CONTEXT
PART
6: An Attempt to Undermine Israel [Balaam]
In
part six we have an extreme attempt to curse Israel – which
the Lord foils – but then the nation succumbing to temptations
that follow the advice of the Seer.
Ch.22:
[Action]
Balaam
called & Permission Given
•
God deals with a greedy
seer
Ch.23:
[Action] Balaam's First & Second Messages
Ch.24:
[Action] Balaam's Third to Seventh Messages
Ch.25:
[Action] The Seduction of Israel
•
the outworking of Balaam's
advice
|
FRAMEWORKS:
Numbers 23: Balaam's First & Second Messages
v.1-6
Balaam's First Preparation
v.7-12
Balaam's First Message
v.13-17
Balaam's Second Preparation
v.18-26
Balaam's Second Message
v.27-30
Balaam's Third Preparation
v.1-6
Balaam's First Preparation
v.1
Balaam
said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and
seven rams for me.”
v.2
Balak
did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram
on each altar.
v.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.
v.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.”
v.5
The
Lord
put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give
him this word.”
v.6
So
he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering,
with all the Moabite officials.
[Notes:
Balaam goes through a religious ritual, a copycat version
of the offerings of Moses. He pauses to seek the Lord and the
Lord says He will give him a word.]
v.7-12
Balaam's First Message
v.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.'
v.8
How
can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce
those whom the Lord
has not denounced?
v.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.
v.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!”
v.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!”
v.12
He
answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord
puts in my
mouth?”
[Notes:
In his ‘word' he recounts what has happened [v.7] but
declares he is unable to curse what God has blessed [v.8]. He
sees Israel [v.9,10] a unique people, a righteous people of God.
Balak is upset.]
v.13-17
Balaam's Second Preparation
v.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.”
v.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.
v.15
Balaam
said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with
him over there.”
v.16
The
Lord
met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Go back
to Balak and give him this word.”
v.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?”
[Notes:
Let's try a different location – you might get better
reception there!!!. Pisgah was possibly a higher mountain. Again
more altars, more offerings. The Lord gives him another word.]
v.18-26
Balaam's Second Message
v.18
Then
he spoke his message: “Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me,
son of Zippor.
v.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?
v.20
I
have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot
change it.
v.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.
v.22
God
brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.
v.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!'
v.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.”
v.25
Then
Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them
at all!”
v.26
Balaam
answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord
says?”
[Notes:
So far Balaam stays on track. He speaks truth about
God and about this people whom God has chosen and blessed. Balak
is annoyed – if you can't say something bad about them, say nothing!]
v.27-30
Balaam's Third Preparation
v.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.”
v.28
And
Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.
v.29
Balaam
said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and
seven rams for me.”
v.30
Balak
did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
[Notes:
Let's try a different place, the top of Mount Peor.
More altars, more offerings. This is getting costly! ]