Numbers 22: Balak Seeks to Curse Israel – Act One
1 Then the children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho. 2 Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel. 4 So Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 5 Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! 6 Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
Then the children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho. “Being at Jericho, it was beyond the Jordan, but where the Israelites were, it was on this side.” (The Geneva Study Bible)— “having only Jordan between them and the land of their rest.” (John Darby’s Synopsis) Israel "had taken no part of the country that at present appertained to the Moabites; they had taken only that part which had formerly belonged to this people, but had been taken from them by Sihon, king of the Amorites." (Adam Clarke Commentary)
Now Balak the son of Zippor… “Balak was, as is presently explained, the king of Moab at this time, but not the king from whom Sihon had wrested so much of his territory (Numbers 21:26). He seems to be mentioned by name on a papyrus in the British Museum (see Brugseh, 'Geogr. Inschr.,' 2, page 32). The later Jews made him out to have been a Midianite, but this is nothing but the merest conjecture.” (Pulpit Commentary)
He “saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people…” “There was no ground for this apprehension, inasmuch as the Divine command given to Moses was ‘Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle.’ (Deuteronomy 2:9). It does not appear, however, that Balak was aware of the prohibition; and the recent conquests of the Israelites naturally filled the Moabites with alarm...” (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers) The prophet should have studied more to show himself approved of God.
And Moab said to the elders of Midian…. “The people are represented in the person of their king.” (Cambridge) “Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” “Lick up, i.e. consume and utterly destroy, in which sense the fire is said to lick up the water and sacrifices, 1 Kings 18:38. The meaning is, we can expect no mercy from them, they will utterly root us out as they did the Amorites, if we do not make a stout and timely opposition. All that are round about us, i.e. all our people, who lived in the country and territory adjoining to each city, where the princes resided.” (Matthew Poole's Commentary)
And they said to Balaam the prophet… “Look, a people has come from Egypt…” They seemed to try to hide the fact that these people were children of Israel. “It was supposed that prophets and sorcerers had a power to curse persons and places so as to confound all their designs, frustrate their counsels, enervate their strength, and fill them with fear, terror, and dismay. See Gen 9:25; Psa 109:6, Psa 109:20; Jos 6:26; Jer 17:5, Jer 17:6.” (Adam Clarke Commentary) But, in fact, the God of heaven is not bound by the words of a prophet, who is fallible— subject to error, being a person of like passions as we.
Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me… The king of Moab had a greater regard for the children of Israel than Sihon who had attacked them and paid with their lives. So the king “formed a plan to get the people of Israel cursed; that is, to set God against them, who had hitherto fought for them. He had a false notion, that if he could get some prophet to pray for evil upon them, and to pronounce a blessing upon himself and his forces, that then he should be able to deal with them.” (Matthew Henry Commentary) He did not know that it was no mystical curse or blessing, but the faith and deeds of a man that distinguish him in the eyes of Yahweh.
7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
9 Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”
10 So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’”12 And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you.” 14 And the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”
So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand… "Whoever went to consult a prophet took with him a present, as it was on such gratuitous offerings the prophets lived;.... It appears that Balaam was very covetous, and that he loved the wages of unrighteousness, and probably lived by it; see 2 Peter 2:15." (Adam Clarke Commentary) “Balaam was no stranger to Israel's cause; so that he ought to have answered the messengers at once.” (Matthew Henry) BUT INSTEAD he said to them, "Lodge here tonight..." -- while I go to Yahweh for an answer. We should know God's Word in such matters obvious matters. And go to Him in prayer for grey area. And we should not let pledges from Church members affect our actions. We should seek only to bless that faithful remnant- that Vine which came forth from Egypt.
The Word of Yahweh for Balaam was “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
"The object of this well-known narrative is to illustrate the all-important thought ‘if God be for us who can be against us?’ Jehovah holds Israel under His protection, and therefore provides that they shall receive a blessing and not a curse. Pharaoh’s obstinacy in opposing Jehovah in Egypt is paralleled, at the end of the journeyings, by the obstinacy of Balak, and the result is that the divine curse falls upon Moab (Numbers 24:17) among other foes of Israel.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) Yahweh, "he whom You bless is blessed, and he whom You curse is cursed.”
Morning Repost: Numbers 22: Balak Seeks to Curse Israel— Act 2
15 Then Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more honorable than they. 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me; 17 for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.’” 18 Then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.”
Yahweh had prohibited Balaam from going on such a wicked mission and Balaam had told them that his refusal was by the word of the Lord- in the form of a command- but in verse 14, the message relayed to Balak was only that he “refuses to come with us.”
"A second embassy was sent to Balaam. It were well for us, if we were as earnest and constant in prosecuting a good work, notwithstanding disappointments. Balak laid a bait, not only for Balaam's covetousness, but for his pride and ambition.” (Henry) "Balak's gold and silver proved a very tempting bait to the wretched man — a bait too tempting to be resisted. Satan knew his man, and the price at which he could be purchased.
If Balaam's heart had been right with God, he would have made very short work with Balak's message; indeed it would not have cost him a moment's consideration to send a reply." (C. H. Mackintosh's Notes on the Pentateuch)
“The wicked seek by all means to further their naughty enterprises, though they know that God is against them.” (The Geneva Study Bible) But the greater condemnation is on the prophet with greater knowledge. "How earnestly should we beg of God daily to mortify such desires in us!" (Matthew Henry)
Balaam replies to this second petition: “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more…” "This answer has an appearance of being good, but it studiously concealed the reason of the divine prohibition [Nu 22:12], and it intimated his own willingness and desire to go--if permitted. Balak despatched a second mission, which held out flattering prospects, both to his avarice and his ambition (Ge 31:30).” (Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown)
“Many make all the professions of Balaam, without justifying them by their conduct. ‘They pretend,’ says one, ‘they would not do any thing against the word of God for a house full of gold, and yet will do it for a handful!’” (Clarke) Then, he allows evil to lodge with him again, while he finds out “what more” He will say. WHAT MORE can He say that the which He had said? “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.”
It seems to me that the prophet, in fact, hid from the Lord that night for he knew the word of Yahweh on the matter. And Yahweh had to go to him. "The divine will, as formerly declared, not being according to his desires, he hoped by a second request to bend it, as he had already bent his own conscience, to his ruling passions of pride and covetousness. The permission granted to Balaam is in accordance with the ordinary procedure of Providence. God often gives up men to follow the impulse of their own lusts; but there is no approval in thus leaving them to act at the prompting of their own wicked hearts (Jos 13:27).” (Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown)
He seemed at first to refuse the temptation; "but he expressed no abhorrence of it. He had a strong desire to accept the offer, and hoped that God might give him leave to go. He had already been told what the will of God was. It is a certain evidence of the ruling of corruption in the heart, to beg leave to sin. God gave Balaam up to his own heart's lusts.” (Matthew Henry)
Yahweh allowed him to follow his heart and said: "rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do."
21 So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. 22a Then God’s anger was aroused because he went,
He immediately transgressed – "Because he went of his own accord, with the princes of Moab, and did not wait till they came to call him, which was the sign and condition of God's permission, but rather himself rose and called them. The apostle describes Balaam's sin here to be, that he RAN greedily into an error for reward, Jude 1:11.” (Wesley Notes)
"Balaam's heart was all wrong, and we see him, in chapter 22 in the melancholy condition of one acted upon by conflicting feelings. His heart was bent upon going, because it was bent upon the silver and gold; But, at the same time, there was a sort of reference to God — an appearance of religiousness put on as a cloak to cover his covetous practices. He longed for the money; but he would fain lay hold of it after a religious fashion. Miserable man! most miserable! His name stands on the page of inspiration as the expression of one very dark and awful stage of man's downward history. “Woe unto them,’ says Jude, ‘for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying of Core.’” (C. H. Mackintosh's Notes on the Pentateuch)
Like Korah (Numbers 16:1-3,31-33), Balaam rejected God’s authority, as expressed in his day through Moses, and in our day through His inspired Word.
Numbers 22: Balaam, the Donkey, and the Angel of Yahweh
22 Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road. 24 Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 25 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again. 26 Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
Then God’s anger was aroused "literally, because he was going. The participle denotes the continuous act. He deliberately and resolutely proceeded on his journey with the messengers of Balak, in defiance of the warnings which he had received." (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers) Balaam was on an ill-conceived mission to curse Israel.
And the Angel of the Lord, "the Son of God, who, as so often in the Old Testament, assumed this form, v. 35, stood in the way, in the road on which he journeyed to the country of the Midianites and the Moabites, for an adversary against him, to cause him to come to his senses even at this stage." (Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann) This being the Same One “that led the Israelites through the wilderness (compare Numbers 20:16 and references), and subsequently appeared as the Captain of the Lord‘s host to Joshua Joshua 6:13. In desiring to curse Israel, Balaam was fighting against Israel‘s Leader." (Barnes' Notes)
Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way... "What a lesson is this, that an unbeliever is more ignorant as regards God than a beast!" (Grant) "When God granted visions those alone who were particularly interested saw them while others in the same company saw nothing; see Daniel 10:7; Acts 9:7. And the angel - stood in a narrow place - In this carriage of the angel says Mr. Ainsworth the Lord shows us the proceedings of his judgments against sinners: First he mildly shakes his rod at them but lets them go untouched. Secondly he comes nearer and touches them with an easy correction as it were wringing their foot against the wall. Thirdly, when all this is ineffectual, he brings them into such straits, that they can neither turn to the right hand nor to the left, but must fall before his judgments, if they do not fully turn to him.” (Adam Clarke)
28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!” 30 So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?”And he said, “No.”
Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey... "For whence would men possess the faculty of speech, unless God had opened their mouth at the first creation of the world? Whence comes it that magpies and parrots imitate the human voice, unless it were the will of God to manifest in them a specimen of a certain extraordinary power? Who is there, then, who shall now impose a law upon the Maker of the world, to prevent Him from adapting the mouth of a beast to the utterance of words?" (Calvin)
"Naturalists tell us that irrational animals have a much keener instinctive presentiment of many natural phenomena, such as earthquakes and storms, than man. The horses, for instance, sometimes will see dangers when the rider is entirely ignorant of what is ahead.
'Jehovah opened the mouth of the ass.' An omnipotent God can do this; why then should it be thought impossible? It is unbelief which makes objection to a miracle of this kind. If the occurrence did not happen, and must be classed as they claim, with legends, what becomes of the inspiration of the New Testament? The Holy Spirit through Peter confirms the miracle (2 Peter 2:15-16)." (Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible) "Until GOD speaks, and until he opens the blind eye, nothing is effectual: but when he takes up the cause, all the pride of man falls to the ground. Job 42:5-6." (Hawker's Poor Man''s Commentary))
31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. 32 And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. 33 The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” 34 And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord,
“I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.”
"God was angry with Balaam for his stubbornness in going to Balak and showed him that only divine mercy had stopped him from being destroyed. Then, when Balaam offered to turn back, God forced him to go on, though he would not get the reward he wanted and would speak only what God wanted him to speak." (Bridgeway Bible Commentary)
35 Then the Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
Go with the men ..."There is a point of no return in every departure from the will of God. What terror must fill the hearts of men who, launched upon an evil course, find that they have gone too far to turn back. At last, there came the time in the life of Judas when God commanded him, 'What thou doest, do quickly!' (John 13:27). Many a sinner would like to turn back when the fruits of his wickedness begin to appear; but there stands the angel of Jehovah, always, with the drawn sword, 'Go with the men!' When men make their bed with evil, God requires them to lie in it." (Coffman Commentary) “Thus the way of transgressors is made hard by the love of God!" (F. B. Meyer) BUT ONLY THE WORD that I speak to you, that you shall speak... "Notice that this indicates that in the Old Testament the term 'THE Angel of Yahweh' refers to the Lord Himself, whose words Balaam must speak." LM Grant's Commentary)
He still uses us and speaks through us, if we are willing. “Thus the way of transgressors is made hard by the love of God!" (F. B. Meyer)
Numbers 22 Balak Offers Sacrifices to Yahweh and Shared the Meat
36 Now when Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the border at the Arnon, the boundary of the territory. 37 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not earnestly send to you, calling for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” 38 And Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you! Now, have I any power at all to say anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak.”
39 So Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kirjath Huzoth. 40 Then Balak offered oxen and sheep, and he sent some to Balaam and to the princes who were with him.
Balak was so anxious with the Hebrews at his border. And "the long wished for interview is now obtained..." (Hawker) So, he ran out and met the prophet at the city of Moab. And after a quick chideing of his hireling, he took him to Kirjath Huzoth to get to business. Incidentally, Balaam did not receive the reproof given by the king in his soul, explaining that even though he had come, he would not be able to speak anything except that which God commanded. "And Balak offered-better, and Balak slew (or, slaughtered in sacrifice)... The word rendered offered does not necessarily denote anything more than to slay. It is very commonly used, however, to denote slaying in sacrifice; and it is most probable that Balak made a sacrificial feast, and sent portions of the flesh to Balaam and the princes who were with him. Kings not unfrequently acted as priests of old, as Melchizedek.,.." (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)
The king made the feast and thus he seems to be acting as a sort of high priest of his hodgepodge of “religious” persons. And his cabinet now included a prophet from the camp of Israel. Some say that the ”sacrifice of the animals was a usual procedure for those invoking the aid of their gods. And the food shared by Balaam and others afterward was in the form of a 'fellowship meal' in the bond of paganism." (Barnes Notes) BUT I AM IN THE CAMP that believes that these oxen and sheep were offer to Yahweh, the God of Israel, for it was Him “in whose name Balaam always spoke. Indeed the known fact that Balaam was a prophet of the Lord was no doubt one of Balak's chief reasons for wishing to obtain his services... he thought that He might by judicious management be won over, at least to some extent, to desert the cause of Israel and to favour that of Moab. To this end he ‘retained’ at great cost the services of Balaam, the prophet of the Lord, and to this end he was willing to offer any number of sacrifices. Even the resolute and self-reliant Romans believed in the wisdom of such a policy. And [he] sent portions of the sacrificial meats…” (The Pulpit Commentaries) to Balaam and to the princes, treating them as priests.
41 So it was, the next day, that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, that from there he might observe the extent of the people."
So it was, the next day, that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, "from which a person could get a glimpse of Israel's camp, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people. Balak acted upon the idea that Balaam must have at least a part of the children of Israel before his eyes if his curse was to be effective. As the Son of God withstood Balaam in his evil intention of bringing a curse upon God's people, so He now strengthens and upholds His Church in all its trials and keeps its enemies from doing it lasting harm." (The Popular Commentary)