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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Numbers 23:1 - 23:13
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The First Sacrifice and Prophetic Utterance.
v. 1. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams, namely, one animal of either group for each altar. Balaam here presumed upon a show of authority which he did not possess, and he dedicated his sacrifices to Jehovah, although they were offered on a place consecrated to the loathsome idol of the heathen. His idea apparently was to gain the favor of the Lord by the rich offering and cause Him to permit the cursing of Israel. Balak here shows great cunning in leading Balaam where he could see only a small part of the people, lest the sight of the entire host would intimidate the soothsayer and keep him from uttering his curses.
v. 2. And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram. It was a pompous pretense at piety, and all the more abominable in the sight of the Lord since it combined heathenism with the worship of the true God.
v. 3. And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go, the king was to remain at the altar, while Balaam went forth to seek good auguries, or omens, in some signs or portents of nature, for in that way many of the heathen diviners pretended to tell the future; peradventure the Lord will come to meet me; and whatsoever He showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place, to an empty, solitary peak of the hill, from where he would have an unobstructed view in every direction, for he hoped to receive or discover in the phenomena of nature a Revelation from Jehovah.
v. 4. And God met Balaam, in some form or manifestation which is not described in detail; and he (Balaam) said unto Him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram. It is significant that the Lord ignored this statement completely; He wanted nothing of such sacrifices.
v. 5. And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak, giving him the words which he was to utter.
v. 6. And he (Balaam) returned unto him (Balak), and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the princes of Moab, anxious to hear the curse upon Israel which Balaam was hired to utter.
v. 7. And he took up his parable, his prophetic utterance, spoken in a state of ecstasy, and said, Balak, the king of Moab, hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the East, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel, namely, by means of maledictions.
v. 8. How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy whom the Lord hath not defied? How could Balaam be expected to pronounce the doom of wrath upon those that were the blessed of the Lord, or maledictions upon the head of those whom the Lord had chosen for His own?
v. 9. For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him, namely, Israel personified, as the congregation of Jehovah. Lo, the people shall dwell alone, not in absolute seclusion, but as a people consecrated to the Lord, and shall not be reckoned among the nations, shall have nothing in common with their idolatrous beliefs and practices. It is significant that Israel maintained its independence only as long as this held true.
v. 10. Who can count the dust of Jacob, Gen_13:15, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Even the fourth part of the nation, in allusion to the four divisions of the camp, was beyond ordinary computation. Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! Since God was present with His people and sanctified them with the righteousness which He desires, therefore it was a privilege to belong to this people and to share also in the final blessing which the Lord held out before them. He desired the full, perfect, and indestructible salvation which the Lord had promised to those who would be faithful to Him till the end. The same statements apply to the congregation of the New Testament; for all those who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior in true faith and remain faithful to Him until He calls them home, will rejoice at the coming of the end, for that means eternal salvation.
v. 11. And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether; Balaam had laid upon them the full blessing of Jehovah.
v. 12. And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth? His excuse was that he was constrained to speak as he did, indicating that he would rather not have made his statements as he did.
v. 13. And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all; and curse me them from thence. So Balak blamed the failure on the conditions and on the locality, and was willing to make another attempt. Thus the enemies of the Lord try time and again to overthrow His will, but they can do nothing to thwart His counsel.