Numbers 22–24

Moses and the children of Israel sang their song of triumph on the shores of the Red Sea. They said: "The peoples have heard; they tremble … trembling seizes the leaders of Moab … terror and dread fall upon them" (Ex. 15:14-16). This came true to the letter forty years later, when the King of Moab and his people saw the Lord's pilgrim host camped on their borders. In the camp of Israel there were 601,730 men able to carry arms. With women and children there were probably at least three million souls — a vast company. Balak was alarmed; all the more because Israel had just destroyed three military powers that dared to oppose their march.

There was no real need for Moab to fear Israel. God was not giving the inheritance of the children of Esau or that of the children of Lot to Israel (Deut. 2:5, 9, 19). The hostility toward God's people was not because of anything Israel had done, or threatened to do, to Moab. Balak does not seem to have expected any attack from Israel either. He said to the elders of Midian, "This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field" (Num. 22:4). Moab did not like the thought of having God's people as their neighbours, and they wanted to get rid of them.

Moab could have claimed kinship with Israel. Abraham and Lot were relatives, and Abraham rescued Lot out of his position in Sodom. But the likeness stopped there. Abraham's sons in the line of faith began with Isaac, who was born to him by a miracle. They were all men of faith and men of power with God. Lot's descendants, Moab and Ammon, were the persistent enemies of Israel. They proved it at every moment of Israel's testimony.

Balak and his people had little idea that their hostility toward God's people was hostility against God Himself. Balak only thought of "a people come out of Egypt"; but the faith of Rahab said, "we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt" (Joshua 2:10). Forty years had passed since that great event, but Rahab still had not forgotten the mighty power of Israel's God.

Balak saw, feared, and hated this people. He was aware that a power greater than his own was leading them, and he lost all confidence in his own might. He seemed to know that no merely human arm could destroy this people. So he does not march out as Amalek, Sihon, and Og did with their armies… But is there not a power on his side? Yes — and he calls on Baal-Peor through Balaam his prophet.

Moab pictures the comfortable, self-satisfied man of the world — "at ease from his youth and settled on his dregs" (Jer. 48:11), and proud and arrogant as a result (Isa. 16:6). God's saints today need not envy such people, for they have a better and more lasting portion.

How little did Israel know or imagine what was going on between the Lord and the enemy. It may be that they were grumbling in their tents at that very moment. Meanwhile God was setting out their perfection through the tongue of the covetous prophet. Balak would gladly have Israel cursed; but, blessed be God, He will not allow anyone to curse His people. He may have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things. But He will not allow another to move his tongue against them.

There was really no need for Moab to fear Israel. God was not giving Israel the inheritance of Esau's descendants or of Lot's descendants (Deut. 2:5, 9, 19). The enmity towards God's people was not because of anything that Israel had done, or threatened to do, to Moab. Nor does it appear that Balak expected any attack from Israel... Moab did not like the thought of having God's people as their neighbours, and they wanted to get rid of them.

When Moses and the children of Israel sang their song of triumph on the shores of the Red Sea, they said, "The peoples have heard; they tremble … the leaders of Moab, trembling seizes them … Terror and dread fall upon them" (Ex. 15:14-16). This came true to the letter when the king of Moab and his people saw the Lord's pilgrim host camped on their borders forty years later. In Israel's camp there were 601,730 men able to carry arms. With women and children there were probably at least three million people — a huge company. Balak was alarmed, all the more because Israel had recently destroyed three military powers that had dared to oppose their march.

When people are in trouble, the right thing is to turn to God in prayer. God cares about the affairs of nations as truly as He cares about the troubles and sorrows of individual men and women. But Balak knew nothing of God.

"Balak" seems to mean "waster." The name looks like a deliberate contrast with his family line, since he was only ben-Zippor, "son of a sparrow." What grand titles men take to cover their real insignificance! And they glory far more in the power to destroy — in being a Caesar or a Napoleon — than in the angels' message of peace and goodwill!

He was terrified. The fate of the Egyptians and the Amorites seemed to foretell his own. So his heart filled with fear and hatred, and he wanted to oppose and curse Israel. He allied himself with the elders of Midian. It is nothing less than the history of anti-Semitism in a nutshell. Non-Jewish nations, Christian in name, still hate and fear this people. No Pharaoh and no fortune-teller could overcome them. They are disobedient, judged and suffering, yet always conquering.

Moab, as we know, was a blood relation of Israel. He was descended from Lot, who was a relative of Abraham. So the Moabites were the natural kinsmen of the Israelites. Lot's tie to Abraham was largely a natural, fleshly one. In his descendants' case it was entirely fleshly. Israel had no more bitter and relentless enemies than these Moabites and Ammonites — their own relatives.

Balak and his people had no idea that their hostility towards God's people was enmity against their God. By sending for Balaam to curse God's people, Balak challenged the mighty God of Jacob. God was not slow to accept that challenge. There is no word in Balak's message to Balaam of any evil purpose against him... Balak did not, as Rahab did, connect Israel's coming out of Egypt with the Name of the Lord.

The King of Moab and his people saw Jehovah's travelling host camped on their border. In the camp of Israel there were 601,730 men able to carry arms. With women and children there were probably at least three million people. Balak was alarmed. He was all the more alarmed because Israel had just destroyed three military powers that dared to oppose their march: the King of Arad, Sihon King of Heshbon, and Og King of Bashan. Sihon had earlier fought a successful war with Moab and taken some of her land. How then could Balak hope to stand against a nation which had destroyed his powerful neighbour? When men are in trouble, the proper thing is to turn to God in prayer. He cares about the affairs of nations as much as He cares about the troubles and sorrows of individual men and women. But Balak knew nothing of God.

He was not satisfied that military power would be enough to withstand the conquerors of Sihon and Og. So he sent messengers to a well-known soothsayer — Balaam the son of Beor, who lived in Mesopotamia. Outsiders were already crediting Israel's victories to divine power... In sending for Balaam, Balak sought to oppose the supernatural by the supernatural. People said this Mesopotamian prophet had influence with the invisible world.

"Balak" seems to mean "waster." The name looks like a deliberate contrast with his family line, since he is only ben-Zippor, "son of a sparrow." What grand titles men take to cover how small they are! Balaam the son of Beor matches this Balak in every way. He is a "devourer of the people," son of the "consumer." Men sought him out for his skill in cursing, and he was ready to take a bribe and destroy a whole nation. No doubt he claims loyalty to Jehovah, but he has no real knowledge of Him, as his actions show. In his efforts to destroy the people of God, you cannot even say he hates them. He would destroy them in cold blood, for money.

He knew that the people had come out of Egypt. He was very afraid. The fate of the Egyptians and Amorites seemed to foretell his own. So fear and hatred fill his heart, and he wanted to oppose and curse Israel. It is nothing less than the history of anti-Semitism in a nutshell. Nations that call themselves Christian still hate and fear this people, whom no Pharaoh and no soothsayer could overcome — a people disobedient, judged and suffering, yet always conquering.

If Balaam's heart had been right with God, he would have dealt with Balak's message at once. It would not have cost him a moment's thought to send a reply. But Balaam's heart was all wrong... His heart was set on going, because it was set on the silver and gold. But at the same time he made some reference to God — an appearance of religion put on as a cloak to cover his greed. He longed for the money; but he wanted to get hold of it in a religious way.

The people of Jehovah were now in grave danger. They had been ungrateful and disobedient all through their wilderness journey. They did not know about the danger, so they did not pray to God about it. But Jehovah Himself took the matter up, and there we are reminded of His unchanging favour. He loved the people, despite all that they were, and He would not allow the enemy to harm them.

There was no need for Moab to fear Israel. God was not giving Israel the inheritance of the children of Esau or that of the children of Lot (Deut. 2:5, 9, 19). The hostility toward God's people was not because of anything Israel had done, or threatened to do, to Moab. Balak does not seem to have expected any attack from Israel. He said to the elders of Midian, "This horde will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field" (Num. 22:4). Moab did not like the thought of having God's people as their neighbours, and they wanted to get rid of them.

We see the hostility of the world against the people of God brought out, and especially against the power of the people of God. God's power was with His people, and this drew out the hostility of Satan. … When that happens, Satan seeks to force others into open opposition to the people of God. Their presence becomes unbearable to their enemies.

He was not satisfied that military power would be enough to withstand the conquerors of Sihon and Og. So he sent messengers to a well-known soothsayer — Balaam the son of Beor, who lived in Mesopotamia. Outsiders were already crediting Israel's victories to divine power… In sending for Balaam, Balak sought to oppose the supernatural by the supernatural. People believed the Mesopotamian prophet had influence with the invisible world.

Balak is in complete and all-distorting darkness. First Israel was forbidden to touch Moab. Next he says, "He whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." He was seeking to bring the curse on Israel when God had said, "Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you." So he was simply bringing it on himself.

Balaam clearly had a great name among men. Balak had said, "I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." But before God he was perverse, self-willed, covetous, and an enemy of His people. There was great religious pretence — the claim to be a servant of the true God — but he was a wicked and foolish man… The same features are not hard to see in some people today. They appear great in the eyes of men, yet they are still perverse, rebellious and foolish.

Balak sends for Balaam. The great question in this moving scene is this: "Can Satan succeed in cursing the people of God, so as to stop their entrance into the land of promise?" It is not merely a question of redemption and of the joy of redemption at the beginning of their course. The question comes at the end, when all their unfaithfulness has come out — their unfaithfulness even after the Lord has brought them to Himself. Can Satan succeed then? No.

Moses told the people about the danger that had threatened them. He said: "They hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you" (Deut. 23:4-5). Precious words — "because the LORD your God loved you!"

Balak imagined that he could enlist the aid of Balaam, an agent of Satan, to overcome them. He did not realise that poor Israel could never have been delivered out of Egypt, or brought through their forty years in the wilderness, without their God. It is clear that Balak knew he was sending his princes to one who was in touch with the forces of evil, for they had "the rewards of divination in their hand".

Ever since man was driven out of Eden, he has been restless. He is never more restless than when he is in trouble, or when he thinks he sees trouble approaching. He searches north, south, east, and west for help, or for a way of escape. So Balak took alarm when the people of Israel came close to his borders. He sent messengers to neighbouring kingdoms seeking alliances. He also sent messengers to Mesopotamia to bring the famous diviner Balaam. He would have done better to get down before God, who never turns aside the requests of those who feel their need of Him.

In Numbers 22:7 we read of the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian, so the term was not confined to Israel. The word is saqen, which implies "aged man"; they were no doubt also men of repute.

Balaam no doubt was a Midianite, and there was an intimate connection between the Moabites and the Midianites. At the first Balak consulted the elders of Midian, and the elders of both Moab and Midian went together to seek the aid of Balaam and his sorceries.

Balak's messengers went to Mesopotamia "with the rewards of divination in their hands". Balak knew that the false prophet "loved the wages of unrighteousness" (2 Peter 2:15), so he sought to make sure of him by sending "cash in advance!" But the treacherous deceiver brought Jehovah's name into it. He lodged the messengers for the night, pretending to seek the mind of God.

If Balaam's heart had been right with God, he would have made very short work of Balak's message. A reply would not have cost him a moment's thought. But Balaam's heart was all wrong, and we see him in chapter 22 in the sad condition of a man pulled by conflicting feelings. His heart was bent on going, because it was bent on the silver and gold. Yet at the same time he still made some reference to God. It was an appearance of religion put on as a cloak to cover his greedy practices. He longed for the money, but he wanted to get hold of it in a religious way.

Balaam, who used enchantments, had to confess, "Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel." Balak sent the elders of Moab and Midian to him "with the rewards of divination in their hand". And when Balaam claimed to go and meet Jehovah, he went "to seek for enchantments" (Num. 24:1). No natural power could overcome the people of God. No power of Satan could prevail against them either.

They have followed the way of Balaam. There is nothing original about their performances. They follow a well-beaten track first trodden by Balaam of infamous memory, who sold his prophetic gifts for money. He was not the first person to prophesy for money; that has always been a custom in religions that worship idols. But he appears to have been the first to offer to prophesy for money in the name of the Lord. With Balaam the supreme question was "Will it pay?"

But Balaam claimed to be a servant of the LORD. He said to Balak's messengers, "Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me." This false claim made Balaam's position even more serious, as it does with every false servant of the Lord. It is a very serious matter to pretend to be the servant of God while really being an instrument of Satan.

He sought for Balaam, who had a great reputation as a man who wielded "enchantments." This we see if we turn to Numbers 24:1. If we glance at verses 8 and 18 of Numbers 22, we discover that this man managed to cover his enchantments, which were of course of the devil, with the appearance of reverencing Jehovah as his God. Balak hoped to bring a curse on the people of God by enlisting the help of this professed prophet of God, who was really a servant of Satan.

Balak knew that the false prophet loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Peter 2:15), so he made sure of him by sending cash in advance. But the treacherous deceiver brought the LORD's name into the matter, and lodged the messengers for the night while pretending to seek the mind of God. The business in hand was hugely important, for he was asked to ruin a whole nation. Did he then spend the night in prayer to God? Nothing was further from Balaam's thoughts. He just went to bed. God was watching every move with the deepest interest, and He came to Balaam with the challenge, "Who are these men with you?"

He could use the Lord's name like this, even though he had no intention of seeking the Lord's guidance. He wanted an answer from the occult power he was used to. Chapter 24:1 tells us this: he was looking for enchantments as a sorcerer.

"Lodge here tonight," said Balaam to the men who brought the reward of divination in their hand. Giving a bed to men who came to curse the people of the Lord showed the wicked leaning of his heart. Only God's direct action holds him back.

The people of the LORD were now in great danger. They had been ungrateful and disobedient all through their journey in the wilderness. They did not know about the danger, so they did not pray to God. But the LORD Himself took the matter up, and that reminds us of His unchanging favour. He loved the people, in spite of all that they were, and He would not let the enemy harm them.

Balaam talks about consulting the LORD in his hypocritical way. This has always been so. Those who have least to do with God often talk about Him most lightly… Balaam was not alarmed, because he was used to an evil spirit. For all he knew, the power that came to him was the same familiar spirit as always. God caught the crafty man in his own net.

The LORD had already stated His mind. There was nothing left to consult Him about. But Balaam was set on going, and he knew enough of God not to want open conflict with Him… Let us take care never to come before God with our minds already made up. It is a serious insult to God's majesty!

Sometimes we seek God's will about how to act in a situation where His only will is that we should not be there at all. If our conscience were truly awake, its first effect would be to make us leave. Our own will put us there, and still we would like the comfort of God guiding us in a path we chose ourselves.

But God did not leave this a matter of demons and deceptions. Balak dared to bring in a power higher than man to ruin the future of God's people. That at once brought out the true God. Balaam in his hypocritical way talks about consulting Jehovah. This has always happened. Those who have least to do with God often speak of Him in the most casual way. It was so then, and it is so now. "God," it is written, "came to Balaam and said, Who are these men with you?" He was not alarmed, because he was used to an evil spirit. For all he knew, the power that came to him was the old spirit he was used to. God caught the crafty in his own net.

Balak's messengers went to Mesopotamia "with the fees for divination in their hand" (Num. 22:7). Balak knew that the false prophet "loved gain from wrongdoing" (2 Peter 2:15), so he made sure of him by sending cash in advance. But the treacherous deceiver brought Jehovah's name into the matter. He put the messengers up for the night, pretending to seek the mind of God. The business in hand was hugely important. He was asked to bring about the ruin of a whole nation. Did he then spend the night in prayer to God? Nothing was further from Balaam's thoughts. He just went to bed. God was watching every move with the deepest interest, and He came to Balaam with the challenge: "Who are these men with you?"

The great principle of the Balaam story is that God guarded and blessed His people without being asked. He is active for them out of His own grace, and nothing escapes Him. "Who are these men with you?" says God to Balaam. God began as He did with Satan in Job's case, "Have you considered my servant Job?"

Balaam did not get in touch with the spirit he usually consulted. Instead he met the God of Israel, who "came to Balaam and said, 'Who are these men with you?'" Balaam knew exactly why Balak had sent his princes to him. He knew he stood in the presence of God, so he hid nothing of what Balak had told him. You might well wonder why he pretended to serve Jehovah when he had no link with Him at all. No doubt he had heard of all that Jehovah had done for His people, and he sought his own advancement by attaching the Name of Israel's God to his evil work.

The people of Jehovah had been ungrateful and disobedient all through their desert journey. Now they were in grave danger. They were not aware of it and therefore did not make supplication to God. But Jehovah Himself took the matter up. That reminds us of His unchanging favour. He loved the people, despite all that they were, and He would not allow the enemy to harm them. Oh, the comfort of this thought for ourselves!

The first time Balaam asked the Lord, "Shall I go?", God answered a clear No. He made the reason for the refusal just as clear. It seems He gave this answer for one of two reasons. Perhaps the fortune-teller was asking Him for advice for the first time. Or perhaps he was not sure it would be wrong to accept Balak's invitation. But once the Lord had told him he must not go, and that Israel was blessed, Balaam's position was no longer the same. He now knew the will of God. Without the possibility of a doubt, it would be evil to go into Moab.

The great principle of the Balaam history is that God guarded and blessed His people without being asked. The plots of enemies go on, and Israel knows nothing about them. So Israel asks nothing from God. But He is active for His people out of His own grace to them, and nothing escapes Him. "Who are these men that come to you?" says God to Balaam.

Balaam in his hypocritical way talks about consulting the LORD. This has always been so. Those who have least to do with God often talk about Him most lightly... He was not alarmed, because he was used to an evil spirit. For all he knew, the power that came to him was the spirit he always dealt with. God caught the crafty man in his own net. This is just where the mighty power of God shows what He is against every enemy who dares to oppose His people.

Neither Balak nor Balaam used the people's name "Israel," because they were probably afraid of that name, which means "a prince with God."

When Balak's delegation came to Balaam, God had said to him, "You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." What God told him there in secret he must now speak in public... How many have tried to curse Jacob and denounce Israel? They have never succeeded. Isaiah's vision has come true in every generation: "No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment." No magic, no voice, no power, no tongue can undo the decree of God.

Balaam could have no doubt about God's thoughts of His people, or about what God expected from him. Yet he does not tell the princes of Balak what God's word to him meant. His own words imply that the only reason he did not go with them was, "The LORD has refused to let me go with you." He would have been glad to go and carry out the evil mission Balak wanted. But having just come from God's presence, he knew he could not.

Had Balaam given Balak's princes the word he received from God, it is not likely that he would have been tempted again. He could have told Balak that these were the people of the living God. He could have repeated God's words to him: "You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." That would have settled the matter as far as Balaam was concerned.

Verses 12 and 13 show that God had first of all forbidden Balaam to go. Balaam clearly wanted Balak's reward, despite his high talk in verse 18. It was wrong of Balaam to ask again. Yet when he did, God used his going as a witness of divine grace to Israel, and of Balaam's own perverseness.

The blessing of the people never comes into his mind. He is a complete stranger to the generosity of grace. The thought that they were blessed of God does not move him, and he finds no delight in His blessing on His people.

His words to his visitors next morning carry a trace of disappointment: "The LORD has refused to let me go with you." His heart was not in communion with God about His people. He would gladly have brought them to ruin for the sake of reward; but he was conscious of divine restraint.

Balak's first delegation fails: the LORD refuses, as he tells the messengers, to give him leave to go. He makes no secret that he himself is willing enough. But he hides what God has shown him — that the people are blessed.

Balaam did say that the LORD refused to give him leave to go with the princes. But the Name of the LORD made no impression on them. When they went back to their master, they only said, "Balaam refuses to come with us." There was no word of the command of God, no word that he was not to curse, and that the people were blessed.

Had Balaam given Balak's princes the word he received from God, it is not likely that he would have been tempted again. Suppose he had told Balak two things: that the people Balak wanted cursed were the people of the living God, and that God had met him with the words, "You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." That would have settled the matter as far as Balaam's part in it went.

When Balaam asked the LORD the first time, "Shall I go?" God replied clearly No; and just as clearly pointed out the ground of the refusal. It seems He gave this answer for one of two reasons. The fortune-teller may have been asking Him for the first time. Or he may not have been sure that accepting Balak's invitation was wrong. But once the LORD had told him he must not go, and that Israel was blessed, Balaam's position was no longer the same. He now knew the will of God. Beyond any possible doubt, going into Moab would now be evil.

His heart was bent on going, because it was bent on 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 wanted to get hold of it in a religious way.

As we go on we shall see how wonderful God's way was. He turned Satan's own effort against him. He made this most wicked man Balaam work against all his own interests without meaning to. Held in the mighty hand of God, Balaam became the instrument for sealing God's blessing on His people, as far as a man could do it!

Balaam did say that the LORD refused to let him go with the princes. But the name of the LORD made no impression on them. When they returned to their master they only said, "Balaam refuses to come with us." There was no word of the command of God, no word that he was not to curse, and that the people were blessed.

If Balaam had given Balak's princes the word he received from God, the temptation would most likely never have come back. Suppose he had told Balak the truth. The people he wanted cursed were the people of the living God, and God had met him with the words, "You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." That would have settled the matter, as far as Balaam's part in it went.

Balak's first group of messengers fails: the LORD refuses, as Balaam tells them, to let him go. He makes no secret that his own will is good enough, while he hides what God has shown him — that the people are blessed. Balak has reason to think that more pressure will bring him. Everyone knew that the gods of the nations could be made to give in. So he sends more and more honourable representatives: Balaam must let nothing stop him from coming, for Balak will raise him to very great honour.

His words to his visitors the next morning have a hint of disappointment in them: "The LORD has refused to let me go with you." His heart was not in fellowship with God about His people. For the sake of reward he would have been glad to bring ruin on them. But he knew God was holding him back.

As the story goes on, we shall see how wonderful God's way was. He turned Satan's own effort against him, and made this most wicked man Balaam work, without meaning to, against all his interests. Balaam was held in the mighty hand of God, and became the instrument for sealing God's blessing on His people, as far as that could be done by a man.

How little Israel knew or imagined what was going on between the LORD and the enemy! They may have been complaining in their tents at the very moment when God was setting out their perfection through the tongue of this greedy prophet. Balak would have been glad to have Israel cursed; but, blessed be God, He will not let anyone curse His people. He may have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things; but He will not let another move his tongue against them. He may have to expose them to themselves; but He will not allow a stranger to expose them.

Balak's first embassy is unsuccessful: the Lord refuses, as Balaam tells the messengers, to give him leave to go. He makes no secret that his own will is willing enough, while he hides the fact that God has shown him the people are blessed. Balak has reason to suppose that with more pressure Balaam will come, for it was well known that the gods of the nations could be made to give way. He sends more and more honourable representatives.

Had Balaam given Balak's princes the word he received from God, it is not likely that he would have been tempted again.

Balaam did say truly that the Lord refused to give him leave to go with the princes. But the Name of the Lord made no impression on them. On returning to their master they said only, "Balaam refuses to come with us." There was no word of the command of God, no word that he was not to curse, and that the people were blessed.

Balak sent a second group of messengers, princes of higher rank than the elders who went the first time. The king offered more tempting bait: he would raise Balaam to high honour, and he would do whatever Balaam asked.

His heart was set on going, because it was set on the silver and gold. At the same time there was some reference to God — an appearance of religion put on as a cloak to cover his covetous practices. He longed for the money, but he wanted to get hold of it in a religious way. Miserable man!

The answer of God was in three short sentences. (1) "You shall not go with them." This should have been enough to close the matter completely. A man who really knew God would never raise the question again. (2) "You shall not curse the people." So however much his covetous heart might want Balak's silver and gold, he must not try to do what Balak wanted. (3) "They are blessed." A man who knew God would be sure that God would never go back on this.

Balaam protests that he is strictly bound by the Lord's will. Yet he wants his own way, and God leaves him to it, only making him understand that in the end he must speak His word alone. And Balaam goes.

Whenever God has made His will known to us, we are not to allow any later influence to call it into question. That holds even if the influence takes the form of the word of God. If we were closer to the Lord in heart, we would feel that the only true and right position is to follow what He told us at first.

How little Balaam knew what the consequences would be of not bowing to God's first word to him! Suppose God has expressed His will, and we still want our own way. God may well allow us to have our way, so that we may learn by experience the folly of our own self-will.

The people of the Lord, who had been ungrateful and disobedient all through their wilderness journey, were now in grave danger. They were not aware of it and so did not pray about it. But the Lord Himself took the matter up, and there we are reminded of His unchanging favour. He loved the people, despite all that they were, and He would not allow the enemy to harm them.

Balak sent a second group of princes, of higher rank than the elders who went the first time. The king offered more tempting baits. He would promote Balaam to high honour, and he would do whatever he asked.

Balak judges by the thing every man knows best — his own heart and experience. So he sends princes more honourable than the ones who came to Balaam the first time.

It was clear that he loved money — a love that is all too common in our own day too. Balak's gold and silver proved a very tempting bait to the wretched man — a bait he could not resist. Satan knew his man, and the price he could be bought for.

Balaam did say that Jehovah refused to let him go with the princes. But the name of Jehovah made no impression on them. When they went back to their master they only said, "Balaam refuses to come with us." There was no word of the command of God, no word that he was not to curse, and that the people were blessed.

Balak had one desire: the cursing of the people of God. And Balaam had already received God's command, "You shall not curse … for they are blessed." So there was no room for discussion or evasion. Balaam should have given the second group of princes the same answer he should have given the first. If he had told them the whole message God had given him, he would have spared himself and Balak a great deal of trouble and sorrow.

Balaam did not simply refuse to go and tell them that God had forbidden it. Instead he says, "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more." Does this not show what lay in Balaam's heart — the desire for silver and gold in abundance?

In Balak we see how completely people had lost the knowledge of God. The world by its wisdom did not know Him. Balak's ignorance was no darker than the world's wisdom… His words to Balaam make clear what he thought God was like. He thought God was altogether like himself, or like what he imagined his own god to be.

Balak has reason to think that more pressure will bring him; for everyone knew that the gods of the nations could be made to give way.

Balak would gladly have had Israel cursed; but, blessed be God, He will not allow anyone to curse His people. He may have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things. But He will not let anyone else speak against them. He may have to expose them to themselves; but He will not allow a stranger to expose them.

Balak has reason to think that more pressure will bring him, for everyone knew that the gods of the nations would give way to pressure. He sends still more honourable messengers: Balaam must let nothing stop him from coming, for Balak will promote him to very great honour.

Balak judges by what every man knows so well: his own heart and his own experience. So he sends princes more honourable than the first ones who came to Balaam.

There is something especially dreadful about the case of Balaam. He clearly loved money — sadly, a common enough love in our own day. Balak's gold and silver were a very tempting bait to the wretched man — a bait he could not resist. Satan knew his man, and he knew the price that would buy him.

He was a greedy religious man (Numbers 22-24). His error was that he used his knowledge of the truth of God to advance the work of Satan, if he could, and to collect a reward for it. The false teachers Jude writes about rushed greedily after the same wrong.

Balak had one desire: the cursing of the people of God. And Balaam had already received God's command, "You shall not curse… for they are blessed." So there was no room for discussion, and none for dodging the question. Balaam should have given the princes who came the second time the same answer he should have given the first ones. A plain statement of the whole message God had given him would have spared himself and Balak a great deal of trouble and sorrow.

This sounds well; but he added, "Stay here tonight as well, so that I may know what more the LORD will say to me." Such an attitude was sheer wickedness. The LORD had already made His mind plain, so there was nothing more to ask Him about. But Balaam was set on going. He knew enough of God not to want open conflict with Him. If he could, he would bend the LORD to his own will.

The intended curse had become a threefold blessing. Unhappy Balaam would gladly have secured the wages of unrighteousness and the honour of this world. Now he receives Balak's cutting taunt, as the king tells him to run off home: "The LORD has held you back from honour."

Later we shall see how wonderful God's way was. He turned the enemy's own effort against him. He made Balaam, a thoroughly wicked man, work against all the enemy's interests without meaning to. Held in the mighty hand of God, Balaam became the instrument that sealed, as far as a man could, the blessing of God upon His people.

The history of Balaam is very solemn. While it brings out the sovereign grace of God, it also reveals the elements of religious corruption that prevail in the last days. Satan cannot defeat the saints of God by open attack, so he corrupts instead. In Balaam we have the character of that which corrupts. There was a knowledge of God. He had this — he even says "the LORD my God." He called Israel's God his God, but his heart was busy with covetous practices. He "loved the wages of unrighteousness." Peter describes Judas the same way. Thirty pieces of silver were the reward of wickedness for the man who greeted Jesus as Master. Both men show a feature of religious apostasy that at last perishes in its own corruption.

Balaam sends word to Balak: "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God." How pious he has become now! If he might have gone, he would. Though he cannot do what he would like to do for Balak, he still keeps up his credit as a prophet of the LORD. Just as if he had the secret of the LORD, he says, "I will know what more the LORD will say to me."

If Balaam's heart had been right with God, he would have dealt with Balak's message at once. It would not have cost him a moment's thought to send a reply. But Balaam's heart was all wrong, and in chapter 22 we see him in the sad condition of a man pulled by conflicting feelings. His heart was set on going, because it was set on the silver and gold. At the same time there was some reference to God: an appearance of religion put on as a cloak to cover his covetous practices. He longed for the money, but he would gladly get hold of it in a religious way.

The greedy prophet replied that if the king gave him a house full of silver and gold, he still could not come without God's consent. His covetous nature showed how strong the restraint on him was.

Balaam's answer sounds well. But he added, "Stay here tonight too, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me." Such an attitude was sheer wickedness. The LORD had already stated His mind clearly, so there was nothing left to consult Him about. But Balaam was set on going. He knew enough of God not to want open conflict with Him. He would bend the LORD to his self-will if he could!

This was not the course of His holy will. It was God dealing with the stubborn according to his stubbornness. He does this when there is no faith in a man's mind, and no honest, undivided purpose with it. He allows a man to follow his own blind schemes... Where He sees integrity, He graciously meets the trembling heart and the hesitating mind. But there was no hesitation with Balaam. There was self-will, and this in the face of the glorious expression of God's will. At bottom he makes nothing of God or His word.

Not that this was the course of His holy will; it was God dealing with the stubborn according to his stubbornness. He does this when a man has no faith and no single eye. He lets him follow his own blind schemes. This is righteous, and this is how God deals with Balaam. Where He sees integrity, He graciously meets the trembling heart and the hesitating mind. But there was no hesitation with Balaam. There was self-will, and this in the face of the glorious expression of God's will. At bottom he makes nothing of God or His word. The true moral could not be plainer. We are told that when Balaam rises in the morning, saddles his donkey, and goes with the princes of Moab, "God's anger was kindled."

Balaam's heart was filled with hatred of God's people, and covetousness raged inside him. This was no ordinary task, and it would carry no ordinary reward. He did not wait for the men to call him. He rose up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

God would now deal with the fool according to his folly. He should go as he wished. But God was determined to put him to shame, and to bring great blessing for His own people out of these schemes of Satan. The man's wicked attitude toward God here calls to mind the Jewish captains in Jeremiah's day, who were afraid of the Babylonians. They asked the prophet to pray for them, so that God would guide their path. But they had already made up their minds to go with their whole company to Egypt (Jer. 42). Let us beware of going before God at any time with our minds already made up.

Balaam's heart was all wrong, and we see him in chapter 22 in the sad condition of a man pulled by conflicting feelings. His heart was bent on going, because it was bent on the silver and gold. But at the same time he made some show of turning to God — an appearance of religion put on as a cloak to cover his covetous practices. He longed for the money; but he wanted to get hold of it in a religious way.

Balaam had permission from Jehovah. He got up eagerly in the morning, saddled his donkey, and set out with Balak's messengers. He was not walking in the light... Balaam walked in darkness. He hoped to have his own way and to reap a rich reward for his villainy. What a journey!... Never was Satan more determined to curse; never was God more determined to bless!

On one side, Balaam's presence with the king of Moab would serve certain purposes. That did not change in the least the state of soul that provoked God's anger. Balaam needs a warning. God deals with him much as He had dealt with Moses forty years earlier. Only now He uses the donkey — less senseless than Balaam himself — to save and rebuke him.

Verses 12 and 13 show that God had first of all forbidden Balaam to go. Balaam coveted Balak's reward, despite the high profession in verse 18. It was wrong of Balaam to ask again. Yet when he did, God used his going as a witness of divine grace to Israel, as well as of his own perverseness.

The first time, God had clearly forbidden Balaam to go with Balak's princes. Balaam himself had said, "The LORD refuses to let me go with you." The second time, the LORD did not refuse to let Balaam go with them. But He did not command him to go. There was an "if", which indicated that there was divine permission with a condition attached, but not a divine command.

This was not the course of His holy will. It was God dealing with a stubborn man according to his stubbornness. He does this when a man has no faith in his mind, and no single, undivided purpose with it. He lets that man follow his own blind schemes. This is righteous, and this is how God deals with Balaam. Where He sees integrity, He graciously meets the trembling heart and the hesitating mind. But it was no question of hesitation with Balaam.

How little Balaam knew what the consequences would be of not bowing to God's first word to him! Suppose God has made His will known, and we still want our own way. He may well allow us to have it, so that we learn by experience how foolish our self-will is.

So we picture the prophet setting out from Mesopotamia for Moab, with Balak's silver and gold filling his soul's vision. He was heartless about the devastation and sorrow he was going to try to bring on a people who had done nothing to him, all to get his reward. He was willing to blast a whole nation — men, women, and children. Nothing more horrible could well be imagined.

Satan is a name for the devil, the great enemy of God and man. The name is the same in Hebrew, Greek, and English, and means "adversary." Several other passages translate the same word that way, where other adversaries are meant: compare Numbers 22:22; 1 Kings 11:14, 23, 25.

A heavenly being stood in the way with a drawn sword in his hand. He is called "the angel of the LORD." This was no mere servant. It is the same messenger who appeared to the wife of Manoah in Judges 13. He told her His name was "Wonderful." To her and to Balaam alike, He spoke with divine authority. He told Balaam that He had come out to oppose him because his way was perverse before Him, and that Balaam could speak only the word God gave him. The speaker was none other than He whom we know as the Lord Jesus Christ.

Balaam was so blinded by the god of this world that he saw less than his donkey. She "saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way". Balaam's anger was kindled against the donkey, and he struck her with his staff because she refused to carry him forward to destruction. His anger was unrighteous. By contrast, it brought out the righteous anger of God. God sent His angel to be an adversary to the man who would curse His people whom He had blessed.

Sometimes we are doing our own will, or we are careless in how we walk. Then God in His mercy may warn us by a hindrance. It stops us, if we pay attention to it, while "the simple pass on and are punished."

God's anger burns because he goes. The angel of Jehovah takes his stand in the way as an adversary against him. There is no great need for wonder here... Balaam needs a warning. God deals with him much as He had dealt with Moses forty years before. Only now, instead of Zipporah and the stone of circumcision, He uses the donkey — less senseless than Balaam himself — to save and rebuke him.

Three times in the course of the people's history, the Angel of Jehovah steps in with the drawn sword in His hand. The first time it is to preserve them from threatened dangers, when Balaam, on his way to curse Israel, meets the messenger who blocks his road (Num. 22:23). The second time... it is to fight with them and win the victory for them. The third time, it is sad to say, it is to judge the people who had sinned in the person of their king. (1 Chron. 21:16)

He boasted that his eyes were open. Yet he did not see what the donkey was given to see. He did not know why she turned aside from the sword drawn in the angel's hand. He did not know why she pressed against the wall, sparing his head and costing him at most a crushed foot. And he did not know why she fell down where there was no other way for her or her master to escape destruction.

The donkey saw the Angel, and turned aside from the threatening sword. Sad, that the beast should have more perception than a man made in the image of God! "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isa. 1:3). That was Jehovah's complaint about the moral dullness of a people He had treated better than any other. The very cattle could put them to shame!

The blind unbeliever rushes onto the sword of the Lord and is destroyed. God keeps the believer safe despite himself. But when his eyes open, he finds that the Lord has been standing against him... Covetousness was the human element in this man's opposition to God. It was the screen behind which he found himself rushing to destruction.

How gracious of God to make a man who was hurrying on to destruction pause and think, if anything could rouse him! But no, he was committed to wicked ways.

Sometimes we are doing our own will, or we are careless in how we live. Then God in His mercy may warn us with a hindrance. It stops us if we pay attention to it, while "the simple pass on and are punished."

Balaam needed a sharper lesson. In a path through the vineyards, with a wall on either side, the angel with a drawn sword appeared again, still unseen by Balaam but seen by the donkey. The animal turned to one side and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall. Balaam angrily struck the beast a second time. Still Balaam failed to see that the Lord was standing against him in his self-will (vv. 24-25).

Here again he falls into the trap of his own covetousness. God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men come to call you, rise up and go with them." This was not the course of His holy will. It was God dealing with the stubborn according to their stubbornness. He does this when a man has no faith in his mind and no single eye along with it. He permits that man to follow his own blind devices. This is righteous, and God accordingly deals with Balaam this way. Where He sees integrity, He graciously meets the trembling heart and the hesitating mind. But there was no hesitation with Balaam. There was self-will, and this in the face of the glorious expression of God's will. Deep down he makes nothing of God or His word. He had been clearly told that he was not to curse the people but to bless them. Yet he waits with no other aim than to curse, if he could, those whom God told him to bless.

Balaam was so blinded by the god of this world that he had less perception than his donkey. The donkey "saw the angel of Jehovah standing in the way." Balaam's anger burned against her, and he struck her with his staff because she refused to carry him forward to destruction. His anger was unrighteous. Yet see how it brought out by contrast the righteous anger of God. He sent His angel to stand against the man who would curse His people whom He had blessed — a man who in self-will opposed His commandment and set his face firmly on a course that would bring him to ruin.

A heavenly being stood in the way with a drawn sword in his hand. He is called "the angel of Jehovah." This was no mere servant. It is the same messenger who appeared to the wife of Manoah in Judges 13. He told her his name was "Wonderful." He spoke with divine authority both to her and to Balaam. The speaker was none other than He whom we know as the Lord Jesus Christ.

Balaam shows what a man can be when his heart is covetous. He sold himself to Satan for temporary rewards. He disregarded every divine warning that held him back on a path leading to destruction.

When we are doing our own will, or are careless about our walk, God in His mercy may warn us through an obstacle. It stops us if we pay attention to it, while "the simple pass on and are punished." (Prov. 27:12.)

Balaam did not see the angel, but God allowed the donkey to see him. The animal, naturally afraid, turned out of the way into the field. Balaam needed a sharper lesson. In a path through the vineyards, with a wall on either side, the angel with a drawn sword appeared again, still unseen by Balaam but seen by the donkey. The animal turned to one side and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall. Balaam struck the beast a second time in anger. Still Balaam failed to see that the Lord was standing against him in his self-will.

He who boasted of having his eyes open did not see what the donkey was given to see. He did not know why she turned aside from the sword drawn in the angel's hand. He did not know why she pressed herself against the wall, so that Balaam might not have his head struck but at most his foot crushed. And he did not know why she lay down where there was no other way for her or her master to escape destruction.

If Balaam's heart had been right with God, he would have dealt with Balak's message in a moment. But his heart was bent on going, because it was bent on 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 wanted to lay hold of it in a religious way.

How gracious of God to make a man who was hurrying to destruction pause and think, if anything could rouse him! But no, he was committed to wicked ways. Lawlessness must pursue its miserable course to an end no less miserable.

When we are doing our own will, or are careless in our walk, God in His mercy may warn us with a hindrance. That hindrance stops us if we pay attention to it, while "the simple go on and suffer for it."

Balaam was so blinded by the god of this world that he saw less than his donkey, which "saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road." Balaam's anger flared against the donkey. He struck her with his staff because she refused to carry him forward to destruction. His anger was unrighteous. But see how it brought out the righteous anger of God. God sent His angel to oppose him. Balaam would curse the people God had blessed. He set his own will against God's commandment and fixed his face on a course that would bring him to ruin.

The donkey saw the Angel and turned aside from the threatening sword. How sad that the beast should have more perception than a man made in the image of God! "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isa. 1:3). That was the LORD's complaint: His people were morally dull, though He had treated them more kindly than any other. The very cattle could put them to shame!

Balaam struck his donkey three times. The Angel rebuked him for it, for every act of cruelty to animals is noted by God.

A man of righteous character cares about the welfare of his animals. Even the kindness of wicked men, by comparison, is cruelty (Proverbs 12:10). Balaam proved this when he lost his temper with his donkey, which was submitting to the angel of the Lord.

Balaam said to his donkey, "Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you." Those words justified God in sending His angel with a drawn sword in his hand to oppose him. They also justified the angel when he said, "I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me … if she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live."

Of course there is a miracle here… Its strangeness was all the more likely to work on a heart hardened to ordinary appeals. It humbled him by making him realise how far he had sunk below the beast — an animal whose actions his divinations claimed the power to interpret. And the mercy of God broke through the natural boundary lines to convict and save him. It should have broken down with them every barrier of sin and unbelief. The extraordinary means used here show what state of soul they suited. They also show the infinite pity of God. He could not use even a man like this as a mere machine to do His purposes without labouring after his soul.

Balaam was so carried away by his greed that this miracle did not terrify him. He replied just as if he had been speaking to a man. God did not change the nature of the donkey into that of a rational being. He made it say whatever He pleased, to restrain Balaam's madness.

Then God put words into the mouth of the donkey, asking Balaam why he had struck her these three times. Even this amazing miracle had no effect on Balaam. He replied in anger to the donkey that he wished he had a sword to kill her! God had given Balaam several chances to see that He Himself was stepping in to wake him up to his own folly. Balaam felt none of it. That would not have been the case if he were a true prophet of God.

Unbelief and higher criticism scoff at the incident of the speaking donkey. One of their arguments runs like this: Balaam held a conversation with the beast and showed no astonishment at all, so the story cannot be true. Augustine answered this well: "Balaam was so carried away by his greed that this miracle did not terrify him. He replied just as if he had been speaking to a man. God did not change the nature of the donkey into that of a rational being. Yet He made it say whatever He pleased, to restrain Balaam's madness."

He boasted that his eyes were open, yet he did not see what the donkey was given to see. He did not know why she turned aside from the sword drawn in the angel's hand. He did not know why she pushed herself against the wall, so that Balaam's head might not be struck but at most his foot crushed. And he did not know why she fell down where there was no other way for her or her master to escape destruction.

Balaam's anger was unrighteous, but it brought out the righteous anger of God against a man who would curse the people He had blessed… What Balaam said to his donkey — "Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you" — justified God in sending His angel with a drawn sword in his hand to stand against him. And his words justified the angel. The angel said, "I have come out to oppose you, because your way is perverse before me… If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live."

The story of Balaam's donkey has drawn much unbelieving protest and even ridicule, yet Peter vouches for it. If Satan could speak through a serpent with words of deceit, God can, if He chooses, speak words of warning through a donkey. His greed and his dealings with demons had blinded the eyes of Balaam's heart, and now we see that the eyes of his head were as blind as the eyes of his heart. The eyes of his head were opened, so that at last he saw the angel as clearly as his donkey had done. But the veil over the eyes of his heart remained.

The strangeness of it was all the more likely to work on a heart hardened against ordinary appeals. It humbled him by making him see how far he had sunk below the beast… Meanwhile the mercy of God broke through the natural boundary lines to convict and save him, and with those lines every barrier of sin and unbelief in him should have fallen too. The extraordinary means used here testify to the state of soul that called for them. They testify also to the infinite pity of God, who could not use even a man like this as a mere machine to carry out His purposes. He had to labour over his soul.

The donkey asked whether it had ever been in the habit of acting like this. The prophet admitted it had not. Then God opened Balaam's eyes to see the angel with the drawn sword in his hand. At the terrifying sight he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. The angel then told Balaam that he owed his life to the donkey three times. Balaam admitted that he had sinned, and said he was ready to go back (vv. 30-34).

A righteous man cares about the welfare of his animals. Even the kindness of wicked men, by comparison, is cruelty. Balaam proved this when he lost his temper with his donkey after the donkey submitted to the angel of the Lord. The Lord reproved Balaam for the cruelty of whipping his donkey (Numbers 22:24-33).

The donkey saw the Angel and turned aside from the threatening sword. What a thing, that the beast should have more perception than a man made in the image of God! "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isaiah 1:3). That was the Lord's complaint about His own people. They were morally dull, though He had been kinder to them than to anyone else. The very cattle could put them to shame!

I grant you it is not a usual thing for God to make a dumb donkey speak; but were these circumstances usual? Was there not something deeply humiliating in having such an animal rebuke the guilty prophet? But this very fact was most significant. A donkey rebuked a man who did not lack natural intelligence. He soon became the vessel of the most beautiful declarations on God's part. Yet first the animal he rode warned him of his folly and sin.

Balaam was so carried away by his greed that this miracle did not terrify him. He replied just as if he had been speaking to a man. God did not change the nature of the donkey into that of a rational being. He simply made it say whatever He pleased, to restrain Balaam's madness.

The strangeness of it was all the more likely to work on a heart hardened to ordinary appeals. It humbled him by making him realise how far he had sunk below the animal — the very animal whose actions his divinations claimed the power to interpret. And the mercy of God broke through the natural boundary lines to convict and save him. In breaking them, it should have broken down every barrier of sin and unbelief in him as well. … the infinite pity of God could not use even a man like this as a mere machine to carry out His purposes. He had to labour after his soul.

Greed and his dealings with demons had blinded the eyes of Balaam's heart. Now we see that the eyes of his head were as blind as the eyes of his heart. At last the eyes of his head opened, and he saw the angel just as his donkey had. But the veil over the eyes of his heart remained.

Finally the Lord opened Balaam's eyes so that he saw the Angel standing in the way with a drawn sword in His hand (v. 31). In shocked terror Balaam fell on his face. The Angel then rebuked Balaam for the bad temper he showed in striking his donkey. He told him that if the donkey had not turned aside, He would have killed Balaam and spared the donkey (vv. 32-33). What a lesson this is, that an unbeliever is more ignorant of God than a beast!

A heavenly being stood in the way with a drawn sword in His hand. He is called "the angel of Jehovah." This was no mere servant. It is the same messenger who appeared to Manoah's wife in Judges 13 and said His name was "Wonderful." He spoke with divine authority to her and to Balaam. To Balaam He said: "Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me… Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you." The speaker was none other than the One we know as the Lord Jesus Christ.

The angel that confronted him held a drawn sword in his hand. You would think its meaning could hardly be missed, especially as the sword blocked his way. Yet Balaam was blind to it, and he went forward to his doom, as the end proved. He never returned to his native land. The wealth and honour, if he ever got them, he never lived to enjoy. He fell by the sword. It was not the sword of the angel, who barred his way to Moab at the start. It was the sword of the very people he tried to curse against the purpose of God, as recorded in Numbers 31:8.

This was not in itself a sin. It was the consequence of sin, and it showed the moral blindness that sin always produces. In an unbeliever it is fatal. But take a believer who follows the impulse of his own will, even in the smallest degree. How can he discern the mind of the Lord? The blind unbeliever rushes onto the sword of the Lord and is destroyed. God preserves the believer despite himself. But when his eyes are opened, he finds that the Lord has been standing against him… Covetousness was the human element of this man's opposition to God. It was the screen through which he found himself rushing to destruction.

Balaam saw that the powers of evil and his own cunning were no match for God. So this wilful man offers to return, confessing that he has sinned. But it is clear that the desire of his heart is still the same. He does not say he will go back because he has sinned. He says, "if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back". Why does he say "if"? Was it not perfectly clear that his going displeased God? Yet there was the lingering desire in his heart to go on in order to get the coveted reward.

Is it not possible for us to "see" in an intellectual way? Is it not possible to speak of the precious things of God without our own hearts being moved by them? As we read God's Word and come to understand it, let us exercise our hearts and consciences. Then the truth gets a firm hold of us and shapes our lives. "The eyes of your heart being enlightened" is the true rendering of Ephesians 1:18.

A heavenly being stood in the way with a drawn sword in His hand. Scripture calls Him "the angel of the LORD." This was no mere servant. It is the same messenger who appeared to the wife of Manoah in Judges 13 and who said His name was "Wonderful." Both to her and to Balaam He spoke with divine authority. To Balaam He said: "I have come out to oppose you, because your way is perverse before Me… Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you." The speaker was none other than He whom we know as the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we picture the prophet setting out from Mesopotamia for Moab, with Balak's silver and gold filling his soul's vision. He had no pity at all for the devastation and sorrow he was going to try to bring on a people who had done nothing to him. He did it all for his reward. The people of Israel had done him no wrong, yet he was willing to blast a whole nation — men, women, and children. Nothing more horrible could well be imagined. No wonder we read that "God's anger was kindled because he went" (Num. 22:22).

The blind unbeliever rushes onto the sword of the Lord and is destroyed. The believer is preserved despite himself. But when his eyes are opened, he finds that the Lord has been standing against him. We may take warning even from a wicked Balaam. Satan often turns the tendencies of our own hearts into a thick veil. Then we fail to see the Lord's mind.

God intended him to go, so that he might pronounce a blessing on His people instead of a curse. Morally, for Balaam himself, going was the most wicked act. Yet God brings out all His purposes through it. He is nothing more than a rod in God's hand. He goes, and the Lord meets him by an angel. He rebukes man's ways and man's wisdom by putting more sense into the mouth of a dumb animal than a man has. Though man has a mind, he uses it against God, which an animal cannot do. Man, in one sense, is more blind than Satan, because Satan believes and trembles. God could reveal Himself to an animal's eye as well as to a man's, whenever He pleased.

God then let the prophet know why all these obstacles stood in his way. He heard it in the fullest possible way, from the angel of the LORD Himself. How gracious of God, to make a man who was hurrying on to destruction stop and think, if anything could rouse him! But no, he was committed to wicked ways. Lawlessness must run its miserable course to an end no less miserable.

Realising that the powers of evil and his own cunning were no match for God, the wilful Balaam offers to return, confessing that he has sinned. But his heart's desire has not changed. He does not say he will go back because he has sinned. He says, "if it is evil in Your sight, I will turn back." Why does he say "if"? Was it not obvious that his going displeased God? Yet there was still the lingering desire in his heart to go on and get the reward he coveted.

Realising that the powers of evil and his own guile were no match for God, the wilful Balaam offers to return, confessing that he has sinned. But it is clear that the desire of his heart is still the same, for he does not say he will go back because he has sinned, but "if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back". Why does he say "if"? Was it not obvious that his going displeased God? Yet there was the lingering desire in his heart to go on and get the reward he wanted.

Balaam acknowledged that he had sinned (v.34), but let himself down easily by pleading that he did not know the Angel was standing in the way. But he knew God had forbidden him to curse Israel, so his way was perverse before the Lord. He still did not decide to bless Israel, but offered to turn back if God was displeased. He had already been told of God's displeasure against any cursing of Israel, but he had no desire to take God's viewpoint himself.

His thought was only that he had failed to see the angel in the road. This was not in itself a sin, but it was the consequence of sin. As such it showed the moral blindness that sin always produces, and in an unbeliever that blindness is fatal. But what about a believer who follows the push of his own will, in any degree, however small? How can he discern the mind of the Lord? The blind unbeliever runs onto the sword of the Lord and is destroyed. The believer is kept safe in spite of himself, but when his eyes are opened he finds that the Lord has been standing against him... Satan often turns the special tendencies of our own hearts into a thick veil, so that we fail to see the Lord's mind.

Had Balaam any heart-knowledge of God he would have refused to go a step further after his experience with the Angel. His words "I have sinned" no more came from a conscience convicted by God than the same words from the lips of self-willed Saul in 1 Samuel 15:24.

It is not always a good sign when a man is quick to confess his sin. Have you not seen it in your children? It is a matter of common observation that the child who is always ready to confess his wrong never feels much about it... The quick and hasty owning, "I have sinned," is always suspicious; and it may be found in men even worse than Saul. Judas said the same thing. The readiness to own wrong, at least in general terms, may exist even where the conscience is seared and the state is utterly bad.

The eyes of Balaam's heart were blinded by his greed and his dealings with demons, and now we see that the eyes of his head were as blind as the eyes of his heart. The eyes of his head were opened so that at last he saw the angel as clearly as his donkey had done. But the veil over the eyes of his heart remained.

The angel of the Lord Himself then told the prophet, as fully as possible, why all these obstructions were put in his way. How gracious of God to make a man who was hurrying to destruction pause and think, if anything could rouse him! But no, he was committed to wicked ways. Lawlessness must pursue its miserable course to an end no less miserable.

This was not the course of His holy will. It was God dealing with the stubborn according to their stubbornness. He does this when a man has no faith in his mind and no single eye with it. He lets that man follow his own blind schemes. This is righteous, and God deals with Balaam in this way. Where He sees integrity, He graciously meets the trembling heart and the hesitating mind. But it was no question of hesitation with Balaam.

The conditional permission to go with Balak's servants did not set aside the definite command to Balaam not to go to Balak. We see this in God's anger burning when Balaam went. The thoughts of the false prophet were completely at odds with the thoughts of God, and he knew this very well. But he had made up his mind to get the reward that Balak promised, if he possibly could. He would take it even if it meant cursing those whom God had blessed.

We may be tempted to wonder at this, but we must remember that God does not change His purpose. If we know this and still persist like Balaam, God may change His dealings with us, as He did with Balaam. He may permit us to go, so that in His discipline we reap the bitter result of our own way. Even so, as with Balaam, He will give us ample warning of what lies before us.

Let us beware of going before God at any time with our minds already made up. It is a serious affront to the Divine Majesty!

The Angel of the Lord told him to go, however, with the absolute command that he speak only what the Angel spoke to him (v. 35). Notice what this shows. In the Old Testament the title "The Angel of the Lord" refers to the Lord Himself, and Balaam must speak His words.

He loved, as we know, "the wages of unrighteousness," and, if he could, would have said what Balak wanted. But a power he could not resist held sway over him. He was for the time being the mouthpiece of God, and spoke, however unwillingly, the words of God. He was so sure that inspiration was real, down to the words themselves, that he said so at his first meeting with Balak. Before he spoke one prediction about Israel, he told him, "Have I now any power to say anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak" (Num. 22:38).

God knows what is in Balaam's heart. So He allows him to go forward, to expose him fully, and to turn his evil desire against His people into blessing for them. Balaam shows no real desire to turn back. Nor does it seem that God will let him go back. God has His own purpose: to make Balaam the unwilling vessel who speaks out His thoughts about His people.

Had Balaam any heart-knowledge of God he would have refused to go a step further after his experience with the Angel. True, the Angel said, "Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak to you, that you shall speak." But He also said, "Behold, I went out to withstand you, because the way you walk in is for ruin before me." After hearing all this, Balaam was clearly proceeding to his doom.

Balak met Balaam at the frontier of his kingdom. Neither the king nor the prophet was in a good mood. Balak was offended, because Balaam had not been quick to do what he asked. Balaam felt that he was under restraint, and that things would not turn out as he and Balak wanted. Balak took his visitor to the town of Kirjath Huzoth, and there he offered oxen and sheep in front of Balaam and the princes who had fetched him from Mesopotamia. We are not told who Balak offered his sacrifices to. The one true God certainly had no place in his esteem.

He was not convinced that military power would be enough to stand against the conquerors of Sihon and Og. So he sent messengers to a well-known fortune-teller — Balaam the son of Beor, who lived in Mesopotamia. Outsiders were already crediting Israel's victories to divine power... In sending for Balaam, Balak sought to oppose the supernatural by the supernatural. The Mesopotamian prophet had a reputation for influence with the invisible world.

Two things stand out in Satan's attempt. The first is the dismay that filled Balak's mind when he saw the hosts of Israel. The second is the covetousness that ruled Balaam's soul. Balak sends for Balaam. At this early date we see the power of the world uniting with the religion of the world against what is of God... Here the secular asks help from the religious. Since then the religious has often called on the secular. But whichever one asked, the other always answered. They set aside every difference and jealousy between them to make common cause against the people of God.

God knows what is in Balaam's heart. He allows him to go forward, to expose him completely, and to turn his evil desire against His people into blessing for them. Balaam shows no real desire to turn back. Nor does it seem that God will let him go back. God has His own purpose: to make Balaam the unwilling vessel for declaring His thoughts about His people.

Later we shall see how wonderful God's way was. He turned Satan's own effort against him. He made this most wicked wretch Balaam work against all his own interests without meaning to. Held in the mighty hand of God, Balaam became the instrument for sealing the blessing of God upon His people, as far as a man could do it!

How little did Israel know or imagine what was going on between Jehovah and the enemy. Perhaps they were murmuring in their tents at the very moment when God was declaring their perfection through the mouth of the covetous prophet. Balak would gladly have Israel cursed; but, blessed be God, He will not allow anyone to curse His people. He may have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things. But He will not allow anyone else to speak a word against them.

Balak met Balaam at the frontier of his kingdom. Neither king nor prophet was in a good mood. Balak took offence because Balaam had not come quickly when he asked. Balaam, for his part, felt he was under restraint. He sensed that things would not turn out as he and Balak wanted.

There is something especially awful in the case of Balaam. He clearly loved money — no uncommon love, sadly, 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 bought.

In Balak we see how completely the knowledge of God was lost… God is known only by revelation, and Balak's ignorance is less surprising than that of the world with all its wisdom… His words to Balaam show what he thought God was like. He thought God was just like himself, or like the god he imagined for himself… In his mind, both gods and men could be swayed by circumstances and place.

Satan's attempt rests on two main things. One is the dismay that filled Balak's mind when he saw the armies of Israel. The other is the greed that ruled Balaam's soul. Balak sends for Balaam. At this early date we see the power of the world uniting with the religion of the world against what is of God. Here worldly power asks religion for help, and religion has often since called on worldly power in return. Whichever one asked, the other always answered. They set aside every difference and jealousy, and made common cause against the people of God.

How little Israel knew what was going on between the LORD and the enemy. They may well have been grumbling in their tents at the very moment when God was setting out their perfection through the mouth of the covetous prophet. Balak would gladly have had Israel cursed. But, blessed be God, He will not allow anyone to curse His people. He may have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things. But He will not let anyone else speak a word against them. He may have to expose them to themselves; but He will not allow a stranger to expose them.

God does not change. Through Balaam's mouth He pronounced the blessings we have looked at so far. They sound the death-knell of the world in its opposition to God and His people. Balak struck his hands together. The curse he intended had been turned into a threefold blessing. Unhappy Balaam would gladly have secured the wages of unrighteousness and the honour of this world. Instead he gets Balak's withering taunt, and is told to flee to his place: "the LORD has held you back from honor."

On coming to Balak, despite the honour promised, Balaam has to confess, "Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak." He would gladly have accepted the rewards. But he is conscious that God has intervened against him on behalf of His people, and he seems quite uncertain of what lies ahead.

He was for the time being the mouthpiece of God, and spoke, however unwillingly, the words of God. He was sure that inspiration was real, and that it reached even to the words themselves. So at his first meeting with Balak, before he spoke one prediction about Israel, he told him, "Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak."

His heart was bent on going, because it was bent on the silver and gold. At the same time there was a kind 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 like to lay hold of it in a religious fashion.

We know that he knew and used enchantments. Yet when he comes to Balak he says, "Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak." Balak was looking for the power of evil against the children of Israel, God's people, and yet looking for it from God. In some way he was looking to the power and intervention of God, although God was not known, and so everything was confusion.

Balaam the prophet prophesied while loving the wages of unrighteousness. Caiaphas the priest prophesied while he was thirsting for innocent blood. Judas the apostle worked miracles while he carried the heart of a traitor... But all this tells us that it is not gifts that make us what we should be, and that nothing will do if the heart is not with God.

Moses told the people about the danger that had threatened them. He said: "But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you." Precious words — "because the LORD your God loved you!"

He had no sympathy at all with the thoughts of God's heart, and none with God Himself. Fear of the consequences ruled him. Otherwise he would have been so happy in the blessing of the people that he would have shuddered at the idea of cursing what God had blessed. God, however, will use him to give a glorious testimony on behalf of His people. At the same time He condemns the crooked ways of the prophet, for they were indeed crooked. He shows him his crookedness and his folly, and that he was more stupid than the donkey he was riding. But at the same time He makes him go on his way.

He was led by his covetousness to try and serve the bad king of Moab by cursing the people of God. When God gave him an answer, he goes to God a second time, because his heart wanted its own way. And it is solemn to learn that if God gives you up you may get what you want. Balaam afterwards falls into even worse evil. He was indeed a man whose heart was not with God. He said some true things, but his spirit was not in them. He goes on step by step, until he lends himself to become the corrupter of even God's chosen people throughout the world.

Balak met Balaam at the frontier of his kingdom. Neither king nor prophet were in good humour. Balak was offended because Balaam had not come quickly when he called. And Balaam felt he was being held back, and that things would not turn out as he and Balak wanted. Balak first took his visitor to Kiriath-huzoth. There he offered oxen and sheep in front of Balaam and the princes who had brought him from Mesopotamia. We may regard this as an official welcome.

He would gladly have accepted the rewards, but he knows that God has intervened against him on behalf of His people, and he seems quite uncertain of what lies ahead.

We can be certain that Balak did not offer these oxen and sheep to Jehovah, the God of Israel. He offered them to the gods the Moabites worshipped, and he sent portions from them to Balaam and the princes of Moab. Balaam claimed to serve Jehovah. Yet he would not hesitate to share in the worship of the false gods of Moab, or to accept anything the king of Moab chose to give him.

How little did Israel know or imagine what was going on between Jehovah and the enemy. They may have been complaining in their tents at the very moment when God was declaring their perfection through the mouth of the greedy prophet. Balak would gladly have Israel cursed; but, blessed be God, He will not allow anyone to curse His people. He may have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things; but He will not allow 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.

Balak met Balaam at the border of his kingdom. Neither the king nor the prophet was in a good mood. Balak was offended that Balaam had not come as soon as he asked. Balaam felt held back, and sensed that things would not turn out as he and Balak wanted. Balak first took his visitor to Kirjath Huzoth, and there he offered oxen and sheep in front of Balaam and the princes who had brought him from Mesopotamia. We may see this as a kind of official welcome. We are not told who Balak offered his sacrifices to; but the one true God certainly had no place in Balak's esteem.

We can be certain that the oxen and sheep Balak offered, and from which he sent portions to Balaam and the princes of Moab, were not offered to Jehovah, the God of Israel, but to the gods the Moabites worshipped. Balaam claimed to serve Jehovah, yet he would not hesitate to share fellowship with the false gods of Moab, or to accept anything the king of Moab chose to give him.

Balaam answered that he had no power even to speak but must receive his words from God. He needed a supernatural power by which to speak, and he called this power "God," though he did not know the true God. Balak responded by offering oxen and sheep (v.40), likely as a bribe to get Balaam's god on his side.

If Balaam's heart had been right with God, he would have dealt with Balak's message very quickly. It would not have cost him a moment's thought to send a reply. But Balaam's heart was all wrong. In chapter 22 we see him in the sad state of a man pulled two ways by conflicting feelings. His heart was set on going, because it was set on the silver and gold. At the same time there was some reference to God — a show of religion put on like a cloak to cover his greedy ways. He longed for the money, but he wanted to get hold of it in a religious way. Miserable man! Most miserable!

Knowing what was in Balaam's heart, God lets him go forward — to expose him fully, and to turn his evil desire against His people into blessing for them. Balaam shows no real desire to turn back. Nor does it seem that God will let him go back. God has His own purpose: to make Balaam the unwilling instrument who announces His thoughts about His people.

How little Israel knew or imagined what was going on between Jehovah and the enemy! Perhaps they were complaining in their tents at the very moment when God was declaring their perfection through the mouth of the greedy prophet. Balak would have been glad to have Israel cursed. But, blessed be God, He will not allow anyone to curse His people.

This is the first mention of Baal in the Word of God. Baal was the chief male god of the Phoenicians and the Canaanites, and Ashtoreth was the chief female god. This form of idolatry gained a footing in Israel in the days of the judges. It was cast out in the time of Samuel. It became firmly established in the kingdom of the ten tribes in the reign of Ahab. Then Jezebel's daughter Athaliah introduced it into the kingdom of Judah. This great evil was one of the causes of the expulsion of all twelve tribes from the land of promise.

Balak's aim in taking Balaam to the high places of Baal was probably this: a stronghold of his false worship would help the work in hand. Surely at such a spot Baal would help him! But he reckoned without God, and in a short time he was forced to listen to the gospel of God from the devil's own platform! What a defeat!

The last verse of chapter 22 sheds light on the evil power that drove Moab and Balak their king. They had among them the "high places of Baal." So in the first verse of our chapter we read that Balaam said, "Build me here seven altars." We see at once that this man, who claimed to be a prophet of the Lord, was really in league with the powers of darkness.

Chapter 22:41 tells us that Balak brought Balaam to the high places of Baal in order to prophesy against Israel. Here he saw only "a portion of the people," for Balak wanted to give Balaam the impression that Israel was not a large nation, so that he might more safely curse them.

Balak's first effort is to make them look small in Balaam's eyes — he would not have him see too much. This gives force to what Balaam says: "Who can count the dust of Jacob, and number the fourth part of Israel?" The end camp was just the fourth part. The partial view does not make the people seem smaller. It moves him to say, "If only the end is so much, what must the whole be?"

He speaks these prophecies from three points, all mountain tops. The first from the high places of Baal, the second from the summit of Pisgah, and the last from Peor. Each of the three points is nearer to the camp, and each gives a fuller view.

It is gripping to watch the scene played out on the high places of Baal. We see the great question at stake. We listen to the speakers. We get to look behind the scenes at such an important moment. How little Israel knew or imagined what was going on between Jehovah and the enemy. They may have been grumbling in their tents at that very moment. Meanwhile God was declaring their perfection through the mouth of the greedy prophet.

So the moment any enemy or accuser comes on the scene, Jehovah places Himself in front to receive and answer the accusation. His answer is never based on what His people are in themselves. It is based on what He has made them through the perfection of His own work.

Would it be possible to curse part of them? "You shall see only the outermost part of them," says Balak, "and shall not see them all." The "outermost part" is a place exposed to danger. It was there that the fire of the Lord burned at Taberah. Nearness is always a safe place, while being at a distance leaves us open to attack. Could the power of the enemy prevail there?

The last verse of chapter 22 shed light upon the evil power that animated Moab and Balak their king. They had among them the "high places of Baal." So when in the first verse of our chapter we read that Balaam said, "Build for me here seven altars," we at once see that this man, who claimed to be a prophet of the Lord, was really in league with the powers of darkness. When in conflict with Baal, Elijah repaired the one altar of the Lord that was broken down, and he prevailed. In contrast with that, we are now to see that the seven altars of Baal can achieve nothing against the blessing of God.

Balaam exposed his idolatrous character immediately by asking Balak to build seven altars, offering on each one a bull and a ram. God allowed only one altar of burnt offering (Ex. 27:1; Heb. 13:10), for the altar speaks of Christ, the only way of approach to God. But Balaam believed in "many gods and many lords" (1 Cor. 8:4-5).

He evidently had no sense of the supreme power and glory of Jehovah, while he knew that no power could prevail against His word. To him Jehovah was only the First among many, and not the supreme and only God.

Balaam pretended that the sacrifices were to Jehovah, for he said to Balak, "Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me." We learn in the first verse of the next chapter what Balaam really sought: "When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens." This is the key that unlocks the puzzle for us. It was not Jehovah's presence he sought, but enchantments; that is, he sought the spirit or spirits he was familiar with, and his sacrifices were for them.

It would seem that not only the name "Jehovah" but the use of the number "seven" was borrowed from Israel by the nations outside. For on the high places Balaam had seven altars prepared, with a bull and a ram on each; and to make himself acceptable to God he says, "I have arranged seven altars, and I have offered on every altar a bull and a ram." This is how man — the flesh — tries to win God over; is there anything more offensive to Him?

Balak's plan in taking Balaam up to the high places of Baal was probably that such a stronghold of his false worship would help the business in hand. Surely at such a spot Baal would help him! But he reckoned without God, and in a short time he had to listen to the good news of God from the Devil's own platform! ... But whatever the oxen and rams on the altars meant to Balaam, they suggested Christ to God; and when Christ is before Him in the perfection of His great sacrificial work, what can He do but bless His people? Balaam understood nothing of this. He was as blind as the wicked men who put the blessed Son of God upon the cross of Calvary. There was an aspect to that cross of which they knew nothing. Little did they imagine that God would bring vast blessing out of their appalling deed!

The whole question now was between God and His enemy, and it took place up at the top of the hill, the people knowing nothing at all about it. What could Balaam do with God about the people? Nothing.

The last verse of chapter 22 shed light upon the evil power that animated Moab and Balak their king. They had among them the "high places of Baal." So in the first verse of our chapter we read that Balaam said, "Build me here seven altars." We see at once that this man, who claimed to be a prophet of the Lord, was really in league with the powers of darkness. When in conflict with Baal, Elijah repaired the one broken-down altar of the Lord, and he prevailed. In contrast with that, we are now to see that the seven altars of Baal can achieve nothing against the blessing of God.

Balak probably thought that such a stronghold of his false worship would be a good place for the business in hand. Surely Baal would help him there! But he had not reckoned with God, and in a short time he was forced to listen to the good news of God from the Devil's own platform. What a defeat!

Balaam exposed his idolatrous character at once. He asked Balak to build seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each one. God allowed only one altar of burnt offering (Ex. 27:1; Heb. 13:10), for the altar speaks of Christ, the only way of approach to God. But Balaam believed in "many gods and many lords" (1 Cor. 8:4-5).

It might be hard to work out why Balaam told Balak to build his seven altars and prepare his seven oxen and seven rams. He may have wanted to appease God by sacrifice, trying to turn Him from His purpose to bless Israel; but the sacrifices were more likely offered to the demons that lie behind all idolatrous worship, as Paul writes, "What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God" (1 Cor. 10:20).

Balaam, however, as verse 3 shows, treated the offerings burned on the seven altars as Balak's. He himself went off to a lonely place, in case the Lord might meet him and instruct him there. He clearly had no sense of the supreme power and glory of Jehovah, though he knew that no power could prevail against His word. To him Jehovah was only the First among many, and not the supreme and only God.

It seems that the surrounding nations borrowed from Israel not only the name "Jehovah" but also the use of the number "seven." On the high places Balaam had seven altars prepared, with a bull and a ram on each. To make himself acceptable to God he says, "I have arranged the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram." This is how man — the flesh — tries to win God over. Is there anything more offensive to Him?

But whatever the oxen and rams on the altars meant to Balaam, they spoke of Christ to God. When Christ is before Him in the perfection of His great sacrificial work, what can He do but bless His people? Balaam understood nothing of this. He was as blind as the wicked men who put the blessed Son of God on the cross of Calvary. There was a side to that cross of which they knew nothing. Little did they imagine that God would bring vast blessing out of their appalling deed!

As verse 3 shows, Balaam treated the offerings burned on the seven altars as Balak's. He himself went off to a lonely place, in case the Lord would meet him there and instruct him. He clearly had no sense of the supreme power and glory of Jehovah. Yet he knew that no power could prevail against His word.

Balaam exposed his idolatrous character at once. He asked Balak to build seven altars, offering a bull and a ram on each one. God allowed only one altar of burnt offering (Ex. 27:1; Heb. 13:10), for the altar speaks of Christ, the only way of approach to God. But Balaam believed in "many gods and many lords" (1 Cor. 8:4-5).

Such a speech was an exposure of the man. Why the word "perhaps"? Did God ever refuse to meet any soul that sincerely sought Him? Why this language of uncertainty? It was pious cant. When he turned aside to "a bare height" Balaam had no wish whatever to meet Jehovah. His one desire was that Jehovah would let him alone, so that he could do what Balak wished, and so earn his reward. But God met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and told him to go back to Balak and speak it.

Balaam pretended that the sacrifices were for Jehovah. The first verse of the next chapter shows what he really wanted: "When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens" (older translations: "to seek for enchantments"). This is the key that unlocks the puzzle. It was not Jehovah's presence he sought, but enchantments. That is, he sought the spirit or spirits he knew well, and his sacrifices were for them. This is not surprising, for Satan desires the worship that is due to God alone.

When the princes of Moab came to him in Syria, he went to seek enchantments, but each time God met him, and he probably feared the same would happen again. His words might have been a claim to be Jehovah's servant, or a sign that he feared Jehovah would step in as He had in Syria. He probably wanted Balak to think he was Jehovah's servant. It seems he succeeded in this deception, for Balak later said to him, "the LORD has held you back from honor" (Num. 24:11).

But whatever the oxen and rams on the altars meant to Balaam, they spoke of Christ to God. And when Christ is before Him in the perfection of His great sacrificial work, what can He do but bless His people? Balaam understood nothing of this. He was as blind as the wicked men who put the blessed Son of God upon the cross of Calvary. There was an aspect to that cross of which they knew nothing.

The moment any enemy or accuser enters the scene, Jehovah places Himself in front to receive and answer the accusation. His answer is never founded on what His people are in themselves. It is founded on 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.

When he turned aside to "a bare height" Balaam had no wish whatever to meet Jehovah. His one desire was that Jehovah would let him alone, so that he might do what Balak wished and so earn his reward. Numbers 24:1 tells us clearly that he went "to seek for enchantments." He was trying to reach the demons he was used to dealing with. But "God met Balaam" — to his dismay, we have no doubt! He told God of his altars and sacrifices. Did God not have eyes to see for Himself?

Balaam exposed his idolatrous character at once. He asked Balak to build seven altars, and offered on each one a bull and a ram. God allowed only one altar of burnt offering (Ex. 27:1; Heb. 13:10), for the altar speaks of Christ, the only way of approach to God. But Balaam believed in "many gods and many lords" (1 Cor. 8:4-5).

It seems that the nations outside Israel borrowed not only the name "Jehovah" but also the use of the number "seven." On the high places Balaam had seven altars prepared, with a bull and a ram on each. Then, trying to make himself acceptable to God, he says, "I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram." This is how man — the flesh — tries to win God over. Is there anything more offensive to Him?

When Balaam went to the hill, God met him. Balaam spoke to God as if the offerings had been for Him. He could deceive Balak, but he could not deceive God. God takes no notice of his sacrifices. Instead He puts a word in his mouth and commands him to "return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak." Satan may have lured his willing dupe with tempting silver and gold. But God had determined that Balaam would be the unwilling instrument to declare His thoughts about His people.

He knew that burnt offerings were acceptable to Him. But did he really imagine that sacrifices from a man like himself would please Jehovah so much that He would let him have his own way and curse the people? Whatever the oxen and rams on the altars meant to Balaam, they suggested Christ to God. And when Christ is before Him in the perfection of His great sacrificial work, what can He do but bless His people? Balaam understood nothing of this. He was as blind as the wicked men who put the blessed Son of God on the cross of Calvary. There was an aspect to that cross of which they knew nothing. Little did they imagine that God would bring vast blessing out of their appalling deed!

The moment any enemy or accuser enters the scene, Jehovah places Himself in front to receive and answer the accusation. His answer is always founded, not on what His people are in themselves, but on 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. If the enemy comes to curse and accuse, Jehovah answers by pouring out the rich flow of His everlasting delight in those He has chosen for Himself. He has made them fit to be in His presence for ever.

Why the word "perhaps"? Did God ever refuse to meet any soul that sincerely sought Him? Why this language of uncertainty? It was religious pretence. When he turned aside to "a bare height" Balaam had no wish at all to meet the Lord. His one desire was that the Lord would leave him alone, so that he might do what Balak wished and earn his reward. Numbers 24:1 tells us plainly that he went "to seek for enchantments," which means he tried to get through to the demons he was used to dealing with. But "God met Balaam" — to his dismay, we have no doubt!

When Balaam went to the hill, God met him. Balaam spoke to God as if the offerings had been for Him. He could deceive Balak, but he could not deceive God. God takes no notice of his sacrifices. Instead He puts a word in his mouth and commands him to "return to Balak, and thus you shall speak." Satan had lured his willing victim with tempting silver and gold. But God was determined that Balaam would be the unwilling instrument to declare His thoughts about His people.

People heard these prophets speak in a completely natural way, as one man might speak to another. But the words they spoke were the words of God, put into their mouths by the Holy Spirit... So whether we turn to Balaam or to Jeremiah there is no difference. The historian said of Balaam, the son of Beor, that "the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth." The Lord Himself said the same of Jeremiah: "I have put my words in your mouth." So these Old Testament prophets spoke by nothing less than verbal inspiration. What they spoke were the words of the living God.

The unwilling prophet is forced to say what the Lord put into his mouth. Here is a hint about inspiration... How did Moses find out what Balaam said? Balak would certainly not report the words to Moses, and Balaam did not tell him either. Israel did not know what happened at the different places where Balak and Balaam stood. The Holy Spirit gave the correct report to Moses of all that took place and all that was said.

Here we see the way Balaam was brought to see the deep things of God, and to testify to His good pleasure in the people of His choice. Eyes, ears and lips were brought under the mighty power of God. He was obliged to see "the vision of the Almighty," and to hear "the words of God," and to speak what the Lord put in his mouth.

The moment any enemy or accuser comes on the scene, the Lord places Himself in front to receive the accusation and answer it. His answer never rests on what His people are in themselves. It rests on 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.

In His righteous government He may discipline us, just as He disciplined Israel long ago. But He will never abandon His purposes of grace... Listen to Moses in Deuteronomy 23:5: "But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you."

A distinguished gathering awaited Balaam. The King stood by the altars, surrounded by all the princes of his realm. Surely there was never a more important occasion in the history of Moab! Balak had taken much trouble, and gone to considerable expense to get Balaam's help... Balaam returned from the "bare height" where God stepped in and spoke to him. Balak and his princes were full of expectation. What would he say? Would he pour out curses to destroy the power of the people they dreaded? Then the armies of Moab and her allies could easily destroy them.

The attack begins with an elaborate set of mysterious rites and sacrifices by the king and Balaam. They then look at the unsuspecting Israelites from the top of the hills. They prepare to call up the mysterious power and evil craft of the demonic realms against them. But Balaam stood too near to the burnt sacrifice (Num. 23:6) to be able to do this. The savour of what represented the work of Christ rose up to the God who never fails to honour that sacrifice. So the curse becomes a blessing.

But whatever the oxen and rams on the altars meant to Balaam, they suggested Christ to God. When Christ is before Him in the perfection of His great sacrificial work, what can He do but bless His people? Balaam understood nothing of this. He was as blind as the wicked men who put the blessed Son of God upon the cross of Calvary. There was a side to that cross of which they knew nothing.

Balaam pretended that the sacrifices were to Jehovah. He said to Balak, "Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go: perhaps the Lord will come to meet me." The first verse of the next chapter shows what Balaam really sought: "When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to seek for enchantments." This is the key that unlocks the puzzle. It was not Jehovah's presence he sought, but enchantments.

Balaam spoke to God as if the offerings had been for Him. He could deceive Balak, but he could not deceive God. God takes no notice of his sacrifices. Instead He puts a word in his mouth and commands him to "return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak" (Num. 23:5). Satan lured his willing dupe with tempting silver and gold. But God had determined that Balaam would be His unwilling instrument, to declare His thoughts of His people.

What a remarkable scene this is! And Israel is completely unaware of how they were being presented to Balak, their enemy, by the word of God... There was nothing of Israel's weaknesses or sins unknown to God, but He had not cursed them. They were loved as the chosen people of God. This was not because of what they were in themselves, but because of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and because of God's sovereign choice and sovereign love.

Humanly speaking, we never should have had such a glorious view of Israel... had not Balak sought to curse them... Balak and Balaam with "all the princes of Moab" may gather to hear Israel cursed and defied; they may "build seven altars"... but not all the powers of earth and hell, men and devils combined, in their dark and terrible array, can produce a single breath of curse or accusation against the Israel of God.

Balaam first states Balak's summons and his wish that he should curse Jacob and denounce Israel. Then he states that to curse and to denounce is impossible. God has not cursed him; He has not denounced him. In the original the name El, God, goes with Jacob, and Jehovah, the covenant-keeping God, goes with Israel. When Balak's messengers came to Balaam, God had said to him, "You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." What God told him there in secret he must now speak here in public.

Balaam stated clearly what Balak expected. Then he had to say, "How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?" This should have been enough to break up the meeting. No success was possible. What followed proved it: the more the enemies of God's people tried to draw out a curse against them, the fuller and richer the blessing flowed.

The great principle of the Balaam history is that God was the unasked Guardian and Blesser of His people. The schemes of enemies go on, unknown to Israel, who therefore seeks nothing from God. But He is active for His people out of His own grace to them, and nothing escapes Him… Balak said, "He whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." He was trying to bring the curse on Israel when God had said, "Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you." So he was just bringing it on himself.

Here we get the answer to the great question: how can God bless a people who in themselves are stiff-necked and rebellious? He can bless them only as He views them from His own standpoint, from the point of His purpose, and with the work of His blessed Son in view. That work is the righteous ground on which He can bless man in a way that agrees with His attributes.

This also shows us why Balaam could not curse the people. He came after the evil state that the curse belonged to had, as a picture, been removed in death. He also came after the song of the springing well had been sung, and that song speaks of the Spirit. So Romans raises the same challenge: "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?" For those who are in Christ Jesus there can be no condemnation (verse 1), no accusation (verse 33), and no separation (verse 39).

So Balaam was forced to say, "How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?" If this is true of Israel, it is certainly true also of those who today are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. God will not allow them to be cursed.

Even from the enemy's standpoint you can see that the people of God are different from other people. The curse he wanted to hurl dies unspoken on Balaam's lips. Jacob, the supplanter, cannot be cursed; and Israel, God's prince, cannot be defied. El, the Mighty One, has not cursed! Jehovah — the truth-keeping covenant God — has not defied!

Here we get the solution to the great question: how can God bless a people who in themselves are stubborn and rebellious? He can do it only as He views them from His own standpoint, from the point of His purpose. He also has the work of His blessed Son in view. That work is the righteous ground on which He can bless man in a way that matches His own character.

If I look at the people of God "from the top of the rocks," I shall see them as God sees them. I shall see them clothed with all the beauty 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. It lifts me above their points and angles, their blots and blemishes, their failures and weaknesses. If I do not look at them from this high, divine ground, I shall be sure to fix my eye on some little flaw. That will spoil my communion and cool my affection.

He states in the plainest way the great and certainly basic privilege of Israel. They were a nation called out to be alone with Jehovah and for Him. This is the basis of all their blessing. They were unlike all the rest of the world in this: they were set apart to be with Jehovah, the true God.

Here we have Israel singled out and set apart to be a separate and distinct people. According to God's thought about them, they were never to be mixed in with the nations or counted among them — not at any time, on any ground, or for any purpose whatever. This is true of Abraham's literal descendants, and true of all believers now. God's people are to be separated to Him. Not because they are better than others, but because of what God is, and of what He would always have His people to be.

If they are content to "dwell alone," and content not to be "counted among the nations," God Himself will come and live among them. What a wonderful word that is: "Judah became His sanctuary!" Here was a place where the Creator could find rest. All around, the waves of sin rolled over everything. And this is the positive side of separation.

Under the compelling power of God, this evil man speaks of the people dwelling alone. But when he had the chance, he advised Israel's enemies to mingle with them. He knew full well what would happen if Israel were drawn into sinful ties with the nations around. Their witness to their God would weaken.

Other races have merged, and their national identity has been lost. Israel remains distinct still, not counted among the nations, just as Balaam said.

Balak was astounded and indignant at what Balaam said concerning Israel. Balaam could only reply that he was in the hands of Jehovah. Do we wonder that Balak did not at once drive the prophet out of his territory? Sadly, flesh is always foolish and stubborn toward God (Rom. 1:22; Eph. 4:18). The king suggested that they go to another place and try again.

Was he so foolish as to think that if they took a more limited view of God's people that would make any difference? How very little these two men really knew of God!

God had committed Himself to bless Israel. So Balaam said, "Behold, I received a command to bless: He has blessed, and I cannot revoke it." Israel's blessing came from God, and Balaam had to announce it. If Balaam had the power to reverse God's blessing, he would gladly have done it. Balak's silver and gold were worth more in his eyes than the people God had blessed.

How little did Israel know or imagine what was going on between Jehovah and the enemy. They may have been complaining in their tents at the very moment when God was displaying their perfection through the mouth of the greedy prophet. Balak would gladly have Israel cursed; but, blessed be God, He will not allow anyone to curse His people. He may have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things. But He will not let anyone else speak a word against them.

The great principle of the Balaam story is that God was the uninvited Guardian and Blesser of His people. The schemes of enemies go on, and Israel knows nothing of them. So Israel asks nothing from God. But He is active for His people out of His own grace to them, and nothing escapes Him... First Israel was forbidden to touch Moab. Next Balak says, "The one you bless is blessed, and the one you curse is cursed." He was seeking to bring the curse on Israel, though God had said, "Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you." So he was just bringing it on himself.

But Balaam stood too near to the burnt sacrifice (Num. 23:6) to be able to curse them. The fragrance of what that sacrifice represented — the work of Christ — went up to God, who never fails to honour it. So the curse is changed into a blessing.

Hatred and unbelief think of circumstances... His persistence in seeking the curse enlarged the blessing; it is always so. He does not know God. And God could not just repeat the blessing already given, so He kept unfolding it further.

If this is true of Israel, it is certainly true also of those who today are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. God will not allow them to be cursed.

Chapter 22:41 tells us that Balak brought Balaam to the high places of Baal to prophesy against Israel. Here he saw only "a portion of the people" (NASB). Balak wanted Balaam to think that Israel was not a large nation, so that he might curse them more safely.

Balak's first effort is to diminish them in Balaam's eyes — he would not have him see too much. This gives force to what Balaam says: "Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel?" The end camp was only the fourth part. The partial view did not diminish the greatness of the people. It only moved him to say, "If only the end is so much, what must be the whole?"

In Hebrew, future and present are the same tense. With Keil, we need only read the present instead of the future: "you see only the outermost part of them," instead of "you shall see." From where he had been standing, he had seen only the outermost part of them. Now Balak is going to show him all. He thinks he made a mistake before, and that this was perhaps why he had not succeeded. Divination depended on what was before the eyes.

What force this gives to the announcement! Balaam is looking over the whole camp, from one end to the other: "God has not beheld iniquity in Jacob"! ... Balak might have said, "Balaam, you may see no spot there, but there are plenty elsewhere." Now it is impossible to say so. Look where you will: those whom God has justified cannot be condemned.

What low and contemptible thoughts both King and prophet had of their Creator! They imagined that such tricks and changes of position could completely change His mind about His people. The King of Syria and his advisers were just as stupid when they were at war with Israel in the days of Ahab. They said that the Lord was God of the hills, but not of the valleys. So if the Syrians fought on the lower ground, the victory would be theirs (1 Kings 20).

Balak seems to have imagined that the huge numbers of Israel were the reason Balaam was afraid to curse them. Should Balaam not have said to him: "I cannot go on with this. The Lord has told me clearly, both in Syria and here, that the people cannot be cursed, for He has blessed them"? Balaam stayed with Balak and went where Balak wanted. That shows clearly that he would gladly have cursed God's people if it had been in his power.

At first Balak had evidently thought that if Balaam saw only a small number, he would count them as unimportant, and so curse them. Now he has to change his mind... Balak did not know why God blessed Israel. It was not because they were worthy of blessing. It was because they were His people, chosen by sovereign grace, and redeemed from sin and slavery by the Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea.

The place of the second prophecy is the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah. "Zophim" means "watchers," and Pisgah, with its wide view, was just the right place for them. It suits the purpose of God all the more to bring out His thoughts about His people.

Balak now took Balaam "into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah," and there he built seven fresh altars and offered a bull and a ram on each one. What low and shameful thoughts both king and prophet had of their Creator! They imagined that such schemes and changes of position could change His mind about His people. The king of Syria and his advisers were just as stupid when they were at war with Israel in the days of Ahab. They suggested that the Lord was God of the hills, but not of the valleys. So if the Syrians fought on the lower ground, victory would be theirs (1 Kings 20).

Balak still hoped that Balaam might be allowed to curse Israel. He had no idea of the faithful, unchanging nature of the living God.

"Zophim" means "watchers," for whom Pisgah, with its width of view, was just the right place. Balak knew all about this place, of course; and many a keen and jealous eye, no doubt, had watched the camp from there. All the more, this suits God's purpose of bringing out His thoughts about His people.

From the place where he had been standing, he had seen but the outermost part of them; now Balak is going to show him all. He thinks he made a mistake before, and that this was perhaps why he had not succeeded. Divination depended on what was before the eyes. Balaam is now looking over the whole camp, from one end to the other. Think what force that gives to the announcement: "God has not beheld iniquity in Jacob"! How it would spoil this to suppose that Balaam had here only got a partial view! Balak might have said, "Balaam, you may see no spot there, but there are plenty elsewhere." Now it is impossible to say so. Look where you will: those whom God has justified cannot be condemned.

At first Balak had clearly thought that if Balaam saw only a small number, he would think of them as insignificant, and so curse them. Now he has to change his mind. If a small number could be blessed, perhaps Balaam would decide that a large number was less likely to deserve blessing. Balak did not know why God blessed Israel. It was not because they were worthy of blessing. It was because they were His people, chosen by sovereign grace, and redeemed from sin and slavery by the Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea.

This is how man — the flesh — would try to propitiate God. Is there anything more offensive to Him?

God allowed only one altar of burnt offering (Ex. 27:1; Heb. 13:10), for the altar speaks of Christ, the only way of approach to God. But Balaam believed in "many gods and many lords" (1 Cor. 8:4-5).

The moment any enemy or accuser enters the scene, the Lord places Himself in front to receive and answer the accusation. His answer never rests on what His people are in themselves. It rests on 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.

Balak now took Balaam "into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah." There seven fresh altars were built, and a bull and a ram were offered on each one. What low and shameful thoughts both king and prophet had of their Creator! They imagined that such schemes and changes of position could completely change His mind about His people. The king of Syria and his advisers were just as stupid when they were at war with Israel in the days of Ahab. They suggested that Jehovah was God of the hills, but not of the valleys. So if the Syrians fought on the lower ground, victory would be theirs (1 Kings 20).

It seems Balak tried to make Israel look fewer and weaker in Balaam's eyes. He first took him to a place where he could see only a part of them, the outermost part, a fourth of the people. When that plan failed, Balak took Balaam to Pisgah, where the view was more complete. Here Balaam tells Balak to stand by the burnt offering while, he says, "I go to meet." The King James Version says "the Lord," but that word does not appear in the original. In Hebrew it reads, "I will go to meet — over there."

He tells Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering, while I go and meet — over there." He does not seem to know whom he was going to meet. It is all the most thorough and perfect confusion.

The words "the Lord" should not have been put into the King James Version of Numbers 23:15. Balaam said to Balak, "stand here by your burnt offering while I meet over there." He did not go to meet Jehovah; he did not wish Him to cross his path again. Numbers 24:1 says plainly that he went "to look for omens"; but Jehovah, in His love to His people (though they were unworthy), would not allow this. So He stepped in a second time, and met Balaam... It is immense comfort to our souls to note these divine activities. The God with whom we have to do delights to "stand between us and the foe."

The place of the second prophecy is the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah. "Zophim" means "watchers," and Pisgah, with its wide view, was just the right place for them. Balak knew all about this place, of course, and no doubt many a keen and jealous eye had watched the camp from there. All the more, as we have seen, it suits the purpose of God to bring out His thoughts about His people.

Whatever Balaam's purpose was in raising his altars, he had to learn one thing. No amount of sacrifice could make God change His mind. "God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind" (Numbers 23:19). God could count Israel as His chosen people, quite apart from what they were in themselves. So "He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel." God viewed them in the light of His purpose. Not all the altars and sacrifices — whether to Jehovah or to the spirit Balaam consulted — could change God's purpose to bless those He had chosen.

He does not claim to be going to meet Jehovah; he only says, "I will go to meet yonder." The prophet would have been glad to meet his familiar spirits at the meeting place, but instead, "The LORD met Balaam." Balaam had chosen to ignore the plain command of Jehovah about His people. Now he must be the unwilling instrument for announcing His thoughts about them.

He did not go to meet Jehovah; he did not want Him to cross his path again. Numbers 24:1 says plainly that he went "to look for omens"; but Jehovah, in His love for His people (unworthy as they were), would not allow this. So He stepped in a second time and met Balaam. He put a fresh word in his mouth and said, "Go again to Balak and speak thus." It is a great comfort to our souls to notice these actions of God. The God we deal with delights to "stand between us and the foe."

Back with Balak, Balaam has to speak the word that God had put in his mouth. This time God will not let him keep anything back. He had told only part of the truth to the leaders of Moab, when God commanded him not to go with them and not to curse His people. Now he must speak all that God has given him. What he says takes the form of a parable or proverb. It is a revelation from God, and it points forward as prophecy.

Balak had no proper idea of who God is. So Balaam told him, "God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind." This was a lesson both Balak and Balaam needed. Because they could change their minds to suit themselves, they thought God was the same kind of being as they were.

Now it is impossible for God to lie, as Titus 1:2 tells us. His word stands: when He speaks, He makes it good. God's blessing rested on Israel, and no power of the adversary that Balaam could use could reverse it. The blessings given to the church are far higher than those given to Israel. So as we think about the spiritual and heavenly blessings that are ours in Christ, let us rejoice in the assurance these verses give.

Here we find ourselves on truly high ground, and on ground as solid as it is high. This is, in truth, "the top of the rocks" — the pure air and wide view of "the hills," where the people of God are seen only in "the vision of the Almighty." They are seen as He sees them, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that. All their flaws are hidden from view, and all His beauty is seen upon them.

Balak now took Balaam "to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah," and there they built seven fresh altars and offered a bull and a ram on each one. What low and shameful thoughts both the king and the prophet had of their Creator! They imagined that such tricks and changes of place could completely change His mind about His people. The king of Syria and his advisers were just as foolish in Ahab's day. They said Jehovah was God of the hills but not of the valleys, so the Syrians expected victory if they fought on lower ground (1 Kings 20).

The words "the Lord" do not belong in the older English translation of Numbers 23:15. Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering while I meet over there." He was not going out to meet Jehovah. He did not want Him to cross his path again. Numbers 24:1 says directly that he went "to look for omens." But Jehovah loved His people, unworthy as they were, and He would not allow this. So He stepped in a second time, and met Balaam. He put a fresh word in his mouth and said, "Go again to Balak and speak this way." It is an immense comfort to our souls to notice these divine activities. The God with whom we have to do delights to "stand between us and the foe."

There, at the "Watchman's field," Jehovah was indeed watching over His beloved people. He put a word in Balaam's mouth, and Balaam had to speak it to the man who wanted him to curse God's people. Balak was not alone; his princes were with him as witnesses to what the God of Israel thought of His people. Balaam claimed to be the Lord's servant, and Balak asked him what the Lord had spoken. So he had no excuse. He himself admitted that the message through Balaam came from Jehovah, the God of Israel.

Balak's question when Balaam returned to him was remarkable: "What has Jehovah spoken?" But we know he was not willing to accept whatever Jehovah might choose to say. His hope was that the second message would be more favourable to Moab than the first. What a delightful contrast is the attitude of Cornelius and his friends! Peter went to them in Caesarea at their invitation, and they told him: "You have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord." (Acts 10:33) Such an attitude of soul brings blessing.

He returns to Balak, but this time he does more than confess that he cannot curse. There is a commanding power in his reply: "God is not man, that He should lie." The word Balaam uses here — "El" — expresses absolute Deity. This sets man in sharp contrast with God in His essential Being. Blessing — our blessing through grace — depends on what He is.

Men lie to one another, but God is altogether different. Men may change their minds, because they do not know where their own commitments will lead; but God knows the end from the beginning and has no need to change His mind. What He had said to Balaam and through Balaam, He would carry out; He would accomplish every word.

The Old Testament often uses the word "parable" for figurative language where no actual parable is told. So Balaam "took up his parable," Numbers 23:7, 18, and Job "continued his parable," Job 27:1; 29:1.

This setback did not stop Balak. He suggested they go to another place to see the armies of Israel: "You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there." Was he so foolish as to think a more limited view of God's people would make any difference? How very little these two men really knew of God!

Balak was not alone; his princes were with him as witnesses to what the God of Israel thought of His people. Balaam claimed to be the Lord's servant, and Balak asked him what the Lord had spoken. This left him without excuse. He had admitted that the message through Balaam came from the LORD, the God of Israel.

What an awful rebuke this was to unbelieving Balak. He had surely expected a change in the mind of that God whose aid and help Balaam was to call upon. Maybe he thought that God would give way after a second asking. Maybe He would let Balaam speak a kinder word, as He did when Balak's princes first came to him. Instead, Balaam shouts to Balak to rise and listen, with an awful commanding voice — for so it must have been. Now Balak hears that God's promises to Israel are unchangeable. Nothing can ever reverse them.

Balaam continued: "Behold, I received a command to bless: He has blessed, and I cannot revoke it." This is a step beyond his first message. "God has not cursed"; now he passes from the negative to the positive. "He has blessed" — but his added words were venomous: "and I cannot revoke it." He would gladly have done so for reward. But how delightful to our souls to hear the enemy of God's people confess in public that he cannot reverse God's grace towards His chosen.

Balak's question when Balaam returned was remarkable: "What has the LORD spoken?" Yet from what we know of him, he was not willing to accept whatever the LORD chose to say. His hope was that the second message would be more favourable to Moab than the first. What a delightful contrast was the attitude of Cornelius and his friends! They had invited Peter to Caesarea, and when he came they said: "You have done well to come. So now we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord" (Acts 10:33). Such an attitude of soul brings blessing.

Here Balaam goes further than he did in his first message. Then it was "God has not cursed"; now he moves from the negative to the positive: "He has blessed." But his added words carry poison: "and I cannot reverse it." He would gladly have reversed it for a reward. What a delight to our souls, to hear the enemy of God's people confess in public that he has no power to reverse God's grace towards His chosen ones.

In this majestic message, Israel's blessing and safety do not rest on Israel at all. They rest on the truth and faithfulness of Jehovah. "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind." This puts Israel on safe ground. God must be true to Himself. Is there any power that can stop Him from keeping His word and His oath? No. "He has blessed; and I cannot reverse it." God will not reverse the blessing, and Satan cannot.

Balak may take Balaam from place to place to look the people over, but God lets the prophet speak from only one point of view — what they are in the eyes of God. Remember, God is answering the enemy. What is happening on the high places of Moab is a dispute between Himself and the useless power of Satan. He has His own way of speaking to His people, and His own way of speaking about them in front of the enemy. It is a sweet and precious privilege that His people get to hear how He speaks of them. Such is our God. Our blessing depends on what He is.

Balaam said he had received a command to bless, for God had blessed Israel and Balaam could not reverse it, much as he wanted to. More than this: "He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel." God had disciplined Israel severely for their disobedience and rebellion. Yet He tells Israel's enemies that He had not seen iniquity in Israel. Why? Because God saw them as sheltered by the blood of sacrifice… The first prophecy sees Israel as sanctified; the second adds that they are justified.

Notice too that he used the natural name Jacob ("Supplanter") as well as the name of grace, Israel ("prince with God"). This shows God's grace in justifying the ungodly.

But can our failures change God's purposes of grace toward us? Will He stop loving us, erase our names from the book of life, and throw us back where He found us? Blessed be His holy name, NO! He chose us in Christ before the world was made… He has washed, sanctified, and justified us, and has sealed and anointed us with the Holy Spirit. All this must stand for ever, for God is faithful, whatever His people may be. In His righteous government He may discipline us, just as He disciplined Israel long ago, but He will never abandon His purposes of grace. "The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable" (Rom. 11:29). Listen to Moses in Deut. 23:5: "the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you."

We must remember that God is answering the enemy. What is taking place on the high places of Moab is a controversy between Himself and the futile power of Satan. He has His own way of speaking to His people, and He has His way of speaking of them in the face of the enemy. What a sweet and precious privilege, that His people may hear how He speaks of them!

Only on the ground of the grace that justifies could God call them what they were not. He saw them even now as what He would make them through the Saviour. This is what is before His mind. Clearly, God cannot justify sinners unless He blots out what they are and brings in what they are not. How can this be? Justification comes through another alone. Only in this way has God "not beheld iniquity in Jacob." It is not that He denies it; nor that there was no iniquity on their part, for indeed there was. "Neither has He seen perverseness in Israel." It is a question of what He looks at.

God compels Balaam to say, "He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither has He seen perverseness in Israel." Balaam says it at a time when they were as perverse as they could possibly be in themselves. But the blood was on the mercy seat. God's eye rested on that blood, which spoke to Him of a perfect sacrifice for sin. So He would not allow the enemy to curse His people, or even to accuse them. He still disciplined them for their faults, as a people who ought to have been as holy in their ways as in their standing before God. All this was a picture, and imperfect under the law. But now it is completely and eternally true that God does not charge sin to those who are under the shelter of the blood of Christ.

It is not merely that they are a separated people dwelling alone; they are a justified people, having the Lord their God with them, and the shout of a king among them. "He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither has 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?

"The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them." The distinguishing mark of the people of God is that He is in them and among them. Wherever this is not the case, the saints show utter feebleness. It is a blessed truth that God has forever saved and justified His children. But He did it so that He may "dwell among them."

When Balaam's unwilling lips said that God "has not beheld labour in Israel," the word used is "labour" — what perverseness produces — and not "perverseness" itself. Balaam then shows how this comes about, when he says that not only is "the LORD their God with them," but also "the shout of a king is among them." That ringing shout of loyalty which welcomes the King is indeed the jubilee cry which proclaims liberty to the worn-out worker. No rest but in "the shout of a King!" Would that our hearts knew it better, and echoed it with the joyous songs that fit it! A King! our King!

When we apply this to ourselves, we must clearly separate two things. One is the judgment of the Spirit of God within us about the evil of the flesh. The other is the testimony of the Spirit about what we are before Him in Christ. We often find the soul judging itself rightly, yet forgetting the ground on which it stands before God. That resting place of faith is what He has done for us in the Lord Jesus.

These words are repeated to stress that Israel was under the care and protection of God. They had not come out of slavery under Pharaoh by their own strength. When Balak sent for Balaam, he had said to him, "Behold, a people has come out of Egypt" (22:11). God wanted Balak to understand that they came out of Egypt by His all-powerful arm.

What were they, this famous people? Where did they come from? "Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite" (Ezek. 16). And later, what were they? A nation of slaves! Their first steps out of Egypt were a flight, and fear marked them until their enemies drowned in the sea. "God brought them out of Egypt." But now they have the strength of a unicorn.

The Hebrew word is reem. The Greek translation rendered it with a word meaning "one-horned," and from that the older English versions took "unicorn." Nothing in Scripture suggests the animal had only one horn. In fact Deuteronomy 33:17 speaks of "the horns of a unicorn," and it must have been an animal the Israelites knew. Its great strength, and the fact that it cannot be tamed, are its main features: unlike the tame ox, it cannot be put to work on a farm… Most likely it was a species of wild ox, the Bos primigenius.

The mighty strength of the wild ox was not their own. Their God gave it to them. The power of the wild ox, or buffalo, stands for what is most powerful. In Psalm 22:21 the Lord Jesus met the full force of the power of death, and God answered Him from the horns of the wild oxen — from the place where death, at the height of its power, had spent all its energy against Him. Here Israel had strength that no nation could overcome, given by God Who lived among them.

He had brought them out of Egypt, and His strength is compared to that of the aurochs, or wild ox. No man can resist such strength. Yet this is only a picture, for God's strength is far greater than any picture can show.

There are two parts in Numbers 23:22. The first presents Israel as the objects of God's care; the second, as the instruments of God's vengeance on the nations. Verse 23 answers to the first part, verse 24 to the second. "God brought them out of Egypt." It is the pledge that He never stops watching over them. When God begins to bless, He never stops… It is the assurance of His power always working for them, a power that would keep them safe from the world itself, and from the malice and hidden scheming of Satan.

"God brought them out of Egypt; he has, as it were, the strength of a wild ox." I dare not meddle with them, Balaam says. I understand far too well what they are. They are connected with God, with His strength and power. "According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God done!" According to what time? The time when Israel was faint and weak, worn down by the long journey, with none of their enemies beyond the Jordan yet beaten.

For the believer it is said, "according to this time" — not what men have done, but "what God has done" (Num. 23:21-23).

The great question in this moving scene is this: "Can Satan succeed in cursing the people of God, and so keep them out of the promised land?" This is not only a question about redemption, and about the joy of redemption at the start of their journey. It is a question at the end, when they have shown all their unfaithfulness — unfaithfulness even after the Lord had brought them to Himself. Can Satan succeed then? No.

Balaam, who used enchantments, had to admit that "there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel." When the elders of Moab and Midian came from Balak, they were sent "with the fees for divination in their hand" (Num. 22:7); and when Balaam claimed to go and meet the LORD, he went "to look for omens" (Num. 24:1). No natural power could overcome the people of God, and no devilish power could prevail against them either.

In His own dealings with the people He will see everything and take notice of everything. But with the accuser it is a question of righteousness. God sees only this: according to the purposes of His grace, He has given a ransom, and the sins of His people are atoned for. He could not in justice see those sins. So the accuser's mouth is forced to confess that there are none. The enemy has no power against Jacob. And the ground is clearly taught. The words are said of Jacob and Israel, not of God; and they say not what Israel has wrought, but what God has wrought. Israel had the place, but the work was God's work.

According to what time? The time when Israel was faint and weak. They were discouraged by the long road, and they had not yet conquered any of their enemies across the Jordan. Their enemies were much mightier than they (Deut. 7:1, etc.), and yet he says, "What has God wrought!" The moment he sees them under the eye of God he says that.

In God's wisdom he was just the man to declare even to the enemy that it is entirely a question of what He has wrought, not in any way of Israel's doings or deserts.

God delights to speak of Jacob and of Israel. When we see Jacob in all his weaknesses and failures, God's mercy and grace shine out in His dealings with him. When we see Israel, the prince with God, we see the one whom God has enabled to be an overcomer. Whether in Jacob or in Israel, God's greatness stands out.

We need to be sober and watchful. We need to be strong in the Lord, wearing the breastplate of righteousness and the belt of truth. But we have no need for alarm and dread. We may walk through this evil world with a calm mind. We know the Lord's hand protects us, and we know the enemy has no power.

Egypt could hold Israel for centuries, but Egypt's wickedness ripened. When the hour came, no power in the air or on the earth could stop God's judgments on Egypt and His mercies on Israel. No enchantment and no divination will ever frustrate God's plan in the future.

We have the bold announcement made through the lips of a man who was a complete outsider, in race and in heart. It is all the more glorious for that, because the man who states its great principle could see how deeply blessed it was, without ever knowing its comfort in his own soul. In God's wisdom he was just the man to declare, even to the enemy, that everything turns on what He has wrought. It has nothing to do with what Israel did or deserved.

According to what time? It was the time when Israel was faint and weak. They were discouraged by the long journey, and they had not yet conquered a single enemy on the other side of the Jordan. Their enemies were much mightier than they… and yet he says, "What has God wrought! Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up…" The moment he sees them under the eye of God he says that.

God not only acts for His people, He also uses them to defeat those who rise up against them, just as it is written here.

This was a solemn warning for the king of Moab. God's people would show all the mighty strength of the great lion and the unstoppable energy of the young lion as they fought the people living in Canaan. Victory for them was not in question; it was already assured by their God. The time for them to lie down in peace would come, but not before their foes had been overcome and devoured.

Israel is again seen as a lion. But now he is not rising up, as in chapter 23, verse 24; he is lying down… After defeating all his foes, Israel would be able to rest in the land God had marked out for them. No one would dare disturb a nation so majestic and strong.

This was prophecy when Balaam spoke it, but it is now history. Even so, the prophecy has not been completely fulfilled. Because of their failure, Israel lost the land God gave them. They became a prey to their enemies, who carried them off as captives. Yet the day is coming when this word will have its final fulfilment, and Moab will be among the enemies subdued, as Isaiah 11:14 says.

The lion is a picture of unstoppable strength. It may act lawlessly, or, as here, carry out God's judgments in righteousness… These prophecies are still unfulfilled. The One who holds God's mighty power, pictured by the lion, has not yet appeared in this character. He has been on earth as a lamb led to the slaughter, but not as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah."

Balak, deeply frustrated, told Balaam neither to curse nor bless Israel. Balaam's prophecy spoke of positive blessing for Israel, and Balak decided it would be better to say nothing. Balaam could only answer that he must speak as the Lord commanded, which was true, for he was only a tool in the hand of God.

Such revelations should have brought both Balak and Balaam down in repentance before God. They should have sought His mercy, for both knew well that they were dealing with the God of Israel. Confused and ashamed, Balak said, "Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all." Balaam only answered, "Did I not tell you, 'All that the LORD says, that I must do'?" The blessing was not from the heart of Balaam, but from the heart of God. Neither Balak nor Balaam could stop Israel being blessed.

We have learned something of how stubborn the flesh is. Otherwise it would amaze us that Balak and Balaam tried yet again to bring disaster on Israel. Balak was very angry at what he had to listen to. He said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all." Yet almost at once he added, "Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there." This was sheer wickedness. The LORD had already thwarted his plans twice. Yet he still meant to try again, and Balaam did not object.

Balak is in complete and all-distorting darkness. First Israel was forbidden to touch Moab. Next he says, "He whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." He was trying to bring the curse on Israel when God had said, "Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you." So he was only bringing it on himself.

The enemy's attempt did not just make God repeat the same blessing. It drew out His activity, as it were, to bring out all the riches of His blessings. He carries out His own purposes according to His own will and thoughts.

So it is with us, dear friends. We are taken up with our own (often) foolish thoughts. The accuser is speaking against us. Yet nothing can succeed, because God works for us.

Balaam knew enough of God to be sure that if the people of Israel could be tempted into sin, the LORD's hand would come down on them in judgement. So we read in Numbers 25:1-2: "While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods."

We have learned something of the stubbornness of the flesh. Without that, we would be amazed that Balak and Balaam should try yet again to bring disaster on Israel. Balak was very angry at what he had to listen to. He said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all." Yet at once he added, "Come, please, I will bring you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there." This was plainly sheer wickedness. The Lord had already thwarted his plans twice. Still he meant to make another effort, and Balaam did not object.

Balak no doubt believed in many gods, each with his own areas or high places. He saw the Lord as only another of these. So he thought a change of place might produce the cursing he wanted. But again the Lord met Balaam and put in his mouth the words he had to speak.

Such revelations should have brought both Balak and Balaam down in repentance before God, and they should have sought His mercy. Both knew well that they were dealing with the God of Israel. The blessing was not from the heart of Balaam, but from the heart of God; and neither Balak nor Balaam could stop Israel being blessed.

He had no sympathy at all with the thoughts of the heart of God, none with God Himself. The fear of consequences ruled him. If it were otherwise, the blessing of the people would have made him so happy that he would have shuddered at the idea of cursing what God had blessed. God, however, will use him to give a glorious testimony on behalf of His people. At the same time He condemns the crooked ways of the prophet, for they were indeed crooked.

Balaam could only answer that he must speak as the Lord commanded, which was true, for he was only a tool in the hand of God.

How little did Israel know or imagine what was going on between the Lord and the enemy. God was setting out their perfection through the tongue of the covetous prophet. At that very moment they may have been grumbling in their tents. Balak would gladly have Israel cursed; but, blessed be God, He will not allow anyone to curse His people. He may have to deal with them Himself, in secret, about many things; but He will not allow another to move his tongue against them.

So the moment any enemy or accuser comes on the scene, the Lord places Himself in front to receive and answer the accusation. His answer is never founded on what His people are in themselves. It always rests on what He has made them through the perfection of His own work. His glory is bound up with them, and in defending them He maintains His own glory. He places Himself between them and every accusing tongue.

Balaam shows what a man can become when his heart is covetous. He sold himself to Satan for rewards in this life. He ignored every warning from God that stood in his way on a path leading to destruction. He professed to be the servant of God, but in reality he served Satan, to get the rewards his heart was set on. He was willing to curse the people God had blessed, and to give advice that would bring God's judgment on them.

It is amazing to see Balak keep trying to curse God's people after all that God had said to him through the lips of Balaam. God had just said, "God is not man… that He should change His mind." Yet Balak said to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there." This is man in his self-will and ignorance of God, bringing God's just judgment on himself by opposing His will. To get what he wanted, Balak takes Balaam to the top of Peor, named after his god, Baal-Peor.

In Balak we see how completely the knowledge of God was lost… He thought God was just like himself, or like the god he imagined for himself… To him, circumstances and place could influence gods and men alike. So, judging the LORD as he would judge Baal, he says, "You shall see only a fraction of them, and shall not see them all; and curse them for me from there." But God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. He had spoken, and He would make it good.

In this magnificent parable, Israel's blessing and security do not depend on themselves. They depend on the truth and faithfulness of the LORD. "God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind." This places Israel on 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 has blessed; and I cannot reverse it." God will not, and Satan cannot, reverse the blessing.

The enemy's attempt did not make God merely repeat the same blessing. It drew out His activity, so to speak, to bring out all the riches of His blessings. He carries out His own purposes according to His own will and thoughts.

The new viewpoint was "the top of Peor, that looks towards Jeshimon" (Jeshimon means "the waste"). This time Balaam was forced to give a truly delightful description of the people as God saw them. But the people were not yet in Canaan, resting in possession of every promised blessing. They were still in the desert wastes. Look at the New Testament letters. There we find wonderful descriptions of God's saints — not only as they will be in heavenly glory for ever, but as they are today, while in this evil world!

Balaam could not succeed in enchantment against Israel… The effort was to get the LORD to curse His people. Balaam could not do it, and had to bless instead. There is no possibility of using Satan's power against the people of God… He has no power as an adversary. It is as a tempter he has power. When the enemy could not bring a curse on the people, he tried to seduce them into wickedness.

It is amazing to see Balak still trying to curse God's people after all that God had said to him through the lips of Balaam. God had just said, "God is not man… that He should change His mind." Yet Balak said to Balaam, "Please come to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there." Such is man in his self-will and ignorance of God. By opposing God's will, he brings God's just judgment on himself. To get what he wanted, Balak takes Balaam to the top of Peor, named after his god, Baal-Peor.

Yet again Balak picks another place (v. 27). He does not know the God of heaven and earth. To his dark idolatrous soul, was the Jehovah of Israel any more than the local god of one people, or of one small area? There He might be supreme, while in another place another god would rule. The idolatry of every land and age never went beyond this. Each nation had its own god… Long afterwards the Syrians said the God of Israel was the god of the hills, and not of the valleys.

The new point of view was "the top of Peor, that looks towards Jeshimon" (meaning, "the waste"). This time Balaam was forced to give a truly delightful description of the people as God saw them. But the people were not yet in Canaan, resting in possession of every promised blessing. They were still in the desert wastes. In the New Testament letters we find wonderful descriptions of God's saints. They show us not only how they will be in heavenly glory forever, but how they are today, in this evil world! God sees His saints as "in Christ," and faith says with joy, "as He is, so we are in this world" (1 John 4:17).

But now he comes nearer still. From the top of Peor, Balaam sees the people staying in their tents, tribe by tribe. The nearer he gets, the deeper the impression made on him. Now he says, "How lovely are your tents, O Jacob!" The nearer vision you have of the people of God, the more fully you will realise the wonder of their blessing.

Hatred and unbelief think of circumstances. The sight of Israel had frightened Balak, and in the folly of unbelief he tries to draw Balaam away from the influence of what he dreaded himself. Unbelief never thinks of the thoughts of the Lord, and the people were not hidden from Him. His persistence in seeking the curse enlarged the blessing; it is always so. He does not know God. And God could not simply repeat the blessing already given, so it grows fuller each time.

The effort was to get Jehovah to curse Israel, but they could not. God held Balaam's lips and forced him to speak blessings instead of curses, despite himself. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." When the devil comes as an adversary, he has no power. The secret of his power lies in coming in as a tempter and seducer. Satan could not get Jehovah to curse Israel. So he seduced them into wickedness, leading them "to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality." Then how could the holy God bring them in? (See Numbers 25.)

Balak and Balaam tried yet again to bring disaster upon Israel. That would amaze us, if we had not learned something of the wilfulness of the flesh. Balak was very angry at what he had been forced to listen to. He told Balaam not to curse them at all and not to bless them at all. Yet almost at once he added, "Please come, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there." This was sheer wickedness. The LORD had already thwarted his plans twice. Still he was determined to make another effort, and Balaam did not object. The enemies of God's people were never more persistent in their hatred than at this time.

Balaam exposed his idolatrous character at once by asking Balak to build seven altars, offering on each one a bull and a ram. God allowed only one altar of burnt offering (Ex. 27:1; Heb. 13:10), for the altar speaks of Christ, the only way of approach to God. But Balaam believed in "many gods and many lords" (1 Cor. 8:4-5).

In the first verse of our chapter Balaam says, "Build for me here seven altars." We see at once what this man was. He claimed to be a prophet of the LORD, but he was in league with the powers of darkness. When Elijah was in conflict with Baal, he repaired the LORD's one broken-down altar, and he prevailed. In contrast to that, we are now to see that the seven altars of Baal can achieve nothing against the blessing of God.

Balak's words to Balaam make his idea of God clear. He thought God was just like himself, or like what he imagined his own god to be. At his highest, he could not imagine anything beyond nature. He might picture a monster with every attribute nature could suggest. His god Baal was only the expression of his own imagination. He might think that the LORD was a more powerful God than Baal, and so he did not tell Balaam to consult the god of Moab. But to him, gods and men alike were not beyond the influence of circumstances and place.

Whatever Balaam's purpose was in raising his altars, he had to learn one thing. No amount of sacrifice could make God change His mind. "God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind" (Num. 23:19). God could treat Israel as His chosen people, quite apart from what they were in themselves. God viewed them in the light of His purpose. The altars and sacrifices could not alter God's purpose to bless those He had chosen — whether they were offered to the LORD or to the spirit Balaam consulted.

Whatever the oxen and rams on the altars meant to Balaam, they suggested Christ to God. When Christ is before Him in the perfection of His great sacrificial work, what can He do but bless His people? Balaam understood nothing of this. He was as blind as the wicked men who put the blessed Son of God on the cross of Calvary. There was a side to that cross of which they knew nothing. They never imagined that God would bring vast blessing out of their appalling deed.

By now Balaam had at least learned that the LORD had the unchangeable purpose of blessing Israel. So this time he knew it was useless to seek enchantments from evil spirits. Instead he set his face toward the wilderness, where Israel was camped as God had ordered (Num. 24:1). Then the Spirit of God took possession of him to convey another wonderful prophecy.

We have already learned something of the wilfulness of the flesh. Without that, we would be amazed that Balak and Balaam should try yet again to bring disaster on Israel. Balak was very angry that he had to listen to such words. He said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all." Yet almost at once he added, "Come, please, I will bring you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there." This was plain, sheer wickedness. The Lord had already blocked his plans twice. Yet he still wanted another try, and Balaam did not object.

God had said in plain words that He means exactly what He says. Even so, Balak hoped that a new location might change His mind! There, on the top of Peor, Balaam asks again for seven altars with a bull and a ram offered on each. Balaam himself had not yet learned there is only one God.

Balaam exposed his idolatrous character immediately by asking Balak to build seven altars, offering on each one a bull and a ram. God allowed only one altar of burnt offering (Ex. 27:1; Heb. 13:10), for the altar speaks of Christ, the only way of approach to God. But Balaam believed in "many gods and many lords" (1 Cor. 8:4-5).

It is hard to say why Balaam told Balak to build his seven altars and prepare his seven oxen and seven rams. He may have wanted to appease God by sacrifice, trying to turn Him from His purpose to bless Israel. But the sacrifices were more likely offered to the demons that lie behind all idolatrous worship. Paul writes, "What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God" (1 Cor. 10:20).

On the high places Balaam had seven altars prepared, with a bull and a ram on each. To make himself acceptable to God he says, "I have arranged seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram." So man — the flesh — would try to propitiate God. Is there anything more offensive to Him?

Whatever the oxen and rams on the altars meant to Balaam, they suggested Christ to God. When Christ is before Him in the perfection of His great sacrificial work, what can He do but bless His people? Balaam understood nothing of this. He was as blind as the wicked men who put the blessed Son of God on the cross of Calvary. There was an aspect to that cross of which they knew nothing.

Hatred and unbelief think of circumstances. The sight of Israel had frightened Balak, and in the folly of unbelief he tries to draw Balaam away from the influence of what he dreaded himself. Unbelief never thinks of the thoughts of the Lord, and the people were surely not hidden from Him. His persistence in seeking the curse enlarged the blessing; it is always so. He does not know God. And God could not merely repeat the blessing already given, so He unfolds it further each time.

Balaam pretended that the sacrifices were to Jehovah. He said to Balak, "Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me." We learn in the first verse of the next chapter what Balaam really sought. This is the key that unlocks the puzzle for us. He was not seeking Jehovah's presence, but enchantments. That is, he sought the spirit or spirits he was familiar with, and his sacrifices were for them.

Why the word "perhaps"? Did God ever refuse to meet a soul that sincerely sought Him? Why this language of uncertainty? It was pious cant. When he turned aside to "a bare height" Balaam had no wish whatever to meet Jehovah. His one desire was that Jehovah would let him alone, so that he could do what Balak wished and earn his reward. Numbers 24:1 tells us definitely that he went "to seek for enchantments," which means he was trying to get through to the demons he was used to dealing with.

Balaam used enchantments himself. Yet he had to confess, "Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel."... If there was no natural power to overcome the people of God, neither was there any diabolical power that could prevail against them.

Balaam was now fully convinced that it was useless to turn aside any more to seek enchantments. He had proved by experience that the power of Hell is of no use against the power of God, and that nothing could turn His heart away from the people of His choice. This should have produced in him a broken and contrite spirit, but sadly it produced no such effect!

He did not go to meet Jehovah; he did not wish Him to cross his path again. Numbers 24:1 says plainly that he went "to seek for enchantments." But Jehovah, in His love for His people (although they were unworthy), would not allow this... It is an immense comfort to our souls to notice these divine activities. The God we have to do with delights to "stand between us and the foe."

Balaam sees at last that God is set on blessing. He yields to the power of God, no longer goes out after enchantments, and the Spirit of God comes upon him... Notice here that this is not a look ahead to Canaan, nor Israel in their permanent homes. Balaam turns his face towards the wilderness and sees Israel living in their tents. There the Spirit sees them, and declares the beauty and the order of the people in the eyes of God.

It is not what will be true in the future Canaan that he is speaking of, but what is true of the people of God here and now, in the wilderness... He says, What! with all their miserable sins, sorrows, and quarrels? Yes, for God sees the things that are not, as He had already refused to see the things that were — their iniquity and perverseness. Let anyone stumble at it who will: we glory in it!

When we have any matter completely cleared before God from all question of sin, it is not His way to stop there. As we know, freedom follows for the Christian, quite apart from what he once was. He is free to enter into the positive enjoyment of two things: the place of blessing in which he stands, and God Himself, now truly known in Christ.

But Balaam set his face "toward the wilderness" — why? Because the children of Israel were still in the wilderness. The wilderness was not Canaan, but Israel was there. The world is not heaven nor the glory, but the church is there now. While the church is in the wilderness, the Spirit of God can take up the parable and show what the church is in God's eye. So here, Balaam is not walking through the tents of Israel, or he would have heard the murmurings and discontent of Israel. He is not in the camp. He has gone up to the top of the hill. Looking at them with God's eye, what does he see? Israel abiding in their tents according to their tribes.

Notice how remarkably the Spirit of God works here. Balaam is not regenerate, and he is linked with the enemies of God, and yet the Spirit puts a word in his mouth and compels its utterance. That word is as true as any that inspiration ever uttered — blessedly true — and yet spoken by the unwilling lips of a wicked man! What an illustration of the mighty, irresistible power of that Spirit, and what a joy to know that the power is for us and not against us. Alas, poor Balaam! He may speak by the Spirit, but be a stranger to the Spirit.

We must pause here and put a question to our own hearts. Is it not possible for us to "see" in an intellectual way, and even to speak of the precious things of God, without our own hearts being moved by them? As we read God's Word and come to understand its teaching, let us exercise our hearts and consciences. Then the truth may get a firm hold of us, and shape and influence our lives.

What order! Balaam saw Israel abiding in tents "according to their tribes." Our God is a God of order. When the Lord Jesus fed the five thousand, He did not let them drop down on the grass as they pleased. He said, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each" (Luke 9:14). Jehovah Himself planned Israel's camp in the wilderness. He arranged the tribes around the Tabernacle in four groups of three, each under its own banner (Num. 2). In the same way, God has placed every member in the body of Christ. He supplies each one from the endless resources of the Head in heaven, giving all that is needed for the blessing and growth of the whole. "God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose" (1 Cor. 12:18).

Why could Balaam not curse God's people? The secret is found in Numbers 24:2, where Balaam "saw Israel abiding in his tents [covered] according to their tribes." Again, "How lovely are your tents [covered], O Jacob" (v. 5). The people were stubborn and rebellious, but in the picture they were covered. So Balaam, the false prophet, had to speak truth against his own will, because he had received a command to bless.

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, all-important question is: what does God think about them? … God sees us, thinks of us, speaks about us, and acts towards us according to what He Himself has made us and has done for us. He deals with us according to the perfection of His own work. "Onlookers may find many faults"; but as regards our standing, our God sees us only in the comeliness of Christ; we are perfect in Him.

Balaam knew God's will better than Balak did. Yet greed blinded him, so he too kept on in his own self-will, clearly imagining that Balak's purpose could still be reached. Knowing that God was determined to bless Israel, he did not go "as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness." This is the plainest statement of Balaam's evil intention: he tried to avoid getting into God's presence, because he knew God would not let him curse His people.

From this high place God would make Balaam speak out His thoughts about His people, and to this end "the Spirit of God came upon him." Balaam would gladly have spoken to curse Israel, under the influence of his familiar spirit or out of the depths of his own wicked heart. But under the compelling power of God's Spirit he must only speak what God determines.

In saying that his eyes were now opened, he confessed that they had been shut, and so he had been in the dark. It does not follow that his opened eye meant he had turned to God. Indeed his later history proves he had not. But his opening words assure us that he did speak as a prophet, and the words he spoke were the words of God.

The man knew that God had opened his eyes, and that he was looking at things his heart had no interest in. While he described the blessing and final triumph of the people he hated, he knew himself to be a fallen man. Not "fallen into a trance," as the older translation says, but truly fallen. This privileged but wilful man has gone down to eternal ruin.

He was like the Pharisees of John 9, who asked the Lord, "Are we also blind?" The Lord answered them with these solemn words: "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains" (John 9:41). This is the state of religious men, who claim to be enlightened with the knowledge of God, but in reality are blind guides of the blind.

But Balaam set his face "toward the wilderness" — why? Because the children of Israel were still in the wilderness. The wilderness was not Canaan, but Israel was there. The world is not heaven or the glory, but the church is there now. While the church is in the wilderness, the Spirit of God can take up the parable and show what the church is in God's eye. So Balaam is not walking through the tents of Israel, or he would have heard their murmuring and discontent. He is not in the camp. He has gone up to the top of the hill, and looks at them with God's eye.

Not all the powers of earth and hell, men and devils combined, can draw out a single breath of curse or accusation against the Israel of God… They shine in all the beauty which He has put upon them. To see them like this, we only have to climb to the top of the rocks and have our eyes open, looking at them from His point of view, so that we may see them in "the vision of the Almighty."

The Spirit of God came upon Balaam, his eyes were open and he heard the words of God — three advantages which we have. We are responsible to use them. Because we have the Holy Spirit our eyes have been opened, but we must want to understand the truth.

As Balaam opened his lips for the third time he spoke of himself in a remarkable way. In saying that now his eyes were opened he confessed that they had been shut, and therefore he had been in the dark. The Spirit of God had come upon him, and he was saying what the Spirit forced him to say. So his opened eye does not mean that he had turned to God. His later history proves that he had not. But his opening words assure us of this: he really did speak as a prophet, and the words he spoke were the words of God.

In the opening words of this oracle, Balaam tells us that his eyes were open. He was not ignorant of the evil of his way. He knew full well that he stood in deadly opposition to the will of God when he sought to curse His people, and now he has to proclaim his own guilt. He had "heard the words of God," and he had seen "the vision of the Almighty." In other words, God had shown him His mind and will about His people. God even let him see the people as God Himself saw them.

The world is not heaven or the glory, but the church is there now. While the church is in the wilderness, the Spirit of God can take up the oracle and show what the church is in God's eye. So Balaam is not walking through the tents of Israel, or he would have heard the murmuring and discontent of Israel. He is not in the camp, he is gone up to the top of the hill, and, looking at them with God's eye, what does he see? Israel resting in their tents according to their tribes.

The word Balaam uses for God — "El" — is the expression of absolute Deity. Blessing — our blessing through grace — rests on what He is… This title of God is put into Balaam's lips, and it speaks of the absolute character of the blessings pronounced. "Has He said, and will He not do it?" So a further title is used (Num. 24:4), "Almighty" — the Accomplisher of all that He has spoken.

When he saw the visions of God, Balaam had to fall down, just as he did before the angel (ch. 22:31). Yet his eyes were so opened that he saw Israel from God's viewpoint. How sad that this had no lasting effect on his heart!

The man knew that God had opened his eyes, and that he was looking at things his heart cared nothing for. Even while he described the blessing and the final triumph of the people he hated, he knew he was a fallen man. Not "fallen into a trance," as the Authorised Version puts it, but truly fallen. This privileged but wilful man has gone down to eternal ruin.

Where can we find nobler or more glowing words than what Balaam said in Num. 24:4 and the verses that follow? Yet what can be more appalling than the terrible history of his later life, and of his end? "Balaam also, the son of Beor, they killed with the sword" (Num. 31:8). Part of his prophecy came true in his own shameful death and beyond — "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near." No, wretched Balaam! no, indeed!

A person may share in the Holy Spirit — that is, take part in His workings — without necessarily having received the Holy Spirit who lives in the saints. In them He is the seal of their faith and redemption. It was by the Holy Spirit that Balaam looked down from the heights on the beauty of the camp of Israel. He rejoiced and exclaimed, "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel!" — and yet what followed shows that he was not a child of God.

Balaam is not walking through the tents of Israel, or he would have heard the grumbling and discontent of Israel. He is not in the camp; he has gone up to the top of the hill, and, looking at them with God's eye, what does he see? Israel settled in their tents according to their tribes.

Read his whole third parable carefully and you will see that Balaam begins with the coverings of the people before he speaks of the people themselves. In Exodus 26 the instructions for the tabernacle and its fittings describe its layers by three names: the tabernacle (v. 6), the tent (v. 12), and the coverings (v. 14). All these things spoke to God of Christ, whose personal perfections cover His people and secure every blessing for them. How suggestive, then, are Balaam's words: "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel!" Sadly, the unhappy man was incapable of appreciating the sweetness of what he said.

Suppose one had gone down to examine those tents and dwellings. In the sight of man they might have looked "black as the tents of Kedar." But looked at in the vision of the Almighty they were "goodly," and whoever did not see them that way needed to have "his eyes opened." If I look at the people of God "from the top of the rocks," I will see them as God sees them: clothed with all the loveliness 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 rough points and angles, their blots and blemishes, their failures and weaknesses.

In the very next chapter Israel fell into terrible evil. Did that change God's verdict? Surely not. He judged and disciplined them for their evil. He is holy, and He can never approve in His people anything contrary to His nature. But He could never reverse His verdict about them... the moment an enemy comes out to curse or accuse, He stands in front of His people and says, "I see no iniquity" — "How goodly are their tents."

God had deep pleasure in viewing His people gathered around Himself, as He dwelt in their midst. It is the same today. God dwells among His people; they are a "dwelling place for God by the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:22); and it is with deep delight that He views His own as gathered around the Lord in the assembly.

Do you think that such views of God's grace will feed a spirit of lawlessness? Far from it! We may be sure we are never further from that terrible evil than when we are breathing the pure and holy air of "the top of the rocks"... And the only true and effective way to raise the standard of moral conduct is to keep resting in this most precious and calming truth, that God sees us perfect in Christ.

Balaam spoke not only of the order of the children of Israel, but also of their beauty and fruitfulness... Balaam set his face towards the wilderness. What he would in fact have seen was many tents pitched round a tabernacle in the middle of the bare sand of the desert. That was a dreary enough sight in itself. What Balaam saw, however, was no mirage of the desert; it was the vision of the Almighty. The trees planted by the river spoke of refreshment, fruitfulness and beauty.

They are spread out low, as the valleys are. But all the streams of the hills water them. That is the law of nature, and God's own ordering: the streams serve what lies low. The next picture brings out this thought more fully. They are "like gardens beside a river" — yes, gardens planted by the LORD Himself, with aloes, rare and sweet-smelling plants from far lands, or with cedars, which Scripture elsewhere calls the grandest things in nature, with a leaf that never fades.

I believe all the glories of Christ are connected with the rivers of living waters. Everyone who believes can say, in one sense, "God has made us like the aloes and cedar trees beside the waters." Every stone might be baking hot, with not a drop of water to cool it. But there is one place in the wilderness where there was not only a drop, but rivers of living waters.

What a blessed picture this is! And could we be happy to see them stunted, dishonouring the Lord? The glory of Christ is at stake, for His character should show in us. Paul says to the saints at Corinth (not, you ought to be, but), "You are a letter from Christ, written with the Spirit of the living God." No, I must grieve when I find in them what is contrary to their beauty in Christ. They are "like aloes," and like "cedar trees." It is not merely that God has not seen iniquity in them — He has seen beauty.

If I am looking at the people of God "from the top of the rocks," I shall see them as God sees them. That is, clothed with all the beauty of Christ — complete in Him — accepted in Christ, the Beloved. This is what will let me get on with them, work with them and have fellowship with them. It lifts me above their points and angles, blots and blemishes, failures and weaknesses. If I do not look at them from this high, divine ground, I shall surely fix my eye on some little flaw. And that flaw will completely spoil my communion and cool my affections.

Balaam does not speak of what they were to become in Canaan. He speaks of what God saw them to be while they were still in the wilderness. So it is a lovely picture of what grace does for the Christian and the church now. No doubt it is a vision only for faith. But it is a vision for open eyes, not shut ones, as it says here. It is no illusion, no heated human imagination of what they are going to be. It is what God sees, and delights to let us see by faith, in His people here below.

This has not yet come true. Israel is still living in miserable huts, far from being like gardens by the riverside, or aloe trees and cedars beside the waters. But the prophetic eye sees it all done. Balaam's vision leaps over centuries to the time of the end, when Israel's unbelief has ended.

Those who are drawing on the infinite resources of God have something to give to others. They take in more than they can hold. So Balaam says, "Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters." If Balak had understood what he was hearing, he would have had no fear of Israel. The people were meant to be a blessing to all the nations. They were to spread the knowledge of the one true God, and to share His wonderful grace with others. Israel has never yet risen to this.

Material prosperity and spiritual blessing await Israel. They will also be the means of blessing to others, and with no stingy hand. "Water shall flow from his buckets" is a figure that shows the lavish abundance of the blessing. Wherever the Israelite goes, he carries blessing.

"Water shall flow from his buckets" (v.7) reminds us of the "rivers of living water" that flow from within a believer (John 7:38), for the blessing of others too. So Israel will be a source of refreshment for all the nations in the Millennium. "His seed shall be in many waters." The waters speak of the Gentile nations (Rev. 17:15). So the descendants of Israel will spread an influence of great blessing over the whole world.

Agag was the title of the kings of Amalek, probably a general title, like the title Pharaoh, king of Egypt. (1 Sam. 15:9, 32; Num. 24:7)... Amalek descended from Esau, through Eliphaz. (Gen. 36:12, 16)

In this picture of fullest blessing, we cannot miss Israel's supremacy over Amalek. We have seen what Amalek stands for (Ex. 17). In the earlier prophecy, the meek King of Israel meets the restlessness of the flesh, and His rest-giving yoke conquers it. Now, as the direct result, Amalek's king comes down. Simonis gives the meaning of his name as "very high," which seems to fit the sense best. Israel's King is higher than the highest. And is not self-exaltation the very thing that gives free rein to the lusts of the flesh?

Israel had no king, and would not have one for many years to come. Even so, it could be foretold that "his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted." The Spirit of God who had come on Balaam was looking forward to the coming of Messiah. He would not only be higher than Agag, the king of Amalek, "the first among the nations." He would be King of kings and Lord of lords. There was a partial fulfilment of this prophecy in David and Solomon, but the Lord Jesus is the One the Spirit of God has in view.

Then, besides this, there is strength. "His king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted."... Notice the difference: the tents "are" lovely now, but the king "shall be" higher than Agag. The people did not yet have a king. Their visible blessing in power had not yet come. Their exaltation was to be a future thing in the land.

Balaam is not speaking of what they would become in Canaan. He speaks of what God saw them to be — indeed, what God let him see them to be while they were still in the wilderness. It is therefore a wonderfully lovely picture of what grace does for the Christian and the church now... No doubt it is a vision only for faith; but it is a vision not for closed eyes, but for open eyes, as it says here.

Yet "Israel" is a name of power; but to make that power real, we must come back again to the foundation. So here the refrain of redemption comes back, with its results.

While this glory is coming, God reminds the people where they came from. The same words come back from the second prophecy (23:22), where they go with God not looking on iniquity, and with Israel kept safe from every spell — there too with power against their enemies. But here, in this third prophecy, there is not only victory over the enemy in battle, but the complete conquest of the "nations his enemies." God would not have them forget that He brought them out of Egypt. However high they rise in glory and power, they were once a nation of slaves. God is the source of all good, clothing with beauty and endowing with power.

The repetition surely stresses that Israel were under the care and protection of God. They had not come out of Pharaoh's bondage by their own strength. When Balak sent for Balaam he had said to him, "Behold, a people has come out of Egypt" (22:11). God wanted Balak to understand that His all-powerful arm had brought them from Egypt. He had freed them from the bondage of Pharaoh, and had cared for them all through their wilderness journey.

Nothing in Scripture shows that the animal had only one horn. In fact Deut. 33:17 speaks of "the horns of a unicorn" (see margin), and it must have been some animal the Israelites knew well. Its great strength and wildness are its main features: no one can put it to farm work, as they could the tame ox.

It was hopeless for Balak to oppose Israel, for he had, as it were, the supreme power and strength of the buffalo; God had given him strength like that of this very powerful animal. By repeating this, God left Balak in no doubt: he could no more hope to defeat the people of God than he could meet the charge of the buffalo single-handed.

Balaam's final parable is about the victorious power of the people of God, when Christ takes His place at their head… Balaam paints a vivid picture of the power of God as it acts for His chosen people, and in them… For the second time he points back to the great deliverance from Egypt. The God who broke the power of the enemy at that time will break the power of even mightier foes in the coming day (Micah 5:8).

I dare not meddle with them, Balaam says; I have too much understanding of what they are, to do so; they are connected with God, with His strength and power.

First Israel was forbidden to touch Moab. Next Balak says, "He whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." And he was seeking to bring the curse on Israel when God had said, "Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you." So he was just bringing it on himself.

We must remember that in all this Balaam could no more resist the power of God working on him and through him than his donkey could stay silent earlier. We must not suppose that there was the smallest measure of real sympathy with what God was doing. The whole event was God's power at work, despite all that could be done against His people. He acted so because He would confound the enemy who turned to Satan's power to bring a curse on Israel.

In Numbers 24:9 Balaam was forced to repeat two ancient prophecies about Israel. Jacob said of Judah in Genesis 49:9: "Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?" The LORD said to Abram in Genesis 12:3, "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse." So the God of Israel confirmed His word through the lips of a determined enemy!

After devouring the prey the lion lies down. God brings rest to Israel after the defeat of all their enemies. So He promises, "Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid" (Jer. 30:10). No nation will want to stir up Israel's anger all through the thousand years of peace. Even at the end of that time, nations will come together in hostility against Israel. Israel will have no need to fear, because God will destroy their enemies with fire from heaven (Rev. 20:7-10).

David's throne is to be lifted up from the dust, and Judah's long-delayed hope is to open into fulfilment. It is strange that critics and commentators can see, in the Lion of Judah opening the book of God's purposes, only the general truth of Christ on the throne ruling the course of events. The clear reference ties Judah's Lion to Judah taking the prey, and then crouching with a strength that no one will dare to provoke.

In attempting to curse the people of God, both were judged by God. It has been the same all through Israel's uneven history. Nations that have interfered with God's people have not done it without cost. God may have used nations, like Assyria, as the rod of His anger to discipline His people, but in imagining they could act as they pleased in this, they brought God's judgment down on themselves.

The blessing of all nations, as we have seen, is bound up with the blessing of Israel because they are the LORD's people. So Balaam closes his parable with the words of God to Abraham. Matthew 25 gives the fulfilment. There the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory. He separates the nations one from another by how they treated one of the least of His brothers, the children of Israel.

Balak was greatly disappointed with the first and second parables; but after he heard the third, where the people he hated were described as not only sanctified and justified, but positively lovely in the eyes of the LORD, he was furious… He now wished to get rid of his visitor.

In a word, we see the separation of the people from the world. We see their justification. We see their order and their beauty, as planted by God near the everlasting sources of the river of God. And then we see the coming of Christ. The prophecy is perfectly beautiful. Notice too that the prophecies, in the renewed effort to bring a curse on them, are not repetitions. Each such effort brings out something more of what God had in His mind for His people — for blessing.

Israel's tents are seen as beautiful in the eyes of the LORD. And more than that, the people themselves are presented to us as holding fast to those ancient sources of grace and living ministry found in God… And only to think that we owe these magnificent words to the godless partnership between Balak and Balaam!

In the earlier vision of Numbers 24, Balaam uses still stronger terms about the power God would give them. Those words bring Balak's anger to a head… We must remember this: in all of it, Balaam could no more resist the power of God working on him and through him than his donkey could stay silent earlier. We must not suppose that there was the smallest measure of real sympathy with what God was doing. The whole transaction was one of God's power, in spite of all that could be done against His people.

Three times the enemy has tried and three times failed. Now Satan, in the person of Balak, appears in more open opposition. He acts as though he would take revenge on his helpless servant. For Balak here is only the mouthpiece of Satan. In anger and disappointment he tells Balaam to flee to his place… It is against the LORD that Balak speaks. The king now declares himself openly against His will.

The moment any enemy or accuser comes on the scene, the LORD places Himself in front to receive and answer the accusation. His answer is always based, not on what His people are in themselves, but on what He has made them through the perfection of His own work. His glory is bound up with them, and in defending them He maintains His own glory. He places Himself between them and every accusing tongue.

But can our shortcomings affect God's counsels of grace concerning us? Will He stop loving us, erase our names from the book of life, and throw us back to where He found us? Blessed be His holy name, NO!… "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Rom. 11:29). Listen to Moses in Deut. 23:5: "the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you." In the same way, the risen Christ secures all our blessings.

The king, as we would judge, might easily have walked away after dismissing Balaam. But the LORD held him to the spot. There is no other explanation of his staying there another minute… The enemy of the people of God had raised a very serious question about them. The LORD would give His answer in full, and Balak had to hear all of it.

Three times the enemy has tried and three times failed. Now Satan, in the person of Balak, appears in more open opposition. He acts as if he wants revenge on his helpless servant. For Balak here is only the mouthpiece of Satan. He had his rewards for the prophet, but they were offered in vain. In anger and disappointment he tells Balaam to flee to his place. … It is against Jehovah that Balak speaks. It was against His will that the king now openly declares himself.

But Balaam's message greatly stirred Balak's anger (v.10). Why did he not bow to the Word of God? Simply because of a stubborn will! He knew that the Lord had kept Balak from honouring Balaam. But he had no intention of listening to the Lord, despite the three testimonies to the blessing of Israel. He gave up all hope of having Israel cursed, and only wanted Balaam to get away, without payment for his services.

There is something especially dreadful in the case of Balaam. He clearly loved money — no rare love, sadly, in our own day. Balak's gold and silver proved a very tempting bait to the wretched man — a bait too tempting to resist. Satan knew his man, and the price at which he could be bought.

To all this Balaam's poor covetous heart would say a regretful "Amen." … So if the result of this extraordinary business disappointed Balak, it disappointed Balaam just as keenly.

The Lord had indeed kept Balaam back from Balak's honour. This taught Balaam that God's power is greater than the power of Satan whom he served. It also taught him that God will not let anyone interfere with the people He has chosen for Himself.

The false prophet reminds the king of Moab of his warning to the messengers. Not all the wealth of Balak could make him say anything beyond God's commandment. It was true that he had said this. He had even spoken of "the word of the Lord my God." Now the evil man stood fully exposed. Both God and the king of Moab rebuked him. And he no longer speaks of the Lord as his God.

However, Balaam did not leave then, as Balak told him to. For God required Balaam to speak one more prophecy. Balak could not help listening, even though Balaam announced Israel's conquest of Moab in the latter days. Balak had challenged God without knowing it when he set out to have God's people cursed. So God gave him four messages that he could not avoid hearing — much as he might have wished to silence at least the fourth!

But he did not care to live the life of the righteous. How could he expect to die the death of the righteous? Reward glittered before his eye. He went his way to hell for the sake of what he could pick up on the road. Yet he must leave it all at the edge of the grave. He and his sins alone could pass through the gates of eternity.

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 my own mind. But what the Lord says, that will I speak.

He loved "the wages of unrighteousness," and, if he could, would have uttered what Balak desired. But a power that he could not resist held sway over him. He was for the time being the mouthpiece of God, and spoke, however unwillingly, the words of God. He knew that inspiration was real, and real word by word. So at his first meeting with Balak, before he spoke one prediction about Israel, he told him, "Have I now any power to say anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak."

Balaam could only respond as before, that he must speak what he was given to speak. If an evil spirit had given him a message of cursing, he would have been glad to speak it. But God stepped in and gave a message that He forced Balaam to speak. A house full of gold and silver could not change that, as Balaam knew.

The Lord had indeed kept Balaam back from Balak's honour. He was teaching him that His power is greater than the power of Satan, whom Balaam served. He was teaching him too that He will not let anyone interfere with the people He has chosen for Himself.

The King, we would think, could have walked away once he had dismissed Balaam. But Jehovah held him to the spot. There is no other explanation of his remaining there another minute. And how else can we explain his silence when Balaam spoke plainly of disaster to his own nation? The enemy of God's people had raised a very serious question about them. Jehovah would give His answer in full, and Balak had to hear it.

The false prophet reminds the king of Moab that he had warned his messengers: not all the wealth of Balak could make him say anything beyond God's commandment. It was true that he had said this. He had even spoken of "the word of the Lord my God." Now God and the king of Moab had both exposed and rebuked the evil man, and he no longer speaks of the Lord being his God.

The false prophet reminds the king of Moab that he had warned his messengers: not all of Balak's wealth could make him say anything beyond God's commandment. He had indeed said this. He had even spoken of "the word of the Lord my God." Now God and the king of Moab had completely exposed this evil man and rebuked him. And he no longer speaks of the Lord as his God.

But the prophet seems neither won by desire for his bribes, nor afraid of the king's power.

Balaam could only respond as before, that he must speak what he was given to speak. If an evil spirit had given him a message of cursing he would have been glad to speak that, but God intervened to give a message that He compelled Balaam to speak. A house full of gold and silver could not change that, as Balaam knew (v.13).

We know he loved "the wages of unrighteousness," and he would have said what Balak wanted if he could. But a power he could not resist ruled him. For the time being he was the mouthpiece of God, and he spoke the words of God, unwilling as he was. He was so aware that this was real inspiration, down to each word, that at his first meeting with Balak, before he made one prediction about Israel, he told him, "Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak."

Here we see the way God brought Balaam to see the deep things of God, and to testify to His good pleasure in the people of His choice. God's mighty power took hold of his eyes, ears and lips. He had to see "the vision of the Almighty," to hear "the words of God," and to speak what the Lord put in his mouth.

Balak did not want to hear any more, and Balaam did not want to say any more. But the power of Hell had been called up against His chosen people, so Jehovah had taken the matter up, though no one asked Him, and He would see it through to the end. What is more, it had to end in His time and in His way. God's power held Balak there, and he had to listen to a remarkable prediction of earth's final military catastrophe.

It really embraces the end of this age.

Balak had no wish to hear more, and Balaam had no wish to say more. But the power of Hell had been called up against His chosen people, so the LORD had taken the matter up, though no one asked Him to, and He would see it through to the finish. What is more, it must finish in His time and in His way. God's power held Balak there, and he had to listen to a remarkable prediction of earth's final military disaster.

Balak was left with the statement that to curse Israel was to bring a curse on the head of the person who spoke it. This made him angry, and he wanted to send Balaam away on the spot. But the Lord was about to speak again through Balaam's lips, and Balak had to listen... So Balak had to hear not only Israel's present blessing but also their victorious destiny.

"The last," or "latter days," is an expression with a clear prophetic meaning. It occurs just 14 times (Gen. 49:1; Num. 24:14; Deut. 4:30; Deut. 31:29; Isa. 2:2; Jer. 23:20; Jer. 30:24; Jer. 48:47; Jer. 49:39; Ezek. 38:16; Dan. 2:28; 10:14; Hosea 3:5; Micah 4:1). In every one of these the reference is to the closing scenes of Jacob's time of trouble and the setting up of the Millennial kingdom, as a study of the context of these passages will show.

Balaam had said, "I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days" (verse 14). As soon as the prophet speaks of Messiah's scepter, he says that He "shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth." This points to God's dealings with Moab in the "latter days," at the time when the millennium begins. Israel is to deal with Moab, according to verse 14, but it is Messiah too, according to verse 17.

With his words finished, Balaam went off "to his place." This does not mean that he returned to his own land... later we find that when Moab and the Midianites were destroyed, he died among them.

When the five kings of the Midianites were killed in battle, Balaam died with them (Num. 31:8). He was a long way from home at that tragic moment. But death found him among the bitter, long-standing enemies of the people of God, still trying to harm Israel.

His greed led him to try to serve the wicked king of Moab by cursing the people of God. When God gave him an answer, he goes to God a second time, because his heart wanted its own way. It is a solemn thing to learn that if God gives you up, you may get what you want... He was indeed a man whose heart was not with God. He said some true things, but his spirit was not in them. He always speaks from the outside, as a miserable man, far off from the blessing that he saw. "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near," and so on. He goes on step by step, until he lends himself to corrupt even God's chosen people through the world.

Most of the Bible deals with the great crisis that is now coming, when God will bring the Man of His choice out into full view, and put all things under His rule... "Horns" and "beasts" may be very interesting, and may give plenty of material for discussion. But the aim of the Spirit of God in showing us the future is to separate us from man's hopelessly evil order of things, and to fix our minds on Christ.

How were these prophecies given? When Balaam found he could not turn God aside from His purpose of blessing the people, he stopped looking for enchantments.

Balaam begins this prophecy in much the same way as his third. He speaks as the man whose eyes were opened, who hears the words of God and has knowledge of the Most High. How sad that this knowledge came only from evidence. It was not the living knowledge of a believer. Yet it was accurate, for he did see the vision of the Almighty, subdued before God, falling down with his eyes open. So what he prophesied is absolute truth, and he could know it only because God revealed it.

Ungodly as he was, for a fourth time Balaam was forced to speak inspired words, and verse 16 is instructive about what inspiration involves. He not only "saw" and "knew," but also "heard the words of God." So the very words he spoke were given to him. What is more, he used three names. There is "God." There is "the Most High," a name that seems tied in a special way to His supremacy in the millennial age. And there is "the Almighty," the name by which He revealed Himself to Abraham, from whom Israel came. If Balaam had really known God for himself in the way these names suggest, he would have been stopped in his evil course. He gives us a solemn example of the good things a man may say while he himself remains in "the bond of iniquity," like Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8.

Here we see the way Balaam was brought to see the deep things of God, and to testify to His good pleasure in the people of His choice. Eyes, ears and lips were brought under the mighty power of God. He was obliged to see "the vision of the Almighty," and to hear "the words of God," and to speak what the Lord put in his mouth (see Numbers 22:38; 23:5, 12, 16, 26; 24:13).

Balaam declares that he is falling — falling down to ruin, "but having his eyes open." He was like the Pharisees of John 9, who said to the Lord, "Are we also blind?" The Lord answered them with these solemn words: "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains" (John 9:41). This is the condition of religious men who claim to be enlightened with the knowledge of God, but are really "blind leaders of the blind."

To speak in human terms, we would never have had such a glorious view of Israel if Balak had not tried to curse them. It is the view seen in "the vision of the Almighty," "from the top of the rocks," by one "having his eyes open"… They shine in all the beauty He has put on them. To see them this way, all that is needed is to climb to "the top of the rocks" — to have "the eyes open" and look at them from His point of view, so that we may see them in "the vision of the Almighty."

As Balaam opened his lips for the third time he spoke of himself in a remarkable way. In saying that now his eyes were opened he confessed that they had been shut, and so he had been in the dark. The Spirit of God had come upon him, and he was saying what the Spirit forced him to say. It does not follow that his opened eye meant he had turned to God. His later history proves that he had not. But his opening words are meant to assure us that he really did speak as a prophet, and the words he spoke were the words of God.

That Balaam was a man of God, no one, I think, would dare to claim... He "loved the wages of unrighteousness." He put himself among the open enemies of the Lord. He agreed, for money, to curse the people of God — though God turned the curse into a blessing. And you know how he died, set against the armies of the Lord, despite his prayer, "Let me die the death of the righteous"... He was never a converted man. Still — and this is very solemn to consider — God could use him as a vessel to express His thoughts of His people.

Balaam begins this much as he began his third prophecy: the man whose eyes were opened, who hears the words of God and has knowledge of the Most High. How sad that this knowledge was only a knowledge from evidence, not the living knowledge of a believer. Yet it was accurate, for he really did see the vision of the Almighty, subdued before God, falling down with his eyes open. So what he prophesied is absolute truth, which he could only know by God's revelation.

It is clear from Rom. 1:21, etc., that a certain knowledge of God may exist apart from conversion or the working of divine life in the soul.

The word Balaam uses here — "El" — is the expression of absolute Deity... It is put into Balaam's lips, and speaks of the absolute character of the blessings pronounced. "Has He spoken, and shall He not make it good?" So a further title is used (Num. 24:4), "Almighty" — the One who accomplishes all that He has spoken. He is also in relationship with those He blesses — "Jehovah his God is with him." And when the rising of the Star out of Jacob is predicted, then the title "Most High" is brought in (Num. 24:16). For the Sceptre of universal rule arises out of Israel, and Jehovah their God is then Most High over all the earth. It is His millennial title.

Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God, met Abram returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him in the name of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:18-20). This event appears to prefigure the millennial day when the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess it for ever (Dan. 7). Again, Balaam, through "the knowledge of the Most High," prophesied of the same time (Num. 24:16).

Balaam knew that God had opened his eyes, and that he was looking at things his heart cared nothing for. While he described the blessing and the final triumph of the people he hated, he knew himself to be a fallen man. Not "fallen into a trance," as an older translation puts it, but really fallen. This privileged but stubborn man has gone down to eternal ruin.

Let none of us be content with mere externals, however good they may be. The essential thing is heart-faith in the Son of God. Even the smallest true faith in Him is worth infinitely more than stores of Bible knowledge and church privileges. Balaam's case was all the more serious because light shone across his path but never entered his soul.

Never was Satan more determined to curse; never was God more determined to bless! Satan never had a more willing servant. And no man was ever more powerless than Balaam once the Almighty took hold of him!

So the curse Balaam intended became the most magnificent statement of blessing ever pronounced on the people of God. It reaches down to the last days, when Israel will be exalted under the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth.

The star is for watchers. We must be up early in the morning if we wish to see the early star. The sceptre speaks of authority and rule.

We recall his first parable. From the top of the rocks he said in the same way, "I see him and from the hills I behold him." There it was the nation; here it is a person — the King of Israel whose shout he had heard before among the wonderful people. The description of this coming King is glorious. He sees Him first as a star coming out of Jacob. Then he calls Him a sceptre risen out of Israel, striking through the sides of Moab and turning all the sons of tumult against each other.

So it does not matter whether the powers are western or eastern. It does not matter whether the enemies are many or few, what resources they have, or where they come from… It is the day of Immanuel, not of David or the Maccabees.

Instead of "children of Sheth," it is better to read "sons of tumult"; that is, "tumultuous war will be destroyed."

But at the start he is made to speak of his own tragic position: "I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but not near." … Balaam's fate will be that of all unbelievers. Believers see the Lord Jesus now by faith. But Balaam had no intention of bowing his heart to Him at the time. So in the future he will see Him, but not near. It will be only in awesome judgment, when he sees Him at the Great White Throne.

He had been predicted as coming "a Star out of Jacob," without any reference to the morning. As the bright Morning Star, Jesus presents Himself as the One who runs ahead of the coming day and guarantees it. Now Israel does not know Him like this, for it has rejected Him and treated Him as an impostor. The Church, and the Church alone, knows Him in this character.

And as Balaam foretold long ago, Edom — which in the days of Moses refused to let Israel pass through his border (Num. 20:21) — "will be a possession, Seir also will be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly."

Esau had made Seir his home (Gen. 33:16), so it lies close to Edom and Moab. These will be fully brought under Israel's rule.

First he sees Him as a star coming out of Jacob. Then he calls Him a sceptre risen out of Israel… Because of this, Edom becomes His possession, and Seir as well. All His enemies are conquered, and Israel stands with the King and does valiantly. It is a very clear prophecy about the Messiah. It points to the time when the kingdom will be restored to Israel. Many teachers of God's Word have made a mistake in applying this prophecy to the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Israel (that is, the spared remnant) is destined to play an important part in defeating the enemies of God and His people… The destruction of the Western armies described in Revelation 19:19-21, and the overthrow of the armies of Russia and her allies in Ezekiel 39, will happen with no human help at all. But against other foes, God intends to use a delivered Israel.

He is the Star out of Jacob, the Sceptre out of Israel. "Israel shall do valiantly" but by His power. Christ alone is before God, as He always was and is.

The judgment passes on to Edom, the typical enemy of Israel, who… pictures for us the world of the old man — the natural fallen man. He is the most real enemy we have as Christians. He is no less an enemy for being related to us all by nature, just as Edom was the brother of Israel who acted like no brother. His enmity is described here as revenge. He had a quarrel from the beginning — the loss of his birthright-blessing, which he sold for a bowl of stew and has since forgotten.

Edom speaks of the flesh, and the flesh then will be put in the place of nothingness. For Israel in the Millennium will not be in the perfect state: the flesh will still be in them, but put under control.

It is not for the false prophet to speak of God's discipline of His people. God would only allow someone who was set on cursing them to speak of their blessing. Yet we know that God had to discipline His beloved people. They will still have to pass through times of dreadful judgment because of their sins. But in the end, they will "do valiantly."

God used the false prophet Balaam to declare His mind. He also forced the High Priest of Israel, who was plotting the death of Jesus, to say that He would die for the nation (John 11:51). Balaam would gladly have cursed Israel, but twice over God made him speak the word He put in his mouth. The third time, when Balaam tried to escape God, "The Spirit of God came upon him" and made him bless. In his fourth parable, Balaam prophesies about Christ's coming as "a star out of Jacob, and a scepter … out of Israel."

After this introduction he says again that he sees Him and looks on Him. But not now, and not near. We remember that in the first parable he said, from the top of the rocks, "I see him and from the hills I behold him." There it was the nation. Here it is a person: the King of Israel, whose shout he had heard before among that wonderful people… This is a very clear prophecy about the Messiah. It points to the time when God will restore the kingdom to Israel. Many teachers of God's Word have made a mistake here. They apply this prophecy to the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ… Balaam says, "Out of Jacob one has dominion and destroys what is left from the city." These words refer to His reign and rule in the coming age.

That this points to the rule of Christ is obvious. But in what sense does His first coming, or the Church, fulfil it? If words have any meaning, the dominion here spoken of is not spiritual but earthly — not brought in by persuasion, but by power.

Whatever city this means, the large fellowship it stands for will be destroyed. People want their cities to find strength in unity. But corruption thrives in men's cities, and the Lord Jesus will destroy all this.

"For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet" (1 Cor. 15:25). Cain built his city after he murdered his brother, and after he "went out from the presence of Jehovah." But destruction will fall on "him that remains of the city." Yet there is another city, not built by man. Abraham, the friend of God, looked for it — "the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (Heb. 11:10).

Rev. 19:19-21 describes the destruction of the Western armies, and Ezek. 39 the overthrow of the hordes of Russia and her allies. God will do both without any human help. But against other enemies He intends to use a delivered Israel… "out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remains of the city." Israel's armies will be unstoppable, led on by Christ, who will then indeed be "a man of war" (Ex. 15:3; Ps. 45:3-5).

Balaam's words in Num. 24:19 seem to be final. What more could be added to the statement that "out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion," and destroy even the remnants of His people's enemies? But the Spirit of God had still more to say in three short additions… "Amalek was the first of the nations, but in the end he will perish forever." Ancient fame may look wonderful to men, but it will count for nothing when God arises in His might.

Here we read of Amalek's unprovoked attack on Israel, just as they had escaped from the power of Pharaoh. Through Samuel we learn what Moses did not tell us in Exodus 17: that "he lay in wait for him," like a serpent lurking in the road. For this cowardly attempt to destroy His people, the LORD swore that He would have war with Amalek "from generation to generation." Balaam, in his prophecy, calls them "the first among the nations." That probably means they were the first of the desert tribes to attack the people of God as they traveled to the land of promise. But their end, he says, is utter destruction.

The reason for this severe judgment lies in Exodus 17, where the LORD says, "I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven," and in Deuteronomy 25, where Moses says, "Remember what Amalek did to you… how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God." Exalted as the first among the nations, Amalek now faces the sentence of utter destruction, and it seems God has already carried it out.

When Balaam looked on Amalek, "he took up his discourse and said, 'Amalek was the first among the nations, but its end is utter destruction.'" Ancient prestige, however wonderful it may be in the eyes of men, will count for nothing when God arises in His might.

So it makes no difference whether the powers are western or eastern, whether the enemies are many or few, what resources they have, or where they come from. Amalek may be the first of the nations, and Asshur may look like the last; yet trouble comes to Asshur and Eber, and "he too shall come to utter destruction." It is the day of Immanuel, not of David or the Maccabees. The LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

Moses charged Israel, "When the LORD your God has given you rest… you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget" (verse 19). Samuel recalled the word of God and the charge of Moses, and sent Saul to destroy Amalek… For failing in his mission, through disobedience, Saul lost his kingdom. David, in recovering his wives, whom the Amalekites had taken captive at Ziklag, helped on the destruction of Amalek. This destruction, it would seem, was almost complete when, in the days of Hezekiah, some of the sons of Simeon "struck down the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped." It may be that Haman and his sons were the last of Amalek.

However, Israel will bring Moab and Edom under its rule, but Amalek will suffer a more solemn judgment. Though Amalek was first among the nations, he will totally perish, as Exodus 17:14 affirms, "I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." For Amalek symbolizes the lusts of the flesh, which God will not spare.

The flesh and its lusts were never to be seen as anything but enemies. There is to be, not constant conflict, but absolute hostility between the people of God and the lusts of the flesh. The time is coming, thank God, when the very name of the flesh, with all its wretched meaning, will be blotted out for the beloved people of God. It will be only a memory of what we once were, and of a grace that has delivered us completely.

They appear to be a branch of the Midianites, and therefore descendants of Abraham. Midian was a son of Abraham (Gen. 25:2). Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was priest of Midian. In Judges 1:16 we read of the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law. The record of the Kenites shows friendship. Not a few lived among the Israelites, though most remained with the Midianites. And there were those who boasted of their strong dwelling places and put their nest in a rock. They thought themselves secure from Him who must reign over all. They thought the land given to Abraham (Gen. 15:19) could never be made good to his children. The sin of the Kenites was self-confidence; they boasted in their strongholds. Nevertheless they would be wasted until Asshur carried them away captive.

They settle among the people of God, but they never unite themselves with them. Balaam's prophecy views them as separate to the last. The play upon the name there — "you put your nest (ken) in the rock" — shows plainly what it means. They are Midianites, men of the world, but not at war with Israel as others of their race were. Instead, they make a nest for themselves among them. It is for the nest that they are there… All this describes only too well the state of many others. In every age they attach themselves to the people of God, yet are not of them.

The dwelling place of the Kenites was strong. They could rest in comfort and security in their rock fortress. But without the help and blessing of the God of Israel they could not continue as a nation. Even leaving their natural security and joining God's people would not save them… They were not like Amalek, though they lived among them. Israel had no hostility from them to rebuke, as it had from Moab. But they were not the chosen of God, and He did not preserve them from the forces that consume nations.

Great fortifications, strong natural frontiers, and every possible build-up of military force will be worthless when the day of the Lord opens. He is wiser and stronger than men. Everything will collapse before Him.

But what about victorious Asshur? "And he took up his discourse and said, Alas, who shall live when God does this! And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur." So it does not matter whether the power is western or eastern. It does not matter whether the adversaries are many or few, what resources they have, or where they come from. Amalek may be the first of nations, and Asshur seems set to be the last. Yet affliction comes to Asshur and Eber… It is the day of Immanuel.

Only two have their evil recorded… Amalek is foremost in his hatred of God. The Kenites are strong in self-confidence, putting their trust in nature — in man. These are common traits of the natural man. When the Lord Jesus appears to take the kingdom, these two characteristics will be most prominent… Along with this will come extreme confidence in man and his boasted progress. Like the Kenites of old, they will put their trust in the rocks.

He looks on the Kenites and again takes up his parable. They will be laid waste. They appear to be a branch of the Midianites, and therefore descendants of Abraham. Midian was a son of Abraham (Gen. 25:2). Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was priest of Midian. In Judges 1:16 we read of the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law. The record of the Kenites shows friendship. Not a few lived among the Israelites, though the greater part stayed with the Midianites.

They never unite themselves with the people of God, though they settle among them, and Balaam's prophecy views them as separate to the last. The play upon the name there — "you put your nest (ken) in the rock" — clearly shows the meaning of it. They are Midianites, men of the world, but not at war with Israel as others of their race were. Instead, they make a nest for themselves among them, and it is for the nest that they are there... All this describes only too well the condition of many who attach themselves, in every age, to the people of God, yet are not of them.

The dwelling place of the Kenites was strong. They could rest in comfort and security in their rock fortress. But without the help and blessing of the God of Israel they could not continue as a nation. Even if they left their natural security and joined themselves to God's people, that would not save them. The time would come when they would go into captivity, and until then their numbers would shrink. They were not like Amalek, though they lived among them, and there was no hostility against Israel to be rebuked, as there was in Moab. But they were not the chosen of God, and He did not keep them safe from all the different forces that destroy nations.

The prophecy then describes the Kenites as having a lasting dwelling place, established in the rock (v. 21), but "Kain (the Kenites) shall be burned and Asshur carry him away captive." The Kenites had shown kindness to Israel when they came out of Egypt (1 Sam. 15:6), but clearly at the last their character of disobedience to God will call for their judgment too. What appears to be good, if it does not have Christ as its Object, will be proved at the last to be only "enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7). Asshur (Assyria) will take them captive at the time of the end.

Great fortifications, strong natural frontiers, and every possible build-up of military force will be worthless when the day of the Lord opens. He is wiser and stronger than men. Everything will collapse before Him.

Some of them boasted of their strong dwelling places and put their nest in a rock. They thought they were safe from Him who must reign over all. They thought God could never make good His gift of the land to Abraham (Gen. 15:19) for his children. The sin of the Kenites was self-confidence; they boasted in their strongholds.

But what about victorious Asshur? "And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God does this! And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur." So it does not matter whether the powers are western or eastern, whether the enemies are many or few, with what resources or from what direction... It is the day of Immanuel.

In prophetic vision he saw Christ. But the Lord Jesus could not say of him what He said to the Jews about Abraham: "Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad" (John 8:56). It gave Balaam no joy to see Christ. It gave him no joy to be forced to describe the great day. On that day He will lift up the people Balak hated and destroy all their enemies, Moab included. Indeed he said, "Alas, who shall live when God does this?" This sounds like a wail of disappointment and despair.

The Spirit led David to describe the blessedness of that time in Psalm 72, and carried him far beyond himself into overflowing worship and praise. Faith looks at the future and breaks out: "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel." The enemy on the outside can only say with sadness, "Alas, who shall live when God does this?" (Psalm 72:18; Numbers 24:23).

There shall come a day, connected with the bringing in of the sceptre and dominion of the promised ruler. It will be a day so great and terrible that it puts the lives of all the sons of men in apparent danger. Who shall live when God does this? The flood had gone over the earth. God had promised, seven times over, that all flesh would never again die in a flood of waters. But here comes another judgment, and it looks universal — or nearly so.

In Matthew 24 we have a description of these end times: "And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short" (24:22). Just compare this verse with Numbers 24:23: "Alas, who shall live when God does this!" It is clearly the same period of time. After these terrible days, Christ will appear and set up His Kingdom, and peace will be the result.

But what about victorious Asshur?… It does not matter whether the powers are western or eastern. It does not matter whether the enemies are many or few, what resources they have, or where they come from. Amalek may be the first of nations, and Asshur may seem to be the last. Yet affliction comes to Asshur and Eber; "and he also shall perish for ever." It is the day of Immanuel, not of David or the Maccabees. The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.

Neither the pride of power nor the strong dwelling place can stop the one from perishing for ever, or the other from being wasted in captivity. For Balaam's parable does not here speak of Israel accomplishing these things, but, "Alas, who shall live when God does this?" Then in a few words the parable brings the three families of Noah on the scene. Kittim was a descendant of Japheth, Asshur of Ham, and Eber of Shem. All of them will take part in the final conflicts of the last days.

God's intervention will sweep the earth clear of all that fills men with pride and vain glory.

In a few words Balaam spoke of "Armageddon," where the last terrible clash of the nations will take place (Rev. 16:13-16)... "Chittim," strictly speaking, means the island of Cyprus. But Scripture uses it as a general term for the West (Jer. 2:10), seen from the Holy Land as God's centre. In Dan. 11:30 Chittim clearly means the Roman Empire. Asshur stands for the cruel Assyrian of Isaiah and Micah, the King of the North of Dan. 11:40. He wins at first in the world's last crisis. He overthrows many countries (Dan. 11:41)... But God has appointed both the Assyrian and the Roman to destruction. The "he" of Num. 24:24 is the last head of the Roman Empire (compare Dan. 7:8).

Daniel gives a similar prophecy about the king of the north. Ships from Chittim come against him, so he is discouraged, turns back, and rages against the holy covenant (Dan. 11:30). The king of the north here was the king of Syria, yet the Spirit of God seems to identify him with the Assyrian of the last days. The ships of Rome came against Antiochus Epiphanes. But they were a foreshadowing of Balaam's prophecy being fulfilled. In the last days it seems the navies of the western powers will come against the king of the north, the revived Assyrian.

Amalek may be the first of nations, and Asshur seemed set to be the last. Yet affliction comes on Asshur and Eber, and "he too shall come to utter destruction." It is the day of Immanuel, not of David or the Maccabees. Jehovah alone will be exalted in that day. So it does not matter whether the powers are western or eastern, whether the enemies are many or few, what resources they have, or where they come from.

Asshur, or Assyria, was the power that carried Israel captive, and now Asshur's turn to feel God's judgment comes. The ships of Chittim afflict Eber as well as Asshur. The Western powers become the instrument of God's anger against Eber — that is, Israel, or the Jew. But not as Israel: they are "Lo-ammi" and are no more than the children of Eber, Hebrews. God does not acknowledge them, and for a time their title and name of power is lost. But when the Star out of Jacob comes, and the Sceptre from Israel, they will receive this name of power again, and "Lo-ammi" will be reversed for ever.

There is no doubt that Asshur stands for the first of the Gentile empires, that is, Babylon. Eber probably stands for the other, the Medo-Persian. Kittim, the isles of the west, stands for the Greek and Roman rule.

We see the final judgment of the ships of Chittim — that is, of the west, north of the Mediterranean. We see the judgment of their chief as well, after he has afflicted Asshur and Eber. It will be the terrible judgment of God at the end of this age.

The verse looks at the great conflict still to come, since nothing in the past quite fits it all... West and East and Israel will clash and suffer. But the word just before it stands: Israel acts bravely, and one from Jacob will rule. Eber surely stands here as a figure for the Jews. The prophets declare that they rise to the first place on earth, when God destroys the destroyers of the earth and Messiah reigns.

God was above all, and nothing changes His affection. Whom He loves, and as He loves, He loves to the end. So the alliance between these two, who picture the "beast and false prophet," proved fruitless. God blessed Israel, and no one could curse them.

Balaam then went home. His heart was unchanged by the truth he was forced to announce. Balak left too, a much sadder man, though we might wish we could say a wiser man as well. But we fear the knowledge he gained did not make him wiser.

His utterances finished, Balaam departed "to his place." This does not mean that he returned to his own land... later we find that he died among the Moabites and Midianites when they were destroyed.

When the five kings of the Midianites were killed in battle, Balaam died with them (Num. 31:8). He was a long way from home at that tragic moment. But death found him among the sworn enemies of God's people, still seeking Israel's harm.

But before the fortune-teller left his disappointed employer, it seems he made a vile suggestion to him. If Jehovah could not be turned away from His people, perhaps the people could be turned away from Jehovah! Balaam knew enough of God to be sure of one thing. If the people of Israel could be tempted into sin, Jehovah's hand would fall on them in judgment... Satan first tries to destroy. When he finds that impossible, he tries to corrupt, because a pure testimony for God on earth is hateful to him.

For money he would curse the people of God. "He loved the wages of unrighteousness" (2 Peter 2:15)... The prophet and the king went their separate ways (Num. 24:25). But the trick succeeded... So Balaam was even more guilty than the king. Under Satan he was the real instigator of Israel's fall, which brought the striking judgment on 24,000 of the people (Num. 25:9).

He was not acting in ignorance. He was a man "whose eye is opened," who "hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High," and who "sees the vision of the Almighty." Despite the divine knowledge he had gained, and the things he had seen and heard from God, this wicked man went his own way in defiance of God's expressed will.

"The way of Balaam" in 2 Peter 2:15. "The error of Balaam" in Jude 11. "The doctrine of Balaam" in Rev. 2:14.

"The error of Balaam" was the corruption of ministry for the sake of personal gain. Balaam has had no lack of successors down the centuries. Many who serve only for pay have pushed themselves forward, caring nothing for the glory of God or the blessing of others. Their own advantage has been uppermost in their thoughts.