The Pentateuch Numbers

Balaam Blesses Israel

Discover Jesus as: Rock Numbers 23-24 Read on Bible Gateway (HCSB)

Day 86 of 730
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INTRO

In Genesis, we saw the Seed, Christ. In Exodus, Moses the deliverer pointed to the ultimate Deliverer, who is Christ. In Leviticus, the Atonement was the sacrifices and offerings made at the tabernacle. In Numbers, we’re talking about the Rock. In 1 Corinthians 10:4, Paul said, “All drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.” In Numbers 21, we alluded to Christ being that snake on the stick so when people were bitten, they could look at it and be healed. Before we get to Numbers 23, let’s look at how Wiersbe summarized Numbers 22:1

  • Numbers 22:1–20: The King’s Request: Balak, son of Zippor the king of Moab, asked Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites because word had spread concerning how powerful the Israelites had become.
  • Numbers 22:21–30: The Donkey’s Resistance: The donkey didn’t want to go because the Angel of the Lord was standing in the way. There’s a really good chance that this angel was the Lord. Balaam beat the donkey three times to make it go. The donkey then talked to Balaam.
  • Numbers 22:31–35: The Angel’s Revelation: The Lord opened Balaam’s eyes to see the Angel of the Lord. The angel said, “What you are doing is evil in My sight. The donkey saw Me and turned away from Me these three times. If she had not turned away from Me, I would have killed you by now” (vv. 32–33). Balaam recognized he had sinned because he did not know the angel was there (v. 34). The Angel of the Lord told him to go with the donkey but only say what he was told to say (v. 35).
  • Numbers 22:36–41: Balak and Balaam: Balak came out to meet Balaam at the edge of town (v. 36). Balaam said that he could only speak what came from God. (v. 38). Balaam went with Balak when Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep (vv. 39–40). This was a part of the occult process. The next morning Balak took Balaam to Bamoth-baal to look at the Israelite camp.

TEACHING

Numbers 23:1–12: The First Oracle: An oracle was a message communicated by a medium. Here Balak picked a sorcerer to tell them what he wanted to hear concerning the Israelites. Balaam told Balak to build seven altars and prepare seven rams, one for each altar. Balaam told Balak to wait by the offerings while he went to see if God would speak to him. God met with Balaam and gave him a message for Balak. Balaam returned to Balak and proclaimed this first poem, or oracle, from God:

Balak asked me to put a curse on Israel, but I can’t curse the Israelites because the Lord has not cursed them (vv. 7–8).

The Israelites have been set apart (v. 9).

I can’t even comprehend the vastness of the Israelites. I actually want to be like them (v. 10).

When Balak complained that Balaam had blessed Israel instead of cursing them, Balaam answered that he could only say what the Lord put in his mouth. This is just a small example of what is going on in the country of Israel today. Iran wants to annihilate, blowup, and remove Israel from the face of the earth. That was basically Balak’s goal. God intervenes because His hand is on the people of God. Nothing touches His people.

Numbers 23:13–26: The Second Oracle: Balak took Balaam to another place to view the Israelites in hopes that Balaam would curse the Israelites for him. So Balak took him to Lookout Field. Again, they built seven altars and sacrificed seven rams, one for each altar. Balaam told Balak to stay with the offering while he met with the Lord. Notice this time he didn’t say “maybe” but “while” I meet with him. The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Balaam returned and proclaimed the second oracle:

Pay attention to what I say! (v. 18).

God will not change His mind (v. 19).

I have received a command to bless and cannot change it (v. 20).

There will be no disaster for Jacob or trouble for Israel, for the Lord rejoices over them (v. 21).

There would be no magic curse against Jacob (v. 23).

Numbers 23:27—24:9: The Third Oracle: Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooked the wasteland, hoping that Balaam could put a curse on them from there. Balak built another seven altars and offered a bull and ram on each (vv. 27–30). Since Balaam saw that the Lord wanted to bless Israel, he did not seek omens as in the past. As Balaam looked down at the Israelite camps tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him (vv. 1–2). The Spirit of God came upon an evil man, one who was coming after the Israelites. This shows that everybody can be touched and blessed by the Lord. Balaam then proclaimed the third oracle:

The Lord began the oracle by calling Balaam “the man whose eyes are opened.” As John MacArthur said, God’s Spirit had given him understanding.2

Balaam heard the words of God, saw a vison from the Almighty, and fell into a trance with his eyes uncovered (v. 4). A vision occurs when you are awake. A dream occurs when you are asleep.

“How beautiful are your tents, Jacob . . . They stretch out like river valleys, like gardens by a stream, like aloes the LORD has planted, like cedars beside the water” (vv. 5–6).

Water will flow from their buckets; their seed will have abundant water (v. 7). Tom Constable said water was a source of material prosperity and blessing.3Proverbs 5:15–17 confirmed this. Balaam was saying if Balak and the Moabites thought there were a lot of Israelites now, more were coming.

The Israelites’ king would be greater than anybody else. Nothing could touch these people (vv. 7–8).

“Those who bless you will be blessed and those who curse you will be cursed” (v. 9). In Genesis 12:3, God told Abram: “I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples will be blessed through you.” Genesis 49:9 recorded Israel’s blessing on Judah: “Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the kill. He crouches; he lies down like a lion or a lioness—who dares to rouse him?” Do not mess with God’s people.

Once again, Balak was furious with Balaam because three times he blessed Israel instead of cursing them. When Balak sent him home without payment, Balak said the messages were sent to him, and even if Balak gave him a house full of silver and gold he could not go against the Lord. Balaam then released a fourth oracle.

Numbers 24:15–19: The Fourth Oracle: Balaam predicted the Messiah:

In the future, he saw a star that would come from Jacob. Matthew 2:1–2 said the wise men came from the east because they “saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

An evil man, Balaam, prophesied the coming Messiah in the picture of a star.

The scepter was going to rise from Israel. The scepter was also the symbol of a king. Psalm 89:27 says, “I will also make him My firstborn, greatest of the kings of the earth.”

CLOSING

God planned for the Messiah to come from Israel and, ultimately, to save the world. As we get into the fifth, sixth, and seventh oracles, Balak’s whole purpose, according to Ron Allen, a professor at Dallas Seminary, was: “One nation will rise and supplant another, only to face its own doom. In contrast there is this implied ongoing blessing on the people of Israel and their sure promise of a future Deliverer who will have the final victory.”4

Balaam pointed ultimately to the truth that victory would come through this Deliverer. When a donkey told him to stop, Jesus (the Angel of the Lord) intervened and told Balaam to tell them everything He told him. Balaam was the unknown servant God used, just as God used other unknowns. David was the little shepherd boy. Nehemiah was the cupbearer. Mary was the teenage girl in Nazareth. Peter was a fisherman. Gideon was the least of the least. Moses was a murderer. Despite all these folks not having a superhero cape, God used them. And God can use you to point people to the Star!

  1. Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary: Genesis–Deuteronomy (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007), p. 350.

  2. John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2005), p. 186.

  3. Thomas Constable, Dr. Constable’s Expository (Study) Notes: Numbers, p. 145; available at http://planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/pdf/numbers.pdf.

  4. Ronald B. Allen, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Numbers, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), p. 336.

Questions

  1. What did Balak want Balaam to ask God to do to the Israelites (Numbers 23:7, 11)? Why was Balak so intent on having that done?
  2. Balak tried to pay Balaam to gain the favor of God (Numbers 22:17). What did Balak notice about where the success of the Israelites came from?
  3. In Balaam’s first oracle from God, he stated that the Israelites were set apart from other nations (Numbers 23:9). Are you set apart as a Christian today? What does it mean to be set apart? (Psalm 4:3; Romans 1:1; 2 Corinthians 6:17; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 4:4)
  4. Human relationships often fail us, and circumstances are constantly changing. How can you take comfort in Numbers 23:19? (Isaiah 40:8; 55:11; James 1:17)
  5. When Balaam first asked the Lord about meeting with Balak, God’s answer was no (Numbers 22:12). But God said yes when Balaam asked again (Numbers 22:20). Then the Angel of the Lord blocked Balaam’s way and almost killed him (Numbers 22:32–33). Why did God do this? Do you believe Balaam was being obedient? Why or why not? (Numbers 31:16; Revelation 2:14)
  6. What did the Holy Spirit highlight to you in Numbers 23-24 through the reading or the teaching?

Next: the Daily Word →

Daily Word

Laura Martin Numbers 23:15-17

“Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the LORD over there.’ The LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then He said, ‘Return to Balak and say what I tell you.’ So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, ‘What did the LORD say?’”

The Lord got Balaam’s attention when He opened the mouth of a donkey and allowed the donkey to speak to Balaam. From the time Balaam met with the Angel of the Lord in the middle of a road, he spoke only the messages God put in his mouth, even when it was not the message King Balak expected to hear. The Lord used Balaam to point Balak and Israel to the coming Star, the King, Christ the Messiah.

If the Lord can speak the message of truth through a donkey and a hired servant, then remember, He can speak through anyone. If the Lord lays a message on your heart as you meet with Him, be obedient and bold, and share it with others. God can use anyone to be His mouthpiece. Your adequacy comes from God, not yourself.

“Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the Lord over there.” The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then He said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.” So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?’”

— Numbers 23:15–17

FURTHER SCRIPTURE

  • Numbers 24:17 — “I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will smash the forehead of Moab and strike down all the Shethites.”
  • 2 Corinthians 3:5 — “It is not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God.”
  • 2 Corinthians 11:5–6 — “Now I consider myself in no way inferior to the ‘super-apostles.’ Though untrained in public speaking, I am certainly not untrained in knowledge. Indeed, we have always made that clear to you in everything.”