Read Numbers 23
Balaam’s First Message
23 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 2 Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went off to a barren height.
4 God met with him, and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”
5 The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
6 So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials. 7 Then Balaam spoke his message:
“Balak brought me from Aram,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.
‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.’
8 How can I curse
those whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce
those whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 From the rocky peaks I see them,
from the heights I view them.
I see a people who live apart
and do not consider themselves one of the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number even a fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
and may my final end be like theirs!”
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”
12 He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
Balaam’s Second Message
13 Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp. And from there, curse them for me.” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
18 Then he spoke his message:
“Arise, Balak, and listen;
hear me, son of Zippor.
19 God is not human, that he should lie,
not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
20 I have received a command to bless;
he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
21 “No misfortune is seen in Jacob,
no misery observed in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them;
the shout of the King is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;
they have the strength of a wild ox.
23 There is no divination against Jacob,
no evil omens against Israel.
It will now be said of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
24 The people rise like a lioness;
they rouse themselves like a lion
that does not rest till it devours its prey
and drinks the blood of its victims.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
26 Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?”
Balaam’s Third Message
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place.Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.” 28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.
29 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Go Deeper
God’s people are moving through the wilderness heading towards the Promised Land. As we saw through the census in Numbers 1, the Israelites are a large group of people. The natives of the land they were passing through were understandably intimidated by them. The Israelites have come across the Moabites, and in the previous chapter it says, “Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites” (22:3). The Moabites are led by a man named Balak, and Balak decides that they are going to conquer God’s people because they are a threat.
During this time, it was a pagan practice to find a diviner to curse the people before going into battle, just to make sure that the “gods” were in favor of them. Divination was similar to fortune-telling, and God prohibited the practice of it in Israel (Deuteronomy 18:10-13). So the Moabites’ goal was to curse Israel, then conquer them. Balak hires a diviner named Balaam to do just that. Balak sends men to hire Balaam, however the Lord appears to Balaam and tells him, “You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed” (22:12). Balak sends more messengers to increase the offer, and Balaam entertains this by going with them. As he was riding his donkey, the angel of the Lord appeared to him and spoke to him through the donkey. Balaam repents, and meets with Balak, the King of Moab.
Balaam tells Balak to build him seven altars, then sacrifices seven bulls and seven rams. Both the pagans and the Israelites regarded seven as a complete number. Balaam faithfully speaks the message that God gives him and instead blesses Israel in the form of an oracle. An oracle is a special revelation from God. The first oracle wasn’t super specific, but it did reveal that the Lord backed Israel over Moab. He is unable to curse someone that God has not cursed. Balak responds saying, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!” (v. 11). Balaam replies stating, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?” (v. 12). God’s presence is still with His people, and in the absence of Moses, He speaks to them through Balaam.
In the second oracle, Balaam speaks another blessing over Israel. He says, “There is no magic curse against Jacob and no divination against Israel” (v. 23). Balaam references different Abrahamic promises in this blessing. This story shows us that God can use anyone at any time to do anything. God used a pagan divination expert as an instrument of blessing on His people. God was working on behalf of the Israelites despite their failure and lack of faithfulness. Although it may seem like it, Balaam is not the hero of the story. Balaam eventually received his reward from Balak by instructing the Moabites on how to entice the Israelites to sin. The plan to curse and conquer Israel didn’t work, so the Balaam led them to compromise. We will read more about that in Numbers 25, and the consequences of their corruption.
Questions
What stands out to you about this chapter? What questions do you have?
What does God using a pagan diviner and a talking donkey to pronounce blessing upon Israel teach you about His character?
What is the problem with making anyone other than God the hero of the story?
Keep Digging
Check out this article from GotQuestions.org to learn more about Balaam!
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8 thoughts on “Numbers 23”
Manipulation or just a genie in a bottle attitude.
When things are not going our way, there seems to be blockage in the path of our road, maybe we should stop and ask God directions. God has a plan, we have free will. Even when we choose the wrong path in our free will, BUT GOD will accomplish what has been set out. We have the Holy Spirit within us for a direct connection to the God of the Universe; and we have His Word of Truth in our hands as we study today. We also are accomplishing how to apply the truth of God’s Word to our lives and to our relationship with Him through this direct connection. We are not to be like the world. We are to be so totally different but when I look at the church today, I see the world that we have conforrmed to. Eph 6:12 For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. God can turn the curses into blessings.
God thank You for me putting away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. God help me to be as a newborn longing for the pure spiritual milk, that by it I may grow up in my salvation.(1 Peter 2) Even when I stumble because I disobey the word, You show me a more excellent way. But I know I am a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. I am a chosen people for Your own possession, God that I may proclaim the excellencies of You,who called me out of darkness into Your marvelous light. Even when I was not a chosen people You had mercy and now that I am, I am so grateful for all of Your grace and mercy You extend. God help me tto abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against my soul. Help me keep my conduct honorable , so that I glorify and honor You. God thank You for today, these minutes of this day that all I say and do is honorable, glorifying and praise worthy to and for You in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Help me keep my conduct honorable. I love that prayer, Amy! Woo Hoo!!
❤
The enemy of our souls is real and unrelenting. He will use every tactic to appeal to our flesh and wear us down. We must daily recognize and prepare for battle by putting on the armor of God. 1 John 4:4 says, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” God’s power is supreme and ultimately will prevail.
Yes.
19 God is not human, that he should lie,
not a human being, that he should change his mind.
God is all-knowing and unchangeable. He’s never unable to do that which He plans to do, which He promises and purposes to do. His character is unique and beyond our understanding. We/I must praise Him for it, hope and rest in it. We/I will trust in Him working everything for our good and His purpose.
26 “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?”
Amazing how throughout the Bible there are people (and even demons) who are not followers of God, but have zero doubt of who He is. This is yet another example of that truth!
This chapter was a bit harder to understand, but what I took away from it is that God’s word is typically final and that his promises always come through. When he says something, he means it.