The Curse

Studies in Numbers

II Failure

D The Contrivance

I The Curse, Text: 22:1-24:25

Title: Impenitent Miracle Workers ?

INTRODUCTION

Numbers 22-24 contain a story about a man named Balaam and should be considered as a unit. Therefore we will consider them together and use a different approach in this study. But, who was Balaam? There is a consensus that Balaam was of the same ilk as Melchizedek, outwardly and superficially. That is, he was a follower of the most true God, but outside the covenant people, and of course very unlike Melchizedek in his character We are going to select passages from the three chapters under the three headings, The Decoy, The Donkey, and The Deliverances.

I THE DECOY

Men make duck decoys to use in hunting water fowl. They are used to fake out the real ducks. A decoy is a fake duck. Balaam is a fake prophet of Yahweh. The New Testament is the perfect commentary on the Old and Balaam is mentioned in three places, and it’s all bad. In Jude 1:8 & 11, In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in In Korah’s rebellion. Then in Revelation 2 in His words to the church at Pergamum, Jesus says, Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. The last reference is in II Peter 2:14-16 where Peter is condemning false teachers and he writes, With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. There is little doubt that Balaam is a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is all about hiding. The word comes from the Greek tongue and meant literally, “under the mask.” This makes sense when you know that the actors in ancient Greek theater wore large masks to mark which character they were playing, and so they interpreted the story from underneath their masks. The Greek word took on an extended meaning to refer to any person who was wearing a figurative mask and pretending to be someone or something they were not. In examining the story in Numbers 22 though 24 we discover several important facts about Balaam. First, At the beginning of chapter 22 we read, Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho. Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites. The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.”So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River, in his native land. Balak said: “A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.” Second, God clearly forbade Balaam to go: “But God said to Balaam, ‘You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, for they are blessed’” (22:12). Third, It wasn’t that Balaam did not know the will of God; it was that he did not want to do it. Balaam asks the men to spend the night so that he can inquire further of the Lord, it is clear that Balaam does not want to do what God has commanded. Balaam wanted to disobey God and to go with the men. The money and the fame which Balak offered Balaam was too much for Balaam to turn down. He was intent upon getting around God’s will. Fourth, Balak refuses to accept Balaam’s refusal to come. It is very doubtful that Balaam wanted to “cross” Balak. Lastly, When God allows men to do what He has forbidden, it is because it will fulfill His purposes. When God does permit men to sin, it does not mean that His Word or His will has changed. It means that He has purposed to allow us to sin, for His glory. In some way, God will use our disobedience to instruct others and to bring about His sovereign purpose. Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was a sin, but it brought about God’s plan of redemption through the cross.

II THE DONKEY

German liberals treated Bible accounts as myths because they said for example, “ein spraclicher schlange” is ridiculous. That is German for a talking snake from Genesis 3. Then, what will they say about the talking donkey in our text? Ein sprachlicher esel is just as ridiculous. But not to people who believe the Bible. We believe that if God made it he can also make it serve His purposes contrary to the normal way He has ordered. We read in verses 21-33, Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials. But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again. Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said. Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.” Anyone who does not believe that God has a sense of humor is wrong. This man is supposed to be a prophet, and his donkey sees better! Furthermore, this story stands for all ages as a testimony and a rebuke to the foolishness of men who hypocritically pretend to follow the Lord and in their hearts follow their own desires.

III THE DELIVERANCES

The deliverances are the prophecies uttered by the hypocrite and they are seven in number. We will take them in the order they occur:

A After much ceremony the text of the first message is in 23:8-10, How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced? 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. 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!” The message is delivered from a high vantage point where the camp of Israel is clearly in sight. Balak of course is upset at words which do the opposite of what he wants and for which he has paid. So Balak has another idea. Thinking that Balaam is frightened by his view of the camp, he suggests a new vantage point, possibly less intimidating.

B The second message is now delivered from the new site. Alas, for Balak there is no good news. We read in verses 18-24, “Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor. 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? I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
“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. God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox. 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!’ 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.” with these ominous words Balak says, essentially, if you can’s curse them, at least don’t bless them. You would think Balak would give up but he is so superstitious he has to try again.

C Thua we have the third message in 24:3-9,“The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly, the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened: “How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, your dwelling places, Israel! “Like valleys they spread out, like gardens beside a river, like aloes planted by the Lord, like cedars beside the waters. Water will flow from their buckets; their seed will have abundant water.“Their king will be greater than Agag; their kingdom will be exalted. “God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox. They devour hostile nations and break their bones in pieces; with their arrows they pierce them. Like a lion they crouch and lie down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse them?
“May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed!” The third message ends with the repetition of God’s promise to Abraham that those who bless him will be blessed and those who curse Abraham will be cursed. Thus Balak dismisses Balaam and tells him to go back to his own country and forfeit any further reward because he has failed to do what he was called for. To this Balaam replies that he could not do otherwise because the Lord would not permit it and then he says before he leaves he must warn Balak. Thus is introduced the fourth message.

D In the fourth message is delivered after Balaam has realized it is totally futile to resist God and curse Israel and he is about to return home. Here the Spirit of God comes upon him and he speaks genuine prophecy concerning the future of Israel. This reinforces the fact that though Balaam’s intentions were not always holy God used him to speak the truth. And we read in 24:15-19 Then he spoke his message: “The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly, the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the noisy boasters) Edom will be conquered; Seir, his enemy, will be conquered, but Israel will grow strong. A ruler will come out of Jacob and He will destroy the survivors of the city.” Thus the Lord speaks concerning His people. He intimates of the rise of the monarchy in Israel which was as yet unknown and with that the coming of Christ the Son of David in whom all the promises of God are fulfilled and of the total domination of their enemies, and ironically makes clear that Balak was right to be afraid.

E Messages five through seven share the same purpose. They are predictions of Israel’s opponents through the centuries and are obviously sent by God through Balaam. They predict that all will ultimately suffer the same ignominious end as Moab. They are the Amalekites, the Kenites, the Assyrians, all the Semite descendants of Eber except for Jacob, and finally Greece under Alexander the Great who really opened the way for the Roman Empire. They will pass into oblivion, but the true King of Israel Jesus will remain.

CONCLUSION

What shall we say of this mysterious character Balaam? It is not probable that he did rejoice in what he saw, as we know that he remained in will and heart opposed to Israel. This is an instance where the Holy Spirit compels speech. Therefore this in no way affects the scope and meaning of his prophecy itself. Balaam was conscious that he did not bless with the heart; it was not a blessing he desired which he utters, and hence he could not feel that he himself was heir to the blessing. Consequently we cannot label him a messianic prophet, but we can say with assurance that his utterances were messianic, even contrary to his will. That means that we must be careful in the kingdom not to jump to conclusions about people, for just as Jesus say many may call Him Lord and yet not do the things he says.