conscious of their awful power.—G. B. Cheever, D.D.

(b) However vauntingly men may bear themselves in the hour of prosperous villainy, proofs enough have existed of the fears of guilt, when the hour of calamity approaches. Why did our first parents hide themselves after their sin, when they heard the voice of the Lord in the garden? Why did Cain alarm himself at being pursued by the people of the earth? Why shrunk Belshazzar from the handwriting on the wall? Adam had before heard the voice of the Lord, and trembled not: Cam knew that no witness of the murder of his brother existed: Belshazzar understood not the meaning of the writing upon the wall:—and yet they all, after the commission of their several deeds of sin, trembled at the voices that were heard, and the signs that were about. Whence, then, was this? It was because conscience told them, that there is an Eye to which all hearts are open, and whispered the important truth, which has since been proclaimed aloud to all the world, that doubtless there “is a God that judgeth in the earth.”—Mathew.

What a state is guilt,

When everything alarms it! Like a sentinel

Who sleeps upon his watch, it wakes in dread

E’en at a breath of wind.

When apprehension can form naught but fears,

And we distrust security itself.—W. Havard.

(c) I remember well, one night, having been preaching the Word in a country village, I was walking home alone along a lonely foot-path. I do not know what it was that ailed me, but I was prepared to be alarmed, when of a surety I saw something standing in the hedge ghastly, giantlike, and with outstretched arms. Surely, I thought, for once I have come across the supernatural; here is some restless spirit performing its midnight march beneath the moon, or some demon of the pit. I deliberated with myself a moment, and having no faith in ghosts, I plucked up courage, and resolved to solve the mystery. The monster stood on the other side of a ditch, right in the hedge. I jumped the ditch, and found myself grasping an old tree, which some waggish body had taken pains to colour with a little whitewash, with a view to frighten simpletons. That old tree has served me a good turn full often.—C. H. Spurgeon.

BALAK’S FIRST APPLICATION TO BALAAM: MAN AND THE SUPERNATURAL

(Num_22:5-14)

Here we have the beginning of the action arising from the alliance between Moab and Midian against Israel. “ ‘Willing to wound, but yet afraid to strike,’ the Moabites felt that it would be in vain to contend with them while they so manifestly enjoyed the blessing and protection of a mighty God. But they did think that it might be possible to withdraw or neutralize the force of that advantage, by laying upon them the heavy ban of some powerful magician; and by having them thus rendered weak as other men, they might be assailed with every prospect of success. It must have been a great recommendation of the design to them, that the result would enable them to recover the territory that had once been theirs, but which the Israelites now held by right of conquest from the Amorites. Indeed, could the Israelites be exterminated, or driven back into the desert, the children of Lot might well calculate on not only recovering what they had lost, but on adding the rich lands of Argob and Bashan, which the Israelites had won from Og, to their former territories; and they would thus, with some allied tribes of Abrahamic origin, become the sole possessors of the whole country east of the Jordan.”—Kitto. With these views they sent to Balaam, a celebrated soothsayer, requesting him to come and curse Israel. In this portion of the history we have the following instructive themes for meditation—

I. Men in difficulty seeking supernatural help.

“Balak sent messengers unto Balaam the son of Beor,” &c. (Num_22:5-7). This action manifests the belief that Balaam wielded supernatural powers. “It was supposed that prophets and sorcerers had a power to curse persons and places so as to confound all their designs, frustrate their counsels, enervate their strength, and fill them with fear, terror, and dismay.” (a)

1. There is a measure of truth in this. It is true that men have had power granted them to curse others. We have examples of this in Gen_9:25; Jos_6:26; 2Ki_2:24. It is probable that Balaam had this power. It is also true that when natural resources are unavailing, under certain circumstances and conditions man may obtain supernatural aid. The godly man may obtain such aid by means of prayer to God.

2. There is much error in the views under consideration. It was utterly erroneous to suppose that Balaam, or any one else, possessed this power independently, and could wield it arbitrarily. “The curse causeless shall not come.” No man can curse those whom God hath blessed. And the power to curse or bless does not depend upon sacrifices or incantations; it is rather a gift bestowed by God, and which can be exercised only by His permission.

II. Man conscious of supernatural powers and of his subjection to Divine authority in the use of them.

And he said unto them “Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me.” Balaam was certainly not altogether an impostor. “In his career,” says Dean Stanley, “is seen that recognition of Divine inspiration outside the chosen people, which the narrowness of modern times has been so eager to deny, but which the scriptures are always ready to acknowledge, and, by acknowledging, admit within the pale of the teachers of the Universal Church the higher spirits of every age and of every nation.” But notice—

1. His consciousness of great powers. This is clearly implied in the history. “He was endowed with a greater than ordinary knowledge of the one true God: he was possessed of high gifts of intellect and genius: he had the intuition of truth, and could see into the life of things—in short, he was a poet and a prophet.” (b)

2. His consciousness of subjection to God in the use of his powers. Repeatedly in the history he confesses that all his great powers were not his own, but derived from God, and could be used only by His permission. This is clearly implied in the portion of the history now under consideration (Num_22:8; Num_22:13). He seems also to have been aware of the relation of Israel to the true God; and to have doubted whether he would be allowed to curse them. Hence we see—

3. His sin against God. Knowing what he did, he ought at once, and decidedly, to have refused the request of Balak. But he said to his messengers, “Lodge here this night,” &c. He coveted “the rewards of divination”; he “loved the wages of unrighteousness.” For unhallowed gain he would have prostituted his great gifts to wicked uses; and hoped to gain permission to go with the messengers of Balak. (c)

III. Man receiving a supernatural visitation.

“And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?” (Num_22:9-12). This was an extraordinary visit. But here are three points of general application:

1. God’s access to man’s mind. It was probably by means of a dream or vision that God came to Balaam that night, and made known to him His will. By many avenues God can enter into man’s mind, and influence his consciousness. With or without the concurrence of man’s will, or even against His will, God can enter his mind and speak to him.

2. God’s interest in man’s life. This is seen in His question to Balaam, “What men are these with thee?” and in His prohibition, “Thou shalt not go with them,” &c. The Lord was concerned for Balaam’s welfare; He was solicitous that he should not succumb to the temptations presented to him. (d) In many ways God still manifests His solicitude for man’s salvation, and His deep interest in every human life.

3. God’s authority over man’s life. “God said unto Balaam, thou shalt not go with them,” &c. It is God’s to command; it is man’s to obey. Man’s well-being is in the practical recognition of God’s authority over him.

IV. Man dealing unfaithfully with a Divine communication.

“And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak,’ &c. (Num_22:13). The most important part of God’s message to him, that which would effectually have ended the business, he withheld from the messengers of Balak. He spoke as if it were possible to curse them, and as if he were inclined to accede to the request of Balak. His avarice is still further manifest in this: he could not bear to lose for ever “the rewards of divination” which the messengers had brought with them. “Balaam’s character is not so peculiar as it seems. Separated from the external accidents of time, of country, and position, we may go into the streets, and find a Balaam in every third man we meet. He belonged to that still numerous class who theoretically know God, and who actually do fear Him, but whose love and fear of God are not the regulating and governing principles of their minds. They are convinced, but not converted. They can prize, and strongly desire the privileges of God’s elect; they long to ‘die the death of the righteous,’ but are unwilling to live their life. They would serve God, but they must serve mammon also; and in the strife between the two contending influences, their lives are made bitter, and their death is perilous.”—Kitto.

V. Men dealing unfaithfully as messengers.

“And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.” “Observe Satan’s practice against God’s word,” says Ainsworth, “seeking to lessen the same, and that from hand to hand, till he bring it to naught. Balaam told the princes less than God told him, and they relate to Balak less than Balaam told them; so that when the answer came to the king of Moab, it was not the word of God but the word of man; it was simply, ‘Balaam refuseth to come,’ without ever intimating that God had forbidden him.”

Learn.

1. The Divine communications have never been limited to any one people, or country, or age. Amongst heathen peoples Divine voices have been heard, Divine visions have been seen.

2. Great goodness it not always associated with great gifts. “The illumination of the mind is by no means necessarily associated with the conversion of the heart.” “Broad is the distinction between spiritual endowments and spiritual character.”

3. Great gifts involve great responsibility and grave peril. The responsibility of using them in accordance with the will of the Giver, and the peril of misusing them.

4. The temptation to covetousness is of great subtlety and strength, and assails even the most gifted natures. “Take heed and beware of covetousness;” &c. (Luk_12:15-21).

ILLUSTRATIONS

(a) Their proceedure, in seeking to lay the armies of Israel under a curse, that their own arms might be successful against them, is a strange no ion to us. But it is not so in the East. Even at the present day, the pagan Orientals in their wars have always their magicians with them to curse their enemies, and to mutter incantations for their ruin. Sometimes they secretly convey a potent charm among the opposing troops, to ensure their destruction. In our own war with the Burmese, the generals of that nation had several magicians with them, who were much engaged in curing our troops; but as they did not succeed, a number of witches were brought for the same purpose. We may indeed trace it as a very ancient opinion among all people, that the maledictions, and the blessings, the charms, the incantations, and the devotements of men who were believed to be inspired by a superior spirit, good or evil, had the most marked effects, not only upon individuals, but upon regions and entire nations, and even upon cattle and upon the fruits of the field. Not seldom they sought by strong enchantments to evoke the tutelary divinities of their enemies’ cities, desiring thus to deprive them of what was regarded as their chief defence. Hence the proper name of many great cities was preserved as a state secret, that no enemy might be able to make use of it in their invocations. The names by which cities were ordinarily known,—as, for instance, Troy, Carthage, Rome—were not the true and secret names of these places. Rome was called Valentia—a name known as hers by very few persons; and Valerius Soranus was severely punished for having disclosed it. The heathens had, indeed, certain solemn invocations, by means of which they devoted their enemies to certain divinities, or rather to malignant and dangerous demons. The following is the formula of one of these imprecations, as preserved by Macrobius: “Dis-Pater, or Jupiter, if it better please thee to be called by that name—or by whatever name thou mayest be invoked—I conjure thee to pour upon this army (or this town) the spirit of terror and trepidation. Deprive of their sight all those who shall aim their strokes at us, our armies, or our troops. Spread darkness over our enemies, over their cities, their fields, their forces. Look upon them as accursed. Bring them under the must rigorous conditions to which any armies have ever been obliged to submit. Thus do I devote them; and I and those whom I represent, the nation and the army engaged in this war, stand for witnesses. If this doom be accomplished, I promise a sacrifice of three black sheep to thee, O Earth, mother of all things, and to thee, great Jupiter.”—John Kitto, D.D.

For additional illustrations on this point see Dr. Adam Clarke in loco.

(b) Was this knowledge a reality or a pretence? If we take the narrative in its plain meaning—and that is the meaning in which we think that all historical Scripture should be taken—there can be no doubt that Balaam actually had this knowledge, that he not only held the truth, or much of truth, though he held it in unrighteousness, but that God did, in subservience to His own high purposes, actually communicate with him. Any other explanation, however ingenious, is but a continuous and painful distortion of the whole narrative, which revolts the understanding more than do even the strong facts which it tries to mitigate, in deference to the tastes and tendencies of the age. Besides this, the deep attention that Balaam had given (and was doubtless known to have given) to the affairs of the Hebrews, and his acquaintance with their early history, their existing condition, and their future hopes, are shown in the noble prophecy which he was eventually constrained to utter.

How he became possessed of the knowledge he held—and held with so little advantage to his own soul—is a question that looks more difficult than it is. May he not have owed something to such remains of the patriarchal religion as still existed in Mesopotamia when Ja ob was there, and which his residence for twenty years in that quarter may have contributed to maintain? But the only supposition which accounts fully for the knowledge which Balaam possessed of Jehovah, whom he generally mentions by that high and peculiar name, is the one which adds to whatever knowledge he possessed from other sources, that which he owed to the Israelites themselves. The way in which this knowledge might be acquired is clear. There could not but be many reports concerning, the Israelites during their forty years’ wandering in the desert. With a mind awake to everything which concerned his profession, he would be naturally attracted by the reports of the deliverance effected by the Lord for this people who had come out of Egypt, and whose parentage could not be unknown to him. He had surely heard of the passage of the Red Sea, of the waters of Meribah, of the miracle of the brazen serpent; and, as in the case of Simon M gus, a new source of celebrity and of emolument seemed to open up before him, most enticing to his besetting sins. He then, we may conceive, adopted Jehovah as his God, and named himself Jehovah’s prophet. Nor, it may be, was this wholly with views of worldly advantage. It is quite possible, as Hengsienberg supposes, that there was a mixture of a higher order of sentiments, a sense of the wants of his moral nature, which led him to seek Jehovah, and laid the foundation of his intercourse with Him. This is all the more probable, as we feel bound to understand that the Lord did, in the accomplishment of His own great purposes, vouchsafe unto him special manifestations of the Divine will.—Ibid.

(c) Take heed of cares and covetousness, which is an immoderate desire of getting and enjoying the wealth of this world. For it stealeth away the heart of man from God and godliness, and maketh him bend the whole course of his life on earthly pleasures. This is the common sickness and disease of this age wherein we live. For give me one among many that is not overcome with the pleasures of sin, and the profits of the world. It stealeth on such as have sanctified affections, and have escaped out of the fil hiness of the world, through the acknowledging of the Lord, and seeketh to overcome them. It is so deceitful and dangerous a sin, that it hath greatly assaulted, and fearfully overcome them after their calling to the truth and profession of the glorious Gospel of Christ our Saviour, and after they have began to make some conscience of their life and conversation. Nay, such as before their calling and conversation felt no such desires and cares, now begin to be pressed, cumbered, and tempted with them. For as Satan by all means seeketh whom he may devour, and how he may hinder the repentance of sinners, so when he cannot any longer hold men in horrible sins of idola’ry, blasphemy, adultery and contempt of God then like a wily and subtle serpent, he creepeth in another way before we can espy him; then he suffereth us to hate evil company, surfeiting, drunkenness, riot, and excess, but he driveth to another extremity, and possesseth us with distrustful cares, and immoderate thoughts of this world, to desire greedily, to seek continually, to keep wretchedly, and to depart heavily from the vain and momentary things that perish with the use. And as this is a secret and subtle sin (albeit deeply rooted, yet hardly espied) so is it seldom cured and recovered, because men do not much consider of it and regard it, but please and flatter themselves in it. If we would attain to our former estate, and see the danger of this disease, consider the vanity and uncertainty of all worldly things; compare them with spiritual blessings, and they are as dung and dirt matched with gold and silver. “Love not the world,” &c. (1Jn_2:15-17; 1Ti_6:17-19).—W. Attersoll.

(d) Balaam was blessed with God’s special favour. You will ask at once, How could so bad a man be in God’s favour? But I wish you to put aside reasonings, and contemplate facts. I say he was specially favoured by God. God has a store of favours in His treasure house, and of various kinds—some for a time, some for ever; some implying His approbation, others not. He showers favours even on the bad. He makes His sun to rise on the unjust as well as on the just. He willeth not the death of a sinner. He is said to have loved the young ruler, whose heart, notwithstanding, was upon the world. His loving mercy exteeds over all His works. How He separates, in His own Divine thought, kindness from approbation, time from eternity; what He does from what He foresees we know not, and need not inquire. At present He is loving to all men, as if He did not foresee that some are to be saints, others representates to all eternity. He dispenses His favours variously—gifts, graces, rewards, faculties, circumstances, being indefinitely diversified nor admitting of discrimination or numbering on our part. Balaam, I say, was in His favour; not indeed for his holiness’ sake, not for ever; but in a certain sense, according to His inscrutable purpose who chooses whom He will choose, and exalts whom He will exalt, without destroying man’s secret responsibilities, or His own governance, and the triumph of truth and holiness, and His own strict impartiality in the end. Balaam was favoured in an especial way above the mere heathen. Not only had he the grant of inspiration, and the knowledge of God’s will, an insight into the truths of morality, clear and enlarged, such as we Christians even cannot surpass, but he was even admitted to conscious intercourse with God, such as even Christians have not.—J. H. Newman, D.D.

GOD’S INTEREST IN MAN’S COMPANIONSHIPS

(Num_22:9)

Human companionships are—

1. Observed by God. The guests we entertain, the persons who visit us, the associations we enter into, the friendships we form, are all known unto the Lord.

2. Challenged by God. “What men are these with thee?” This enquiry was made neither because the Lord needed information, nor yet simply to open the conversation on the mission of the messengers of Balak. It was designed, as Hengstenberg suggests, to awaken “the slumbering conscience of Balaam, to lead him to reflect upon the proposal which the men had made, and to break the force of his sinful inclination.” God addresses the same question to the young who are forming dangerous associations; to Christians who take pleasure in non-religious and worldly society, &c. He urges this solemn enquiry

(1) by the voice of conscience;

(2) by the preaching of His truth;

(3) by the exhortations and admonitions of His Word; and

(4) by the remonstrances of His Spirit.

This enquiry also indicates the Divine concern as to human companionships. We may regard this concern as—

I. An indication of the Divine solicitude for the well-being of man.

Nothing whatever that is of importance to us is uninteresting to God. In every man, created in His image and redeemed by the precious blood of His Son, He has the deepest and tenderest concern.

II. An indication of the importance of our companionships.

Inasmuch as He is so concerned as to the character of our associates, it must be a matter of vital importance to us, and should receive our serious attention.

1. Our associates indicate our character. “A man is known by the company which he keeps.”

2. Our associates influence our character. “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” (a) “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not;” &c. (Pro_1:10-15). “Enter not into the path of the wicked,” &c. (Pro_4:14-19). “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,” &c. (b)

III. An indication of our responsibility to God for our companionships.

For the associations we form and the alliances we contract we must every one give account to God. Soon or late we each must answer the interrogation, “What men are these with thee?”

IV. An indication of the danger of dallying with temptation.

Balaam should have sent the messengers back to Balak at once, with a firm refusal to comply with his request. His longing for “the rewards of divination” led him to keep them for the night; and by so doing he increased the perilousness of his position tenfold. “To parley with temptation is to play with fire.” In matters of right and wrong let us never hesitate; for hesitation in such matters is both sinful and dangerous. (c) To the invitations of the tempter let us respond with a prompt and decisive No. To the summons of Duty let us render speedy and hearty obedience.

ILLUSTRATIONS

(a) The examples of our companions will exert a plastic influence in the formation of our own character, slow and silent, perhaps, but irresistible and successful: and this influence will be in proportion to the love and esteem we cherish for them. All nations and all ages have confessed the truth of this sentiment. The example of a beloved companion is omnipotent, more especially if he be a sinful one, because a bad model find in the depravity of our nature something that prepares it to receive the impression. One evil companion will undo in a month all that parents and teachers have been labouring for years to accomplish.—J. A. James.

There is a certain magic or charm in company, for it will assimilate, and make you like to them by much conversation with them; if they he good company, it is a great means to make you good, or confirm you in goodness; but if they be bad, it is twenty to one but they will infect and corrupt you. Therefore be wary and shy in choosing, and entertaining, or frequenting any company or companions; be not too hasty in committing yourself to them; stand off awhile till you have inquired of some (that you know by experience to be faithful), what they are; observe what company they keep; be not too easy to gain acquaintance, but stand off and keep a distance yet awhile, till you have observed and earnt touching them. Men or women that are greedy of acquaintance, or hasty in it, are oftentimes snared in ill company before they are aware, and entangled so that they cannot easily get loose from it after when they would.—Sir Matthew Hale.

(b) Flee unholy company, as baneful to the power of godliness. Be but as careful for thy soul as thou wouldst be for thy body. Durst thou drink in the same cup, or sit in the same chair with one that hath an infectious disease? And is not sin as catching a disease as the plague itself? Of all trades, it would not do well to have the collier and the fuller live together; what one cleanseth, the other will blacken and defile. Thou canst not be long among unholy ones, but thou wilt hazard the defiling of thy soul, which the Holy Spirit hath made pure.—W. Gurnall.

Those who willingly associate with the sinful are like men strolling with some trivial object through a district infected with fever, heedless of the invisible arrows of disease spreading through the air: or they may be compared to the River Thames, which is a sweet and pretty river enough near its source; but in the great metropolis it has kept company with drains and sowers, under the belief that its current was too powerful and pure to be injured by them. It was meant that the river should purify the sewer; but, instead of that, the sewer has corrupted the river.—Union Magazine.

(c) Suffer not Satan’s fiery darts to abide one moment with you; entertain no parley or dispute about them; reject them with indignation; and strengthen your rejection of them with some pertinent, testimony of Scripture, as our Saviour d d. If a man have a grenado or fire-ball cast into his clothes by the enemy, he does not consider whether it will burn or no, but immediately shakes it off from him. Deal no otherwise with these fiery darts, lest by their abode with you they inflame your imaginations unto greater disturbance.—John Owen, D.D.

Young persons should, above all things, beware of beginnings, and by no means parley with temptations; their greates security is in flight, and in the study to avoid all occasions of evil; for the cockatrice, which may be easily crushed in the egg, if suffered to hatch and grow up, will prove a deadly serpent hard to be destroyed.—Gleanings.

HISTORY OF BALAAM, AND HIS PROPHECIES.—NO. I

(Num_22:1-14)

This story of Balaam I believe to be an honest narrative of facts as they actually occurred (see Mic_6:5; 2Pe_2:15; Jud_1:11; Rev_2:14). These repeated references to the history of Balaam in the Old and New Testaments come in support of our belief in the reality of the history; and teach us that since Peter and Jude and John were anxious that the man’s character and history should not be forgotten, and that the Church in their days should profit by the beacon-warning which the whole career of this half-bad, half-good man furnished; so, too, should we in our day gather up the details of his history and from them learn what is the lesson of the whole, how a man may struggle and fight against God; against God’s kindness and God’s voice, and God’s warnings, and against his own thoughts and convictions, and better aspirations, until he becomes a light quenched in darkness, a heart hopelessly hardened, a man whom it is “impossible to renew unto repentance.”

Look at the circumstances that brought Balaam into notice.…

Let us notice three things, as illustrative of human character and of the general history of Divine Providence.

I. How the career and fortunes of the children of Israel were made known in those days.

Those were the days of mere oral communication. From mouth to mouth, and from father to son, events passed along and through society. There was no machinery for the spread of intelligence: it was circulated just in the natural order of things. By these means the knowledge of Israel and of Israel’s God appears to have been spread throughout all the countries surrounding the Sinaitic peninsula. This was in fact a revelation to these people; a mercy in making known to them, that amidst all their gods and vanities, there was yet a mightier and holier One, who would not give His name to idols, nor His “praise to graven images.”

II. But this fear of the Moabites was needless, from the express instructions given to the Israelites (see Deu_2:9).

Of course the King of Moab, Balak, knew nothing of this; he and his elders might, however, have reflected upon the fact that the Israelites with anxious solicitude had avoided doing the least injury to the territory of the Moabites; they might have remembered that this powerful body of people had scrupulously paid for the bread and water that had been furnished them as they passed through their territory (Deu_2:28-29). But the Moabites themselves were a lawless predatory tribe, in whom the will for conquest was manifested as far as their power went; and hence the needless fear of the King of Moab, expressed in that nervous language that at once reminds us of the old shepherd princes: “Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field.” What a fine illustration is this of human nature! How “the wicked fleeth when no man pursueth:” how suspicious unprincipled men generally are! how men have estimated others by their own standard of right and wrong!

III. Let us add a word or two about Balaam.

What was he? Was he a heathen soothsayer? (and in Jos_13:22 he is called so): and if he was a heathen soothsayer, how did he come to utter such glorious and far-reaching predictors? Or was he a prophet of the true God, like Isaiah or Micah? And if so, how did he come to do such wicked things, and be so base and avaricious, and at last so gross and sensual a tempter of the people of Israel?

In reply to such questions, we remark, that previous to the constitution of the children of Israel into a separate religious nation, a nation selected for a religious purpose, with ultimate reference to the Messiah, there was a patriarchal Church extending among all the faithful that preserved uncorrupted the early traditions of the human family. This church, doubtless, received frequent oral communications from God Himself. The men composing this church were not of the seed of Abraham, but were in those far distant days a pledge and type of the enlargement of the Church of Christ among all nations. Such were Shem, Job, and Jethro.

Now, Balaam, I take it, was one of that ancient patriarchal church traditions, partly correct and partly corrupt, had been handed down generation after generation until they came to him; on these traditions, and on occasional visits from God, his soul lived. There was a religiousness and purity about the man that attracted attention among the wild and lawless Moabites; they were impressed and awe struck with the blameless simplicity of his life as compared with the licentious character of their sensual Baal worship; and so the man came to be regarded with reverence and fear by them, to be invested with a kind of supernatural and mysterious power by which whomsoever he blessed was blessed, and whomsoever he cursed was cursed, in the estimation of these wild Moabites.

Now you can hardly imagine a more difficult and perilous position for a man to be placed in. A man standing alone in his religious ideas; far in advance of all around him in real and essential truth; got to be regarded by others, until he comes to regard himself, as a very extraordinary character; looking down upon others quite as much as they look up to him; surrounded by wild nomadic tribes, who are filled with a vague but real, and all the more real because it was vague, dread of this superior being. What a school this, to learn lessons of the human heart—to learn how it will shuffle, and cheat, and lie, to keep up this spiritual power—to learn how, under seeming religiousness, it will aim at personal aggrandizement and influence; to learn how, step by step, he who was at one time the most religious man among them, may become the darkest and the blackest sinner among them. To us in this history the Scripture says, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”—W. G. Barrett.

HISTORY OF BALAAM, AND HIS PROPHECIES.—NO. II

(Num_22:1-14)

There is nothing so dear to man as power; the acquisition of influence over the minds of others is a conquest full of hazard and responsibility. Balaam had this influence. He had the key of Balak’s heart, and could turn its wards which way he pleased. To him, living a retired life in the desert, the messengers of the king come; their request is urgent, for it is from the king; their request is flattering, for it is a testimony from Balak that a prophet’s word is better than a king’s sword; their request is apparently reasonable, for why should the Moabites be destroyed? and their request was accompanied by “those rewards of divination” without which the heathen never consulted their favourite oracles.

But their request was a sinful one; and I believe from the language of Num_22:9, Balaam saw even then that it was a wicked request; but it had come before him so unexpectedly—he was so honoured and flattered by it, that his moral sense, his religious convictions, got crushed and overpowered as this huge temptation came and stated itself before this weak man, and said to him, “Yield to me, yield at once, for riches and honour are in my right hand: all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”

Let us notice—

I. The first false step Balaam took, as indicative and prophetic of all the other downward ones.

(Num_22:8.) “And he said unto them, Lodge here this night,” &c.

This was not the way to meet this great peril. I believe he had quite enough knowledge on the subject to have shaped for himself a different course. I believe this was just a hypocritical pretence to gain time, and that the man, even now dazzled by the gifts of gold, the rewards of divination, was clutching them in his heart long before they came into his actual possession. This I think furnishes the key to the whole after-history of this greatly bad man. I do not think Balaam meant at all to consult God. The matter was too plainly before him to create any necessity for that; but it was a capital trick to play off upon these Moabitish courtiers to impress them with a deeper sense of his importance and influence.

Do not you think we may do the very same thing? We may talk of praying over such and such a matter, and seeking Divine direction, and asking for the leadings of Providence, when really God’s will is the last thing we are thinking about; when we have already decided and determined what to do. God sees our purpose and determination to have our own way, and man hears our words about Divine direction and guidance; and so, next to cheating God, the worst thing a man can do is to cheat himself; so Balaam did, and you know how it succeeded.

II. The warning Balaam had during the night of agitation that followed this visit.

My reason for thinking that Balaam did not intend to consult God at all is the language of the ninth verse, which reads to me very much like a reproof. It is not Balaam going to God and asking, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” but God coming to Balaam and saying to him, “What are you doing? ‘What men are these with thee?’ How is it they are with thee? How is it that you did not dismiss them at once?”

Ah! that must have been a sore night of perplexity and agitation to Balaam.… How often must he have resolved and re-resolved, and yet, spite of all his resolutions, in the absence of a holy will did he reconsider the thing, and make up his mind, if possible, to go with the messengers of Balak.

Then in the stillness of that night, came this warning to Balaam, “What men are these with thee?” How that warning might have saved him if he bad heeded it: but out of stammering lips and from an undecided heart he speaks the truth, and tells God their character and message to him.

All this was the beginning of the end of Balaam.… Let us look here, and see the easy steps to hell. “What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” Learn how a man, in spite of his better nature and religious revivings, may quench the Spirit and die a desolate and forsaken outcast.

III. The positive refusal God gave to Balaam.

“Thou shalt not go with them.”

Here was mercy and severity! It was mercy not to abandon this man; not to give him up hopelessly and for ever to his own heart’s lust, without another word of warning; mercy to follow him after his stammering, hesitating, halfhearted confession, to say, “No, no, thou shalt not go! There is a way that seemeth right to thee, Balaam, but the end of it is death.” And does God never follow us in that manner? Does he not come and cry unto us, “Turn ye, turn ye at My reproof; why will ye die?” Oh! if you have ever heard that voice, listen to it; it is thy life! “To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart.”

Here was severity too. Do you think a man like Balaam ought to have required such a prohibition? Ought he not at once to have felt that the whole scheme was a wicked one, which he ought to hate, and to shun and to protest against?

Ill fares it with the health of life and soul when it must be put under the care of lock and key; when nothing but commands and prohibitions can keep it in order; when it must be surrounded by “thou shalt,” and “thou shalt not,” to keep it right. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty; and the emancipated spirit has higher but happier constraints than the law of Sinai, in the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.—Ibid.

BALAK’S SECOND APPLICATION TO BALAAM: THE DECREASE OF RESISTANCE TO EVIL

(Num_22:15-21)

In this section of the history we have four conspicuous steps.

I. The repetition with increased force of the request of Balak to Balaam.

“And Balak sent yet again princes,” &c. (Num_22:15-17).

1. The embassage was more influential. The princes who were sent this second time were more numerous and more honourable than the former ones. Here was a powerful appeal to the vanity of the prophet.

2. The message was more urgent. “Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me.”

3. The inducements were stronger, “For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me,” &c. If Balaam wanted rank and dignities, he should have them; if he wanted wealth, he should have it also. If he will but comply with the request of the King of Moab, the most splendid honours and the most munificent treasures shall be freely given to him. Learn: that temptations which have been declined reluctantly or half-heartedly are presented again, and with greater force. The manner of Balaam’s dismissal of the former messengers prepared the way for a repetition of their mission.

II. The repetition under aggravating circumstances of guilty delay by Balaam.

“And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak,” &c. (Num_22:18-19). In entertaining the proposal at all, and in keeping the messengers during the night, the prophet sinned and that heinously; he ought to have sent them back to Balak with a firm and final refusal. And his guilt was the greater because—

1. He had been challenged by God as to the presence of the former messengers. “God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?”

2. He had already been prohibited from complying with the request of Balak. “God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them,” &c. (Num_22:12). To a really good man this would have been a final settlement of the question. So it ought to have been to Balaam.

3. He himself felt and plainly declared that he was bound by the Word of the Lord in the matter. He “said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot transgress the command of Jehovah my God, to do little or great.” An utterance worthy of a holy man and a true prophet. But in the light of this declaration, Dr. Kitto forcibly enquires: “Then why not at once dismiss the messengers? He already knew the mind of God, and he ought to have known that ‘God is not a man, that He should lie; nor the Son of Man, that He should repent.’ Instead of that, he says, ‘Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more.’ What ‘more’? Did Balaam fashion to himself a god after his own heart, and imagine that he also was to be moved from his declared purpose by the gifts and promises of Balak? Could he mean to insult God by his importunities? Did he hope to extort from Him, out of regard to his own worldliness, permission to bring a curse upon an entire nation which, as was well known, had been so long the object of His covenant care? Even such was what Peter calls ‘the madness of the prophet.’ ” Such also was the great wickedness of the prophet. He was afraid to transgress the command of God; but he hoped to obtain from Him permission to accompany the messengers, and so to gratify his passion for worldly gain. (a) The temptation was stronger than before; but the reasons for resisting it were also more clear and cogent; and his guilt in not doing so was darker and heavier. A temptation once dallied with, it becomes more difficult to resist it hereafter.

“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,

As to be hated, needs but to be seen;

Yet, seen too oft, familiar with her face

We first endure, then pity, then embrace”

Pope

III. The repetition of the Divine visit to Balaam.

“And God came unto Balaam at night, and said,” &c. (Num_22:20). Here are two things which claim attention—

1. The permission granted. God said unto Balaam, “If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them.” When man is determined to have his own way, a time comes when God ceases to oppose him in the matter. “My people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto the stubbornness of their heart; they walk in their own counsels.” In giving permission to Balaam, “God granted in anger what He denied in mercy” (comp. Num_11:18-20; Num_11:31-33).

2. The condition enforced. “But yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.” God allows Balaam to go, but He restrains him so that he shall not in any way injure His cause and people. The power of the wicked for injury is limited by the Lord.

IV. The setting out of Balaam on the journey.

“And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.” (b) Mark his unbecoming and sinful haste: God said to him, “If the men come to call thee, rise up and go with them;” but he did not wait to be called: he “rose up in the morning,” &c. “Because,” says Dr. Adam Clark, “he was more hasty than he ought to have been, and went to them instead of staying till they should come to him, it was said of him, not כי הלך ki halach, that he went; but כי הולך הוא ki holech hu, i.e., he went of his own head—without being called.” He “ran greedily for reward.”

The chief lesson of our subject is, the importance of meeting the first temptation to evil with uncompromising resistance: to hesitate or to parley is to diminish our power of resistance, and to increase the power of the temptation, thus making successful resistance a task of almost insuperable difficulty. (c) “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil,” &c. (1Pe_5:8-9).

ILLUSTRATIONS

(a) You will observe he wished to go with Balak’s messengers, only he felt he ought not to go; and the problem which he attempted to solve was, how to go and yet not offend God. He was quite resolved he would, any how, act religiously and conscientiously; he was too honourable a man to break any of his engagements; if he had given his word, it was sacred; if he had duties, they were imperative; he had a character to maintain, and an inward sense of propriety to satisfy; but he would have given the world to have got rid of his duties; and the question was, how to do so without violence; and he did not care about walking on the very brink of transgression, so that he could keep from falling over. Accordingly, he was not content with ascertaining God’s will, but he attempted to change it. He inquired of Him a second time, and this was to tempt Him. Hence while God bade him go, His anger was kindled against him because he went.

This surely is no uncommon character; rather, it is the common case even with the more respectable and praise worthy portion of the community. I say plainly, and without fear of contradiction, though it is a serious thing to say, that the aim of most men esteemed conscientious and religious, or who are what is called honourable, upright men, is, to all appearance, not how to please God; but how to please themselves without displeasing Him. This surely is so plain that it is scarcely necessary to enlarge upon it. Men do not take for the object towards which they act, God’s will, but certain maxims rules, or measures—right perhaps as far as they go, but defective because they admit of being subjected to certain other ultimate ends which are not religious. Men are just, honest, upright, trustworthy; but all this, not from the love and fear of God, but from a mere feeling of obligation to be so, and in subjection to certain worldly objects. And thus they are what is popularly called moral, without being religious. Such was Balaam. He was in a popular sense, a strictly moral, honourable, conscientious man; that he was not so in a heavenly and true sense is plain, if not from the considerations here insisted on, at least from his after history, which (we may presume) brought to light his secret defect, in whatever it consisted. His defect lay in this, that he had not a single eye towards God’s will but was ruled by other objects.—J. H. Newman, D D.

(b) That Balaam saddled his ass, must not lead us to suppose that there were in those days any proper saddle. This is a far later invention, even for riding on horseback, and is not even now in the East generally used in riding on asses. On this subject we have the negative evidence of sculptures. In Egypt, indeed, there are no equestrian sculptures at all except those which represent riding in chariots. Classical sculpture has no saddles or saddle cloths. We used to think that the earliest suddles were to be seen in the sculptures of the Sassanian dynasty at Shahpur in Persia; but the following passage would take them back to the last age of the Assyrian empire: “In the earliest sculptures (at Nineveh) the horses, except such as are led behind the king’s chariot, are unprovided with cloths or saddles. The rider is seated on the nuked back of the animal. At a later period, however a kind of pad appears to have been introduced; and in a sculpture at Konyunjik was represented a high saddle, not unlike that now in use in the East” (Layard).

The saddling of asses mentioned in Scripture probably consisted merely in placing upon their backs such thick cloths or mats as we see in some of the asses represented in the Egyptian paintings. Something of the same kind, or pieces of rug, felt, carpet, or cloth, are still in general use; although a kind of pad is now frequently to be seen upon asses in the large towns of Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, especially among these let out for hire. Such town asses have also bridles, and sometimes stirrups, none of which, any more than the pad, do we remember to have noticed on asses upon actual journeys; and we have known of asses being used continuously on journeys quite as long as that which Balaam now undertook; and that by persons whose position in life quite enabled them to ride a horse or mule had they so chosen. It would not be at all extraordinary, even now, that a person, expecting to be laden with riches and honours, should ride upon an ass, still less in an age and country where no other mode of conveyance, except that of riding upon camels, appears to have been known.—J. Kitto, D.D.

(c) In worldly matters, “think twice;” but in duty, it has been well said, “first thoughts are best;” they are more fresh, more pure, have more of God in them. There is nothing has the first glance we get at duty, before there has been any special pleading of our affections or inclinations. Duty is never uncertain at first. It is only after we have got involved in the mazes and sophistries of wishing that things were otherwise than they are, that it seems indistinct. Considering a duty, is often explaining it away. Deliberation is often only dish mesty. God’s guidance is plain, when we are true.—F. W. Robertson, M.A.

APOSTACY

“And Balak sent princes more and more honourable” (Num_22:15).

“Tarry ye also here this night” (Num_22:22).

“Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword” (Num_31:8).

We assume Balaam to have been a true prophet, though not of Israel. He appears to have been a singularly good man. And, taking the history as it rises, we may learn what his religion was.

It was very enlightened. “His eyes were open” (see Mic_6:5; Mic_6:8). These were Balaam’s views of religion.

Balaam’s religion was founded on principle,—the all-comprehensive principle of godliness. All considerations are kept in abeyance, waiting on the will of God. “Lodge ye here this night: I will bring you word as the Lord shall speak.”

His religion was practically exemplified. Balaam acted on principle, and obeyed the word of the Lord. “Thou shalt not go with them,” &c. (Num_22:12). Then Balaam said to the princes of Moab, “Get you unto your land,” &c. (Num_22:13).

But Balaam fell, and the first of our texts brings us to the turning point of his life—downwards.

I. Balaam apostatized through worldliness.

The temptation was strengthened. “Balak sent princes more honourable.” The overtures now comprehend all that kings can do. “I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me.” Still the prophet resists; but after a hard contest principle relaxes under the influence of this sun of worldly glory. Balaam becomes a soft and pliant thing in the hands of these monarchs—a total apostate from God. By means of the world the devil ever tempts man; tempting again and again by worldly pleasures, ambition, gain. Take heed and beware of covetousness. Of all mortal sins this is perhaps the most insidious and self-deceptive.

II. Balaam apostatized progressively.

Religion is neither got nor lost all at once. The progress of Balaam’s fail may be traced.

1. His heart went after covetousness. He “loved the wages of unrighteousness.”

2. He tampered with temptation. Why were these ambassadors kept a second night?

3. He struggled against his own conscience. Mountain after mountain is ascended, sacrifice after sacrifice offered, that by some means he may obtain sanction to do what God said he should not do.

4. He departs from the word of the Lord. “If the men call thee thou mayest go with them”—a final check and test interposed. Now he is on the downhill course. The deepest, darkest sins follow. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”

III. Balaam apostatized despite the greatest obstacles.

Conscience was a perpetual obstacle. The fear of death haunted him. From the high places of Baal, where he would have cursed, he saw the Israelites encamped below. “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,” he utters in apostrophe; when at once his own death appals him, like a dark vision. Then he abruptly exclaims, “Let me die the death of the righteous!” There were extraordinary as well as ordinary obstacles. What is to do with that poor ass? Mercy, Balaam!.… At last the angel reveals himself, sword in hand. “I have come out to withstand thee,” &c. “If,” said Balaam, “it displease thee, I will get me back.” IF. Alas! he is not turned back yet. “The Lord is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish.” Providence is mediatorial. The very difficulties and obstacles and adversities of life are incorporated with God’s saving plans; yea, are ordered, permitted, or overruled for our good.

IV. Balaam’s apostacy was not only sad but fatal.

Never did he obtain the “wages of unrighteousness.” His career was one of unmitigated disappointment, issuing in the sin unto death. Very briefly is the last tragic scene given. God will be avenged of the Midianites. In the war against them Balaam is found among the enemies of the Israelites. “Balaam the son of Beor they slew with the sword.” Thus the veil is drawn darkly; nor does the sacred historian ever name the fallen prophet’s name more; but the silences of the Bible are significant as its utterances. Nor did that man perish alone in his iniquity. Does the backslider ever?

From this subject many additional lessons may be gathered—there is one of hope for apostates. The forbearance of God should lead to repentance. Balaam’s case shows that there is hope for the worst and hope to the last.—A Military Chaplain, in The Homiletic Quarterly.

BALAAM AND HIS ASS; DIVINE CHECKS ON MAN’S DOWNWARD COURSE

(Num_22:22-35)

We are met by a preliminary inquiry; why was God angry with Balaam because he went with the princes of Moab, when He had given consent to his going with them?

(1) It is important to observe that God had not given to Balaam an unconditional permission to go with them. He might go with them on condition that the men came to call him. “If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them.” This condition had not been fulfilled when “Balaam rose up in the morning,” &c. (Num_22:21). “And God’s anger was kindled because he went of himself.”

(2) Even this conditional permission was given not because God approved of his going, but because Balaam was determined to obtain permission if it were possible.

(3) He went hoping to set aside the restriction which God had imposed upon him,—that he was to do that which He commanded. Clearly Balaam both desired and hoped to be able to curse Israel, and thus obtain the wealth and honours upon which his heart was set. Hence, “God’s anger was kindled because he went.” (a) God mercifully places obstructions in his way to save him from further sin, and to warn him against attempting to curse Israel, or exceed or deviate from His word to him. This part of the history is a striking illustration of Divine checks on man’s downward course.

I. These checks are sometimes in operation when unperceived by man.

“The Angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him.… And the ass saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand.” Thrice the ass saw the Angel, and presented indications of alarm; but Balaam saw Him not until God had opened the mouth of the ass to remonstrate with him. Balaam was blinded to such sights by the fierce lust of wealth and honours which possessed him. Many a dispensation of God’s providence is intended as a check upon man’s downward course, which is not seen to be such by the person most concerned. As Balaam saw the troubled and troublesome ass, but not the forbidding Angel; so men see the afflictions, the losses, the difficulties of their course without perceiving the merciful design of God in them; they are irritated at the obstructions in their path, but do not see the Angel who is beyond the obstructions.

II. These checks are numerous.

“Mark,” says Babington, “the manifold admonitions that Balaam had, and yet all in vain. The ass avoids the Angel once, twice, and thrice; she hurts his foot against the wall, she lied down under him, never used to do thus before—yet all this could not smite his heart to think, Surely my journey pleaseth not God. Even thus in some sort doth God still deal with men, and yet all in vain; their sin will not be seen—their fault will not be amended. He giveth us a twitch within, either at some sermon, or otherwise, and yet that vanisheth away, and we forget it. Then He striketh our foot against the wall, that is, He crosseth us with sickness or loss, or some calamities, assaying whether that will bring us home; but still we beat the ass, and continue our course. When this will not serve, He throweth us down, ass and all, that is, when the lesser crosses profit not, He layeth on greater, greater, I say, and greater, till He makes us feel, even as a father smiteth more, till he humble the forward stomach of his child, yet many times in vain still.”

III. These checks are of various kinds.

This is very clear in Balaam’s case, in which we see—

1. Obstructions to his progress. The advance of his ass was thrice arrested by the Angel of the Lord. When our course is delayed, or difficulties crowd our path, or sickness removes us for a time from the active walks of life, we shall do well to enquire whether these things are checks to restrain us from sin, or warnings that we are on a dangerous road.

2. Appeals to his reason. God gave to the dumb ass a voice to summon the erring and angry prophet to the exercise of reason. “The Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done,” &c. (Num_22:28-30). “And where,” asks Dr. A. Clarke, “is the wonder of all this? If the ass had opened her own mouth, and reproved the rash prophet, we might well be astonished; but when God opens the mouth, an ass can speak as well as a man” (b)

And God by various means still addresses the reason of sinful man. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord,” &c. “Why will ye die?” Christianity is a sublime and mighty appeal, not only to the heart, but also to the understanding of man.

3. Rebukes for his conduct. “The Angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times?” &c. (Num_22:32-33). (c) The Lord now rebukes men for their sins by the penalties of those sins, by the condemnations of His holy Book, and by the voice of conscience. And these rebukes are designed to deter from sin.

4. The awakening of his conscience. “Balaam said unto the Angel of the Lord, I have sinned,” &c. His whole line of conduct shows a mind ill at ease, a troubled, anxious mind. His irritation, petulance, and unreasonable anger with his ass, indicate clearly that he had no rest within. God in his great mercy was checking him by the voice of his conscience. Conscience will not allow the sinner to pursue his downward course without stirring remonstrances and stinging rebukes, (d) “Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of the living.”

IV. These checks are graduated in force.

See this in the case of Balaam: first his “ass turned aside out of the way;” then “she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall;” then “she fell down under Balaam;” and then there appears unto the angry man “the Angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand,” who administers to him a stern rebuke. “In this carriage of the Angel,” says Mr. Ains-worth, “the Lord shows us the proceedings of His judgments against sinners: First, He mildly shakes His rod at them, but lets them go untouched. Secondly, He comes nearer, and touches them with an easy correction, as it were wringing their foot against the wall. Thirdly, when all this is ineffectual, He brings them into such straits that they can neither turn to the right hand nor to the left, but must fall before His judgments, if they do not fully turn to Him.”

V. These checks are limited in their effects.

1. By the perverseness of man’s character. The earlier obstructions only irritated and enraged Balaam. His eager lust for wealth and honour blinded him that he did not even see the forbidding Angel. To a perverse and hardened heart mild restraints are utterly ineffectual. There are, alas! some men to whom even severe checks seem ineffectual.

2. By the irreversibleness of man’s conduct. “If it displease thee,” said Balaam, “I will get me back again. And the Angel of the Lord said, Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.” He had advanced too far to turn back then. He must go on. Only in one respect will the Divine restraint be effectual now; and that God insists upon: “Only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak.” Unutterably solemn is this irreversibleness of moral conduct. The career once entered upon, in many instances, must be continued. The deed once done, can never be undone; and many of its consequences will live on—for ever! (e)

ILLUSTRATIONS

(a) Why did Almighty God give Balaam leave to go to Balak, and then was angry with him for going? I suppose for this reason, because his asking twice was tempting God. God is a jealous God. Sinners as we are—nay, as natures of His hand—we may not safely in rude upon Him, and make free with Him. We may not dare to do that which we should not dare to do with an earthly superior, which we should be punished, for instance, for attempting in the case of a king or noble of this world. To rush into His prefence, to address Him familiarly, to urge Him, to strive to make our duty lie in one direction when it lies in another, to handle rudely and practise upon His holy word, to trifle with truth, to treat conscience lightly, to take liberties (as it may he called) with anything that is God’s; all irreverence, profaneness, unscrupulousness, wantonness, is represented in Scripture, not only as a sin, but as felt, noticed, quickly returned on God’s part (if I may dare use such human words of the Almighty and All-holy God, without transgressing the rule I am myself laying down—but He vouchsafes in Scripture to represent Himself to us in that only way in which we can attain to the knowledge of Him)—I say, all irreverence towards God is represented as being jealously, and instantly, and fearfully noticed and visited, as friend or Stranger among men might resent an insult shown to him. This should be carefully considered. We are apt to act towards God and the things of God as towards a mere system, a law, a name, a religion, a principle; not as against a Person, a living, watchful, present, prompt and powerful eye and arm. That all this is a great error, is plain to all who study Scripture; as is sufficiently shown by the death of 50,070 persons for looking into the Ark—the death or the prophet by the lion, who was sent to Jeroboam from Judah, and did not immediately obey his instructions—the slaughter of the children at Bethel by the bears, for mocking Elisha—the exclusion of Moses from the Promised Land for smiting the rock twice—and the judgment on Ananias and Sapphira.—J. H. Newman, D.D.

(b) The true explanation lies between the notion that the whole occurrence was purely internal, and consisted exclusively in ecstasy brought by God upon Balaam, and the grossly realistic reduction of the whole affair into the sphere of the senses and the outward material world. The Angel who met the soothsayer in the road, as he was riding upon his ass, though He was not seen by Balaam till Jehovah had opened his eyes, did really appear upon the road, in the outward world of the senses. But the form in which He appeared was not a grossly sensuous or material form, like the bodily frame of an ordinary visible being; for in that case Balaam would inevitably have seen Him, when his beast became alarmed and restive again and again, and refused to go forward, since it is not stated anywhere that God had smitten him with blindness, like the men of Sodom (Gen_19:11), or the people in 2Ki_6:18. It rather resembled the appearance of a spirit, which cannot be seen by everyone who has healthy bodily eyes but only by those who have their senses awakened for visions from the spirit-world. Thus, for example, the men who went to Damascus with Paul, saw no one, when the Lord appeared to him in a miraculous light from heaven, and spoke to him, although they also heard the voice (Act_9:7). Balaam wanted the spiritual sense to discern the Angel of the Lord, because the spirit’s eye was blinded by his thirst for wealth and honour. This blindness increased to such an extent, with the inward excitement caused by the repeated insubordination of the beast, that he lost all self-control. As the ass had never been so restive before, if he had only been calm and thoughtful himself, he would have looked about to discover the cause of this remarkable change, and would then, no doubt, have discovered the presence of the Angel. But as he lost all his thoughtfulness, God was obliged to open the mouth of the dumb and irrational animal, to show a seer by profession his own blindness. “He might have reproved him by the words of the Angel; but because the rebuke would not have been sufficiently severe without some deep humiliation, He made the beast his teacher” (Calvin). The ass’s speaking was produced by the omnipotence of God; but it is impossible to decide whether the modulation was miraculously communicated to the animal’s voice, so that it actually gave utterance to the human words which fell upon Balaam’s ears (Kurtz), or whether the cries of the animal were formed into rational discourse in Balaam’s soul, by the direct operation of God, so that he alone heard and understood the speech of the animal, whereas the servants who were present heard nothing more than unintelligible cries. In either case Balaam received a deeply humiliating admonition from the mouth of the irrational beast, and that not only to put him to shame, but also to call him to his senses, and render him capable of hearing the voice of God. The seer, who prided himself upon having eyes for Divine revelations, was so blind, that he could not discern the appearance of the Angel, which even the irrational beast had been able to see. By this he was taught that even a beast is more capable of discerning things from the higher world, than a man blinded by sinful desires. It was not till after this humiliation that God opened his eyes, so that he saw the Angel of the Lord with a drawn sword standing in his road, and fell upon his face before this fearful sight.—Keil and Del.

(c) We shall find in the sequel the person styled the Angel of the Lord, as in other places, so here, assuming the character and exercising the prerogative of Deity: for He it is that afterwards says, “The word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak.” We are to understand, therefore, by this designation, the mighty, the uncreated Angel, by whom God made the worlds, the eternal Word, which was in the beginning, which was with God, and which was God, and which in the fulness of time was made flesh and dwelt among men.—Dr. H. Hunter.

The Angel of Jehovah’s presence, which went before His people in the wilderness, not only to guide, but to guard and protect them; and who was an adversary to their adversaries, and at all times stood up for their help and assistance against all those that hated and opposed them.—John Gill D.D.

(d) Balaam did only what men so entangled always do. The real fault is in themselves. They have committed themselves to a false position, and when obstacles stand in their way, they lay the blame on circumstances. They smite the dump, innocent occasion of their perplexity as if it were the cause. And the passionateness—the “madness” of the act is but an indication that all is doing wrong within. There was a canker at the heart of Balaam’s life, and his equanimity was gone; his temper vented itself on brute things. Who has not seen the like—a grown man, unreasoning as a child, furious beyond the occasion? If you knew the whale, you would see that was not the thing which had moved him so terribly; you would see that all was wrong inwardly.

It is a strange, sad picture this. The first man in the land, gifted beyond most others, conscious of great mental power, going on to splendid prospects, yet with hopelessness and misery working at his heart. Who would have envied Balaam if he could have seen all—the hell that was working at his heart?—F. W. Robertson, M.A.

It is a man’s own dishonesty, his crimes, his wickedness, and boldness, that take away from him soundness of mind; these are the furies, these the flames and firebrands of the wicked.—M. T. Cicero.

(e) Here is a serious reflection, that when we have begun an evil course we cannot retrace our steps. Balaam was forced to go with the men; he offered to draw back—he was not allowed—yet God’s wrath followed him. This is what comes of committing ourselves to an evil line of conduct; and we see daily instances of it in our experience of life. Men get entangled, and are bound hand and foot in dangerous courses. They make imprudent marriages or connections; they place themselves in dangerous situations; they engage in unprofitable or shameful undertakings. Too often, indeed, they do not discern their evil plight: but when they do they cannot draw back. God seems to say, “Go with the men.” They are in bondage, and they must make the best of it; being the slave of the creature, without ceasing to be the responsible servant of God; under His displeasure, yet bound to act as if they could please Him. All this is very fearful.—J. H. Newman, D.D.

Consider the impossibility under such circumstances of going back. Balaam offers to go back. The Angel says, “Go on.” There was yet one hope for him, to be true, to utter God’s words, careless of the consequences; but he who had been false so long, how could he be true? It was too late. In the ardour of youth you have made perhaps a wrong choice, or chosen an unfit profession, or suffered yourself weakly and passively to be drifted into a false course of action, and now, in spite of yourself, you feel there is no going back. To many minds, such a lot comes as with the mysterious force of a destiny. They see themselves driven, and forget that they put themselves in the way of the stream that drives them. They excuse their own acts as if they were coerced. They struggle now and then faintly, as Balaam did—try to go back—cannot, and at last sink passively in the mighty current that floats them on to wrong.—F. W. Robertson, M.A.

BALAAM AND HIS ASS; OR, A LESSON ON OBSTRUCTIVE PROVIDENCES

(Num_22:22-35)

Is this a literal narrative? Yes; for,—

1. The style in which it is written is plain and unadorned.

2. The story is not essentially incredible.

3. It is referred to in other parts of Scripture as plain matter of fact.

4. The end to be gained was quite enough to warrant the miracle.

5. The speech of the ass is so simple and natural that it could not be either a delusion of Balaam’s excited imagination, or an invention of some later fabulist.

I. See the lessons it taught Balaam.

1. It convinced him of spiritual blindness. He was more stupid than his ass. She could see an angel, but Balaam could not, because he was engrossed and binded by his covetous greed.

2. It taught absolute submission to God. He made his ass, however reluctant, obey him; and he, too, however obstinate, must be taught to obey God. This was indispensable to prepare him to do God’s work among the Moabites.

II. The subject is full of lessons to us.

It shows us the worth of obstructive providences, and the wisdom of giving patient attention and heed to them.

1. We often go on wrong errands, or on right errands in a wrong spirit. Some go on wrong errands, seeking a change of place, from selfish ambition—pursuing a business necessarily sinful—projecting a matrimonial union without regard to piety—resolution to leave home and country from recklessness and self-will. Some have wrong motives in a right way:—e.g., mercenary ministers of religion, self-seeking teachers, &c.—insincere rebukers of sin, who pander to the rich and make allowance for their vices, while they are very severe on the offending poor, &c.

2. God checks us in His providence, and in love to our souls. Illness; raising up of insuperable difficulties; falling off of friends; superior success to rivals, &c.

3. We are apt to fret and be angry at the instruments of our disappointment. We cast our spite and blame on second causes.

4. We should seek spiritual enlightenment, to see that it is God’s doing. Be not angry and resentful, but give yourselves to prayer; else, like Balaam, you will not see that it is God who opposes you (Num_22:34).

5. We can only be permitted to go forward when we are brought to a state of perfect subjection to God. Two things are here included: a perfect purity of motive and freedom from worldly self-seeking; and an entire acquiescence in whatever God appoints, desires, or does. Thus, acknowledge God in all your ways, and He will direct your steps.—T. G. Horton.

BALAAM’S ASS

(Num_22:28-30)

Observe—

I. The historic character of the miracle here recorded.

In the history of Christ and in that of His apostles, incidents are recorded which are miraculous, side by side with those which are not miraculous. The one cannot be separated from the other; they are interwoven into one narrative, which must be accepted as a whole, or rejected altogether. So it is in the history of Balaam. It is well to note, concerning this incident, that it is spoken of by a New Testament writer as an undoubted fact (2Pe_2:16).

II. The miracle itself.

The speech of the ass as the instrument of a higher intelligence, finds an analogy in another Scriptural record. In the first temptation of man, the speech of the serpent was used to convey the thought of a higher and more intelligent creature. If God permitted Satan to use a serpent to tempt man, why should He not Himself use an ass to reprove man? If the tongue of the serpent was used to convey intelligible sounds, why should not that of any other animal be used for the same purpose? In one case the miracle was wrought by Satan for an evil end, in the other by God for a good end. We have another somewhat analogous case in the speech of parrots and other birds, who utter intelligible sentences without understanding them, the difference being that the ass did at once, and therefore miraculously, what these creatures learn to do by imitation. It is evident that these birds possess a special God given faculty to imitate human words, and He who made them made the ass also.

III. The object of the miracle.

It was to bring Balaam to obey the Divine voice of his conscience, which was well nigh drowned in the clamour of his covetousness for “the wages of unrighteousness.”

1. It was calculated to humble him in relation to: gift of God upon which he probably prided himself. It is likely he was an eloquent man. He would now see that God could endow a brute with the gift of speech.

2. He would also see that an ass could discern a messenger from heaven, where he, blinded by his desire for gain, could see nothing but empty space.

3. He might also have learned that all speech was under Divine control, and that he would be able to utter only such words as God would permit.

Lessons.

i. That the means used by God to bring men to obedience are always adapted to that end, although they do not always attain it. Balaam needed to repent of his present course, and nothing could have been more likely to startle him into reflection upon it than a reproof from his own beast. He had a moment’s space for consideration before he stood face to face with the Angel of the Lord; but his half-hearted confession of his sin (Num_22:34) shows—

ii. That, when obedience to a certain command is withheld (Num_22:12), miracles are powerless to change character. Those who were unwilling to take the yoke of Christ (Mat_11:29), were not won by His miracles. See also Luk_16:31. Miracles startle the soul, but obedience transforms the character.—From Outlines of Sermons on the Miracles and Parables of the Old Testament.

THE MEETING OF BALAAM AND BALAK

(Num_22:36-41)

In this portion of the history these are the principal points:

I. The king receives the prophet with marks of great honour.

“And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him” &c. (Num_22:36). And as a further token of his respect, the king sent unto Balaam and to the princes who were with him a feast from the sacrifices which he offered (Num_22:40). The heathen were accustomed to pay great respect and reverence to their priests and prophets. We have evidence of this in Gen_47:22; 1Ki_18:19; Ezra 7 et al. Their conduct in this respect is—

1. A rebuke to many Christians. Paul exhorted the Christians at Thessalonica toesteem their ministers “very highly in love for their work’s sake:” yet how many Christians fail lamentably in this respect!

2. An example to many Christians. In this respect we may profitably imitate them. Our Lord saith to His faithful ministers, “He that heareth you, heareth Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him that sent Me” (see also Mat_10:40-41; Joh_13:20). (a)

II. The king expresses his surprise at the delay of the prophet in coming to him.

“And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee?” &c. (Num_22:37). Thus he gently rebukes him for not having come to him when he was first asked to do so. And he seems surprised that his power to reward the prophet had not secured his ready compliance with his request. Clearly he was of opinion that the blessing or curse of a prophet was purchasable if the would-be purchaser could only bid high enough for them; that Balaam had his price; and that he, Balak, was able to pay it (b) (comp. Act_8:18-23). Balak seems to have had no idea of the sacredness of genius, or of the solemn responsibilities involved in the possession of great gifts, or that endowments from God must be used only in religious accordance with His holy will. A worldly-minded man, he can think of no higher motive than this, “Am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?” (c)

But of what value are the highest honours and the richest rewards which kings can bestow, when they are obtained at the cost of righteous principles and a clear conscience? (d)

III. The prophet endeavours to moderate the expectations of the king.

“And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee,” &c. (Num_22:38). Balaam felt himself under a restraint which he could not throw off; no, not even for all the wealth and honours which a king has power to bestow. (e)

The Lord was watching over the interests of Israel; and while He protected them neither could Balaam curse them, nor Balak conquer them. “Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep,” &c. (Psa_121:4-8). (f)

IV. The king endeavours by sacrificial offerings to induce Jehovah to favour his design.

“Balak offered oxen and sheep.” Keil and Del.: “The sacrifices were not so much thank-offerings for Balaam’s happy arrival, as supplicatory offerings for the success of the undertaking before them. ‘This is evident,’ as Hengstenberg correctly observes, ‘from the place and time of their presentation; for the place was not that where Balak first met with Balaam, and they were only presented on the eve of the great event.’ Moreover, they were offered unquestionably not to the Moabitish idols, from which Balak expected no help, but to Jehovah, whom Balak wished to draw away, in connection with Balaam, from His own people (Israel), that He might secure His favour to the Moabites.”

How utterly mistaken in this view of the Divine Being! He changes not. No sacrifices can alter His will, or turn Him aside from His purposes. How unworthy of God and how dishonouring to Him is such a view of His character! No bribes, however costly, can induce Him to forsake His people, or to favour an unrighteous cause. And the sacrifices offered to Him with such a view are an abomination in His sight.

V. The king and prophet ascend a height and obtain a view of the camp of Israel.

“And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.” Balak thought that Balaam must see the Israelites in order that he might curse them effectually. And now the time had come for the prophet to make the awful attempt. Balak was in a state of eager anxiety. But who shall tell the state of Balaam’s mind at this time?

ILLUSTRATIONS

(a) For illustrations on this point see p. 62.

(b) As a mere mutter of fact, known to us, by distressing observation, the saving of money is a fascination of the devil to many men; it absorbs their energies; it engrosses their time; it perverts their moral nature; it destroys natural affection; it sets them on fire of hell. Kept from the sight of gold, they may even bear a strong resemblance to pious men; they may be intelligent, genial, and entertaining, yet the moment their thoughts are turned to the accumulation of property, every trace of nobleness is destroyed. The victim of the world is entirely without self-control: every speck of dust is to him as a shackle of bondage; he would risk his eternity for a stone or a clod. At all times he would not know this, for in the moments of his release from the urgency of his tormentor he might discover traits of a better disposition; it is when he is brought again into contact with worldly concerns that he shows how utterly he is enslaved and unmanned. I may remind my young hearers of the tiger that was trained to be the playmate of a favourite child. Weeks and months and years elapsed, and the tiger was gentle and playful; it so happened, however, that in looking the child’s hand it tasted blood, and instantly the natural appetite of the creature was excited, and the child fell a victim to its ferocity. It is so in the moral history of many a man: there are breaks in human life which are filled up by many excellencies, and which apparently give the lie to the charge of apostacy, and yet suddenly some besetting sin will set the whole nature on fire, and in the madness of an hour the fabric of a lifetime may be overthrown.—Joseph Parker, D.D.

(c) But few men in any country touch the highest point of fame; thousands upon thousands in all generations come to honour and influence, yet in a few months after their death their names cease to have any interest but for the smallest circles. This reflection ought not to discourage virtue. Peace of heart is better than mere renown. To be known in heaven is the best fame. To have a place in the love of God is to enjoy the true exaltation.—Ibid.

(d) With money you can bay the canvas and the oil, but not the artistic eye which interprets and appreciates the picture; you can buy the poem, but the living and inspiring poetry is not for sale; you can rent the garden, but cannot bribe the flowers to whisper their tender messages. After all, it is but a very little way that money can go; it can do nearly everything in the market-place or among the dust of cities, but what do the angels know of your currency, your bills of exchange, your promissory notes, and your intricate conveyancing of estates? Not one of the great redemptions of life can be wrought out with money; death takes no bribe; the grave will not sell its victories for gold; you may buy the Bible, but you cannot buy the Holy Ghost; you may pay for the masonry, but no money can put you in possession of the Spirit of the altar.—Ibid.

(e) The kite broke away from its string, and instead of mounting to the stars it descended into the mire. The river grew weary of its restraining banks, and longed to burst them, that it might rush on in the wild joy of freedom; down went the embankments, the river became a flood, and carried destruction and desolation wherever it rushed. Unrein the coursers of the sun, and lo! the earth is burned; unbind the girdle of the elements, and chaos reigns! Let us never desire to be rid of those restraints which God has seen fit to lay upon us; they are more needful than we dream. Remember how the vine, when bound to the stake which upheld it, judged itself a martyr, and longed to be free; but when it saw the wild vine at its feet, rotting on the damps and pining amidst the heats, and producing no fruit, it felt how needful were its bonds if its clusters were ever to ripen.—C. H. Spurgeon.

(f) According to the gloomy prophets, all England is going to the bad—not England alone, but all countries are hastening on to a general and everlasting smash. Then one begins to fret about the Church of God; for according to the soothsayers of the age, Anti-Christ is yet to come, and new heresies are to spring up; the dogs of war are to be let loose, the Pope is to rule and burn us, and one hardly knows what else. Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation, have been made sometimes to minister poison to every bright hope, but here is our comfort with regard to the future:—

“He everywhere hath sway.

And all things serve His might:

His very act pure blessing is,

His path unsullied light.”

Let the worst come to the worst, the best will come of it ere long. “If the heavens were a bow,” saith one, “and the earth were the string, and God should fit the arrows of His vengeance thereon, and shoot at the sons of men, yet they could find shelter with the archer himself.” Our refuge is in God; let the worst calamities occur to the world in years to come we are secure. It must be well: it cannot be ill. “Jehovah, Jireh.” Lift high the banner and hopefully advance to the battle, for the victory shall surely come unto the Arm eternal, the Will immutable.—Ibid.

HISTORY OF BALAAM.—NO. III[1]

[1] For Nos. I. and II. see pp. 429–431.

(Num_22:36—Num_24:25)

We approach the termination of this eventful history. The portion of Scripture that forms the basis of our remarks is Num_22:36, to the end of chap. 24.

We left Balaam on his journey to Balak; we now commence with his arrival in the land of Moab. With what strangely mingled feelings must Balaam have pursued this journey! That dumb ass had not spoken for nothing: a good many twinges of conscience, no doubt, Balaam had on the way; perhaps, after all, God did not like his going with these messengers; perhaps he had better have been content with his humble mountain home; perhaps he will get into trouble, for he cannot forget—“The word that I shall speak, that shalt thou speak.” However, Balaam goes on, just this once, and when this affair is over he will return home, eschew Balak and his messengers for ever; in fact, Balak had made him so many presents already, that he will be able in future to afford to keep a conscience, and to say “No” to temptation.

As the key to this history, recall what was said before of Balaam’s connection with the old patriarchal church: he was a monotheist amongst a multilade of polytheists; to that idea of God he was faithful. Moreover, Balaam knows God to be the God of Israel, that God has chosen Israel, and that God is with them. The history of their eight and thirty years’ weary pilgrimage in the peninsula of Sinai, was matter of notoriety among all the wild Ishmaelites of that part; and Balaam is seer, he can prognosticate out of existing facts; and in the opposition of the Amalekites, and Moabites, and Edomites to the Israelites, he sees the certainty of their final overthrow. And yet the King of Moab sends to him to curse the people of God’s choice; a people that Balaam knows are to be victorious; and he goes, although he knows it to be impossible to curse them; but he hopes to get his “wages of iniquity.”

And so Balaam and Balak meet. The first words of the interview are ominous. Balak chides Balaam, and Balaam admits that all he says is right; but adds, “the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.”

When a man has come to that pass it is all over with him. How many do we meet every day, who would be wicked if they dared; who would go here, and would go there, only they are not at liberty; who don’t mind the sin at all, only its exposure:—they might be reproved; they might lose a situation, &c. There is nothing left, but another edition of Solomon’s picture in the Proverbs, “How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof,” &c.

Endeavour to realize the scene. Balaam was alone; he “went to a high place;” there he stood by his burnt offering; below, on the plains, were God’s people Israel: from the top of the rocks he saw their encampment, the “pillar of cloud” still hovering over the assembled host: all was order, security, and strength amongst Israel. Far away is the uncrowned king and his nobles, waiting the return of Balaam: but meanwhile a very notable event occurs,—“And God met Balaam.” Balaam shall yet be warned, shall yet have another word; and so God met him.

The lessons from the whole are—

The formidable power of sin. Man can degrade himself below the level of a beast. The dumb ass was wiser than Balaam.—W. G. Barrett.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

A.—BALAK’S RESORT TO BALAAM

Num_22:2-8

2And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. 4And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 5He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face 1 of the earth, and they abide over against me: 6Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. 7And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak. 8And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

[Num_22:4. Assembly, this congregation, חַקָּהָל, not a multitude, but an organized whole.—A. G.].

[Num_22:5. River is emphatic; by the river, to the land.—A. G.]

[Num_22:6. Wot, know.]

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

General preliminary remarks. We shall only reach a full view of the history of Balaam when we consider the section upon his prophecies in connection with the record of his end (chap. 31). Balaam the prophet, the utterer of blessings upon the people of God, the so-to-speak dogmatic Balaam, stands in striking contrast to the Balaam, the wily worldly politician, or the moral tempter of the same chosen people. The hidden, hardly discovered reconciliation of the two apparently contradictory representations of his character has led Knobel and others to suppose that there was a real contradiction in the history; while, on the other hand, Hengstenberg and others have clearly detected the features of the second Balaam in the character of the first, and have recognized also the first in the later counsels of the second, in his wily suggestions as to the celebrations of the religious feasts. We have here the living, vivid image of a remarkable character, thoroughly unstable, vacillating in obedience to predominant motives, two-sided; but a character whose two-sidedness does not show itself in distinct, stereotyped qualities, ever ready for action, but is wrought out in the progress of a spiritual conflict, in which avarice and ambition gradually work his ruin. Below the summit of sacred zeal or inspiration which Balaam seemed to have reached begins the hidden process of his ruin. If it is asked how the Jews came to possess this information, we may hazard the conjecture, that Balaam’s fall began with double-dealing; that he had first made disclosures and offers to the Israelites, by whose camp he must pass on his way home, and then because he did not meet with the expected favorable reception, returned secretly and by the aid of a Midianitish nomad chief, who was probably camping on the skirts of the Moabite territory, to Balak, in order still to secure from him the “reward of iniquity,” seeking all the time to hide from himself the baseness of his conduct under the pretence of a desire to lay upon the broadest basis a sure alliance between Moab and Israel. If he thought of the real approaching downfall of Moab and the glory of Israel, he may have cherished the idea of such an intermediation, as even Judas seems to have been impelled for some time by a similar motive. His fear of the power of Israel may have determined him to greater secresy in the pursuit of his crafty aim. Thus Balaam in this second form in which his character appears stands, in the New Testament, as the prototype of a subtle tempter and destroyer of God’s people, through his teaching a false religious freedom. The remarkable portraiture of Balaam’s character makes the deeper impression of historical truthfulness, since we find the contradictions appearing here, reflected in a thousand instances in the history of religion, in ecclesiastical and profane history, as features of an unstable double-hearted nature.

We note first the contradiction between an ostentatious and vaunted faith in Jehovah, and the ever re-appearing and strong lusting after the rewards of unrighteousness, after the glory and the gold which ultimately leads him to ruin. The seeming piety, aliquid nimis, at once excites suspicion; the frequent use of the name Jehovah, the constant parade of his dependence upon Jehovah’s directions, the multiplication of the offerings in which he compels Balak to take part, the greatness of the sacrifices, as if he might thereby control Jehovah (take providence by storm, as modern hypocrites phrase it) are all suspicious. How much the orthodox and pietistic extravagances of to-day remind us of the methods of Balaam! Then again, as to the form of his faith, we must notice the broad contrast between his fervent language of rapturous inspiration, his soul borne away as it were in inspired vision, and his ordinary states of consciousness, his efforts to tempt God, to carry out his evil selfish plans by means of superstitious practices, and his aiding the heathen king and his subjects in their destructive hostility to the people of God. Even the formal, oratorical exaggeration is a characteristic feature of the superficial nature of his feelings. How often religious, poetical, æsthetic emotion proves itself more or less Balaam-like through its contrast with the real state of the feelings!

The psychological problem of the prophetic enthusiast becomes more difficult through the psychological sympathy of his ass. This contrast and the change in the parts of the performance between the rider and the animal on which he rides, is much greater than the contrast between Don Quixote and his Sancho-Panza.

Still another contrast, and one which we must not overlook, appears in the great flourish and display with which Balaam takes his leave of Balak, and the secrecy in his later operations, after which he is first found among the slain in Midian, and recognized as the instigator of the great calamity.

More conspicuous is the distinction in Balaam, as he speaks, proclaims, sings the blessing, and as he plots the curse. Still while be changes his blessing into a curse, Jehovah transforms the curse into a blessing.

This very remarkable episode in the Mosaic history could not fail to occasion many dissertations. For the literature see Keil, p. 158, note (consult especially Baur, History of the Old Testament Prophecy, p. 329), Knobel, p. 127; also articles in Winer, Worterbuch, Hebzog’s Encyclopædia, Hengstenberg’s Geschichte des Bileams, Baumgarten, Commentar.; This Commen., Introduction to Genesis. [Also Kurtz, Gesh., Vol. II., p. 451 et seq., Bible Com., Smith’s Bible Dic., Wordsworth, Holy Bible with notes, Stanley, History of the Jewish Church, Vol. I., p. 209–218.—A. G.]

“From the very earliest time opinions have been divided as to the character of Balaam. Some (e.g. Philo, Ambrose. Augustine) have regarded him as a wizard and false prophet devoted to the worship of idols, who was destitute of any susceptibility for the true religion, and was compelled by God, against his will, to give utterance to blessings upon Israel instead of curses. Others (e.g. Tertullian, Jerome) have supposed him to be a genuine and true prophet, who simply fell through covetousness and ambition. But these views are both of them untenable in this exclusive form. Witsius (Miscell. Song of Solomon 1, lib. 1, c. 16, § 33), Hengstenberg, Kurtz.” Keil. The declaration of Hengstenberg, however, that Balaam was not entirely without the fear of God, nor yet a really pious man and true prophet of God, leaves us without any very definite idea. It is most important here to bear in mind that we are not considering a fixed character, but one passing through a change, and engaged in a serious conflict. The record speaks clearly of a communication between Balaam and God, although not of an intimate and confidential relation with Him. He is at least a monotheist; he clings as a Mesopotamian, perhaps as a descendant of Abraham, to the name of Jehovah in its more general significance, which it had before acquiring its specific meaning, Exo_3:4 : and hence the writer uses in connection with him the name Elohim, not recognizing him as strictly a worshipper of Jehovah. He thus lies within the primitive, monotheistic traditions, the religious twilight which Melchizedek also represents (see Gen_14:18). But he had derived from his father Beor, i.e. “consumer,” “destroyer,” as it appears from his own name Balaam, “subverter,” “devourer of the people,” a stronger inclination to curse than to bless. Hengstenberg lays great, stress upon the fact that he is never called nabi, “prophet,” but kosem, “soothsayer.” But we may well suppose that the obscure word kosem originally bore a better sense than that which was attached to it later. It may be true that this word, and those who bore it, as with the worship of high-places, which was originally patriarchal, but afterwards degenerated into idolatry. We distinguish between the primeval religion which runs from Melchizedek down through the Old Testament history, and was never entirely extinguished, and the religion of the Abrahamic promise or covenant, by the inverted order of signs or symbols, and the word. In the primitive religion God is known through the signs, and these are rendered into the word by the interpreting mind, in the covenant religion the word precedes and is afterward confirmed and enforced by sacramental signs. Thus Joseph wears the aspect of a descendant of the primitive religion, and might even appear as a Kosem when he claims that he prophesied out of his cup. Thus Balaam also proceeds to seek for signs, Num_23:3; Num_23:15. But then there is an evident approach to the Abrahamic form of religion, when he no longer seeks for signs, whose interpretation Jehovah puts into his mouth, but by virtue of the free direct inspiration, as he looks upon Israel, utters his prophetic words, (Num_24:1). After this we can no longer class the Kosem Balaam with the later degenerated soothsayers. But surely he does approach that lowered type, when he suffers himself, avowedly at least, to recognize the superstitious notion, that by arbitrary curses he could magically produce calamitous results, even upon a whole people, even against the blessing of Jehovah; and because he was eager and prepared to receive the reward of such enchantments. It may be that it was from the pay which he took, that the prophet, originally, came to wear the altered and less honored name of Kosem. But the possibility of such a designed intermingling of the holy with the unholy, lies in the great divergency between emotional capacity when excited, in highly gifted natures, and the normal condition of the mind. Universally there is a contrast between the man in the ordinary state of his mind, or his habitual tendency, and the same man in his quickened state, in his strivings after ideal heights; between the man in his everyday and in his Sunday life. In the lives of noble men, this divergency sometimes ripens into opposition, as with Peter, Matthew 16; and indeed in the very best men there is always the blossom of impulse before the fruit of a new soul-life. But if a fissure opens between these two spiritual states of the soul, which widens at last into a broad chasm, a permanent contradiction, then the Balaam nature is complete, and in the end the evil tendency and nature triumphs over the ideal. Thus it happens that false prophets have been formed out of gifted prophetic natures, in ancient and modern times.

We pass now naturally to the consideration of another erroneous contrast, which supposes that Balaam intended to curse at the very moment of his speaking, but that the Spirit of God compelled him to utter blessings. Hengstenberg says of this view: “Ambrose held a crude notion of the effect of the divine power upon Balaam, as if God put the words in his mouth, quasi cymbalum tinniens sonum reddo.” Calvin held nearly the same view. [Hengstenberg says of Calvin “that in general he clearly recognized and sharply expressed the dependence of prophecy upon the subjective condition of the prophet, while he regards Balaam as an exception to this rule.”—A. G.]. But one could scarcely call this power which thus constrains the soul, inspiration, not even infusion. Here again we must bear in mind that the divine irresistible influence is moral, and is carefully to be distinguished from any physical or magical compulsion, from which it is free. It is a strange coincidence that this assumption has been applied not only to Balaam, but even to the ass on which he rode, although it lacked entirely the organic capacity for human speech. In this respect Hengstenberg has admirably presented the distinction between the ideas of externality and reality; asserting the reality of inward occurrences, as well as the distinction between real visions and bare imaginations, although the two things are held to be one and the same by many thinkers who assume great superiority. But no one can make any great progress in the Holy Scripture, without a sense or capacity for perceiving the reality of genuine visions. But we shall return to this theme in the sequel.

This narrative, moreover, is very important with respect to the doctrines of the divine permission. God forbids Balaam to go. He then permits him to go under certain conditions, while He appears to be offended because he went. To a superficial view the passage seems full of inconsistencies, whereas in truth the apparent change in the divine decisions is determined by the changes in Balaam, is adapted to them, and is thus the result and fruit of the strictest and most sacred consistency.

As some have held that the words of the third and last prophecy point clearly to a later origin, is, according to the fiction of the critics, a vaticinia post eventum, it is necessary that we should examine the passage more closely. In this third prophecy Balaam stands at the very highest point in his inspired intuition. It is no longer (as in Num_22:5; Num_22:16): “Jehovah put a word into his mouth,” but: “The Spirit of God came upon him.” Before he spake under restraint of fear, now freed from any such limitations, and in the full freedom of revelation (Num_24:4-9). The anger of the king at his third utterance of words of blessing seems to have unfettered his own indignation (Num_22:12-24).

The passage in which we have the beautiful prediction of the “Star out of Jacob,” does not belong to the line of clear, direct, conscious Messianic prophecy, although Rabbi Akiba held that it did, but refers to the Bar-Cochab: Son of the Star. [There was a pretender who bore this name, with express reference to the prophecy of Balaam: and led the Jews into rebellion against the Roman power in the reign of Hadrian, A. D., 136.—A. G.]. The exclusive references of the Star to the Messiah, have been numerous in Christian authors from Calvin to Baumgarten, see Knobel, p. 146. But since the conception of an ideal, personal Messiah had not reached its full development even at the time of David, 2 Samuel 7, it would have been a strange anomaly if it had found expression so much earlier by the heathen Balaam. For other interpretations, as e.g. that which refers the prophecy to David, to David and the Messiah, to the Jewish kingdom and the Messiah, see Knobel, p. 146 [and notes in loc.—A. G.]. As to the appearance of new stars in connection with the birth of great kings, see Keil, p. 192 [who, however, refers to Hengstenberg, who cites Justini, Hist. 37:2; Plinii, H. N. 2:23; Sueton., Jul. Cæs. 100:78; and Dio Cass. xlv., p. 273.—A. G.]. We must bear in mind here first of all, that we are not dealing with an Old Testament prophet. Balaam and his prophecies appear throughout under an historical point of view. But what he meant by a star was a sceptre, a royal ruler, who should arise in Israel, and crush all its enemies. We do not need to be familiar with Jewish history to understand what follows, although Balaam, in a typical, but not in a verbal sense, uttered far more than he was conscious of, even with respect to the star out of Jacob. What could be of greater moment than the crushing of the power of the Moabite princes, since they were even now plotting the destruction of Israel? The Edomites, in a spirit of enmity, bad just before restrained the onward march of the people of God. The Amalekites were old traditional foes of Israel. When now he proceeds further and predicts the victory over the Assyrians, his own countrymen, over the Kenites (in the north), and then the conquest of Assyria and Mesopotamia (Eber) by some western power, he passes from the particular into the universal. At length his prophetic vision reaches its utmost bounds. Chittim shall be overthrown at last. His talent for cursing now comes into full play, and the proud seer in wrath takes leave of the angry king who had thought only that by some superstitious magic spell, he would be able to win back his lost domain, or at least to protect that which was Still left him; takes leave ostensibly never to see him again, but only ostensibly. A Midianitish nomad tribe, coming perhaps from his own home in Mesopotamia, roamed at this time along the extended kingdom. Here among these Midianites Balaam seems to have rested (after having sought in vain a market for his talents among the Israelites) in order to renew his relation with Balak. For various conjectures as to who Balaam was, see Knobel. It was formerly conjectured that he was Elihu or Laban, or one of the magicians of Egypt. Modern guesses are that he was the Arabic sage Lokman. Thus Knobel. For conjecture as to Pethor, see Knobel, 128. [Knobel identifies Pethor with Φαθοῦσαι (Zosian Num_3:14) and with the Βέθαυνα of Ptolemy v. 18, 6. He regards both these names as corruptions of Pethor, and thinks the place is found in the present Anah. Keil regards this as very uncertain, while Bible Com. is inclined to favor it. Very little is certainly known.—A. G.] For the faith of antiquity in the efficacy of curses, see Knobel, p. 129. [Also Kurtz, Geschichte des Allen Bundes, and Baumgarten, Com., who holds that the efficacy attributed to them was not merely a superstition or imagination, but had a real ground, and that the narrative here can only be correctly understood on the supposition that it recognizes the actual power of Balaam to bless and to curse. He finds the turning point in the whole narrative, the thought around which it clusters, in the words Deu_23:6. “The Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee.” Kurtz adopts substantially the same view. For the opposite view see Hengstenberg, History of Balaam.—A. G.]

[The question as to the moral character of Balaam is distinct from that as to the nature of his prophetic gift and position. They are not entirely disconnected questions; but the one is much more easily settled than the other. He could not of course be a good man and a false prophet; but he may have been a bad man and a true prophet. Such in fact he was. Morally Balaam comes before us as a man of keen insight and of wide culture, having broad glimpses of the truth, which seem to have grown clearer with his investigations, a heart susceptible to noble impulses, a conscience awakened, but not authoritative, with strong convictions of right and duty, which are yet sacrificed to the cravings of avarice and ambition; ever practically selling all his better impulses, his convictions and his conscience, for the sake of gain, and yet never doing it without a conscious and serious struggle. As to his prophetic position, he is not to be viewed, as Hengstenberg has fully shown, as a false prophet, a mere heathen seer, who was constrained by God against his own will to bless and not to curse Israel, nor, on the other hand, as a true and genuine prophet, who was only swept away by his avarice and ambition. There are elements of truth in both views; but neither of them is tenable in its exclusive form. “The truth lies,” to use the words of Kurtz, “in the midst. Balaam was in his present position both a heathen magician and a Jehovistic seer. He stood upon the border line between regions, which indeed lie contiguous, but in their nature and character are radically opposed to each other, and exclusive of each other. With one foot still upon the ground of heathen magic and soothsaying, he planted the other within the limits of the Jehovistic religion and prophecy.” The name he bears, קוֹסֵם, a soothsayer, which is never used to designate a true prophet of God; his parleying with the messengers, his seeking permission to go the second time; the eager pursuit of his covetous hopes, and especially his use of signs as the fit-ting and customary means to ascertain the will of God, which were never resorted to by the true prophet, are proofs that he still stood upon the old and lower ground; while his avowed claim to act as a prophet of Jehovah, his delay in going at Balak’s request, his answer to the second and more attractive embassy, and his reply to Balak’s indignant remonstrance because he had not cursed, but blessed Israel, Num_23:12, show that be had indeed in part crossed the border and stood within the region of the true prophets of Jehovah. The tidings of the great things which God had done for His people in Egypt, at the Red Sea, in the wilderness, which had been borne to him as the report spread through the nations, had doubtless led him to take a more decided stand. He probably hoped too to make greater gains if he appeared as a prophet of Jehovah.

Why he remained in this position; why he did not advance still more decidedly and completely into the new region which opened before him; or rather why attempting to stand upon the border-line, to unite and hold fast in himself that which differed so widely and irreconcilably, he ultimately went back to his old service, sank completely down to the lower level upon which he stood before, and into all the deeper darkness because he had turned away from the light, the progress of the history makes perfectly clear. It is just here that his moral character bears upon his prophetic position. He was not willing to part with his lusts. “He loved the wages of unrighteousness.” He could not bring himself to serve God with an undivided heart. It was no intellectual defect, nor any want of fitness for a higher calling, for the position of a true and genuine prophet, but his clinging to his lusts, his attempt to carry them over with him into the service of Jehovah, which restrained his progress. Through the call of Balak he was brought into a position at which he must decide “whether,” as Kurtz says, “the old heathen, or the new Jehovistic principle of life should rule within him, whether he should go on to the full, genuine, prophetic condition, or fall back upon the old stand-point, and in so doing fall of course into a more decided hostility towards Jehovah, towards the theocracy and the people of His choice. This development of circumstances, which serves for the glorifying of Jehovah, for the encouragement of Israel, for the discouragement of the enemies of Israel, has also for Balaam most momentous, indeed decisive importance. He fell. Covetousness and ambition were stronger in him than the desire for salvation.”—A. G.]

Sec. A. Num_22:1-8.

The Moabites, like the Edomites, had sold the Israelites bread and water while they were passing along their eastern border. But now when they saw them settling down in the dominion of Sihon, upon their northern border, the wounds of which were not yet healed, terror seized upon them. They excited the Midianites by appealing to their fears, lest the Israelites should lay waste all their green meadow-lands, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. They could not hope to conquer those who were victorious over the Amorites, against whom they had been unable to stand. Then Balak (whose name seems to be without significance) in consultation with the elders of Midian, strikes upon the diabolical thought, that he might perhaps secure the destruction of this mighty people through fanatical curses, through magical incantations; a thought suggested perhaps by Midianitish traders, to whom the reputation of Balaam, as a great magician and imprecatory prophet, was familiar. However confused may have been the prevalent conceptions in these regions as to supernatural agencies, so much is clear, that the reputation was in accordance with them. His father “called Beor (from בָּעַר) on account of the destructive power attributed to his curses.” The son of this fanatical destroyer (for the form Bosor, 2Pe_2:15, see Keil, who holds that it probably arose from the peculiar mode of pronouncing the guttural ע) is called Balaam, ensnarer or destroyer of the people. [Hengstenberg: “He bore the name as a dreaded wizard and conjurer, whether he received it at his birth as a member of a family in which this occupation was hereditary, or whether the name was given to him at a later period, when the fact indicated by the name had actually made its appearance.”—A. G.] Balaam understood well how to destroy the people not only with burning curses, but by the wily use of worldly and fleshly allurements. It must have been already known, too, that his powers and gifts were in the market, and could be purchased for gold or renown. Moses indeed may have despised the superstition of heathen antiquity that curses could actually work injurious results—a superstition which in some of its forms, reaches even to the present time, and therefore may have regarded the curses of Balaam as having no importance in themselves; but still as mere fanatical delusions they might produce injurious results, as they might inflame the Moabites, and dishearten and weaken the Israelites. [Balak who was king of the Moabites at that time. The words seem to intimate that he was not the hereditary king of Moab. If, as Bible Com. regards as probable, “the Midianitish chieftains had taken advantage of the weakness of the Moabites after the Amoritish victories to establish themselves as princes in the land, as the Hyksos had done in Egypt,” we see at once why Balak should have turned for counsel to the elders of Midian, and why he should have had such confidence in the power of Balaam—A. G.] Accordingly he sends messengers to Balaam with the rewards of soothsaying (Kosem the soothsayer), to Pethor, an unknown city, probably, according to Keil, a seat of Babylonian sages, if it was not rather the seat of monotheistic hermits, among whom the Semitico Abrahamic tradition was still preserved. Balak did not think that the curses of Balaam in themselves could destroy the Israelites; but he firmly believed that with the aid of this superstitious delusion he could so work upon the temper of both peoples, so animate his own people and the Midianites, and so discourage the people of God, as to secure the victory. [It is far more probable that Balak shared the belief, which, strange as it may seem to us, was common among the heathen, that persons like Balaam could by their sacrifices work upon the gods they served, and so determine and control their purposes and power. As Balaam was avowedly now the servant of Jehovah, the God of Israel, Balak doubtless hoped that if he could secure his influence, he would work upon Jehovah, and so change the current of events.—A. G.] Come curse me this people, for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall smite them and drive them out of the land.—As thou art the great curser, the highest adept in that great art, so thou canst with thy curses infuriate the Moabites and dispirit and confound the Israelites; then I can smite them. This people is come out of Egypt, he said, as if he knew nothing more of them. They cover the eye of the earth is his scornful expression. They abide over against me, as if he did not know that they did not wish any conflict with him. He will have revenge because the Israelites have conquered the Amorites his own enemies. Knobel, speaking of the belief in incantations, loses sight of the distinction between prophetic announcement of curses, and the mere incantation of common superstition and witchcraft. [Keil: “The fact that the Lord did not hearken to Balaam, but turned the curse into a blessing, is celebrated as a great favor to Israel. Deu_23:5; Jos_24:10; Mic_6:3, assumes that Balaam had power to bless and to curse. This power is not traced, it is true, to the might of heathen deities, but to the might of Jehovah, whose name Balaam confessed; but yet the possibility is assumed of his curse doing actual, and not merely imaginary harm to the Israelites.”—A. G.].

Balaam receives the messengers of Balak. As he acknowledges the name of Jehovah, he must have known at once that he could not curse the people of Jehovah. He invites them, however, to remain over night, assuring them that he will in the night receive instructions from Jehovah. He thus intimates that he expects his instructions in the form of nocturnal dream-visions, although this is not the only thing, upon which he relied as an interpreter of signs. He regards or presents as in doubt what he should have known at once. He tempts Jehovah; and thus he enters the path of perdition.

Footnotes:

[1]Heb. eye.

FIFTH DIVISION

ISRAEL’S FINAL PREPARATION DURING ITS RESIDENCE IN THE PLAINS (STEPPES) OF MOAB

Numbers 22-36

FIRST SECTION

Balak and Balaam, or the Curse as a Weapon against Israel Frustrated

Num_22:2 to Num_24:25

Survey: a. Balak’s resort to Balaam, Num_22:2-7. b. Balaam’s formal, but heartless opposition, Num_22:8-14. c. Balak’s’s second attempt, Balaam’s irresolution, and the beginning of God’s judgment upon him in the permission of the journey, Num_22:15-21. d. Balaam’s journey and his speaking ass, Num_22:22-40. e. The first blessing by Balaam, Num_22:41 to Num_23:10. f. The second blessing by Balaam, Num_23:11-26. g. Balaam’s apparent victory over temptation. His third and greater blessing. And as an appendix his angry announcement of judgment upon Moab and other enemies of Israel, at last upon all heathen, Num_23:26 to Num_24:25.

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

III. EVENTS IN THE PLAIN OF MOAB FACING THE LAND

1. Balak and Balaam and Balaam’s Parables

CHAPTER 22

1. Balak’s message to Balaam (Num 22:1-20)

2. The journey of Balaam (Num 22:21-35)

3. Balaam with Balak (Num 22:36-41)

The last section of the wilderness book begins with the story of Balak and Balaam. An enemy, the Gentile Balaam, has to speak the words of prophecy, predicting wonderful blessing and glory for the hosts of Israel. The advancing Israelites inspired terror and Balak (waster), the king of Moab, not willing to meet Israel in open battle, sent for Balaam (devourer of the people) to put his powerful magic spell upon Israel and curse them.

Balaam, originally a heathen magician of an ordinary class, was, very probably (like Jethro, Exodus 18) and Rahab (Joshua 2) conducted to the acknowledgement of Jehovah by the overpowering influence of the wonderful deeds of God in Egypt and in the wilderness, which made a deep impression on all of the surrounding nations (Exo 15:14; Jos 5:1). He resolved to serve Jehovah and to perform his enchantments henceforth in the name of Jehovah. Analogous instances in the New Testament occur in Mat 12:27; Act 19:13; and, particularly, in Acts, ch. 8, which relates the case of Simon the sorcerer, the Balaam of the New Testament. Such a combination of heathenish magic with the service of Jehovah, could not be permanent, and the experience of Balaam would necessarily soon compel him to abandon the one or the other. When the message of Balak reached him, the period of decision arrived--the test was applied, and Balaam was found wanting.

Balak send gifts to Balaam, but he declined the invitation as the result of divine instructions. He could not resist the second deputation, which was more imposing than the first. God gave him permission on the condition that he was to say nothing but what God would tell him. How God’s anger (not Jehovah, the covenant name) was kindled against him and the ass saw the angel of Jehovah, how the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and all the other details the reader will find in the text, so that a repetition here is not needed. Infidelity and higher criticism scoff at the incident of the speaking ass. One of their arguments is that the story of the speaking ass is disproven by the fact that Balaam carried on a conversation with the beast without expressing any astonishment at all at the occurrence. This is admirably answered by Augustinus: “Balaam was so carried away by his cupidity that he was not terrified by this miracle, and replied just as if he had been speaking to a man, when God, although He did not change the nature of the ass into that of a rational being, made it give utterance to whatever He pleased for the purpose of restraining his madness.” That the ass saw the angel of the Lord first, before Balaam saw him, does not present any difficulty at all.

Naturalists tell us that irrational animals have a much keener instinctive presentiment of many natural phenomena, such as earthquakes and storms, than man. The horses, for instance, sometimes will see dangers when the rider is entirely ignorant of what is ahead.

“Jehovah opened the mouth of the ass.” An omnipotent God can do this; why then should it be thought impossible? It is unbelief which makes objection to a miracle of this kind. If the occurrence did not happen, and must be classed as they Claim, with legends, what becomes of the inspiration of the New Testament? The Holy Spirit through Peter confirms the miracle (2Pe 2:15-16).

Balaam is used in the Epistle of Jude and in the corresponding testimony in the second Epistle of Peter (chapter 2) as well as in the message to Pergamos, as a type of the apostates in Christendom. “They ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward” (Jud 1:2). “Following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2Pe 2:15). They make merchandise of the things of God. They deny the Master, who bought them, and exercise a religious office for “filthy lucre’s sake.” We shall find additional information on this matter in the twenty-fifth chapter.

Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

BALAAM INVOKED

Num_22:1-19

WHILE a part of the army of Israel was engaged in the campaign against Bashan, the tribes remained "in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho." The topography is given here, as elsewhere, from the point of view of one dwelling in Canaan; and the locality indicated is a level stretch of land, some five or six miles broad, between the river and the hills. In this plain there was ample room for the encampment, while along the Jordan and on the slopes to the east all the produce of field and garden, the spoil of conquest, was at the disposal of the Israelites. They rested therefore, after their long journey, in sight of Canaan, waiting first for the return of the troops, then for the command to advance; and the delay may very likely have extended to several months.

Now the march of Israel had kept to the desert side of Moab, so that the king and people of that land had no reason to complain. But the campaign against the Amorites, ending so quickly and decisively for the invaders, showed what might have taken place if they had attacked Moab, what might yet come to pass if they turned southward instead of crossing the Jordan. And there was great dismay. "Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many; and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel." Manifestly it would have been unwise for Balak the king of the Moabites to attack Israel single-handed. But others might be enlisted against this new and vigorous enemy, among them the Midianites. And to these Balak turned to consult in the emergency.

By the "Midianites" we must understand the Bedawin of the time, the desert tribes which possibly had their origin in Midian, east of the Elanitic Gulf, but were now spread far and wide. On the borders of Moab a large and important clan of this people fed their flocks; and to their elders Balak appealed. "Now," he said, "shall this multitude lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field." The result of the consultation was not an expedition of war but one of a quite different kind. Even the wild Bedawin had been dismayed by the firm resolute tread of the Israelites, a people marching on, as no people had ever been seen to march, from far-away Egypt to find a new home. The elders of Moab and of Midian cannot decide on war; but superstition points to another means of attack. May they not obtain a curse against Israel, under the influence of which its strength shall decay? Is there not in Pethor one who knows the God of this people and has the power of dreadful malediction? They will send for him; Balaam shall invoke disaster on the invaders, then peradventure Balak will prevail, and smite them, and drive them out of the land.

There can be no doubt in what direction we are to look for Pethor, the dwelling-place of the great diviner. It is "by the River," that is to say, by the River Euphrates. It is in Aram, for thence Balaam says Balak has brought him. It is in "the land of the children of Amino," {Num_22:5} for such is the preferable translation of the words rendered "children of his people." The situation of Pethor has been made out. "At an early period in Assyrian research," says Mr. A.H. Sayce, "Pethor was identified by Dr. Hincks with the Pitru of the cuneiform inscriptions. Pitru stood on the western bank of the Euphrates, close to its junction with the Sajur, and a little to the north of the latter. It was consequently only a few miles to the south of the Hittite capital Carchemish. Indeed, Shalmaneser II tells us explicitly that the city was called Pethor by the Hittites. It lay on the main road from east to west, and so occupied a position of military and commercial importance." Originally an Aramaean town, Pethor had received, on its conquest by the Hittites, a new element of population from that race, and the two peoples lived in it side by side. The Aramaeans of Pethor called themselves "the sons of (the god) Ammo"; and, according to Mr. Sayce, Dr. Neubauer is right in explaining the name of Balaam as a compound of Baal with Ammi, which occurs as a prefix in the Hebrew names Ammiel, Amminadab, and others. It is also worthy of mention that the name of Balaks father-Zippor, or "Bird"-occurs in the notice, still extant, of a despatch sent by the Egyptian government to Palestine in the third year of Menephtah II.

It may be further said with regard to Mr. Sayces valuable work, that he does not attempt to deal particularly with the prophecies of Balaam. "They must," he says, "be explained by Hebrew philology before the records of the monuments can be called upon to illustrate them. It may be that the text is corrupt; it may be that passages have been added at various times to the original prophecy of the Aramaean seer; these are questions which must be settled before the Assyriologist can determine when it was that the Kenite was carried away captive, or when Asshur himself was afflicted."

The divination of which so great things were expected by Balak is amply illustrated in the Babylonian remains. Among the Chaldeans the art of divination rested "on the old belief in every object of inanimate nature being possessed or inhabited by a spirit, and the later belief in a higher power, ruling the world and human affairs to the smallest detail, and constantly manifesting itself through all things in nature as through secondary agents, so that nothing whatever could occur without some deeper significance which might be discovered and expounded by specially trained and favoured individuals." The Chaldeo-Babylonians "not only carefully noted and explained dreams, drew lots in doubtful cases by means of inscribed arrows, interpreted the rustle of trees, the plashing of fountains and murmur of streams, the direction and form of lightnings, not only fancied that they could see things in bowls of water, and in the shifting forms assumed by the flame which consumed sacrifices and the smoke which rose therefrom, and that they could raise and question the spirits of the dead, but drew presages and omens, for good or evil, from the flight of birds, the appearance of the liver, lungs, heart, and bowels of the animals offered in sacrifice and opened for inspection, from the natural defects or monstrosities of babies or the young of animals-in short, from any and everything that they could possibly subject to observation." There were three classes of wise men, astrologers, sorcerers, and soothsayers; all were in constant demand, and all used rules and principles settled for them by the so-called science which was their study.

We cannot of course affirm that Balaam was one of these Chaldeans, or that his art was precisely of the kind described. He is declared by the narrative to have received communications from God. There can, however, be no doubt that his wide reputation rested on the mystical rites by which he sought his oracles, for these, and not his natural sagacity, would impress the common mind. When the elders of Moab and Midian went to seek him they carried the "rewards of divination" in their hands. It was believed that he might obtain from Jehovah the God of the Israelites some knowledge concerning them on which a powerful curse might be based. If then, in right of his office, he pronounced the malediction, the power of Israel would be taken away. The journey to Pethor was by the oasis of Tadmor and the fords at Carchemish. A considerable time, perhaps a month, would be occupied in going and returning. But there was no other man on whose insight and power dependence could be placed. Those who carried the message were men of rank, who might have gone as ambassadors to a king. It was confidently expected that the soothsayer would at once undertake the important commission.

Arriving at Pethor they find Balaam and convey the message, which ends with the flattering words, "I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed." But they have to treat with no vulgar thaumaturgist, no mere weaver of spells and incantations. This is a man of intellectual power, a diplomatist, whose words and proceedings have a tone of high purpose and authority. He hears attentively, but gives no immediate answer. From the first he takes a position fitted to make the ambassadors feel that if he intervenes it will be from higher motives than desire to earn the rewards with which they presume to tempt him. He is indeed a prince of his tribe, and will be moved by nothing less than the oracle of that unseen Being whom the chiefs of Moab and Midian cannot approach. Let the messengers wait, that in the shadow and silence of night Balaam may inquire of Jehovah. His answer shall be in accordance with the solemn, secret word that comes to him from above.

Three of the New Testament writers, the Apostles Peter, John, and Jude, refer to Balaam in terms of reprobation. He is "Balaam the son of Beor who loved the hire of wrongdoing"; he "taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication"; he is the type of those who run riotously in the way of error for hire. Gathering up the impressions of his whole life, these passages declare him avaricious and cunningly malignant, a prophet who, perverting his gifts, brought on himself a special judgment. At the outset, however, Balaam does not appear in this light. The pictorial narrative shows a man of imposing personality, who claims the "vision and the faculty Divine." He seems resolute to keep by the truth rather than gratify any dreams of ambition or win great pecuniary rewards. It is worth while to study a character so mingled, in circumstances that may be called typical of the old world.

Did Balaam enjoy communications with God? Had he real prophetic insight? Or must we hold with some that he only professed to consult Jehovah, and found the answer to his inquiries in the conclusions of his own mind?

It would appear at first sight that Balaam, as a heathen, was separated by a great gulf from the Hebrews. But at the time to which the narrative of Numbers refers, if not at the period of its composition, the boundary line implied by the word "gentile" did not exist. Moses had clearly taught to the Hebrews ethical and religious truths which neighbouring nations saw very indistinctly; and the Israelites were beginning to know themselves a chosen race. Yet Abraham was their father, and other peoples could claim descent from him. Edom, for example, is in Numbers 20 acknowledged as Israels brother.

At the stage of history, then, to which our passage belongs, the strongly marked differences between nation and nation afterwards insisted upon were not realised. And this is so far true in respect of religion, that though the Kenites, a Midianite tribe, did not follow the way of Jehovah, Moses, as we have seen, had no difficulty in joining with them in a sacrificial feast in honour of the Lord of Heaven. If beyond the circle of the tribes any one, impressed by their history, attributing their rescue from Egypt and their successful march towards Canaan to Jehovah, acknowledged His greatness and began to approach Him with sacred rites, no doubt would have existed among the Hebrews generally that by such a man their God could be found and His favour won. The narrative before us, stating that Jehovah called Balaam and communicated with him, simply declares what the more patriotic and religious Israelites would have had no difficulty whatever in receiving. This diviner of Pethor had heard of Israels deliverance at the Red Sea, had followed with keen interest the progress of the tribes, had made himself acquainted with the law of Jehovah given at Sinai. Why, then, should he not worship Jehovah? And why should not Jehovah speak to him, make revelations to him of things still in the future?

So far, however, we touch only the beliefs, or possible beliefs, of the Israelites. The facts may be quite different. We are in the way of considering revelations of the Divine will to have been so uncommon and sacred that a man of very high character alone could have enjoyed them. If indeed God spoke to Balaam, it must have been in another way than to Abraham, Moses, Elijah. Especially since his history shows him to have been a man bad at heart, we are inclined to pronounce his consultation of God mere pretence; and as for his prophecies, did he not simply hear of Israels greatness and forecast the future with the prescience of a clear calculator, who used his eyes and reason to good purpose? But with this the gist of the Bible narrative cannot be said to agree. It seems to be certainly implied that God did speak to Balaam, open his eyes, unfold to him things far off in the future. Although many cases might be adduced which go to prove that an acute man of the world, weighing causes and tracing the drift of things, may show wonderful foresight, yet the language here used points to more than that. It seems to mean that Divine illumination was given to one beyond the circle of the chosen people, to one who from the first was no friend of God and at the last showed himself a malicious enemy of Israel. And the doctrine must be that any one who, looking beneath the surface of things, studying the character of men and peoples, connects the past and the present and anticipates events which are still far off, has his illumination from God. Further it is taught that in a real sense the man who has some conception of Providence, though he is false at heart, may yet, in the sincerity of an hour, in the serious thought roused at some crisis, have a word of counsel, a clear indication of duty, a revelation of things to come which others do not receive. Still we must interpret the words, "God said to Balaam," in a way which will not lift him into the ranks of the heaven-directed who are in any sense mediators, prophets of the age and the world. This man has his knowledge so far from above, has his insight as a true gift, receives the word of prohibition, of warning, veritably from a Divine source. Yet he does not stand in a high position, lifted above other men. The whole history is of value for our instruction, because as surely as Balaam received directions from God, we also receive them through conscience; because as he opposed God so we also may oppose Him in self-will or the evil mind. When we are urged to do what is right the urgency is Divine, as certainly as if a voice from heaven fell on our ears. Only when we realise this do we feel aright the solemnity of obligation. If. we fail to ascribe our knowledge and our sense of duty to God, it will seem a light thing to neglect the eternal laws by which we should be ruled.

Reaching Pethor the messengers of Balak state their request. Instead of going with them at once, as a false man might be expected to do, Balaam declares that he must consult Jehovah; and the result of his consultation is that he declines. In the morning he says to the princes of Moab, "Get you into your land, for Jehovah refuseth to give me leave to go with you." The question whether Israel was a fit subject for blessing or for cursing has been practically settled in his mind. When he lays the matter before Jehovah, as he knows Him through His law and the history of Israel, it is made unmistakable that no malediction is to be pronounced. But what, then, was the secret of Balaams delay, of his consultation of the oracle? If it had been an absolute determination to serve the interests of righteousness, he could now frame his reply to the princes in such a way that they would understand it to be final. He would not say demurely, "Jehovah refuseth to give me leave," for these words allow the belief that somehow the power to curse may yet be obtained. Balaam permits himself to hope that he will find some flaw in Israels relation to Jehovah which will leave room for a malediction. He delays, and professes to consult God, diplomatically, that even by the refusal his fame as a diviner acquainted with the Unseen Power may be established. And the answer he returns means that his own reputation is not to be hazarded by any divination which Jehovah will discredit.

Had not the future proceedings of Balaam cast their shadow back on his career and words, he might have been pronounced at the outset a man of integrity. The rewards offered him were probably large. We may believe that whatever reputation Balaam had previously enjoyed this embassy was the most important ever sent to him, the greatest tribute to his fame. And we would have been inclined to say, Here is an example of conscientiousness. Balaam might go with the princes at least, though he can pronounce no curse on Israel; but he does not; he is too honourable even to profess the desire to gratify his patrons. This favourable judgment, however, is forbidden. It was of himself, of his fame and position, he was thinking. He would not have gone in any case unless it had precisely suited his purpose. Understanding that Israel is not to be cursed, he manages so that his refusal shall enhance his own reputation.

Still, the small amount of sincerity there is in Balaam, superimposed on his self-love and diplomacy, is in contrast to the utter want of it which men often show. They are of a party, and at the first call they will make shift to denounce whatever their leaders bid them denounce. There is no pretence even of waiting for a night to have time for quiet reflection; much less any anxious thought regarding Divine providence, righteousness, mercy, by means of which duty may be discovered. It is possible for men to appear earnest defenders of religion who never go even as far as Balaam went in seeking the guidance of truth and principle. They pass judgments with a haste that shows the shallow heart. Tempted by some envious Balak within, even when no appeal is made, they set up as soothsayers and take on them to prophesy evil.

The messengers of Balak returned with the report of their disappointment; but what they had to say caused, as Balaam no doubt intended, greater anxiety than ever to secure his services. One who was so lofty, and at the same time so much in the secrets of the God Israel worshipped, was indeed a most valuable ally, and his help must be obtained at any price. Did he say that Jehovah refused to give him leave? Balak will assure him of rewards which no God of Israel can give, very great recompense, tangible, immediate. Other messengers are sent, more, and more honourable than the former, and they carry very flattering offers. If he will curse Israel, Balak the son of Zippor will do for him whatever he desires. Nothing is to hinder him from coming; neither the prohibition of Jehovah nor anything else.

The conduct of Balaam when he is appealed to the second time confirms the judgment it has been found necessary to pronounce on his character. He behaves like a man who has been expecting, and yet, with what conscience he has, dreading, the renewed invitation. He appears indeed to be emphatic in declaring his superiority to the offer of reward: "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more." The air of incorruptible virtue is kept. The Moabites and Midianites are to understand that they have to do with a man whose whole soul is set on truth. And the protestation would deceive us-only Balaam does not dismiss the men. Giving him all credit for an intention still to keep right with the Almighty, or, shall we say? allowing that he was too clever a man to imperil his reputation by intending a curse which would not be followed by any ill effects, we find immediately that he is unwilling to let the opportunity pass. He asks the messengers to tarry for the night, that he may again consult Jehovah in the matter. He has already seen the truth as to Israel, the promise of its splendid career. Yet he will repeat the inquiry, ask once more regarding the prospect he has distinctly seen. It is ambition that moves him, and perhaps, along with that, avarice. May he not be able to say something that will sound like a curse, something on which Balak shall fasten in the belief that it gives him power against Israel? It would, at all events, be a gratification to travel in state across the desert, to appear amongst the princes of Midian and Moab as the man after whom kings had to run.. And there was the possibility that without absolutely forfeiting his reputation as a seer of things to come he might obtain at least a portion of the reward. He will at all events do the messengers the honour of seeking another oracle for their sakes, though he dishonours the name of God from whom he seeks it.

It was possible for Balaam during the interval of the two embassies to recover himself. He was one who could understand integrity, who knew enough of the conditions of success to see that absolute consistency is the only strength. There was a straight way which he might have followed. But temptation pressed on him. Tired of the narrow field within which he had as yet exercised his powers, he saw one wider and more splendid open to him. The wealth was no small inducement. He was in the way of divining for reward; this was the greatest ever in his reach. And Balaam, knowing well how base and vain his pretext was, resigned his integrity, even the pretence of it, when he bade the messengers wait.

Yet was his fault a singular one? We cannot say that he showed extraordinary covetousness in desiring Balaks silver and gold. For the time, in the circumstances, scarcely anything else could be expected of a man like him. To judge Balaam by modern Christian rules is an anachronism. The remarkable thing is to find one of his class at all scrupulous about the means he employs to promote himself. We say that he was guilty of perverting conscience; and so he was. But his conscience did not see or speak so clearly as ours. And are not Christian men liable to have their heads turned by the countenance of those in a higher rank than their own, and to succumb to the enticement of great wealth? When they are asked to reconsider a decision they know to be right, do they never tamper with conscience? It is one of the commonest things to find persons nominally religious indulging in the same desires and acting in the same way as Balaam. But the earthly craving that makes any one go back to God a second time about a matter which ought to have been settled once for all, involves the greatest moral hazard. No human being, in any situation, has spiritual strength to spare. There is a point where he who hesitates casts the whole of his life into the balance. For young persons, especially, a great warning, often needed, lies here.

The fault of Balaam, a fault of which he could not fail to be conscious, was that of tampering with his inspiration. The insight he possessed-and which he valued-had come through his sincere estimate of things and men apart from any pressure brought to bear on him to take a side either for money or for fame. His mind using perfect freedom, travelling in a way of sincere judgment, had reached a height from which he enjoyed wide prospects. As a man and a prophet he had his standing through this superiority to the motives that swayed vulgar minds. The admission of sordid influences, whether it began with the visit of Balaks messengers or had been previously allowed, was perhaps the first great error of his life. And it is so in the case of every man who has found the strength of integrity and reached the vision of the true. The Christian who has held himself free from the entanglements of the world, refusing to touch its questionable rewards, or to be influenced by its jealousy and envy, has what may be called his inspiration, though it lifts him to no prophetic height. He has a clear mind, a clear eye. His own way is plain, and he can also see the crookedness of paths which others follow and reckon straight enough. He can go with a firm step and say fearlessly, "Be ye followers of me." But if the base considerations of gain and loss, of ease or discomfort, of the applause or enmity of other men, intrude, if even in a small way he becomes a man of the world, at once there is declension. He may not be ambitious nor covetous. Yet the withdrawal of his mind from its sole allegiance to God and the righteousness of God tells at once on his moral vision. It is clouded. The oracle becomes ambiguous. He hears two voices, many voices; and the counsels of his mind are confused. Like others, he now takes a crooked course, he feels that he has lost the old firmness of speech and action.

It is a sad thing when one who has felt himself "born to the good, to the perfect," who has gained the power that comes through reverence, and sees greater power before him, yields to that which is not venerable, not pure. The beginnings of the fatal surrender may be small. Only a throb of self-consciousness and satisfaction when some one speaks a word of flattery or with show of much deference prefers an astute request. Only a disposition to listen when in seeming friendship counsel of a plausible kind is offered, and milder ways of judging are recommended to lessen friction and put an end to discord. Even the strong are so weak, and those who see are so easily blinded, that no one can count himself safe. And indeed it is not the great temptations, like that which came to Balaam, we have chiefly to dread. The very greatness of a bribe and magnificence of an opportunity put conscience on its guard. Peril comes rather when the appeal for charity, or the casuistry of protesting virtue, sends one to reconsider judgment that has been solemnly pronounced by a voice we cannot mistake; when we forget that the matter is only rightly determined for men when it is clearly and irrevocably decided by the law of God, whatever men may think, however they may deplore or rebel.

"Thou and God exist-So think!-for certain; think the mass-mankind-Disparts, disperses, leaves thyself alone! Ask thy lone soul what laws are plain to thee-Thee and no other, -stand or fall by them! That is the part for thee: regard all else For what it may be-Times illusion."

Men in their need, in their sorrow, their self-esteem, would have the true man revoke his judgment, yield a point at least to their entreaties. He will do them kindness, he will show himself human, reasonable, judicious. But on the other side are those to whom, in showing this consideration, he will be unjust, declaring their honour worthless, their sore struggle a useless waste of strength; and he himself stands before the Judge. The one sure way is that which keeps the life in the line of the statutes of God, and every judgment in full accord with His righteousness.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

22:1 Following their victories over the Amorite kingdoms (21:21-35 and study note), Israel took up residence in the plains of Moab on the eastern side of the Jordan Valley, northeast of the Dead Sea and across the river from the oasis of Jericho. The Hebrews camped there until they crossed the Jordan to enter Canaan (Josh 3:1).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Being at Jericho, it was beyond Jordan: but where the Israelites were, it was on this side.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The children of Israel have at length finished their wanderings in the wilderness, out of which they went up (Num 21:18), and are now encamped in the plains of Moab near Jordan, where they continued till they passed through Jordan under Joshua, after the death of Moses. Now we have here,

I. The fright which the Moabites were in upon the approach of Israel, Num 22:2-4. They needed not to fear any harm from them if they knew (and it is probable that Moses let them know) the orders God had given to Israel not to contend with the Moabites, nor to use any hostility against them, Deu 2:9. But, if they had any notice of this, they were jealous that it was but a sham, to make them secure, that they might be the more easily conquered. Notwithstanding the old friendship between Abraham and Lot, the Moabites resolved to ruin Israel if they could, and therefore they will take it for granted, without any ground for the suspicion, that Israel resolves to ruin them. Thus it is common for those that design mischief to pretend that mischief is designed against them; and their groundless jealousies must be the colour of their causeless malice. They hear of their triumphs over the Amorites (Num 22:2), and think that their own house is in danger when their neighbour's is on fire. They observe their multitudes (Num 22:3): They were many; and hence infer how easily they would conquer their country, and all about them if some speedy and effectual course were not taken to stop the progress of their victorious arms: "They shall lick up or devour us, and all that are round about us, as speedily and irresistibly as the ox eats up the grass" (Num 22:4), owning themselves to be an unequal match for so formidable an enemy. Therefore they were sorely afraid and distressed themselves; thus were the wicked in great fear where no fear was, Psa 53:5. These fears they communicated to their neighbours, the elders of Midian, that some measures might be concerted between them for their common safety; for, if the kingdom of Moab fall, the republic of Midian cannot stand long. The Moabites, if they had pleased, might have made a good use of the advances of Israel, and their successes against the Amorites. They had reason to rejoice, and give God and Israel thanks for freeing them from the threatening power of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had taken from them part of their country, and was likely to overrun the rest. They had reason likewise to court Israel's friendship, and to come in to their assistance; but having forsaken the religion of their father Lot, and being sunk into idolatry, they hated the people of the God of Abraham, and were justly infatuated in their counsels and given up to distress.

II. The project which the king of Moab formed to get the people of Israel cursed, that is, to set God against them, who, he perceived, hitherto fought for them. He trusted more to his arts than to his arms, and had a notion that if he could but get some prophet or other, with his powerful charms, to imprecate evil upon them, and to pronounce a blessing upon himself and his forces, then, though otherwise too weak, he should be able to deal with them. This notion arose, 1. Out of the remains of some religion; for it owns a dependence upon some visible sovereign powers that rule in the affairs of the children of men and determine them, and an obligation upon us to make application to these powers. 2. Out of the ruins of the true religion; for if the Midianites and Moabites had not wretchedly degenerated from the faith and worship of their pious ancestors, Abraham and Lot, they could not have imagined it possible to do any mischief with their curses to a people who alone adhered to the service of the true God, from whose service they had themselves revolted.

III. The court which he made to Balaam the son of Beor, a famous conjurer, to engage him to curse Israel. The Balaam lived a great way off, in that country whence Abraham came, and where Laban lived; but, though it was probable that there were many nearer home that were pretenders to divination, yet none had so great a reputation for success as Balaam, and Balak will employ the best he can hear of, though he send a great way for him, so much is his heart upon this project. And to gain him, 1. He makes him his friend, complaining to him, as his confidant, of the danger he was in from the numbers and neighbourhood of the camp of Israel: They cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me, Num 22:5. 2. In effect he makes him his god, by the great power he attributes to his word: He whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed, Num 22:6. The learned bishop Patrick inclines to think, with many of the Jewish writers, that Balaam had been a great prophet, who, for the accomplishment of his predictions and the answers of his prayers, both for good and evil, had been looked upon justly as a man of great interest with God; but that, growing proud and covetous, God departed from him, and then, to support his sinking credit, he betook himself to diabolical arts. He is called a prophet (Pe2 2:16,) because he had been one, or perhaps he had raised his reputation from the first by his magical charms, as Simon Magus, who bewitched the people so far that he was called the great power of God, Act 8:10. Curses pronounced by God's prophets in the name of the Lord have wonderful effects, as Noah's (Gen 9:25), and Elisha's, Kg2 2:24. But the curse causeless shall not come (Pro 26:2), no more than Goliath's, when he cursed David by his gods, Sa1 17:43. Let us desire to have the prayers of God's ministers and people for us, and dread having them against us; for they are greatly regarded by him who blesseth indeed and curseth indeed. But Balak cannot rely upon these compliments as sufficient to prevail with Balaam, the main inducement is yet behind (Num 22:7): they took the rewards of divination in their hand, the wages of unrighteousness, which he loved, Pe2 2:15.

IV. The restraint God lays upon Balaam, forbidding him to curse Israel. It is very probable that Balaam, being a curious inquisitive man, was no stranger to Israel's case and character, but had heard that God was with them of a truth, so that he ought to have given the messengers their answer immediately, that he would never curse a people whom God had blessed; but he lodges the messengers, and takes a night's time to consider what he shall do, and to receive instructions from God, Num 22:8. When we enter into a parley with temptations we are in great danger of being overcome by them. In the night God comes to him, probably in a dream, and enquires what business those strangers had with him. He knows it, but he will know it from him. Balaam gives him an account of their errand (Num 22:9-11), and God thereupon charges him not to go with them, or attempt to curse that blessed people, Num 22:12. Thus God sometimes, for the preservation of his people, was pleased to speak to bad men, as to Abimelech (Gen 20:3), and to Laban, Gen 31:24. And we read of some that were workers of iniquity, and yet in Christ's name prophesied, and did many wondrous works. Balaam is charged not only not to go to Balak, but not to offer to curse this people, which he might have attempted at a distance; and the reason is given: They are blessed. This was part of the blessing of Abraham (Gen 12:3), I will curse him that curseth thee; so that an attempt to curse them would be not only fruitless, but perilous. Israel had often provoked God in the wilderness, yet he will not suffer their enemies to curse them, for he rewards them not according to their iniquities. The blessedness of those whose sin is covered comes upon them, Rom 4:6, Rom 4:7.

V. The return of the messengers without Balaam. 1. Balaam is not faithful in returning God's answer to the messengers, Num 22:13. He only tells them, the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you. He did not tell them, as he ought to have done, that Israel was a blessed people, and must by no means be cursed; for then the design would have been crushed, and the temptation would not have been renewed: but he, in effect, desired them to give his humble service to Balak, and let him know that he applauded his project, and would have been very glad to gratify him, but that truly he had the character of a prophet, and must not go without leave from God, which he had not yet obtained, and therefore for the present he must be excused. Note, Those are a fair mark for Satan's temptation that speak diminishingly of divine prohibitions, as if they amounted to no more than the denial of a permission, and as if to go against God's law were only to go without his leave. 2. The messengers are not faithful in returning Balaam's answer to Balak. All the account they give of it is, Balaam refuseth to come with us (Num 22:14), intimating that he only wanted more courtship and higher proffers; but they are not willing Balak should know that God had signified his disallowance of the attempt. Thus are great men wretchedly abused by the flatteries of those about them, who do all they can to prevent their seeing their own faults and follies.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

CHAPTER XXII

The Israelites pitch in the plains of Moab, 1.

Balak, king of Moab, is greatly terrified, 2-4;

and sends to Balaam, a diviner, to come and curse them, 5, 6.

The elders of Moab take a reward and carry it to Balaam, 7.

He inquires of the Lord, and is positively ordered not to go

with them, 8-12.

He communicates this to the elders of Moab, 13.

They return to Balak with this information, 14.

He sends some of his princes to Balaam with promises of great

honour, 15-17.

He consults God, and is permitted! to go, on certain conditions,

18-20.

Balaam sets off, is opposed by an angel of the Lord, and the

Lord miraculously opens the mouth of his ass to reprove him,

21-30.

Balaam sees the angel, and is reproved by him, 31-33.

He humbles himself, and offers to go back, 34;

but is ordered to proceed, on the same conditions as before, 35.

The king of Moab goes out to meet him, 36.

His address to him, 37.

Balaam's firm answer, 38.

Balak sacrifices, and takes Balaam to the high places of Baal,

that he may see the whole of the Israelitish camp, 39-41.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXII

Verse 1. And pitched in the plains of Moab] They had taken no part of the country that at present appertained to the Moabites; they had taken only that part which had formerly belonged to this people, but had been taken from them by Sihon, king of the Amorites.

On this side Jordan] On the east side. By Jericho, that is, over against it.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

XXII.

(1) In the plains of Moab.—The Arboth Moab extended from Beth Jeshimoth (the house of wastes) to Abel Shittim (the meadow of acacias) (Num_33:49), in the upper Arabah, the present Ghor. These plains had belonged to Moab, and, since the victory over the Amorites, were possessed by the Israelites.

On this side Jordan.—Better, alongside of the Jordan. It cannot be determined, from the use of the word eher, or me-eber, to which side of the Jordan reference is made. (See Num_32:19, where me-eber occurs twice, and is rendered in the Authorised Version on yonder side in the first case, and on this side in the second case. See Deu_1:1, and Note, and Isa_9:1, where Galilee is described by Isaiah as “beyond Jordan.”)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the children of Israel set forward,.... From the country of Bashan, where we read of them last, after they had conquered Og the king of it, and also Sihon king of the Amorites, and settled some of their tribes in both kingdoms; the particular place from whence they came hither, according to the account of their journeys, were the mountains of Abarim, Num 33:48,

and pitched in the plains of Moab the part of them they encamped in reached from Bethjesimoth to Abelshittim, Num 33:49,

on this side Jordan by Jericho; or Jordan of Jericho, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; a river that flowed near to Jericho, running between the plains of Moab and the plains of Jericho; according to Josephus (u) it was sixty furlongs, or seven miles and a half from Jericho; but, according to Jerome (w), it was but five miles: or rather, as some versions render it, "over against Jericho" (x); for Jericho was on the other side of the river Jordan, and the plains of Moab, or that part of them where Israel now pitched, were right against that city; and so Josephus says (y).

(u) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 4. (w) De locis Heb. fol. 87. G. (x) Sept. "ex opposito Heiricho", Tigurine version. (y) Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The plains - Hebrew ערבה ‛ărābâh; the word is the plural of that which is used to denote the whole depressed tract along the Jordan and the Dead Sea, and onward, where it is still called the Arabah (compare Num 21:4 note), to the Elanitic gulf.

On this side Jordan by Jericho - Rather, across the Jordan of Jericho, i. e., that part of Jordan which skirted the territory of Jericho. This form of expression indicates the site of the camp in its relation to the well-known city of Jericho. See Deu 1:1.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Plains. Septuagint, "to the west of Moab." These plains had formerly belonged to that people, but the Hebrews had lately taken them from Sehon, and intended now to pass over the Jordan. The Moabites, however, being jealous of their growing power, called in the aid of the Madianites, and of the magician Balaam, and, by their wanton provocation, brought destruction upon themselves. We know not exactly the extent of the dominions of the Moabites. They seemed to have lost the greatest part of the country north of the Arnon. Their last town and capital was Ar, chap. xxi. 13. Yet they still kept possession of Mount Phasga. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The plains of Moab still retained their ancient title, though they had been taken away from the Moabites by Sihon, and from him by the Israelites.

By Jericho, i.e. over against Jericho; or, near the passage over Jordan to Jericho, or its territories.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Balaam

The Israelites now enter upon the last stage of their journey to Canaan. They are within sight of the land of promise, being encamped at the northern end of the Dead Sea, near the mouth of the Jordan. Up to this point they have surmounted every obstacle and conquered the tribes on the east side of the river. But now, at the end of the journey, a graver danger faces them. Balak, king of Moab, finding that he cannot prevail against them with carnal weapons, has recourse to magical arts, hoping in this way to destroy them. He sends to the Euphrates for the famous magician Balaam to come and 'curse Israel.' As the sequel shows it is all in vain. Not even the powers of darkness can stop the victorious march of Jehovah's people. The whole incident is designed to show that Israel by the grace of God is proof, not only against the sword of the enemy, but also against the evil powers of the unseen world. There is no enchantment against Israel. God is for them, and nothing can be against them. They are able to wrestle, not only against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places.

1. The district in which the Israelites are encamped is called the plains of Moab, as it formed part of the territory of the Moabites before their conquest by the Amorites (Num_21:26). On this side Jordan] The Hebrew is 'beyond Jordan.' So RV: see on Num_21:13.

4. Elders of Midian] The home of the Midianites is usually supposed to have been within the Sinaitic peninsula towards the S. or SE.: see Exo_2:15; Exo_3:1. Here they are found to the E. of the Jordan, associated with the Moabites in their attempt to bar the progress of the Israelites: cp. Gen_36:35; Num_25:6. Their conquest is described in Numbers 31.

5. RV 'sent.. to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children,' etc. The 'River' is the Euphrates. The ancient Chaldeans and Babylonians, like the modern Arabs, had a firm belief in the existence and influenee of demons. They also believed that certain persons had the power of controlling these demons by means of magic spells and incantations, and these magicians or soothsayers were frequently employed to discover secrets, to foretell the future, to bless an undertaking, or bring ruin upon an enemy. Balaam's fame as a man of this sort had travelled far beyond the limits of his own land, as is shown by the embassy of the king of Moab: see on Exo_7:11.

7. Rewards of divination] the presents made to Balaam to secure his offices. In 2Pe_2:15; Balaam is said to have loved 'the wages of unrighteousness.'

8-21. Balaam, being warned by God in a dream, refuses to go; whereupon Balak sends a more pressing invitation with promise of a larger reward. Balaam hesitates, but at length yields, having received permission to go, but to speak only as God directs him.

8. Balaam has been blamed for hesitating here. This, however, is unjust. On the occasion of the first message from Balak he was honestly in doubt whether he ought to go or not, and it is to his credit that he would do nothing till he had learned what the mind of God was. It was otherwise, however, on the secoijd occasion (Num_22:19), when he dallied with the tempting offer, in the hope that God would change His purpose, and allow him to go and do as Balak wished. If the words the Lord, i.e. Jehovah, in this v. were really used by Balaam, and are not due to the historian, then it would appear that Balaam knew the God of Israel and worshipped Him. This is by no means impossible. Balaam lived in the land from which Abraham went out (see Gen_11:28-31; Gen_24:4-10), and he was no doubt aware of the history of Abraham's descendants, more especially if he was connected with the Midianites (see Num_31:8). It need occasion no surprise that God made use of this semi-heathen soothsayer to declare His will. It is but an illustration of the truth that the Spirit of God is not bound: cp. Amo_9:7. Throughout the whole incident Balaam appears as the somewhat unwilling medium whereby God chooses to confirm His unchangeable purpose towards Israel. He stands midway between the true prophet of Jehovah and the heathen magician or soothsayer.

12. They are blessed] see Gen_22:17-18; Num_6:27.

18. This is said in good faith. But Balaam is moved by the tempting offer of Balak; and, while He does not mean to disobey God, he is not without hopes of inducing God to change His mind. He does not yet know that Jehovah's 'kindness shall not depart nor His covenant of peace be removed.'

20. Balaam is allowed to go, but only on condition that he will speak the word that God gives him.

22-41. On the way Balaam receives a warning not to go beyond the word of the Lord.

22. God's anger was kindled because he went] This seems to contradict what is said in Num_22:20, that God gave him permission to go. But that permission was conditional. He might go, but he must speak only what is given him to say. Balaam gladly seizes the opportunity of going, for he is hankering after the reward. For the present he ignores the condition. In his heart he hopes to evade it and satisfy Balak. But God, who is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, sees the double-mindedness of Balaam, and gives him to know that there must be no trifling. Unless he really means to be obedient he must stay at home. On the 'angel of the Lord' see on Exo_3:2.

31. Opened the eyes of Balaam] Up to this point Balaam has been like a blind man. He has been determined to have his own way. But now he sees it is useless trying to deceive God or fight against Him. Like Saul he finds it is 'hard to kick against the pricks': cp. Act_9:4-6. The refusal of his erstwhile docile ass to carry him further is the God-employed means of bringing the obstinate prophet to his senses. How this was done it is vain to speculate. Some explain away the incident of the vision and the ass speaking e.g. as a dream which Balaam had before starting, or a vivid impression made upon him by the liveliness of his own thoughts; but evidently the writer of the narrative believed in the reality of both. In this he simply occupies the standpoint of his age.

34. Balaam is now convinced that it is useless hoping to satisfy Balak, and wishes simply to have nothing more to do with the matter. But this is not the will of God. Balaam must go as His messenger and bless His people.

40. Offered oxen] most probably in sacrifice. It was usual to offer sacrifice at the beginning of any momentous undertaking, or on the arrival of an important visitor: see Gen_31:54; 1Ki_19:21; 1Sa_16:5.

41. Baal] 'Owner' or 'lord'; the name of a deity, usually identical with the sun, and worshipped by a number of early Semitic tribes, including the Phœnicians. The place of worship was commonly the top of a hill. There was a sanctuary of Baal in this neighbourhood on Mt. Peor: see Num_25:3. The utmost part] Balak showed Abraham the whole extent of the Israelites, probably to justify his alarm at their presence, and exhibit the instant necessity of cursing this formidable army.

J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Balak and Balaam.

THE FIRST MESSAGE TO BALAAM 1-14.

While the main body of the people remained at Heshbon, they sent out a successful expedition against Jaazer and against Bashan. After the return of this expedition, or during its absence, the children of Israel left their quarters before Nebo and made the movement recorded in the first verse of this chapter. Hence this verse must not be connected directly with the last verse of chapter xxi, but with Num_22:31. This harmonizes Num_33:48. In this encampment by the Jordan, opposite to Jericho, the whole congregation was to be put to a severe test by the blandishments of a licentious polytheism, and Moses was to give a solemn recapitulation of the contents of the whole law as the completion of his mediatorial work before his death, being excluded from the Land of Promise by reason of his moral failure at the Waters of Strife. Num_20:12.

1. The plains of Moab are a narrow strip of land, scarcely six miles in breadth, lying along the eastern bank of the Jordan, opposite to the plains of Jericho. Here occurred the wonderful story of Balaam, “the grandest of all the episodes introduced into the Mosaic narrative,” and the promulgation of Deuteronomy. The plains, though recently conquered by the Amorites, still retained the name of Moab, its former possessor. The Dead Sea is on the south, Mount Pisgah on the southeast, the Gilead mountains on the east, and on the north, losing its specific name, it continues as the Valley of the Jordan to the Sea of Tiberias.

This side Jordan — The Hebrew is to be rendered on this side or on that side, according to the position of the speaker. The east side is meant throughout the Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua. See Jos_1:14, note.

Jericho — This is the first mention of “the city of palm trees.” For its geography, see Jos_2:1, note. After its miraculous overthrow it drops out of sight for more than four hundred years, when David appointed it as the place of retirement for his messengers until their “beards be grown.” [Possibly a small hamlet had sprung up near the site of the former city, to which, as to a very quiet secluded place, the spies were permitted to retire for awhile.] After another century Hiel braved the curse of Joshua and attempted to rebuild the city, and, in some way, suffered great domestic bereavement and sorrow. 1Ki_16:34, note. It. is mentioned again in 2Ch_28:5-16, as the scene of one of the most touching and humane acts to be found in the entire records of ancient or modern warfare, reflecting the highest honour upon the Israelites of the northern kingdom. Jericho is also the place where the wretched Zedekiah was defeated and witnessed the slaying of his sons and had his own eyes put out. And here Jesus gave sight to the blind.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the children of Israel set forward. Not necessarily after the defeats of Sihon and Og; it is quite as likely that this last journey was made while the armies were away on their northern conquests. And pitched in the plains of Moab. The Arboth Moab, or steppes of Moab, were those portions of the Jordan valley which had belonged to Moab perhaps as far north as the Jabbok. In this sultry depression, below the level of the sea, there are tracts of fertile and well-watered land amidst prevailing barrenness. (see on Num_33:49) On this side Jordan by Jericho. Rather, "beyond the Jordan of Jericho," wOjrey Deryl rbeme. On the phrase, "beyond the Jordan" ("Peraea"), which is used indifferently of both sides, the one by a conventional, the other by a natural, use, see on Deu_1:1. The Jordan of Jericho is the river in that part of its course where it flows past the district of Jericho.

Chapter 2Sa_8:2) In the division of the kingdom it fell to the share of Israel, with the other lands beyond Jordan, but the vicissitudes of the northern monarchy gave it opportunities to rebel, of which it successfully availed itself after the death of Ahab. (2Ki_1:1) Only in the time of John Hyrcanus (B.C. 129) was it finally subdued, and ceased to have an independent existence.

Edom was also conquered for the first time by David, and the people as far as possible exterminated. (1Ki_11:15, 1Ki_11:16) Nevertheless, it was able to shake off the yoke under Joram, (2Ki_8:20) and, although defeated, was never again subdued (see on Gen_27:40). The prophecies against Edom were indeed taken up again and again by the prophets (e.g., Obadiah), but we must hold that they were never adequately fulfilled, unless we look for a spiritual realization not in wrath, but in mercy. The later Jews themselves came to regard "Edom" as a Scriptural synonym for all who hated and oppressed them.

Amalek was very thoroughly overthrown by Saul, acting under the directions of Samuel, (1Sa_15:7, 1Sa_15:8) and never appears to have regained any national existence. Certain bands of Amalekites were smitten by David, and others at a later period in the reign of Hezekiah by the men of Simeon. (1Ch_4:39-43)

The prophecy concerning the Kenites presents, as noted above, great difficulty, because it is impossible to know certainly whether the older Kenites of Genesis or the later Kenites of 1 Samuel are intended. In either case, however, it must be acknowledged that sacred history throws no light whatever on the fulfillment of the prophecy; we know nothing at all as to the fate of this small clan. No doubt it ultimately shared the lot of all the inhabitants of Palestine, with the exception of Judah and Jerusalem, and was transplanted by one of the Assyrian generals to some far-off spot, where its very existence as a separate people was lost.

The "ships from the side of Cyprus" clearly enough represent in the vision of Balaam invaders from over the western seas, as opposed to previous conquerors from over the eastern deserts and mountains. That the invasion of Alexander the Great was not actually made by the way of Cyprus is nothing to the point. It was never any part of spiritual illumination to extend geographical knowledge. To Balaam"s mind the only open way from the remote and unknown western lands was the waterway by the sides of Cyprus, and accordingly he saw the hostile fleets gliding down beneath the lee of those sheltering coasts towards the harbours of Phoenicia. Doubtless the ships which Balaam saw were rigged as ships were rigged in Balaam"s time, and not as in the time of Alexander. But the rigging, like the route, belonged to the local and personal medium through which the prophecy came, not to the prophecy itself. As a fact it remains true that a maritime power from the West, whose home was beyond Cyprus, did overwhelm the older power which stood in the place and inherited the empire of Assyria. Whether the subsequent ruin of this maritime power also is part of the prophecy must remain doubtful.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Balak's fear of Israel, ver. 1-4. His message to Balaam, who refuses to come, ver. 5-14. On the second message he goes, ver. 15-21. He is rebuked by an angel, ver. 22-35. His interview with Balak, ver. 36-41.

The plains of Moab - Which still retained their ancient title, though they had been taken away from the Moabites by Sihon, and from him by the Israelites. By Jericho - That is, over against Jericho.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

After the defeat of the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, and the conquest of their kingdoms in Gilead and Bashan, the Israelites removed from the height of Pisgah, on the mountains of Abarim before Nebo (see at Num 21:20), and encamped in the "Arboth Moab (the steppes of Moab), on the other side of the Jordan of Jericho," i.e., that part of the Jordan which skirted the province of Jericho. Arboth Moab was the name given to that portion of the Arabah, or large plain of the Jordan, the present Ghor (see at Deu 1:1), which belonged to the territory of the Moabites previous to the spread of the Amorites under Sihon in the land to the east of the Jordan, and which probably reached from the Dead Sea to the mouth of the Jabbok. The site of the Israelitish camp is therefore defined with greater minuteness by the clause "beyond the Jordan of Jericho." This place of encampment, which is frequently alluded to (Num 26:3, Num 26:63; Num 31:12; Num 33:48, Num 33:50; Num 35:1; Num 36:13; Jos 13:32), extended, according to Num 33:49, from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim. Beth-jeshimoth (i.e., house of wastes), on the north-eastern desert border (Jeishimon, Num 21:20) of the Dead Sea, a town allotted to the tribe of Reuben (Jos 12:3; Jos 13:20), was situated, according to the Onom. (s. v.Beethasimou'th, Bethsimuth), ten Roman miles, or four hours, to the south (S.E.) of Jericho, on the Dead Sea; according to Josephus (bell. jud. iv. 7, 6), it was to the south of Julias (Livias), i.e., Beth-haram, or Rameh, on the northern edge of the Wady Hesban (see at Num 32:36), or in the Ghor el Seisabn, on the northern coast of the Dead Sea, and the southern end of the plain of the Jordan. Abel Shittim (השּׁטּים אבל), i.e., the acacia-meadow, or, in its briefer form, Shittim (Num 35:1), was situated, according to Josephus (Ant. iv. 8, 1), on the same spot as the later town of Abila, in a locality rich in date-palms, sixty stadia from the Jordan, probably by the Wady Eshtah to the north of the Wady Hesban; even if Knobel's supposition that the name is connected with אשׁטה = שׁטּה with א prost. should not be a tenable one. From Shittim or Sittim the Israelites advanced, under Joshua, to the Jordan, to effect the conquest of Canaan (Jos 3:1).

In the steppes of Moab the Israelites encamped upon the border of the promised land, from which they were only separated by the Jordan. But before this boundary line could be passed, there were many preparations that had to be made. In the first place, the whole congregation was to pass through a trial of great importance to all future generations, as bearing upon the relation in which it stood to the heathen world; and in the second place, it was here that Moses, who was not to enter Canaan because of his sin at the water of strife, was to bring the work of legislation to a close before his death, and not only to issue the requisite instructions concerning the conquest of the promised inheritance, and the division of it among the tribes of Israel, but to impress once more upon the hearts of the whole congregation the essential contents of the whole law, with all that the Lord had done for Israel, that they might be confirmed in their fidelity to the Lord, and preserved from the danger of apostasy. This last work of the faithful servant of God, with which he brought his mediatorial work to a close, is described in the book of Deuteronomy; whilst the laws relating to the conquest and partition of Canaan, with the experience of Israel in the steppes of Moab, fill up the latter portion of the present book.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Numbers 22 - 24

These three chapters form a distinct section of our book - a truly marvellous section, abounding in rich and varied instruction. In it we have presented to us, first, the covetous prophet; and, secondly, His sublime prophecies. There is something peculiarly awful in the case of Balaam. He evidently loved money - no uncommon love, alas! in our own day. Balak’s gold and silver proved a very tempting bait to the wretched man - a bait too tempting to be resisted. Satan knew his man, and the price at which he could be purchased.

If Balaam’s heart had been right with God, he would have made very short work with Balak’s message; indeed it would not have cost him a moment’s consideration to send a reply. But Balaam’s heart was all wrong, and we see him, in chapter 22 in the melancholy condition of one acted upon by conflicting feelings. His heart was bent upon going, because it was bent upon the silver and gold; But, at the same time, there was a sort of reference to God - an appearance of religiousness put on as a cloak to cover his covetous practices. He longed for the money; but he would fain lay hold of it after a religious fashion. Miserable man! most miserable! His name stands on the page of inspiration as the expression of one very dark and awful stage of man’s downward history. "Woe unto them," says Jude, "for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying of Core." Peter, too, presents Balaam as a prominent figure in one of the very darkest pictures of fallen humanity - a model on which some of the vilest characters are formed. He speaks of those "having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls; an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet." 2 Peter 2: 14-16.

These passages are solemnly conclusive as to the true character and spirit of Balaam. His heart was set upon money - "he loved the wages of unrighteousness," and his history has been written by the pen of the Holy Ghost, as an awful warning to all professors to beware of covetousness which is idolatry. We shall not dwell further upon the sad story. The reader may pause for a few moments, and gaze upon the picture presented in Numbers 22. He may study the two prominent figures, the crafty king, and the covetous self-willed prophet; and we doubt not he will rise up from the study with a deepened sense of the evil of covetousness, the great moral danger of setting the heart’s affections upon this world’s riches, and the deep blessedness of having the fear of God before our eyes.

We shall now proceed to examine those marvellous prophecies delivered by Balaam in the audience of Balak, king of the Moabites.

It is profoundly interesting to witness the scene enacted on the high places of Baal, to mark the grand question at stake, to listen to the speakers, to be admitted behind the scenes on such a momentous occasion. How little did Israel know or imagine what was going on between Jehovah and the enemy. It may be they were murmuring in their tents at the very moment in the which God was setting forth their perfection by the tongue of the covetous prophet. Balak would fain have Israel cursed; But, Blessed Be God, He will not suffer any one to curse His people. He may have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things; but He will not suffer another to move his tongue against them. He may have to expose them to themselves; but He will not allow a stranger to expose them.

This is a point of deepest interest. The great question is not so much what the enemy may think of God’s people, or what they may think about themselves, or what they may think of one another. the real - the All-important question is, What does God think about them? He knows exactly all that concerns them; all that they are; all that they have done; all that is in them. Everything stands clearly revealed to His all penetrating eye. The deepest secrets of the heart, of the nature, and of the life, are all known to him. Neither angels, men, nor devils know us as God knows us. God knows us perfectly; and it is with Him we have to do, and we can say, in the triumphant language of the apostle," If God be for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8) God sees us, thinks of us, speaks about us, acts towards us, according to what He Himself has made us, and wrought for us - according to the perfection of His own work. "Beholders many faults may find;" but, as regards our standing, our God sees us only in the comeliness of Christ; we are perfect in Him. When God looks at His people, He beholds in them His own workmanship; and it is to the glory of His holy name, and to the praise of His salvation, that not a blemish should be seen on those who are His - those whom He, in sovereign grace, has made His own. His character, His name, His glory, and the perfection of His work are all involved in the standing of those with whom He has linked Himself.

Hence, therefore, the moment any enemy or accuser enters the scene, Jehovah places Himself in front to receive and answer the accusation; and His answer is always founded, not upon what His people are in themselves, but upon what He has made them through the perfection of His own work. His glory is linked with them, and, in vindicating them, He maintains His own glory. He places himself between them and every accusing tongue. His glory demands that they should be presented in all the comeliness which He has put upon them. If the enemy comes to curse and accuse, Jehovah answers him by pouring forth the rich current of His everlasting complacency in those whom He has chosen for Himself, and whom He has made fit to be in His presence for ever.

All this is strikingly illustrated in the third chapter of the prophet Zechariah. There, too, the enemy presents himself to resist the representative of the people of God. How does God answer him? Simply by cleansing, clothing, and crowning the one whom Satan would fain curse and accuse, so that Satan has not a word to say. He is silenced for ever. The filthy garments are gone, and he that was a brand is become a mitred priest - he who was only fit for the flames of hell is now fitted to walk up and down in the courts of the Lord.

So also when we turn to the Book of Canticles we see the same thing. There the Bridegroom, in contemplating the bride, declares to her, "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." (Cant. 4: 7) She, in speaking of herself, can only exclaim "I am black." (Cant. 1: 5, 6) So also in John 13 the Lord Jesus looks at His disciples, and pronounces them "Clean every whit;" although, in a few hours afterwards, one of them was to curse and swear that he did not know Him. So vast is the difference between what we are in ourselves and what we are in Christ - between our positive standing and our possible state.

Should this glorious truth as to the perfection of our standing make us careless as to our practical state? Far away be the monstrous thought! Nay, the knowledge of our absolutely settled and perfect position in Christ is the very thing which the Holy Ghost makes use of in order to raise the standard of practice. Hearken to those powerful words from the pen of the inspired apostle, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. when Christ, our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members," &c. (Col. 1 - 5.) We must never measure the standing by the state, but always judge the state by the standing. To lower the standing because of the state, is to give the death-blow to all progress in practical Christianity.

The foregoing line of truth is most forcibly illustrated in Balaam’s four parables. To speak after the manner of men, we never should have had such a glorious view of Israel, as seen in "The vision of the Almighty" - "from the top of the rocks" - by one "having his eyes open," had not Balak sought to curse them. Jehovah, blessed be His name, can, very speedily, open a man’s eyes to the true state of the case, in reference to the standing of His people, and His judgement respecting them. He claims the privilege of setting forth His thoughts about them. Balak and Balaam with "all the princes of Moab" may assemble to hear Israel cursed and defied; they may "build seven altars," and "offer a bullock and a. lamb on every altar;" Balak’s silver and gold may glitter under the covetous gaze of the false prophet; but act all the powers of earth and hell, men and devils combined, in their dark and terrible array, can evoke a single breath of curse or accusation against the Israel of God. As well might the enemy have sought to point out a flaw in that fair creation which God had pronounced "very good," as to fasten an accusation upon the redeemed of the Lord. Oh! no; they shine in all the comeliness which He has put upon them, and all that is needed, in order to see them thus, is to mount to "the top of the rocks" - to have "the eyes open" to look at them from His point of view, so that we may see them in "the vision of the Almighty."

Having thus taken a general survey of the contents of these remarkable chapters, we shall briefly glance at each of the four parables in particular. We shall find a distinct point in each - a distinct feature in the character and condition of the people, as seen in "The vision of the Almighty."

In the first of Balaam’s wonderful parables, we have the marked separation of God’s people from all the nations, most distinctly set forth. "How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his."*

{*Poor, wretched Balaam! miserable man! He would fain die the death of the righteous. Many there are who would say the same; but they forget that the way" to die the death of the righteous" is to possess and exhibit the life of the righteous. Many - alas! how many - would like to die the death who do not live the life. Many would like to possess Balak’s silver and gold, and yet be enrolled amongst the Israel of God. Vain thought! Fatal delusion! We cannot serve God and Mammon.}

Here we have Israel singled out, and partitioned off to be a separated and peculiar people - a people who, according to the divine thought concerning them, were never, at any time, on any ground, or for any object Whatsoever, to be mingled with or reckoned amongst the nations. "The people shall dwell alone." This is distinct and emphatic. It is true of the literal seed of Abraham, and true Of all believers now. Immense practical results flow out of this great principle. God’s people are to be separated unto Him, not on the ground of being better than others, but simply on the ground of what God is, and of what He would ever have His people to be. We shall not pursue this point further just now; but the reader would do well to examine it thoroughly in the light of the divine word. "The people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." Numbers 23: 8, 9.

But if Jehovah, in His sovereign grace, is pleased to link Himself with a people; if He calls them out to be a separate people, in the world - to "dwell alone," and shine for Him in the midst of those who are still "sitting in darkness and the shadow of death," He can only have them in such a condition as suits Himself. He must make them such as He would have them to be - such as shall be to the praise of His great and glorious name. Hence, in the second parable, the prophet is made to tell out, not merely the negative, but the positive condition of the people. "And he took up his parable and said, rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless; and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought [not what hath Israel wrought?] Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain." Num. 23: 18-24.

Here we find ourselves on truly elevated ground, and on ground as solid as it is elevated. This is, in truth "The top of the rocks" - the pure air and wide range of "the hills," where the people of God are seen only in "the vision of the Almighty" - seen as He sees them, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing - all their deformities hidden from view - all His comeliness seen upon them.

In this very sublime parable, Israel’s blessedness and security are made to depend, not on themselves, but upon the truth and faithfulness of Jehovah. "God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent." This places Israel upon safe ground. God must be true to Himself. Is there any power that can possibly prevent Him from fulfilling His word and oath? Surely not. "He hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it." God will not, and Satan can not reverse the blessing.

Thus all is settled. "It is ordered in all things and sure." In the previous parable, it was, "God hath not cursed." Here it is, "He hath blessed." There is very manifest advance. As Balak conducts the money-loving prophet from place to place, Jehovah takes occasion to bring out fresh features of beauty in His people, and fresh points of security in their position. Thus it is not merely that they are a separated people dwelling alone; but they are a justified people, having the Lord their God with them, and the shout of a king among them. "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel." The enemy may say, "There is iniquity and perverseness there all the while." Yes, but who can make Jehovah behold it, when He Himself has been pleased to blot it all out as a thick cloud for His name’s sake? If He has cast it behind His back, who can bring it before His face "It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth?" God sees His people so thoroughly delivered from all that could be against them, that He can take up His abode in their midst, and cause His voice to be heard amongst them.

Well, therefore may we exclaim "What hath God wrought" It is not "What hath Israel wrought!" Balak and Balaam would have found plenty to do in the way of cursing, had Israel’s work been in question. The Lord be praised, it is on what He hath wrought that His people stand, and their foundation is as stable as the throne of God. "If God be for us, who can be against us" If God stands right between us and every foe, what have we to fear? If He undertakes, on our behalf, to answer every accuser, then, assuredly, perfect peace is our portion.

However, the king of Moab still fondly hoped and sedulously sought to gain his end. And, doubtless, Balaam did the same, for they were leagued together against the Israel of God, thus reminding us forcibly of the beast and the false prophet, who are yet to arise and play an awfully solemn part in connection with Israel’s future, as presented on the apocalyptic page.

"And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments [what a dreadful disclosure is here] but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in His tents, according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said, he hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision, of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath, as it were, the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies [terrible announcement for Balak!] and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee." Numbers 24: 1-9.

"Higher and higher yet" is surely the motto here. we may well shout "Excelsior," as we mount up to the top of the rocks, and hearken to those brilliant utterances which the false prophet was forced to give out. It was better and better for Israel - worse and worse for Balak. He had to stand by and not only hear Israel "blessed," but hear himself "cursed" for seeking to curse them.

But let us particularly notice the rich grace that shines in this third parable. "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!" If one had gone down to examine those tents and tabernacles, In "the vision" of man they might have appeared "Black as the tents of Kedar." But, looked at in ’the vision of the Almighty," they were "goodly," and whoever did not see them thus needed to have "his eyes opened" If I am looking at the people of God "from the top of the rocks," I shall see them as God sees them, and that is as clothed with all the comeliness of Christ - complete in Him - accepted in the Beloved. This is what will enable me to get on with them, to work with them, to have fellowship with them, to rise above their points and angles, blots and blemishes, failures and infirmities.* If I do not contemplate them from this lofty - this divine ground, I shall be sure to fix my eye on some little flaw or other, which will completely mar my communion, and alienate my affections.

{*The statement in the text does not, by any means, touch the question of discipline in the house of God. We are bound to judge moral evil and doctrinal error. 1 Cor. 5: 12, 13.}

In Israel’s case, we shall see, in the very next chapter, what terrible evil they fell into. Did this alter Jehovah’s judgement? Surely not. "He is not the son of men that he should repent." He judged and chastened them for their evil, because He is holy, and can never sanction, in His people, anything that is contrary to His nature. But He could never reverse His judgement respecting them. He knew all about them. He knew what they were and what they would do; but yet He said, "I have not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither have I seen perverseness in Israel. How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!" Was this making light of their evil? The thought were blasphemy. He could chasten them for their sins; but the moment an enemy comes forth to curse or accuse, He stands in front of His people and says, "I see no iniquity" - "How goodly are their tents"

Reader, dost thou think that such views of divine grace will minister to a spirit of Antinomianism? Far Be the thought! we may rest assured we are never further away from the region of that terrible evil than when we are breathing the pure and holy atmosphere of "the top of the rocks" - that high ground from whence God’s people are viewed, not as they are in themselves, but as they are in Christ - not according to the thoughts of man, but according to the thoughts of God. And, furthermore, we may say that the only true and effectual mode of raising the standard of moral conduct is to abide in the faith of this most precious and tranquillising truth, that God sees us perfect in Christ.

But we must take one more glance at our third parable. Not only are Israel’s tents seen to be goodly in the eyes of Jehovah, but the people themselves are presented to us as abiding fast by those ancient sources of grace and living ministry which are found in God. "As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters." How exquisite! How perfectly beautiful! And only to think that we are indebted to the godless confederacy between Balak and Balaam for those sublime utterances!

But there is more than this. Not only is Israel seen drinking at those everlasting well-springs of grace and salvation, But, as must ever be the case, as a channel of blessing to others. "He shall pour the water out of his buckets." It is the fixed purpose of God that Israel’s twelve tribes shall yet be a medium of rich blessing to all the ends of the earth. This we learn from such scriptures as Ezekiel 47 and Zechariah 14, on which we do not now attempt to dwell; we merely refer to them as showing the marvellous fullness and beauty of these glorious parables. The reader may meditate, with much spiritual profit, upon these and kindred scriptures; but let him carefully guard against the fatal system falsely called spiritualising, Which, in fact, consists mainly in applying to the professing church all the special blessings of the house of Israel, while, to the latter, are left only the curses of a broken law. We may rest assured that God will not sanction any such system as this. Israel is beloved for the fathers’ sakes; and "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Romans 11.

We shall close this section by a brief reference to Balaam’s last parable. Balak, having beard such a glowing testimony to Israel’s future, and the overthrow of all their enemies, was not only sorely disappointed, but greatly enraged; "And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; [?] But, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour. and Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold [the very thing his poor heart craved intensely,] I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I speak. And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. [This was coming to close quarters.] And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: he hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: [tremendous fact for Balaam!] there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth." Verse 10-17.

This gives great completeness to the subject of these parables. The top-stone is here laid on the magnificent superstructure. It is, in good truth, grace and glory. In the first parable we see the absolute separation of the people; in the second, their perfect justification; in the third, their moral beauty and fruitfulness; and, now, in the fourth, we stand on the very summit of the hills - on the loftiest crag of the rocks, and survey the wide plains of glory in all their length and breadth, stretching away into a boundless future. We see the Lion of the tribe of Judah crouching; we hear his roar; we see Him seizing upon all his enemies, and crushing them to atoms. The Star of Jacob rises to set no more. The true David ascends the throne of His father, Israel is pre-eminent in the earth, and all his enemies are covered with shame and everlasting contempt.

It is impossible to conceive anything more magnificent than these parables; and they are all the more remarkable as coming at the very close of Israel’s desert wanderings, during which they had given such ample proof of what they were - of what materials they were made - and what their capabilities and tendencies were. But God was above all, and nothing changeth His affection. Whom He loves, and as He loves, He loves to the end; and hence the league between the typical "beast and false prophet’’ proved abortive. Israel was blessed of God and not to be cursed of any. "And Balaam rose up, and went, and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way."

C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The First Invitation Refused

v. 1. And the children of Israel set forward and pitched in the Plains of Moab on this side Jordan, on the eastern side, by Jericho, for these rich bottom-lands had formerly been a part of Moabitis and were still called by the name of their former owners.

v. 2. And Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. The Moabites had not interfered with the children of Israel while the latter journeyed along their eastern border, but had even sold them bread and water, Deu 2:29. At the same time, they seem to have entertained the hope that the mighty nation of the Amorites would easily overcome the invaders. This expectation was now rudely shattered.

v. 3. And Moab was sore afraid of the people because they were many; and Moab was distressed, filled with a sickening terror even to the point of nausea, because of the children of Israel.

v. 4. And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, the two nations evidently being allies, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us as the ox licketh up the grass of the field, for that is the impression which one receives, since cattle will sometimes crop off the grass to its very roots. The word carries with it the idea of complete destruction. And Balak, the son of Zippor, was king of the Moabites at that time, as Moses notes for the sake of historic accuracy and completeness.

v. 5. He sent messengers, therefore, as the sequel shows, at the suggestion of his Midianitish allies, who may have learned of Balaam’s reputation on their journeys, unto Balaam, the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, probably near the Euphrates, in Mesopotamia, to call him, saying. Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt; behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me (note the variation of the same thought for the sake of emphasis);

v. 6. come now, therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people, afflict them with an evil which will render them powerless; for they are too mighty for me; peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I wot (know) that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. This was the reputation which Balaam had in all the surrounding countries, and this fact is noted in the message, in order to make Balaam willing to grant the request.

v. 7. And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand, for the rich presents were to induce Balaam to come all the more readily. And they came unto Balaam and spake unto him the words of Balak. Balaam was not a common wizard, indulging in cheap tricks and sleight-of-hand performances for the purpose of awing the multitude. He was, indeed, engaged in the business of divination, of soothsaying, but he knew also of the true God, for the tradition of the God of Abraham, of the true, living God, had been handed down in many branches of the family of Shem. That Balaam was well known among the Midianites of this section of Arabia (to be distinguished from the Midianites of the Sinaitic Peninsula) appears from the fact that he afterward gave the heathen the advice which plunged Israel into idolatry and immorality, and almost brought about their ruin, Num 31:16; Rev 2:14.

v. 8. And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me, for he knew that the God of Israel was the true God and feared to do anything contrary to His will. And the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. The false prophet was merely trying to put off the time when he must refuse, since he knew that the Lord would never consent to a curse upon His people, but also since the reward in the hands of the messengers was a powerful argument to his avaricious soul.

v. 9. And God came unto Balaam, He manifested Himself to him in some form, probably in a dream during the night, and said, What men are these with thee? The purpose of the searching question was to make Balaam realize the peril of his position in dealing with the messengers at all.

v. 10. And Balaam said unto God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying,

v. 11. Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt which covereth the face of the earth; come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out. Balaam was careful to tell the Lord the whole truth, since he feared His almighty power.

v. 12. And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them’; thou shalt not curse the people, for they are blessed, and therefore all statements which were intended for curses would have no effect.

v. 13. And Balaam rose up in the morning and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land; for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you. This was a cunning way of putting it, for it withheld that part of God’s message which might have broken off the negotiations definitely, and at the same time conveyed to the messengers of Balak the feeling of Balaam that personally he was not at all disinclined to come. The men undoubtedly understood the position and the inclination of Balaam, as the sequel shows.

v. 14. And the princes of Moab rose up; and they went unto Balak and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us, thus intimating that it was merely a greater reward which was needed to produce the desired effect. Note that the power of soothsaying and of its curses is not denied in this story, just as it is elsewhere recorded with gratitude that the Lord turned the curse into a blessing, Deu 23:5; Jos 24:10; Mic 6:5; Neh 13:2. With God’s permission the power of witchcraft is very great and should not be made a subject of foolish jesting. Satan is a powerful spirit, and his tools in this world often do great damage.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Num 22:18

This was a brave answer, but it was spoilt by what Balaam added: "Tarry ye here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more." As if God were likely to change His mind! The word "tarry" was a clear tampering with the voice of God. Balaam met his death at the hands of the people whom he had betrayed into sin. We may learn the following lessons from his life:—

I. The first is to beware of tampering with conscience. When we are tempted, conscience stands in the way as an adversary, flashes before us some great word of God, forbidding us to do what we were bent on doing. Well for us if we do not struggle with that angel adversary, if, at the sight of his glittering sword, we bow down and say, "I have sinned"!

II. We learn from the life of Balaam how vain are good wishes when separated from good actions. We must live the life of the righteous if we would die the death of the righteous.

"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." But such a death must be preceded by a life "in the Lord."

R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 3rd series, p. 109.

Reference: S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 178.

Num 22:20-22

In the story of Balaam we have a seeming contradiction. God said, "If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them," and yet "God’s anger was kindled because he went." How can these things be?

I. When God sent this message to Balaam, it was not the first time that Balaam had sought an answer from God on this very subject of whether he should go or not. Something had made him fear to go and speak the bitter curse till he had learned the pleasure of God. His wishes may well be supposed to have been all in one direction; his conscience alone restrained him. In the night came a message from God: "Thou shalt not go." But Balaam persuaded himself that what was wrong yesterday might be right to-day, and that what was God’s will at one time might not be God’s will at another. God answered the fool according to his folly, and as the wretched man had dared to think of tampering with God, God rewarded him (if we may use the word) by tampering with him. God suffered him to "believe a lie." The lie was but the reflection of the wishes that were lording it in the heart of Balaam, and to these wishes God for a time gave him over.

II. Men are doing precisely as Balaam did every day. Temptation to self-aggrandisement of various kinds comes before us; the only condition is a course of action about the lawfulness of which we, are in doubt. We look to see if for some little swerving from the rigorous path of virtue some excuse may not be found. We ask for guidance, perchance with a divided heart, and then, if God speaks to us at all, it is a voice which speaks to a conscience that has become confused and a judgment that has suffered itself to be dispirited, and though the voice may seem to be the voice of God, it is indeed only a lie.

A. Jessopp, Norwich School Sermons, p. 149.

References: Num 22:20-22.—T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. vi., p. 39. Num 22:22-35.—Parker, vol. iii., p. 315. Num 22:22-36.—Expositor, 2nd series. vol. v., p. 120 Num 22:23.—A. Watson, Christ’s Authority, and Other Sermons, p. 284. Num 22:26.—C. J. Vaughan, My Son, Give Me thine Heart, p. 61; Sermons/or Boys and Girls, 1880, p. 376. Num 22:27.—S. Baring-Gould, The Preacher’s Pocket, p. 167. Num 22:28-30.—Expositor, 1st series, vol. i., p. 366; vol. viii., p. 397; Parker, Christian Chronicle, April 2nd and 9th, 1885; S. Greg, A Layman’s Legacy, p. 244. Num 22:34.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii., p. 113. Num 22:34, Num 22:35.—F. W. Robertson, Sermons, 4th series, p. 34; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. v., p. 316. Num 22:37.—Parker, vol. iv., p. 59.

Num 22:38

The first and most general account of Balaam would be this: that he was a very eminent person in his age and country, that he was courted and gained by the enemies of Israel, that he promoted a wicked cause in a very wicked way, that he counselled the Moabites to employ their women as a means of seducing the chosen people into idolatry, and that he fell in battle in the war which ensued. Yet when we look into Balaam’s history closely, we shall find points of character which may well interest those who do not consider his beginning and his end.

I. He was blessed with God’s especial favour. Not only had he the grant of inspiration and the knowledge of God’s will, an insight into the truths of morality clear and enlarged, such as we Christians cannot surpass, but he was even admitted to conscious intercourse with God, such as we Christians have not.

II. Balaam was, in the ordinary sense of the word, a very conscientious man. He prayed before taking a new step. He strictly obeyed the commands of God. He said and he did; he acted according to his professions. He showed no inconsistency in word or deed.

III. The strange thing is that while he so spoke and acted, he seemed as in one sense to be in God’s favour, so in another and higher to be under His displeasure. Balaam obeyed God from a sense of its being right to do so, but not from a desire to please Him, not from fear and love. His endeavour was, not to please God, but to please self without displeasing God, to pursue his own ends as far as was consistent with his duty. Hence he was not content with ascertaining God’s will; he attempted to change it. His asking twice was tempting God. As a punishment God gave him leave to ally himself with His enemies and take part against His people.

IV. The following reflections are suggested by the history of Balaam: (1) We see how little we can depend in judging of right and wrong on the apparent excellence and high character of individuals. (2) We sin without being aware of it, yet wrath is abroad and in our paths. (3) When we have begun an evil course, we cannot retrace our steps. (4) God gives us warnings now and then, but does not repeat them. Balaam’s sin consisted in not acting on what was told him once for all.

J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. iv., p. 18; also Selection from the same, p. 319.

References: Num 22—Parker, vol. iii., p. 303. Num 22-24.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 353; Parker, vol. iii., pp. 322, 331. Num 22-25.—W. M. Taylor, Moses the Lawgiver, p. 388; J. Monro Gibson, The Mosaic Era, p. 295. Num 23:1-26.—Expositor, 2nd series, vol. v., p. 199.

The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

on the other side of the Jordan River from the city

The Israelites were camped on the east side of the Jordan River. Jericho was on the west side of the river.

translationWords

people group

Israel

Moab

Jericho

Jordan River

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.