Numbers 23
BBCNumbers 23:1
- Balaam’s Oracles (22:4124:25)22:4123:12 The next day Balak took Balaam into a high mountain (Pisgah) where he would look down over the tents of Israel. Later, from this same mountain, Moses would take his only look at the Promised Land, and then die (Deu_34:1, Deu_34:5). This chapter and the next chapter contain four memorable utterances by Balaam concerning Israel. The first three were preceded by the offering of seven bulls and seven rams as burnt offerings. The first oracle expressed Balaam’s inability to curse a people whom God had not cursed.
It predicted for Israel a life of separation from the Gentile nations and a numberless posterity. It pictured Israel as a righteous nation whose eventual destiny was something to be coveted (vv. 7-10). Balak’s protest against this blessing availed nothing. The prophet had to speak the word of the LORD. 23:13-15 Balak then took Balaam to a different vantage point in hopes that the prophet would see them in a less favorable light (vv. 13, 14). 23:16-26 The second oracle assured Balak that God’s original blessing on Israel was unchanged (vv. 18-20). The first part of verse 21 describes the nation’s position, not its practice. The people were reckoned righteous through faith. So believers today stand before God in all the perfections of His beloved Son. The Lord was with Israel, and the people could shout because He reigned as King in their midst (v. 21b). He had delivered them from Egypt and given them strength.
No evil pronouncement against them would come to pass. Instead, the victories Israel would soon win would cause the nations to say, “Oh, what God has done!” (vv. 22-24). Since Balaam refused to curse the people, Balak ordered him not to bless them either (v. 25), but the prophet protested that he could only do what the LORD said. 23:27-30 A third time Balak tried to wring a curse out of Balaam, this time from the top of Mount Peor.