[CHAPTER 22]
2. Now Balaq the son of Tzippor saw all that Israel had done to the Emorites,
Balaq means "devastator”, but Tzippor means "sparrow", which does not sound so threatening, but a songbird is heard more often than it is seen, and words can be more devastating than anything else. But now, like a bird, he is finding out that there is someone bigger than he. The devastator is terrified by people who have actually been doing what he talks about doing!
3. and Moav stood in great awe of the people, because they were numerous, and Moav felt a sickening dread because of the presence of the descendants of Israel,
Moav: descendants of the son of Lot, Avraham's nephew. But they ignored the fact that they were relatives.
4. and Moav told the elders of Midyan, "This company is already licking up all that are around us just as an ox licks up the greenery of the field!" (Now Balaq, son of Tzippor, was a king of Moav at that time.)
An ox surrounds the grass with its long, rough
tongue, pulls it into its mouth, and bites it off.
(Compare Mikha 5:6.) A king: possibly not the
king over all the Moavites, but probably over one
city-state, which nonetheless had its own
government, economy, and army. It had some
alliance with the Midyanites. How did he respond
to this perceived threat? He did not say, “Get the army ready! Fortify the water systems! Store up grain! Make sure we have enough weapons!” Sihon had gathered an army against Israel and still did not win (21:23ff); Og had not come out against Israel; Moshe had said to attack after only scouting out his land and finding that they were also Emorites. So Balaq thought, “We can neither just sit here nor go out to battle against them, so what can we do?” He knows he cannot defeat them militarily. He could have chosen to provide Israel with water and grain, because it was the Emorites’ unwillingness to let Israel pass without even taking any grain or water that had precipitated the merciless response of Israel. But a peaceful solution does not seem to even cross his mind; there are also those today for whom making peace with Israel is simply unimaginable. He is very expressive in his descriptions, as a leader should be, but his response is not to act but only to speak. These events take place with no actual contact yet with Israel. There would be times later when Israel would encounter Moavites and Midyanites (ch. 25) and then Bilaam himself (chapter 31), so the story may have been recounted to Israel by some of them. Midyan was the son of Avraham and his later wife Q'turah after Sarah’s death. Moshe married into a Midyanite family. So why is Midyan called upon against Israel? His name means “quarrelsome”. If they can tear apart Israel’s unity, they know we are beaten, because we are no longer too numerous for them. What they fear is all Israel in unity. So they enlist the help of troublemakers who love to argue and will cause contention. This is why not everyone can be allowed their say, because it often results in strife. An ox surrounds the grass with its long, rough tongue, pulls it into its mouth, and bites it off. (Compare Mikha 5:6.) Moshe’s in-laws also appear to have been cast out of mainstream Midyanite culture because they saw through its idolatry and rejected it.
5. So he sent messengers to Bilaam, son of Be'or, at P'thor, which is by the river of the land of the sons of his people, to summon him, saying, "Behold a people has come out from Egypt, and here, they have overwhelmed the eye of the land, and they are settling right next to me!
Bilaam means “swallower of the people”, "wears down the people", or "failure of the people". He indeed would instigate this. “Bilaam…, who is a divine seer”, is mentioned in an engraving on a wall at Tel Deir Alla in Jordan. Another son of Be’or referred to in Gen. 36:31 was a king of the land of Edom, descendants of Esau, which is why Bilaam knows YHWH. He preserved a remnant of his unspiritual ancestor’s knowledge. He is not just some grey-bearded guru living on a cliff. Though Edomite royalty, he appears to live elsewhere (in Aram, where P'thor is; see note on 23:7), possibly because most of his countrymen had turned to idolatry. But these kings still know that to gain an Edomite’s attention, they need to bring physical gain. (v. 7) Edom had already refused the simplest hospitality to Israel, though Israel had identified itself as Edom’s brother. The scepter of Edom passed to Rome (and there was a literal connection, as one Edomite ruler did help to found Rome or its precursor), and from there to the Church as the Empire crumbled. So today Edom represents Roman-oriented Christians, who are brothers to Israel yet have a problematic relationship since they have sold their birthright (the Torah), being men of the field (which Yeshua says represents the “world”), yet keep trying to get it back (still trying to gain ascendency over Israel). Such people are seen as useful to the devastator and the quarrelsome. Yet Israel had not destroyed them as they did the Emorites, which should have made Moav ask why, and if it was because they were relatives, ask whether YHWH might have similar plans to spare Moav (Deut. 2:4-9), rather than assuming Israel’s proximity meant it was hostile. If Balaq knows who this nation is, he twists the truth to cast them as rogue Egyptians (Hamites) instead of escapees from Egypt, so he can persuade other Semites to help him defeat them by insinuating that this people is not part of their family. Eye: either hiding the land from view, or taking over the water source (as a spring is also an ayin in Hebrew).
6. "So now, please come put a curse on this nation for me, because they are too numerous for me; [then] maybe I will be able to attack them and drive them away from the land, because I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed."
Moav means “from the father”, because of its incestuous history. They always feel a need to prove their legitimacy. But it can also mean “away from the father”. Those who are away from the Heavenly Father will feel a dread when they see a unified Israel, because they know that this proves them wrong. The world sees Israel as messing up the “curve” grading scale by actually obeying the Torah that they’ve long considered impossible to keep, and will start to panic, realizing they no longer have an excuse. 21:29 hinted at another reason for Moav’s insecurity: They had turned their own sons and daughters over to the Emorites as captives, apparently in exchange for the promise of peace for those who remained. They were not like the Israelites, who fought to rescue their captives, but were willing to give up their own offspring because it did not matter to them whether they lived as Moavites or Emorites, just as long as they were still alive. So now their children were away from their fathers, too, and that is no way for a people to continue. Israel, on the other hand, decimated the Emorites for a much smaller offense, so Moav had to now be smarting from the shame of how little they had even tried to do to get their children back. Tradition says Balaq’s was a provisional position because he did not really qualify as Moavite royalty; he was on some sort of probation, making his position even more tenuous, so he felt he had to create a strong legacy. So rather than learning from these people how to rescue one’s children, they try to destroy the evidence so they can go on living in their illegitimacy, thinking that having nothing better to compare with will make them legitimate by default—or at least weaken Israel so it no longer has the “moral upper hand”. Even though there was no hint on the part of Israel of hostility toward their distant cousins, and YHWH had no intention of having Israel threaten Moav because of their ancestor Lot's relationship to Avraham (Deut. 2:9), still this paranoid people--whose nagging collective psychological need for affirmation was always just beneath the surface—perceived them to be a threat. The only reason they had destroyed the Emorites was because they stood in the way of Israel’s getting to where YHWH had told them to go. When someone slaps Israel lightly, YHWH hits them back hard. When America supported the Jews being removed from their homes in the “settlements”, many Americans lost their homes through mortgage default or hurricanes. Israel was not after Balaq; he was acting out of an unrealistic fear. It was all in his head. He assumed they planned to remain settled right beside him, but did not even try to verify this or whether they were adversarial. His ancestor was actually conceived because of fear. (Gen. 19:37) He was a born pessimist, assuming the worst motives of a people who only wanted to pass through, probably because all they had ever seen were people who tried to rob them. They could not even imagine that YHWH might be doing something different—actually bringing about a nation that would repair what was broken in the world. “Whomever you bless is blessed”: To those around him he was known as a sorcerer, but this also hearkens back to YHWH’s promise to Avraham in Gen. 12:3, giving additional evidence that he is a descendant of Avraham, though not connected with Israel.
7. And the elders of Moav and the elders of Midyan proceeded with the [fee for] divination in their hand, and came to Bilaam and told him Balaq's business.
Fee for divination: The same word can mean the divination itself, so if one pays someone else to do sorcery, it is as if he did it himself. It is money that they try to use against Israel, like the modern oil-rich countries that say, “If you want cheap oil, all you have to do is condemn Israel.”
8. But he said, "Spend the night here tonight, and I will return and tell you whatever YHWH may say to me." So the leaders of Moav stayed with Bilaam.
I.e., “I’ll pray about it””—a phrase many use as an excuse to delay a decision to follow what is clearly the right path. But he does at least pray to YHWH and not to an idol. This relative of Israel has a relationship with YHWH, and has His blessing--as long as he stands behind Israel.
9. And Elohim came to Bilaam and said, "Who are these men who are with you?"
He said he would ask YHWH (expecting His compassionate side). He is used to speaking with YHWH, but he is answered by Elohim--the aspect of YHWH that emphasizes His being a judge. But He asks a question to allow Bilaam to judge for himself whether he should really be keeping company with such people. Such business transactions can make us “bed-fellows” with those who should not even be invited into our house.
10. And Bilaam answered the Elohim, "Balaq the son of Tzippor, king of Moav, has sent [word] to me,
Blinded by the money, he does not recognize that YHWH is asking a rhetorical question. He thinks a man so important should obviously warrant attention.
11. "‘Behold, a people coming out of Egypt is overwhelming the eye of the land; come now [and] pronounce a curse on them for me. Maybe I will be able to engage them in battle and drive them out.'"
He did not so much want to destroy them as just scare them away.
12. But Elohim told Bilaam, "You are not to go with them nor curse the people, because it is blessed."
YHWH did not want him on the wrong side of the equation, stating matter-of-factly that His mind was already made up about this nation, despite all the headaches it had given Him lately.
13. So Bilaam got up in the morning and told Balaq's leaders, "Go [back] to your land, because YHWH has refused to permit me to go with you."
His perspective is, “I’d love to, but my hands are tied.” He was not taking YHWH’s side, though he capitulated to Him, but made YHWH look like an oppressive dictator. Rather than assuming YHWH’s intentions were beneficent and that he should be asking WHY He wanted Israel blessed, he just looked at his short-range goals and the inconvenience of not getting this “big contract”.
14. So the leaders of Moav rose and went to Balaq, saying, "Bilaam refuses to come with us!"
They saw it as his own choice, when it was really YHWH’s “no”. If we choose to travel on YHWH’s road and line up with reality, some of our other options are limited.
15. So again Balaq added more and sent leaders more important than they,
More important: or honorable; literally, "heavier". He sent people with bigger purses to turn up the pressure, because they knew what “buttons to push”. Who can say “no” to the celebrities and political leaders of formerly-oppressed peoples who take up the cause of those who attack Israel and make them seem like the underdogs?
16. and they came to Bilaam and told him, "Thus says Balaq, the son of Tzippor: ‘Please do not let anything prevent you from coming to me,
Anything: even YHWH. He is obsessed with removing an apparent threat rather than finding out why Israel is blessed and how he could learn from them.
17. "‘because I will promote you to great importance, and I will do whatever you tell me; but please come pronounce a curse on this people for me!'"
He uses the oldest trick in the book—flattery. Compare the temptation of Adam and Chawwah in Genesis 3 and Yeshua in Mat. 4:8ff .
18. But Bilaam responded by telling the servants of Balaq, "If Balaq were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of YHWH my Elohim to do [anything], minor or major.
So many feel lured by money yet restrained by YHWH, rather than seeing His choice as always a blessing. Bilaam is insinuating that they have still not offered him enough.
19. "But stay here now tonight, so I may find out if YHWH will tell me anything more."
He wants to leave the door open a crack, thinking he may hear differently this time, but the definition of “insanity”, according to Einstein, is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”! He is trying to find a loophole, because he wants the wages, though he does not really want to curse Israel. He is a man of YHWH, but Mammon is his weakness (2 Peter 2:15)--a great example of why Yeshua told us to pray to not be led into temptation.
20. And Elohim came to Bilaam at night, and said, "If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you shall put into effect nothing more than the thing which I tell you."
YHWH gives him the liberty to go, but it is clearly not His wish. He strictly limits what he can say. He is not impressed by the celebrities; He is fed up with Bilaam’s asking again when He has already said, “No.” He says, “Okay, go ahead and see where it gets you!” It is not a blessing to be given permission to throw ourselves into harm’s way. While we may have liberty, not all things are profitable (1 Cor. 6:12; 10:23), and we have to pay the price for our choices.
21. So Bilaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the leaders of Moav.
He did not even wait for them to summon him, as Elohim had said, but proved that he really wanted to go after all. Balaq has flattered him with the accolade that “no one but you can do this for us”--so Bilaam feels that it is his responsibility to maintain his reputation so others will continue to pay him for this "spiritual" service. The family of Beor was already royalty (Gen. 36:32) and therefore wealthy, but still he wanted more than YHWH was allotting to him.
22. But Elohim's anger was kindled because he went, and the messenger of YHWH stationed himself in the way to resist him as he was riding his [faithful] donkey, while two of his young men were with him.
Resist: or act as an adversary, the verb form of "Satan", for though he had some favor in YHWH’s eyes, he was now making himself YHWH’s enemy. (This is the explanation behind Matithyahu 16:23.) Like the Church that his people represents, he could have remained blessed to some extent if he had not acted against Israel when he knew it was not YHWH's will. But if YHWH gave Bilaam permission to go, why is He upset? Is that fair? He wanted to teach him to listen to His first answer. He hoped he loved Him enough to choose not to do this to Him. But Mammon can entangle even those who love YHWH.
23. Now the donkey saw the messenger of YHWH standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand, and the donkey turned off the road and walked into a field. But Bilaam beat the donkey to turn her [back to] the road.
The Hebrew word for “donkey” (used here) is based on the word for “faithful” or “reliable”—something lasting and perennial—like YHWH’s word (Yeshayahu 40:8). Turn: or influence. He was like many of “Edom” who try to get YHWH’s word to prove they can go against what he really wants. The donkey (the Torah) tried to save his life by keeping him from being opposed to YHWH. As we learn the Torah, our prayers will not have to be hit-or-miss “if it be Your will” ones, but like Yeshua, we will be able to pray, “Thy will be done” and know what that will is.
24. Then the messenger of YHWH stood in a narrow passage [between] the vineyards, with a fence on this [side] and a fence on that.
When we walk in the narrow way (Mat. 7:14), we must be prepared to be examined; if we have let go of YHWH’s will, we will get hurt.
25. When the donkey saw the messenger of YHWH, she squeezed herself to the wall, and pressed Bilaam's foot against the wall, and he beat her again.
26. But the messenger of YHWH went on ahead [of him] again and stood in a tight spot where there was no way to turn to the right or the left.
27. And the donkey saw the messenger of YHWH, and she crouched down beneath Bilaam. And Bilaam's anger was ignited, and he beat the donkey with a staff.
Now he knew how YHWH felt about his “asinine” actions. A staff represents authority. So he is “beating the Torah with his own authority”—a picture of the pope (also the royalty of Edom), who changed the Sabbath to Sunday (compare Daniel 7:25) simply to prove he had the authority to do so. Bilaam could hear YHWH at night (only in the dark, vv. 8-9, 20), but could not see His messenger in broad daylight. If he had had any understanding at all, he would never have gone near anything that would weaken Israel.
28. Then YHWH opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Bilaam, "What have I done to you, that you have hit me? This is three times!"
Opened the donkey's mouth: Was He restoring her temporarily to the condition all the animals were in before Adam's fall? (cf. Gen. 3) When the Torah came alive to us again, it shocked many who thought it no longer held a message for us. Three times: literally, "three paces" or "feet". The very same phrase is used to describe the three pilgrimages during the year when all able-bodied men are to come up to Yerushalayim for a feast to YHWH. (Ex. 23:14) He would not respect YHWH’s “feet”, so YHWH hurt his foot. The Torah allowed him to follow his will just far enough to hurt himself. The Torah refuses to bend, so the Church has “struck” these festivals from its calendar. The world is worried about losing its “holiday” revenue, but this is based on pagan festivities, so this Edomite “foot” must be crushed.
29. So Bilaam told the donkey, "Because you have made a fool of me! If only there were a sword in my hand, because I would kill you now!"
Made a fool of me: the men accompanying him—very distinguished ones this time--would only see the donkey wandering off and Bilaam beating her. As a seer he is used to hearing voices and strange occurrences, so the talking donkey does not seem to have surprised him too greatly, and he seems to be getting a foggy view of the situation—half-seeing the sword but unconsciously, so the thought of a sword comes to his head—but YHWH here shows him that He is indeed able to restrict what Bilaam says (and sees) just as He can make a donkey speak. (See v. 18) He had his own agenda, barely permitted by YHWH's "grace", but the donkey paused at the three "stations" that YHWH had ordained, and he was upset by it, for he had no power to obliterate what kept him from doing things the way he wanted to do them. That he had no sword may indicate that he was well-respected for the staff—or magic wands—that he carried, and thus not need one, though the entourage from the king that was close behind would have been well-armed, and if they were behind him, they would see his antics with the donkey, and note that this man with great powers was not even able to keep his own donkey from becoming unruly!
30. But the donkey said to Bilaam, "Am I not your faithful one, on which you have mounted and ridden ever since [I was] yours until this day? Have I ever been known to treat you like this?" And he said, "No."
They had a long-standing relationship; she had demonstrated over and over that she “had his back” and stuck with him through thick and thin. He should have been stroking her, not striking her! By now she deserved to be the rider, but he had little appreciation for this as he was now swayed by foreigners who had nothing to do with him except that they offered him bags of gold. Faithful one: Just the word for “donkey” (one that may be slow, but it is steady and sure, and can be relied on to get the job done) should have made Bilaam think twice when she balked, for she was trustworthy to do whatever it took—even talking!--to try to get him to do the right thing instead of walking into a very dangerous situation. She had carried him down the right path so many times, but his eyes were captivated only by what glittered. Which was the real ass?
31. Then YHWH uncovered Bilaam's eyes, and he noticed YHWH's messenger, who had taken his stand on the path, with his sword in his hand, and he bowed his head and fell on his face.
He was so blinded by the glimmer of the silver that he could not see what was right in front of his face. Maybe YHWH let the donkey see the messenger first because she had more sense; Bilaam would have probably mistaken him for being a heavenly escort because he was so important and YHWH was in support of his venture! The donkey was trying to bless him, but he could not understand this until she used words. She had no way of saving her master until she could speak. How powerful words are! The majority of people in the U.S. support Israel, but if only her opponents speak up, it seems otherwise. Now YHWH acts as YHWH, and not just Elohim, and this brings full understanding. David asks YHWH to “uncover my eyes, that I may give consideration to extraordinary things from Your instruction." (Psalm 119:118)
32. And the messenger of YHWH said to him, "Why have you beaten your [faithful] donkey this three times? Behold, I have come out to resist you, because your way is reckless in relation to me.
Reckless: or rash; literally, careening headlong out of control on a slippery slope. Bilaam was beginning to be guided by offers of rewards rather than the principles he had lived by hitherto. (vv. 18, 19) He was going to curse YHWH’s beloved! In relation to Me: or "corresponding to Me"--the term for the counterpart Chawwah was to Adam; Bilaam was doing a poor job of being such a counterpart to YHWH's Messenger. Strangely, he had some kind of relationship with YHWH, but not with His chosen people, for he had to see himself as separate from them in order to curse them. The phrase can also mean "contrary to me", since His ways are not our ways. (Yeshayahu 55:9) It is often those who seem to be acting contrary to us who are doing us the greatest favor and keeping us out of trouble.
33. "But the faithful one perceived Me and bowed to Me these three times; maybe she turned from My face because I would indeed have destroyed you and left her alive!"
Went out of her way: or inclined, bent down--the same term for "turned off" in v. 23. Left her alive: YHWH’s Word stands forever; you are replaceable if you do not go where it takes you. Having a relationship with YHWH will not save you if you do not bless Israel. If we really want to please Him, we will bless her.
34. Then Bilaam told the Messenger of YHWH, "I have gone off track because I did not perceive that you had stationed yourself in the way to meet up with me. Now if it is evil in your eyes, I will turn myself back."
Gone off track: as the Church has opposed Yeshua (YHWH’s chief messenger) while thinking it was following him, because they did not realize that he was really allied with the Torah. If…in Your eyes: He does not confess—that is, say that he sees it as wrong as well. He will not go—but only if it would kill him to do so. By now it should have displeased Bilaam to go as well; why doesn’t he see it as wrong? But he just says, “If it offends you, I won’t do it.” He did not know what YHWH’s will is, and for one who is His spokesman, that is unacceptable. The Torah makes YHWH’s will very clear, so we must know it inside and out.
35. But the Messenger of YHWH told Bilaam, "Go with the men, but you must not say a word more than what I tell you." So Bilaam went with Balaq's leaders.
He would have done better not to even ask, but simply to get the point and turn back. But since he keeps hinting that YHWH might change His mind, YHWH decides to go ahead and get some mileage out of him, using him to bring the opposite effect on Israel than Balaq wanted, but it would not end up benefitting Bilaam. He literally says, "stop with the word that I speak"--make that your final word on the matter.
36. When Balaq heard that Bilaam had arrived, he went out to meet him in a Moavite city in the territory of Arnon, which is on the edge of [his] territory.
37. And Balaq said to Bilaam, "Didn't I send urgently to summon you? Why didn't you come to me? Couldn't I indeed promote you to great importance?"
38. But Bilaam told Balaq, "Look, I have come to you. But am I indeed able to promise anything at all? The word that Elohim puts in my mouth [is what] I will pronounce."
He now calls Him Elohim, because he has just experienced Him as judge.
39. Then Bilaam went with Balaq, and they came to Qiryath-Chutzoth ["a city of open spaces"],
40. and Balaq slaughtered oxen and sheep, and sent [some] to Bilaam and the leaders who were with him.
He had not even arrived yet, but he seems to have been eating from Ba’al’s table (v. 41), and that is tantamount to a covenant.
41. Then in the morning, Balaq fetched Bilaam and brought him up to the cultic platforms of Ba'al, and from there he saw the extremity of the people.
He thought Bilaam might see from his point of view if he took him to his own worship-site and explained why it was important to his religion to oppose Israel. Compare the "very high mountain" from which Yeshua was offered the temptation to power with which Bilaam was now struggling. But this was a place dedicated to the one YHWH hated most. The “platform” for the curse is now clearly connected to Ba’al, and there can be no agreement between Ba’al and YHWH. We can “walk in another’s shoes” and feel sorry for him if we want, but it should not affect our actions any. Only when YHWH rules the earth will pain, suffering, and hunger truly be defeated. So Bilaam should have stayed on his donkey and left, for why would it let him down now? Extremity: or edge, possibly only a fraction of them (compare 23:13), for the root word means “cut off”.
CHAPTER 23
1. Then Bilaam told Balaq, "Build seven altars at this [place] for me, and prepare at this [place] seven bulls and seven rams."
This place: the cultic platforms of Ba’al (22:41) to which Israel’s enemy had taken the Edomite in order to make him see from his own point of view. But why should people who claim to worship Israel’s Elohim curse Israel? Seven bulls and seven rams: a pattern established by YHWH earlier (Iyov 42:8-10) and seen commonly later in Israel. (1 Chron. 15:26; 2 Chron. 29:21) Seven is an important number in Scripture, representing completion, as exemplified by the Sabbath. So this was the right number of animals to bring to YHWH. But there is a flaw in Bilaam’s approach. Rome (Edom) is built on seven hills—the enemy’s substitute for the one hill on which YHWH chose to establish His one altar. (Deut. 12:2-15) How sly! The “perfect number”—but in the wrong place. That very same passage says YHWH would not accept worship at pagan sites like this one or in the ways that pagans worshipped.
2 . So Balaq did as Bilaam had said, and Balaq and Bilaam [offered] up a ram and a bull on the altar.
This may mean one on each of the seven altars (and was taken as such by the LXX and some Aramaic targums), but the actual text only says that seven of each are prepared but only one of each is used. Any might be chosen, so all had to be ready. Throughout every "day" in history, we have been called to live as closely to the Kingdom principles as we can and be ready in case Yeshua should return, but as the seventh millennium comes upon us, we know this must be the Day (see Psalm 90:4), for YHWH has chosen the Sabbath as a picture of Yeshua's Kingdom. So there is no excuse for slackness, and we will be judged even more strictly. But Edom/Rome chose a different day to “establish” (another meaning of “prepare” in verse 1). The bull was his “Sunday best”, but he had no reason for confidence that YHWH would accept it:
3. And Bilaam told Balaq, "Remain standing by your ascending [offering], and I will go; maybe YHWH will happen to meet me, and whatever thing He shows me, I will inform you of." So he went to a barren height.
Barren height: suggesting unfruitfulness, but emphasizing that it was a solitary, empty, quiet place, away from the “devastator”, where he could hear from YHWH more clearly without distraction. There were also no pagan groves there like at the cultic platforms of Ba’al. Maybe: YHWH was on a very orderly schedule, but since Bilaam did not understand the pattern, YHWH’s appearances to him had seemed random.
4. And Elohim came to meet Bilaam, and he told Him, "I have set up the seven altars, and I have [offered] up a bull and a ram on the altar."
5. So YHWH put a word in Bilaam's mouth and told him, "Return to Balaq, and you shall cause thus and so to be said."
6. So he went back to him, and indeed he was still standing by his ascending [offering]--[both] he and all the leaders of Moav.
7. So he took up his proverbial saying, and said, "From Aram, Balaq [the] king of Moav has had me brought out--from the mountains of the east: ‘Come, put a curse on Yaaqov for me!' and ‘Come, denounce Israel!'
Aram: land of one of the sons of Shem, the ancestor of Yaaqov's father-in-law Lavan. This is where Bilaam was now living—specifically in P’thor (22:5), which is on the Euphrates River just west of Mesopotamia in Aram, south of Karkhemish. No one mentioned Yaaqov or Israel before this; YHWH is now revealing who they are really up against. These are not Egyptians after all! But he may be emphasizing the fact that Esau’s family still feels cheated by this brother, whom they regarded as stealing their blessing.
8. "How can I curse [one] whom El has not cursed? And how shall I denounce [one] YHWH has not denounced?
Yaaqov himself was blessed when his brother was expected to be the one blessed instead. (Gen. 27:2)
9. "For from the top of the rocky cliffs, I shall see him, and from the hills I shall watch him. Behold a people that is to dwell separately and not be considered [one] of the nations.
Separately: alone, divided out and withdrawn from among everything else, yet together as one group. While it was not beneficial for Adam to be alone, as a whole people, it was beneficial for Israel to be—for they would be “alone together”. This is the same way in which Levi was not to be counted among the tribes of Israel, though he was one of them; he had a task to which he was called to "isolate" himself. This also exempts Israel from Yirmeyahu 30:11, where YHWH says He will make an end of all nations. The word for “considered” also stems from a root meaning "to weave, or braid", so Israel is not one of the threads in the world's fabric, but is a different entity altogether, even if there seems to be overlap at times. This is actually the beginning of Bilaam’s blessing on Israel, but is the reason Israel’s enemies have cursed her throughout the centuries; the reason we were exiled was because we wanted to be like the other nations. The Greeks and Romans exchanged gods with whomever they conquered, but cannot tolerate the “arrogance” of a nation that acknowledges only one Elohim. The “catholic” (all-encompassing) mindset adopted within Christianity could not be satisfied with YHWH being one, and had to invent the doctrine of the trinity in order to facilitate its way of thinking, which stemmed from having many deities but all under the auspices of the name Ba’al (e.g., Ba’al-Peor, as related to v. 28). We should count it a blessing that we are a set-apart people, for having to worry about what is outside would only distract us from the specific responsibilities YHWH has given us. We are also under no obligation to either Christianity’s or global society’s expectations, for we have our orders from a higher authority. But having some who are set apart automatically marks the rest as common or ordinary. If we were all the same, as the world wants us to be, nothing at all would be sacred. In particular, YHWH sees Israel as separate from Egypt, though we came out from there (cf. 22:5, 11). Ideally, it would never enter the minds of this generation that they had ever even been part of that land. The nations are to be gathered into Israel, not the other way around. There will come a time when the nations will understand that they will have to come under the covering of Israel to survive. All too often, Israel caters to other nations’ whims, but YHWH wants us to be a light to the nations. We cannot help others out of the quicksand if we are in it too! If the nations see us as one of them, we are not doing our job.
10. "Who can count the dust of Yaaqov or number [even] a fourth of Israel? May my soul die the death of the upright ones, and may my final end be like his!"
Dust: an idiom for numerous descendants. (Gen. 13:16) A fourth: one of the four camps, one of which was led by Yehudah. This may have been the “extremity of the people” which was all he could see in 22:41, and it may be that because of their example that they received more mercy throughout the centuries than the rest of Israel. Who indeed can count them? Even the more-recognizable Jews often hide their identity; the rest of the tribes have become so lost among the nations (to all but YHWH) that no one else knows who they are. But we are still here and are already beginning to be recalled to the covenant. The upright ones: a special nickname YHWH has for Israel. What was Yaaqov’s final end like? Genesis 49 describes it in detail. He had his entire family around him. He had laid out the path for his heritage and given them prophecies that would empower them to live in unity. He had said all he needed to say and seen his son as a ruler on the earth. He knew he had fulfilled his calling, and that his work was done. His body was then “planted” in the Land of Israel to await the resurrection. But Bilaam’s final end would not be like Yaaqov’s, for he made further wrong decisions. (Y’hoshua 13:22; 2 Kefa 2:15; Rev. 2:14)
11. But Balaq said to Bilaam, "What have you done to me? I fetched you to utter a curse against my enemies, but here you have blessed them with a blessing!"
12. And he responded and said, "Must I not be careful to declare that which YHWH has put in my mouth?"
13. So Balaq said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you will see it. You'll [only] see the tail end of it; you won't see them all! Curse it for me from there!"
It: i.e., the nation of Israel; literally "him", referring to the entity of Yaaqov as his descendants. He seems to assume that Bilaam's curse would only alight on those he could see. Or he may be saying that if he sees them from a different angle—sees what they are like on the days other than the Sabbath—he might not have such a problem with cursing them!
14. And he took him to the Watchmen's Field at the top of the summit, and he built seven altars, and [offered] up a bull and a ram on [each] altar.
Watchmen's Field: Aram.,"lookout point"—a high spot from which one would watch for approaching enemies. Summit (pisgah): sometimes an alternate name for Mt. Nevo (see photo) in particular (the highest peak in that area), which means “His prophet”. Shittim (25:1) would have been visible from this site.
15. And he told Balaq, "Remain standing by your ascending [offering], while I myself go to meet [with Him]."
16. And YHWH came to meet Bilaam, and He put a word in Bilaam's mouth and told him, "Return to Balaq, and you shall make such and such a pronouncement."
17. So he went back to him, and indeed he was still standing by his ascending [offering]--[both] he and all the leaders of Moav. And Balaq said to him, "What did YHWH say?"
18. So he took up his proverbial saying, and said, "Arise, O Balaq; listen [and obey]! Give ear as far as me, O [one whom] Tzippor [calls] his son!
He probably delivered this message in a very dramatic tone.
19. "El is not a man, that He should let [His word] drop, nor the son of humanity, that He should accommodate Himself [to anyone]. Has He spoken, and will He not follow through, or has He promised, and will He not put it into effect?
El is not…the son of humanity: Heb., Ben Adam, the same name Y’shua so often used of himself, so this Torah prophecy is a nail in the coffin of the doctrine of the Trinity. Accommodate Himself: give in to the wishes of someone with money rather than maintaining His standards. Does Balaq think merely killing bulls and rams will change YHWH’s mind?
20. "Indeed, to bless [is what] I have received, and bless He has; I cannot reverse it!
This is all YHWH had for Israel (cf. v. 23); Bilaam could not give them what he was not granted.
21. "He has not taken into consideration [any] crookedness in Yaaqov, nor has He perceived Israel as worn out. YHWH his Elohim is with him; the [victorious] battle-cry of a king is in him.
Not taken into consideration: Aramaic, carefully scrutinized and not found. Crookedness: Hirsch, "misuse of power". Perceived Israel as worn out: Some say exactly the opposite, citing the Holocaust as evidence that YHWH is fed up with Israel. And in this context, He has just brought judgment after judgment for the rebellion upon rebellion and complaint after complaint that they had brought against Moshe and ultimately against YHWH Himself. Sometimes He would not even dwell with them because of the extent of the trouble in the camp. There was plenty of wickedness to see. But even if one has to beat his family into subjection, he would still come to their defense without hesitation in the face of any outside threat, especially from the "accuser of the brethren". Such problems are none of Bilaam’s business; YHWH will not present Israel to outsiders as anything but righteous. He chooses to see the potential in us. He still sees us as worth the effort. All the more, in the regeneration that comes with the renewed covenant (Y’hezq’El 36:26), does He see us in our final condition—redeemed and reborn in a “new creation” in which “old things have passed away and all things have become new”. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Israel is blessed by YHWH, which means He bends His “knees” to get down to our level, like a father to his children, and He does not see this as too much trouble. As we mature, of course we need to make sure we are blessing Him in return. But while He may use an outsider to discipline us, He forbids them from bringing a curse with it. The key is the final phrase: The word for "battle-cry" is the same term used for the trumpet blast on Yom T'ruah (Rosh haShanah), which woke them up. Yom T’ruah is when the king who makes it possible for us to be righteous will return. This makes the difference. The festival just after Yom T’ruah is Yom Kippur, on which YHWH covers our sins over. It is not that the sins do not exist, but they are walking in forgiveness because of that season--because Aharon has brought the bull, rams, and goats. The Church has clued in on this, but is selling something they do not own. It was already being given away, but people did not know where to look, because they were taken to Rome’s seven hills for their perspective, and therefore give the wrong impression of what Yeshua’s life was all about. First Yochanan warns us to never say we are without sin, yet invites us to enjoy the full rights of our calling as Sons of Elohim. After so many years of correction, Israel is finally getting to the place where we are useful to Him.
22. "El who led him out of Egypt is like the upraised horns of a wild ox to him,
Led him: Israel did not leave Egypt on their own initiative, as Balaq seemed to imply. YHWH is ready to fight to protect them. Wild ox: This particular species is thought to be extinct.
23. "Because there exists no enchanting against Yaaqov or fortune-telling against Israel! As always, it will be told to Yaaqov and to Israel what El has accomplished.
Enchanting: casting a spell; literally, whispering, for this in itself casts an air of mystery and suspicion, even where it is groundless. Prov. 26:2 tells us that "a curse without a cause will not alight"--if we have the doors closed to it, as Y’shua did. (Yochanan 14:30) No matter how much Balaq pleads, YHWH will not favor another nation over Israel, except temporarily, to bring Israel correction. Alt., There is no divination in Yaaqov. Indeed, if anyone is found practicing divination within Israel, it is punishable by death. (Mikha 5:12) So why have people been so emphatic about the Messiah being “divine”? As always: or "according to the proper season". What El has accomplished: This quote was chosen by Samuel Morse to be the first message sent by telegraph. Hirsch interprets the first sentence in light of the second as meaning there is no need for omens or magic, since YHWH would inform them of whatever they needed to know. This is why His masterpiece accomplishment of the renewal of covenant through Messiah was the impetus for the message which included all that He had done previously as well to go out to all nations—wherever scattered Yaaqov and Israel could be found.
24. "Behold, a people [that] will rise up like a roaring lion, and lift himself up like a violent lion; he will not lie down until he devours the prey and drinks up the blood of the mortally wounded!"
A people: Israel does not need all these means of foretelling the future, for as long as it fulfills its duty, it will be dauntless. (Y’hoshua 7:11-13) We do not literally drink blood, but Balaq has asked for the wrong thing; his armies cannot defeat this people! Ba'al has no power here. These blessings sound very much like Yaaqov’s own words (Gen. 49); YHWH put Yaaqov’s own blessings into the mouth of the one seeking to curse them.
25. Then Balaq told Bilaam, "Don't do anything at all, [then]; neither curse it nor bless it!"
I.e., “Take back what you said! You don’t have to curse them; just don’t bless them either!” But this is not acceptable; YHWH cannot just ignore Israel. He does not like things lukewarm. If one calls on YHWH, he must take what YHWH gives, not expect Him to cater to what one wants to hear.
26. But Bilaam responded and told Balaq, "Didn't I tell you, ‘Anything that YHWH says, I must put into effect’?"
Once the facts are known, one cannot maintain a neutral stance or an “open mind”.
27. So Balaq told Bilaam, "Come, please, let me take you to a place [that's] further back! Maybe it will be all right in the eyes of the gods to pronounce a curse against them for me from there.
All right: literally, "upright" or "straight", "lawful" or "approved". Back in verse 13 he had ordered him to do so; now he simply hopes it might be permitted. The gods: Heb., elohim. Balaq uses the (always-plural) term with the article, as undoubtedly he still has little concept of the uniqueness of YHWH.
28. And Balaq took Bilaam to the head of the gap that looks down over the face of the desert.
Gap: Heb., Pe’or, one of the places Ba’al was said to be lord over. (25:3) This may refer to the Arnon River canyon (22:36), a deep gash in the plateau above the cliffline east of the Dead Sea. Anyone who looks at it can readily see why they might be disposed to associate it with something superhuman. But this is still no excuse in YHWH’s eyes. YHWH tells us to remember those who followed Baal of Pe'or, because they are no longer with us. (Deut. 4:3) So while Balaq no longer tries to tempt Bilaam with the equivalent of the Roman Catholic Church, he tries to get him to align with one of her “Protestant” daughters who seem more innocuous. But this place still worships Ba’al, so it is no better. YHWH’s covenant, even as renewed through Yeshua, is only with the two houses of Israel. (Yirmeyahu 31:31) Why not just align with the one YHWH has already blessed? But he fears he has too much to lose.
29. And Bilaam told Balaq, "Build seven altars for me at this [site], and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me at this [site]."
30. So Balaq did just as Bilaam said, and [offered] up a bull and a ram on [each] altar.
Balaq is “spitting into the wind”, but still insists on paying more in order to bribe YHWH. For the third time he asks Bilaam to curse Israel. Has he crossed a line? How many times is too many? He is pushing the limits, so this time he will be “rewarded” with knowledge that he is not particularly looking for. Bilaam is eating very well, but is still expecting a different result from the same actions. In Eliyahu’s day, many kept calling on Ba'al when he did not answer, and bulls were slaughtered there too. (1 Kings 18) Whether YHWH is patient with him or simply amused, he will not get what he wants. The beauty of the Torah is that doing the same things over and over—year after year—will bring us the same results—only better each time, as we rise up the spiral staircase. When we hear the shofar, we should expect to repent; when we set up a sukkah, we should expect joy. We should not expect YHWH to change. Balaq continues to try to find the right angle, and takes Bilaam to many different points of view, just as the world tries to get us to see from the viewpoint of the “poor Palestinians”. But no matter which direction he looks at them from, YHWH’s answer is always, “No, I will not curse Israel, and if you want to speak for Me, neither may you.”
CHAPTER 24
1. When Bilaam realized that [it was] better in the eyes of YHWH to bless Israel, he no longer went as at other times to chance upon enchantments, but he fixed his face toward the wilderness.
What is right in YHWH’s eyes needs to be right in ours. Bilaam has heard from YHWH, but the call of Mammon (wealth) has continued to appeal to him even more than his commitment to what YHWH has established. His struggle between the two sets the context for understanding Y’shua’s use of the Hebrew idiom “a sound eye” in Mat. 6:22-34. Mammon is not simply money or physical wealth, but anything we treasure to the extent that it becomes a rival to YHWH for our affections. Y’shua says that it is Gentiles who seek information about and security in regard to tomorrow (as Balaq did). Instead, Y’shua tells us to seek YHWH’s Kingdom--and His righteousness. Bilaam was not seeking the latter, being tempted to compromise because he was in a place where the prospect of wealth could affect his vision. We all have a “right eye” (generous side) and a “left eye” (stingy side). Whichever we seek is what we will serve. Bilaam is speaking blessing while seeking to curse; he is trying to serve both YHWH and Mammon, and ends up cross-eyed. Whatever we treasure, we must look at through the “right eye”, for if we are not using it to feed YHWH’s sheep, it is like a stagnant pond which will soon support no life. Security is the biggest liar, for when we bow down to kiss its feet, it kicks us in the teeth and runs away. (Gibor) Only the Kingdom is enduring and therefore real. What we forsake for YHWH’s sake, He paradoxically takes up for us. He says, “Work for Me and I will take care of the rest.” Then we will find what we are truly searching for, though it may not turn out to be what we expected. But it will not arrive unless we are basing all our choices now on what will move it closer. We cannot wait to seek it first when it arrives, for by that time it will be our judge. What energizes Mammon is our fears about the future, when in fact tomorrow never comes. It is nothing but a test of our priorities, for there is never a time when we can say, “Now it is tomorrow.” There is only another “today”, and today is always meant for seeking the Kingdom. Forsaking the things the Gentiles seek does not mean casting them to the dogs; it just means leaving “tomorrow” in YHWH’s hands and not putting off the things that the Kingdom needs now in order to preserve our “security” for tomorrow. This verse defines seeking the Kingdom as being generous to Israel with anything that we treasure, since that is what YHWH Himself does; we cannot separate the two.
2. Then Bilaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel residing by its tribes, and the spirit of Elohim came over him,
Lifted up his eyes: often an idiom for seeing prophetically into the latter days, when indeed it appears there will be a camp of Israel in the same area as the united tribes prepare to retake the Land. (Yeshayahu 16) He foresaw that one day Israel would finally live as brothers, and the final outcome is the ultimate truth in Elohim's eyes.
3. and he took up his proverbial speech, and said, "The revelation of Bilaam, his son--Beor's--and the pronouncement of a mighty man whose eyes are open a crack,
Revelation: utterance, or the pronouncement or declaration of a prophet in an ecstatic state. It seemed like a blessing to Chawwah to have her eyes opened, but look how it turned out. Bilaam’s eyes are generally closed but barely perforated—just beginning to open, as one does when emerging into a place more brightly lit, for he is gaining a new perspective. He has had some connection with YHWH’s Spirit, but He has been out of context, so his prophesying has usually been nothing more than sorcery. But now he is beginning to “get it”. YHWH was not finished with Israel. And again, the truth is coming to light that He still has a covenant with Israel, and is restoring the lost tribes to it. Bilaam has had a personal relationship with YHWH—so personal that He will not even speak to him when anyone else is around. But the people he is viewing has a national relationship with YHWH. He has had a business relationship with YHWH, but now he is meeting His family! No wonder he is powerless to curse it. He has heard YHWH’s words so well that he takes the initiative to add his own “second witness”.
4. "the utterance of one who listens to the sayings of El, who has beheld as a seer the vision of Shaddai, fallen but with uncovered eyes:
Though he stumbled on his way, by listening to Elohim, he ended up with a truer knowledge of what is real. Once we hear from El—when the veil is taken from our eyes—we cannot help but make the same admission:
5. "‘How appropriate are your tents, O Yaaqov! Your dwelling-places, O Israel!
Tents: often an idiom for places of instruction. This narrows down Noach's prophecy in Gen. 9:27. Dwelling places: the same Hebrew word used for the Tabernacle, but here it is plural. We can echo this: what used to seem foreign is no longer just some “Jewish thing”. This is all of Israel, which the Jews have preserved in part, but now it is ours to participate in and preserve also.
6. "‘Like the seasonal streams they have spread out--like orchards beside a river, like aloes planted by YHWH, like [firm] cedar trees beside water.
Aloes heal, and being beside a river means a constant source of supply. This is what we worry about when we “seek tomorrow first”. But by inextricably linking our “tomorrow” to Israel’s way of study and life, we put ourselves in the place of YHWH’s constant supply.
7. "He will cause waters to flow from His well-buckets, and his seed [is] on great waters. His king will rise higher than Agag, and his kingdom will lift itself high!
Hirsch interprets this as Yaaqov's seed being that which is located where the greatest abundance of the water from YHWH's buckets falls when He waters the field. Agag was the name of a later king of Amaleq (v. 20), and Israel’s first king did not overflow him. But Velikovsky (in Ages in Chaos) notes that Egyptian writings refer to two different kings of the Hyksos (with whom he identifies Amaleq) with the name Apop, and he believes the transcription system of hieroglyphics allows this to be read as “Agag”, so there may have already been a king with that name or title, with which Bilaam was certainly familiar, and indeed Israel did overcome him, though not all at once. But the word agag means "increasing over the top", i.e. the waters will fill this Kingdom to overflowing, which may fit this context better. The term for rising higher is the same used for how the waters of the Deluge carried Noach’s ark upward to clear the mountaintops.
8. "El, who brought him out of Egypt, is like the horns of a wild ox for him; he will devour the nations of his oppressor and gnaw their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows!
Out of Egypt: YHWH does not look on Israel as He does on the rest of the nations, and most specifically does not want them associated with Egypt any longer. Oppressor: Moav, who is the aggressor in this context, not Israel; or Agag (see note on v. 20). The result is the same no matter who is oppressing Israel.
9. "He has crouched--he has lain down--like a violent lion, and like a roaring lion, who will [dare to] stir him up? The one who blesses you is blessed, and the one who curses you is cursed."
Bilaam himself is becoming enraptured, and the blessing pours from his lips. Lion: Compare Mikha 5:8. The last sentence is the blessing YHWH gave to Avraham directly, but here He narrows it to Yaaqov. At the time when someone is trying to curse the patriarchs’ descendants, it is reiterated to make it all the more firm. Yet though Balaq heard this, he still decided to “stir Israel up”. (See below.)
10. Then Balaq's anger grew hot against Bilaam, and he clapped his palms together, and Balaq told Bilaam, "I called on you to curse my enemies, but here you have blessed them with a blessing! This is three times!
Clapped: Not the same word used in Psalm 2 for the applause on the coronation of the King, but one with a tone of chastisement, as if to say, “Enough, already!” Buddha said, “In a controversy, the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.” Balaq calls them enemies, though he does not really know if that is what they really are. By this time, he just wants a fight. The truth, if he were to listen what Bilaam was telling him indirectly, was that since YHWH was on Israel’s side, the wise thing would be to make an alliance with Israel and get on its side too. Israel could still do that outside the Land, and especially since they were relatives. Or he could simply leave them alone and not do anything.
11. "So now, get [back] to your place [in a hurry]! I said I would promote you to great importance, but here, YHWH has denied you the honor!"
He echoes the Adversary in Eden, casting doubt on YHWH's noble intentions: “You idiot! I was ready to give you true power! But if you can’t get over this YHWH thing, I guess there will be no authority for you! How will you become rich now?” But if we seek honor from the nations, there is no way we can be doing what YHWH wants. (Yaaqov 4:4) Any real authority comes with the responsibility of blessing Israel.
12. But Bilaam told Balaq, "Didn't I tell the messengers that you sent to me the same thing, saying,
Didn't I tell...? This is a disclaimer so he can claim his reward money anyway.
13. "‘If Balaq were to give me his house filled with silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of YHWH my Elohim, to put into effect [either what is] favorable or unfavorable from my own heart; whatever YHWH says, I will say'?
14. "So now I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you of what this people will do to your people in later times."
For a moment, having seen the incipient Kingdom, he had his eyes off “tomorrow” and on the ultimate goal. He sees this gathered, unified Israel (which is the Kingdom) as already existing, but not yet fully manifest. (v. 17) He even becomes bold enough to add insult to injury by letting the king know where the path he has chosen path will take him. After all, what pagans want to know about is tomorrow! It is foolish for them to seek the “future”, because it will spell bad news for them. But they seem unable to help it; it is part of the definition Yeshua gives in Matthew 6 of a Gentile.
15. And he took up his proverbial voice, and said, "The revelation of Bilaam, his son--Beor's--and the pronouncement of a mighty man whose eyes are open a crack,
16. "the utterance of one who listens to the sayings of El and has become acquainted with the knowledge of the Highest [One], who has beheld as a seer the vision of Shaddai, fallen but with uncovered eyes:
Learning more about YHWH’s righteousness is the result of truly listening to Him more and more.
17. "I shall see him, but not now; I shall watch him intently, but not nearby: A star shall march out from Yaaqov; a scepter shall rise from Israel, and shall severely wound the edges of Moav, and bore through all the sons of Sheth.
Not now: It will be quite some time, but it will eventually take place. Star: Assuming this was a messianic prophecy led even someone as wise as Rabbi Akiva to endorse Ben Kosiba as Messiah, assuming that because his name was close enough to "Bar Kochba"--son of the star—he must be the fulfillment of this prophecy. But the result was a terrible fiasco that sent the Jews fully into exile for many centuries. Though we may want to apply every prophecy to Yeshua, we must be careful not to fabricate or force the evidence. "March" is a strongly militant term, and this "one who came in his own name" (Yochanan 5:43) appeared more militaristic than Yeshua had. If we were to consider a single royal figure who deals heavy blows to Moav, we should probably think of David before Y’shua. He may have only been looking that far ahead, though some aspects of the subsequent verses have not yet been fulfilled, so “what has been” is likely to again be “what will be”. But since David first united the two kingdoms of Israel, the name “David” in itself is an idiom for reunited Israel, so we should focus on that—a whole people anointed by YHWH to remove the authority and eldership of this people that would oppose Israel though it had no reason to. Since David's name can represent his royal descendants as well, Yeshua will undoubtedly have a strong hand in this too, but part of this is the responsibility of every Israelite.
18. "Then Edom shall become dispossessed property; Seir also shall become a possession of his enemies, but Israel shall accomplish [it] capably.
Enemies: at this time, their chief enemy would indeed be Israel. Compare Ovadyah 1:18.
19. "Out of Yaaqov shall come one who treads down, and he shall destroy those [survivors] who escape from the city."
City: The Midrash Aggadah says this refers to Edom’s most prominent city, Rome. Ovadyah says Edom will have no survivors, while Amos 9 says Israel will possess whatever remains of Edom.
20. Then he noticed Amaleq, and took up his proverbial saying, and said, "Amaleq is chief of the Gentiles, but his final end will be to perish."
Took up: YHWH’s word is always there, but one must take on its yoke deliberately. Chief: or first—that is, first to attack Israel as a nation. Yeshua said "the first shall be last", and "the broad way leads to destruction". YHWH indeed specifically targeted Amaleq for annihilation as His eternal enemy because of how they treated His people and because their philosophy that all is coincidence gives no credit to YHWH. (Exodus 17:14-16; Deut. 25:19) David kept up the fight, but we still have not finished the job. He may be the oppressor mentioned in verse 8 that drives a plurality of nations, for he keeps appearing throughout history as one dead set on destroying all of Israel; it is quite possible that the “Beast” or counterfeit Messiah of prophecy will be the last instance in which he appears on the scene and is finally defeated.
21. And he looked on the Qeynites, and took up his proverbial saying, and said, "Your dwelling place is enduring, and you will set your nest in a rock,
Nest: a word play, since the term is "qiyn", similar to "Qeynite".
22. "yet Qeyn shall be burned up; how long until Assyria carries you away captive?"
Qeyn: here, the vowels are pointed as “Qayin”, which may take us all the way back to Genesis and the line of the first murderer may even converge again here, possibly bringing about its end along with or through that of this later group with the same name. This would indeed be indeed the practice of the Assyrians--to resettle those they conquered rather than destroying them, causing them to lose their sense of being a people tied to a particular place, and thus easier to enslave or convert to their ways of thinking. At the time of this prophecy, Assyria was still a minor power militarily.
23. [Again] he took up his proverbial voice, and said, "Alas! Who will survive when El determines [to do this]?
24. "Ships will even be dispatched from alongside Kittim, and they will weaken Assyria and weaken Ever, but it too will ultimately be lost.”
Kittim: a Yavanite (Greek) nation, as per Gen. 10:4, usually seen as Cyprus, but based on Daniel 11:30, Targum Onqelos interprets it as being Rome (Romulus), which is identified with Armilus, a code-name for the Counterfeit Messiah of the last days. Ever: the ancestor of the Hebrews. It too: Kittim, not Ever.
25. Then Bilaam arose and left, and he returned to his place; Balaq, too, went on his way.
Went on his way: or, walked his own road. (Compare Rev. 22:11.) Yet one cannot ever truly serve only oneself. Every day we must choose: Will we serve the Kingdom or the Mammon that numbs us to what YHWH is really doing in the world?
CHAPTER 25
1. But Israel tarried among the acacias, and the people [began to] allow [themselves] to be polluted by playing the prostitute toward the daughters of Moav.
After all the battles they had won, Israel might have gotten into too much of a relaxed mode, resting on their laurels and thinking they had earned some pleasure. After planting YHWH’s flag in many places, they had stopped making progress, stopped conquering, and settled into a place that was not yet the Land, even if they could already see it from there. They became too friendly with their cousins. They let what was holy become common, possibly by letting their sexuality be spread among many instead of concentrated toward their spouses, but in a worse way as well. The term for “playing the prostitute” can also refer to spiritual unfaithfulness to YHWH, and that this took place is much more certain. (v. 2) What a response to YHWH’s blessing! YHWH saw us as full of potential and worth the effort, and we responded by thinking we could get away with almost anything, as if we owed Him nothing in return. But when we start to ask how this could occur, it is time to look in the mirror. When we think we have done enough for the Kingdom for a while, we forget to bless YHWH, but start to kick back instead of investing back into the things He has blessed us with. Revelation 2:14 tells us by the order of its statements that the eating of the meat offered to idols was a greater concern than the fornication, because even if that alone were their sin, they were still committing adultery against YHWH. That verse and 31:16 tell us what the context of this passage should already be making us suspect—that Bilaam is the one behind this strategy. He was the one who instigated this sin by, assumedly, telling Balaq that he could not defeat Israel by war, but he could waylay them by playing on their weakness in other ways. Bilaam could not curse them, but he was still trying to get a payday out of this, so he showed Balaq how to get them to bring a curse on themselves. He had been looking for a time when YHWH was naturally angry with Israel, so he could take advantage of the timing and curse them. When this opening never came, he told Balaq to create an occasion himself. He actually instructed them in how to create a trap for Israel. They know we cannot be defeated if YHWH is on our side, so they aim to turn YHWH against us by getting us to do something that disgusts Him. Israel is said to be the ones committing the prostitution. They allowed it to occur, because they were the ones who should have known better, and could have prevented it. Yet He has tied His name to Israel; she is His bride, no matter how wayward. He takes His commitment seriously even when we do not. So He provided the antidote before the poison is present, if we are wise enough to find it. They were “among the acacia trees”. Acacia trees very rarely have trunks large enough to produce long, straight planks. They are spindly trees made mainly of thin, thorny branches from which only small pieces can be obtained. So no one great tree could provide any complete piece of Tabernacle furniture. These had to be assembled (probably tongue-in-groove) from many of these small pieces before they could be of any usefulness. A layer of gold (which represents worthiness for the Kingdom) does not provide much strength; one could easily poke a hole through it. The strength must be in the wood that supports it, and indeed, there is much more strength in the assembling of many small surfaces put together properly than even in a solid beam, especially when a long beam is what is needed. In Scripture, trees are often used as a picture of people, and Israel, YHWH’s bride, is made up of many individuals. Dwelling among the acacias is a picture of being properly attached to one another in unity, and this is the antidote to the illegal relationships that so angered YHWH here. But they chose to “sit as [individual] sticks”, and thus were an easy target for temptation.
2. When they invited the people to the slaughters of their elohim, the people ate and bowed down to their elohim.
After YHWH upheld Israel against her enemies, bragging that He saw no flaw in us, we let Him down! He had said that we are a people that dwells separately, but we were not saying the same thing. Eating is not just a common everyday act, but particularly an expression of fellowship and even intimacy with whomever we eat with—hence the bread of the Presence, the symbol of our partaking of the twelve tribes in unity, but in this case, with these pagans and their deities. This “barbecue party” to which they were invited by beautiful “missionaries” (Charles Manson’s method) became a trap, because they had dedicated the meat to their elohim, and by eating of it, Israel was paying homage to it. With the first bite, they are already cheating on YHWH. Paul tells us that those who eat of the sacrifices are partakers of the altar they were offered on, and we cannot simultaneously drinking YHWH’s cup and the cup of demons. (1 Cor. 10) Can we ever "just go" to pagan feasts like Christmas and Easter without participating in the idolatry (v. 3)? Does our presence justify them for someone else? Even if we eat nothing there, we can be influenced by their ideas and attitudes. Friendship with “the world” [system, not people] is evidence of hostility and unfaithfulness toward YHWH, whether it feels like it or not. (Yaaqov/James 4:4) Opposing YHWH is about as foolish as one can get. While others want to leave the ways of the Gentiles and become part of Israel, why does Israel so often want to be part of the nations? The more we learn what it means to be holy, the more of “the world” we are called to be set apart from. The way Paul gives us to flee from idolatry is to seek our neighbors’ well-being—i.e., eating with those to whom we are committed instead of with those with whom we have nothing in common. Join together with other “acacia sticks” and become something useful to YHWH and worthy of being overlaid with His gold.
3. Thus Israel became joined to Ba'al-Peor, and YHWH's anger was ignited against Israel.
Should we be surprised? Ba'al-Peor ("Lord" or "husband of the gap"), the local manifestation of Ba’al, was worshipped with these licentious rituals. "Gap" or "opening" suggests a connection with the underworld, for they were making sacrifices to the dead. (Psalm 106:28) Israel had left Egypt, whose preoccupation was with death (hence its colossal tombs), whereas the Torah is about life. (Deut. 30:19; 32:47) We must be careful to put more emphasis on Yeshua’s return to life than his death, Images of “Jesus” focus on his death; it was a necessary step in the process, but not the focus or the goal. It is morbid to make the means of his execution the symbol of all that he stands for. Joined: attached or bound. This sounds much like a wedding ceremony, as Paul explains (1 Cor. 6:15-16): by simply partaking of food dedicated to it, they became both part of and obligated to this foreign deity, and thus were no longer fulfilling their duty to YHWH, their true "husband". (Yaaqov/James 4:13ff) YHWH is rightfully jealous when we “cheat on Him” like this. Anger: literally, nose, for they became a stench in His nostrils—just the opposite of the soothing aroma He wants. Though our cousins may be the nicest people in the world, there are some ways in which we simply cannot relate to them. Darkness may be necessary for light to show up, but our job is to be Israelites, for our covenant is with Israel and with YHWH.
4. And YHWH said to Moshe, "Take all the heads of the people of Israel, and hang them up for YHWH, exposed in the sun, so that the burning anger of YHWH may be turned back from Israel."
They wanted to have a party with the dead, so YHWH sent some death. Take: Take: The Aramaic interprets this to mean “gather the leaders, and then determine who is to be hung.” The heads are supposed to be overseeing what the others are doing.
5. So Moshe told the judges of Israel, "Each of you kill [those of] his men who were joined to Ba'al-Peor!"
6. But, lo and behold, a man of the descendants of Israel came and brought the Midyanite woman near toward his brothers in the sight of Moshe and the sight of the whole congregation of the descendants of Israel, who were weeping bitterly at the opening of the Tent of Appointment.
He compounds the sin even further—doing it openly and in the worst possible place. The others committed their sin on the cultic platforms of Ba’al, but he brought this into YHWH’s sanctuary, and expanded the horizons from Moav to Midyan, but they were still allied with Moav. This woman, like Yezevel, was no common prostitute. She was from an important family (v. 15). Brought near: the same terminology used for an offering to YHWH. In lieu of an animal offering, the Moavite “dinner party” had taught this man that by participating in a sexual act in the presence of an elohim would honor Him. This was not raw animal sex. It was a religious ceremony. This is why pagan worship was so appealing. Weeping bitterly: Whether they were mourning because people were dying, or because of their sins, if they had been doing something to clean house instead of just bemoaning the problem, this couple might not have gotten so far. Another possibility is that this weeping was an early form of what later became the “weeping for Tammuz” (Y’hezq’El 8:14). Keith Aaron writes, “in the ritual of weeping for Tammuz, the women tore all their clothes from their bodies… His return from the underworld was then celebrated with wild orgies and ritualistic prostitution”--exactly the order seen here.
7. When Pin'has, the son of El'azar, son of Aharon the cohen saw [it], he rose up from amid the assembly, and took a [metal-tipped] spear in his hand,
This young man was next in line to be the high priest. His name comes from a root word meaning “to urge on” or “pressure”. Rose from amid: he was declaring that he was not among this crowd. The sight of what was going wrong elevated his spirit and urged him on to pressure Israel into doing what everyone else was hesitant to do. He should not have had to do this, for other Levites should have stopped the man before he got this far; there were armed guards at the entrance to the holy precinct. But someone was about to defile it, and the priests were ultimately responsible to keep it set apart. Someone had to stand up and do what needed to be done, so he both judged rightly and acted on it quickly--both necessary components of justice.
8. and went into the shrine after the man of Israel and thrust both of them through--the man of Israel and the woman, right through her womb; thus the striking down was brought to a halt from the descendants of Israel.
Shrine: the same term used in Arabic for the domed structures on the Temple Mount today; possibly a similarly-shaped round or vaulted tent, but the word seems related to the term here for “womb”, emphasizing its empty interior. Either the man took the woman into the sanctuary itself, or a shrine to Ba'al-Peor that must have been erected within the area designated for the Tabernacle, to which no one but Levites were to enter except when bringing their offerings to YHWH. His own judge, from the tribe of Shim’on, apparently did not do his job, so one of those responsible to guard YHWH’s sanctuary had to do it. Pin’has made sure no fruit could come from this union. It was the high priest’s role to intercede when a plague of judgment comes on the people. But all of Israel is called a “kingdom of priests”, so we must not just leave it to Yeshua to do all the dirty work. Pin’has never says a word; he acts—the opposite of Balaq. There is a time to speak and a time to remain silent (Qoheleth/Eccles. 3:7). This was not a time to speak. He already had Moshe’s words. YHWH spoke up on his behalf, to make sure no one would think he had done the wrong thing. Bilaam spoke what YHWH gave him, but in the end he said too much. He was too used to speaking and did not know when to stop. Before long, his own name became a curse. And Balaq, who started it all, would have done better to remain silent and see what was really going on rather than letting his imagination run wild and spreading fear with this words. He ended up looking like a fool. Is it the season to speak? If so, you had better not remain silent. If not, you dare not speak. That usually falls on deaf ears in this generation. But if you really listen, most of the time you will need to say very little. And when you are letting Torah speak, make sure you remember it accurately, and do not filter it through your own heart, assuming it says something it really does not. Do not try to bless what YHWH has not blessed. And how dare you curse what YHWH has blessed?
9.
But [the number of] those who died in the striking down came to 24,000.
But [the number of] those who died in the striking down came to 24,000.He even killed a leader—something the others might not have felt they had a right to do, so he stood in the “gap” between life and death as his grandfather Aharon had. Now that Aharon is gone and his father is not permitted to touch a dead body, he rises to his position in a most honorable way. He soothed YHWH’s burning nostrils. Yeshua did the same, but ourresponsibility today is to follow him, so we need to be the ones to pay attention to what is important to YHWH, and bless Him back for all He has done.
TORAH PORTION
Balaq
(Numbers 22:2 - 25:9)
INTRODUCTION: We were now in position to move into the Land--at our last station before going across, and just waiting for YHWH to say the time was right. Moshe still had some time, and it seems YHWH was aiming to have our “passing over” come as close to the timing of our ancestors to still leave time to prepare to celebrate its commemorative feast properly. But rather than sharpening our swords and our skills with them, we relaxed more than enough to gather our energies, and may have been itching for entertainment and maybe something just a little different.
Behind the scene, someone who could not find a legitimate way to denounce us was hatching a scheme that would make us guilty enough that YHWH almost had to decimate us, and that was the opening he was looking for.
But why? What had we done to him? It was all based on assumptions that were not at all true. Had he looked into the facts, he would have found that his fears were unfounded, and could have gone down in history as one who aided and abetted the most unique venture earth had ever seen, instead of just going down into history long before was necessary--and taking many of us down with him.
But no; he enlists the help of a rather colorful character--apparently much like an enchanter, yet with connections to the real thing, not, like his pagan counterparts, to those lesser spirits that play games with the desperate souls that seek out their favors, and who can't necessarily see the whole picture.
Bilaam started off well; like Yeshua, who said he could only do what he saw the Father doing (Yoch. 5:19, 30), he began with the philosophy that he had to be true to the words YHWH put in his mouth. (23:12) But like so many who find that, in aligning themselves with the Highest, they do in fact have power to bless or curse, he starts letting it corrupt him just enough to tempt others to think it is for sale, and those who do the paying are those who call the shots--or so they think. Not so when you are dealing with the genuine Article. He is in charge and will remain that way; if even haSatan has to ask permission to afflict Iyov (Job) with a few ailments and irritations, how much more must human beings be sure it is legitimate for them to take life. He seems to have only intended to "fire warning shots" to scare away those by whom he felt threatened. But a curse is something very serious, and, as he found out, can come back to bite the one who sends it forth. Balaq also gets a lesson in "Be careful what you ask for", because those who want to sneak a peek at the future may find that they are not ready for what they may find there.
But, by a strange turn of events, Balaq ends up getting his wish, and it takes a man sure of who he is and what he has the authority to do to stop it from destroying this people who are being prepared to take their place in the Promised Land, not only to bring justice on those who have defiled it, but to set the stage for a redemption that would go far beyond just buying back those who were part of this covenant but abandoned it. His passion for YHWH's holiness saved us and, like Noach, must have given YHWH hope that mankind had not become useless again after all.
A Different Kind of Difference
There are many lessons from the story of Balaq and Bilaam.
Of course there is much to see here about flirting with temptation, looking for loopholes instead of listening to the underlying message behind what YHWH might allow (22:20-22), how greed closes our eyes to what is really going on around us (22:23-31), how letting how much something pays guide our decisions is reckless (22:32), and about how you can get yourself killed because of a false assumption that you could have avoided by asking the right people for information instead. (Num. 22:2-6) We can learn a lot about whom we should keep company with: after all, who wants to receive our promotions from someone who, when you cross them, tells you, "Get out of here quickly before I do something worse to you"? There is a living example of how, as Solomon said, "A curse without a cause shall not alight." (Prov. 26:2) And here we get a vivid taste of "What goes around comes around": Balaq wanted to strike the edges of the Israelite camp, so the poetic justice came in King David striking Moav's edges. (24:17; 2 Shmu'el 8:2)
But what I want to emphasize is something Bilaam, the prophet Balaq called to curse Israel, said about us instead: "It is a people that shall dwell alone, and not be counted among the nations." (23:9)
Balaq thought Israel was just another threat, and couldn’t understand why Bilaam would not change his tune; it was all the same to him to destroy us without even knowing what our stance toward him was, because he had no principles. (22:37) Judging by the sacrifices he was willing to offer up (23:2, 30, etc.), Balaq thought YHWH could be bought just as easily as His prophet "should have been". But YHWH is not a man or the son of a man. (23:19) (That in itself should preclude a lot of doctrines that people tried to foist upon Him later.)
But Israel is different. There was no way Bilaam could curse them; YHWH had chosen to set His love on us, and would not change His mind, no matter how high a price was offered. (23:27)
Bilaam must have been thinking, "You just don’t get it, do you?" (22:18) “Do you think I can say just anything I want?” (22:38) "I only have power because I am under authority." One way Israel was not meant to be unique comes out in the fact that Bilaam called YHWH his Elohim (22:18), though he was not one of the “chosen people” YHWH would later say His sanctuary was to be "a house of prayer for all peoples". (Yeshayahu 56:7)
We are to "dwell alone", yet He set us smack-dab in the center of the inhabited world, where the three most populous continents converge, with trade routes to all of them, so all the nations could pass through and learn from us the wise principles He had given us. (Deut. 4:6) So our separateness is not necessarily physical, but attitudinal. Our exclusiveness is only for the sake of purity, so that we can ultimately be all-inclusive, but on the right foundation.
The problem came when Israel started to count itself as just one of the nations. (25:2-6) Being drawn away by the attraction that is natural to us all, our ancestors were ready to do things the way the pagans did, just because it was more fun for the moment. Thus our location at the crossroads of the world also made it easier for Him to send other nations against us to chastise us as well. We were about to give up our uniqueness, had it not been for Pin'has, the one man who stepped into the gap (25:7) and kept Israel holy.
The plague was stopped, but the temptation arises again in every generation—to assimilate, to think of YHWH’s special gift of Torah (instruction) as just one path among equals. He would not have put so many heavy safeguards on something that was not valuable enough to die--or in Pin'has' case, even kill--for. We hope that is always a last resort, but if everything is equal, nothing is special, and life really has very little significance beyond the enjoyment we can squeeze out of each day. For a generation that had already seen its parents live out their lives in vanity because they forfeited the Promised Land, it was just not acceptable to continue to retain that philosophy of "It doesn’t really make any difference how I live."
Israel was being called to tighten up its ship, because there was something really different just ahead, when they could again see YHWH working in their midst and making a genuine difference in the world, stopping that cycle of vanity and taking a big step toward the restoration of what was lost in Eden.
Which brings me to my last point: about that talking donkey (22:28), before you chalk it up to being a myth, ask yourself, "Why couldn’t this have occurred?" If YHWH is real and all things are possible with Him, shouldn't we expect out-of-the-ordinary occurrences when He is at work? Why sell yourself short when you may someday need a miracle? Don’t close doors that you might need to remain open!
Study Questions:
1. What assumption did Balaq make which was never even meant to be in the equation? (Numbers 22:2-4) What consequence did this bring for him which would never have even been necessary? How should he have responded instead to these people who were, after all, relatives of his? Instead of looking at how Israel treated the Emorites, which people should he have looked at, which was actually more analogous to his own? (See Numbers 20:14-21)
2. How did Balaq try to disguise the true identity of the people he was asking Bilaam to curse? (22:11)
3. What did Balaq not understand about how spiritual matters work? (22:13-18)
4. Why did Bilaam think YHWH might change His mind? (22:19) Why did YHWH tell him, "Okay, go, then", but then get angry when he did? (22:22) Should we be thankful if YHWH lets us have our way?
5. What did Bilaam not even notice in his anger? (22:28) What kinds of things might you miss if you are intent on getting your will done?
6. Are there any places where you may be missing what is really going on when YHWH is actually saying, "What you want to do is against Me"? (22:32) Why is it safer to ask Him first and only do what He specifies? (22:34-35)
7. All Balaq is thinking of is to hurry up and get what he wants, never seeing any logic in Bilaam’s hesitation. (22:37) How does Bilaam’s response (22:37) give us an example of how to make our answers contingent on "if the Master wills it"? (Compare Yaaqov/James 4:13-15. What major world religious group did get the point in this regard and does habitually say just this?)
8. Three times in chapter 23, Bilaam tells Balaq to build 7 altars and offer up 7 rams and 7 bulls. Yet did this change YHWH’s mind? The haftarah to this Torah portion, in Mikhah 6:3-8, in the immediate context of a reminder about Balaq and Bilaam, the prophet raises the question of whether YHWH wants all these "sacrifices". Do you think this is why Mikhah brings up Balaq and Bilaam? What bearing does YHWH's answer to this question have on your philosophy of how to approach Him? Is He the one who has wearied us with such a requirement?
9. While Bilaam knew better than to curse what YHWH has not cursed (23:8, 12), many others try to do just that. How might 23:23 provide a remedy for that? (Compare Proverbs 26:2.)
10. Israel today so often strives to be counted among the nations as their equal. According to Numbers 23:9, is that really rising higher for Israel, or is it actually a descent? How might we need to rethink and reframe this goal?
11. One way of telling that YHWH is behind what someone says is that he uses phrases other prophets have used, but apart from any collaboration between them. What phrase appears in 23:10 that YHWH had often used prior to this?
12. We would find "Let me die like he dies!" (23:10) to be a rather unusual blessing, but why is it indeed a blessing?
13. Balaq thinks he can sneak one over on YHWH by changing his vantage point to one where his magic would affect only part of the people. (23:13) What are the fallacies in his logic?
14. What commonly-held doctrine should have been precluded by Numbers 23:19? This also says He will not change, so can He ever turn into a man, or be born of a human being? Must you adjust your views of who Yeshua is based on this premise? If so, how?
15. Yaaqov (James) 1:23 says the Torah is a mirror that shows us who we really are. If Numbers 23:21 was not in the Torah, could we believe it was true? How can seeing YHWH’s perspective on our final outcome help us line up with that and make it a practical reality?
16. If only Bilaam had maintained the attitude he evidences in Numbers 24:1, he could indeed have died the death of the righteous (23:10). What drew him away from that lofty stance? How is that a warning to us? How might 1 Corinthians 10:12 apply to Bilaam’s self-concept as seen in 24:15-16? How does it differ from the similar phraseology he used in 24:4?
17. Many who follow the philosophy of the nations (cf. 23:9) would still say that following YHWH’s paradoxical ways will only lead us to ruin. (24:11) It will preclude inclusion in the "insiders' clubs" that the mighty (like a Moabite king) could have offered offer us if we had only compromised our high standard. How would you answer them?
18. Trying to force the issue only put Balaq on the "wrong side of prophecy" to the extent that he had to be told of much sadness to come for his own nation. (24:14) Do you think the outcome might have been different if he had not placed his people on such a trajectory?
19. The prophecy in 24:17 is what gave Ben Kosiba (a false messiah) the moniker Bar Kochba ("son of the star") due to a wishful comparison of the two words. What earlier, true messiah (anointed one), who actually held a scepter and indeed subdued Moav, is associated with a shield whose shape has often led it to be called a "star"? Does this have anything to do with his descendant who is known to more people as messiah? If so, how? What role did a star have in his life?
20. How do you think the fact that Ever (the ancestor of Israel) would also come to destruction or loss (24:24) relates to what occurred in 25:1-5 after the glowing report Bilaam had given about Israel?
21. Even after the sentence is handed down, someone still brazenly commits a lewd act right in Moshe's face and in the holiest place in Israel. (25:6) How was what he did in direct opposition to what YHWH had said in 23:9? Based on 25:7-8, can one man's actions stem the tide when evil seems to be spreading out of control? What actions does this give you the courage to take?
22. "Who can live longer than El has appointed for him?" (24:23) How can this perspective change our priorities and give our lives a better focus?
Companion Passage:
The Sidewalk
for Kids
It seems that the most popular movies and cartoons these days have to do with "superheroes" or "regular" people who still somehow have "powers" that other people don’t have. But this is nothing new.
King Balaq was facing a challenge that was too big for him and his people, so he tried to find someone "superhuman" to help him out. He must not have thought he was good enough or important enough to go directly to YHWH, so he went to someone who had the reputation of being able to at least use YHWH's power to influence how things would turn out for human beings: "I know that whoever you curse will really be cursed…"
He was a descendant of Avraham, to whom YHWH said the same thing—or did He? I think he may have really said the opposite: "Whoever curses you I will curse, and whoever blesses you I will bless." Avraham did bless at least one man, but we don’t read of him going around cursing people. Maybe King Balaq had the wrong idea.
Yes, there are blessings and curses; they show up in the Torah, but they come to us based on whether we obey YHWH’s commands or not. We could even argue that they are the direct result of doing the things YHWH said to do or not to do. If you eat unclean foods, you will get sick; if you ask other elohim for help, you won’t get any, and you won’t have any power over another army than what you can come up with on your own.
I think there’s more to it than that sometimes; YHWH gets personally involved, and that is exactly why Bilaam couldn’t curse the Israelites. YHWH didn’t want them cursed, even though He had gotten pretty mad at them not very long ago. He wouldn’t let anyone do witchcraft on Israel. (23:23) No one was going to change His mind by casting some kind of spell on them. (23:19)
So that didn’t work. Bilaam gave up on that idea, but since King Balaq didn’t want to give up, and he had offered him a lot of money, Bilaam did something which is just as bad as witchcraft: he gave King Balaq a suggestion about how to tempt the Israelites to do something wrong. He told him to have lots of pretty girls come invite the Israelite young men to dinner, and to dedicate their dinner to their pagan god, so they would be honoring and bowing down to something other than YHWH. And that did work.
It worked really well. It got YHWH angry at Israel, and He started doing what King Balaq had wanted Him to do all along—killing off lots of Israelites. It worked so well that they started deciding they wanted to bring Moav-style worship into YHWH’s own tabernacle.
And that’s where the real hero of our story comes in. Pin’has, that is--and he didn’t have any unusual “powers”. All he used was one tool with his normal strength.
But he had authority. He knew who he was—the next in line to be the high priest—and he knew what his job was: guarding the place where people came to worship YHWH. So he knew what he had to do to put a stop to this nonsense, and he knew he had the right to do it.
And, sure enough, this stopped the people from dying, just like something his grandfather Aharon had done. As we will see in next week’s portion, which has his name, YHWH got very excited about what Pin’has did for His sake. He rewarded not only him, but all of his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on.
You’re not a hero just because you have some unusual power. It’s all about what you do with the abilities you have, whether “super” or not. Will you use them for what’s right, or will you try to use them to sneak things past YHWH and other people?
Lots of prophets did miracles, but remember, some magicians could imitate some of the signs that YHWH gave Moshe to prove to Pharaoh that He had sent him. There really is witchcraft; it sometimes works, but you have to look at where people are getting their “super-powers”. They aren’t legal in YHWH’s book, unless He told you to do them. And remember that Moshe himself did a miracle and brought water to the people, but he got in trouble for not doing it the way YHWH said. It looked heroic, especially to the people who got water, but YHWH didn’t think so.
Not everything that is popular is good, and what Pin’has did might have looked unfair—especially to the Midyanites, who lost the daughter of one of their leaders. Know what YHWH wants, and do that, no matter what other people think, and you will be a hero to Him.
The Renewal of BALAQ
Israel had done nothing but move their camp. They rattled no swords. Yet “Moab was very afraid of the people, because they were many; and Moab was overcome with dread…” (22:2)
But his fears were unfounded; they never had any intention of harming Moav. King Balaq did not even tell Bilaam that the people he was asking them to curse were his own cousins—and Bilaam’s! He spun it as if they were foreigners: “There is a people come out from Egypt…” (22:5) Yet they are not Egyptians.
He assumed he would have to forcibly persuade them to leave: “Curse them…that I may drive them out of the land…” (22:6) But they had no plans to stay there. Again, his fear was without cause, and contrary to the facts. It was based on
misunderstandings and failure to look into the real truth. Do we act first and think later? Do we assume the worst-case scenario before we even ask YHWH what is really going on?
His error was grounded in the premise that Israel is just like everyone else. But Bilaam answered this for him: he prophesied that Israel “will not be counted among the nations.” (23:9)
YHWH had already set some things in stone: “You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” (22:12) “He has not beheld iniquity in Yaaqov, nor has He seen perverseness in Israel: YHWH his Elohim is with him.” (Num. 23:21) And “if Elohim is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) And we are plainly told, “YHWH has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7)
If you do have this “renewed mind” (Romans 12:2), if you have gotten on the right side of reality, “What is there to harm you…? Yet even if you do suffer on account of righteousness, you are blessed.” (You are part of Israel, which is blessed, as Bilaam said—especially if you are acting like true Israel.) “So don’t be afraid of [anyone’s] threats, nor should you be troubled, but in your hearts acknowledge YHWH as in a category of His own, and invariably [be] prepared to give a reasoned argument to everyone who asks… [for] an explanation of the hope that is within you.” (1 Kefa 3:13-15)
Put your energy into knowing the truth, and you will be ready to combat any falsehood, because ultimately, it’s only a bluff.
Bilaam recognized, “I cannot go beyond the word of YHWH my Elohim, to do anything, small or great.” (22:18) “How can I curse what El has not cursed?” (Num. 23:8) “A curse without a cause will not alight.” (Prov. 26:2) YHWH can aid no cause but His own. Anyone who tries to live in any other vein “should not expect to receive anything from YHWH, being double-minded, unstable in all his ways.” (Yaaqov 1:7,8) His perception is out of focus. He is expecting something that does not even exist, for what is not in YHWH’s mind cannot be real. “We can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.” (2 Cor. 13:8)
But Bilaam still seems to have harbored some resentment, or at least not seen the big picture: “YHWH refuses to give me leave to go with you!” (22:13) But he was making his own plans, which again were contrary to YHWH’s purpose, so they could go nowhere. Yaaqov says that is unrealistic presumption and boasting: “Come, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will [go here or there]’… Instead, you [should] say, ‘If the Master wishes, and we are [still alive], we may indeed do this or that’.” (Yaaqov 4:13-16)
But since Bilaam was still baiting YHWH because of his greed, YHWH gave him his desire (but sent leanness to his soul, as Psalm 106 puts it): “Go with the men; but you must only say only the word that I speak to you.” (22:35) He reluctantly complied, but Yeshua’s constant attiitude was, “The Son can do nothing of himself, but [only] what he sees the Father doing…” (Yochanan 5:19) “I can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge.” (5:30) Even when he faced the worst the world had to bring against him, he said, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) This does not come naturally to us, but with the “mind of Messiah” given to us (1 Corinthians 2:16), if Bilaam could be trained to do it, so can we.
Israel was not a threat to Moav, but Moav was a threat to Israel (because of Bilaam--Rev. 2:14), and Israel fell for its trick. The Renewed Covenant states it more overtly: “Be sensible, be [constantly] watchful, because your adversary the accuser, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour…” (1 Kefa 5:8) “…so that we may not be taken advantage of by haSatan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” (2 Cor. 2:11)
Just before he was attacked, Yeshua, too, recognized the threat, but also saw a higher reality: “The ruler of this world is coming, but he has nothing in me.” (Yochanan 14:30) HaSatan had no handle by which to hold onto Messiah, no place to hang his accusations—and we are in Messiah, so the same is now true of us. So use your full right! As part of redeemed Israel, in whom (as we saw above) He sees no iniquity (for justice has been served, so guilt no longer exists). YHWH has already accomplished this for us, and we only need to live it out: “Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.” (Gal. 5:16)
The higher law overrides the lesser. Where there is light, darkness cannot remain. It has no existence of its own, but only a borrowed existence—a mutation from the original, so to speak. Don’t focus on the unreal, but the real—or, if you must, the more real, for “the things that are visible are temporary, but those that we cannot see are permanent.” (2 Cor. 4:18)
Bilaam claimed that his eyes were beginning to open. (Num. 24:15-16) But that is also what was said of Adam and Hawwah when they ate of the wrong tree (Gen. 3:7)—and what they saw hasn’t been pretty. And Bilaam shut his eyes again later after getting a taste of the powers of the age to come. (Hebrews 6:5)
What we aim for instead—and what Paul prayed hard for--is to have “the eyes of your heart…enlightened, [so that] you may [fully] know what the hope of His calling is--what is the varied and abundant wealth of the value of the inheritance He [has apportioned] to the set-apart ones, and what is His far-more-than-vast ability to effect change, directed toward those of us who believe…” (Ephesians 1:18-19)
When we both know what YHWH is up to and willingly work along with it, we come to see “how goodly are the tents of Yaaqov” (Num. 24:5) because they surround YHWH’s tent. But unlike Balaq, we don’t try to stop them, and unlike Bilaam, we want to not just see but become part of Israel, like another Moabite, Ruth, did generations later. Then our eyes will have been opened in the right way, and will not only be able to be watchful, but may even glimpse some of those “things that we cannot see”. (Heb. 11:1)
On the Wrong Side
of Reality
“Moav was very afraid of the people, because they were many; and Moav was overcome with dread because of the sons of Israel.” (Numbers 22:4) It was the same story in Egypt (Ex. 1:9ff), and in post-World War I Germany—and Israel is also demonized as an apartheid country now that it is a political nation. But the people of YHWH in general—Jew and Gentile—are often treated the same way: feared in an irrational way.
We saw it in first-century Greece too: “’These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too!’ …And they struck dread in the people and the rulers of the city…” (Acts 17:6-8) And maybe they had something to fear, though we were not hostile or aggressive. Those who made their living selling idols (Acts 19:24ff) or exploiting mediums controlled by demons (Acts 16:16ff) certainly had a lot to lose when the truth was revealed.
But we are only a threat if you are on the wrong side of reality—living the un-truth, trying to force it to come true. Moav saw what was done to a nation that, for no reason, stood in the way of Israel getting to its new home, and (wrongly) assumed Israel had the same designs on them. So its king, Balaq, wanted power to combat the people on whose side was the Almighty, even though they had no plans at all to bother him. He resorted to the old method—casting a spell on them.
The book of Yashar (Jasher) suggests that this was nothing new for Bilaam; it says he was the one responsible for persuading Pharaoh to drown the Israelite babies. (67:44-52) If so, he was very old by now! That was an indirect curse—wicked advice that had deadly consequences. That time he apparently did not consult YHWH, for Whom he worked (reluctantly, it seems).
But this time he did, and he was told that Israel is not like other peoples (23:9) and it simply wasn’t possible to exercise divination against Yaaqov. (23:23; that word for divination is the same as for “serpent”.) He was immune to it, for he had within him something much stronger than the snake’s venom, with which he could combat it. It finds nothing in us with which to bind. “A curse without a cause will not alight.” (Proverbs 26:2; cf. Yochanan 14:30)
YHWH cannot take back His words (23:20) because He cannot act contrary to reality (23:19); we try to do so at our own peril. (23:7-8) To correct Bilaam, YHWH went so far as to “open the donkey’s mouth”. (Num. 22:28) That seems to imply loosening something He had previously locked, suggesting that at first all the animals were “Narnians”—they could talk. Chawwah didn’t seem surprised when the first serpent spoke. (So if you’re trying to be understood by an animal, try Hebrew; the only ones we ever have record of talking spoke that language!)
In the same way, YHWH opened Bilaam’s eyes (22:31; 24:3), revealing to him the realms and dimensions they were normally kept from seeing, though he was supposedly such an insider in spiritual matters. (22:6)
While Bilaam’s eyes were still shut, the messenger of YHWH literally said that the direction Bilaam was going was about to lead him off the edge of a cliff. (22:32) That is often how it is when YHWH lets us have our way (22:19-22), so be careful when you think you know better than He and are slow to obey, hoping He might change His mind! He had to send His messenger to obstruct or oppose him, acting as an “adversary”. That term is actually satan, without the definite article, showing what a range of meaning that word can have. (This helps us better understand what Muslims mean when they called America “the great satan”. They are not saying we are “the devil”, exactly, though that’s not too far from their minds either.) When we are thinking and acting contrary to reality (the truth), the tables turn and those with the noblest motives have to be satans to us!
Bilaam’s eyes only opened halfway. (24:15) He never fully got it, and ended up having to die in battle with Israel. (31:8)
Don’t put yourself in that position. Let the “eyes of your understanding be illuminated”, so you can “see” what awaits on the other side of the veil (Ephesians 1:18) and thus be equipped to keep living according to what you found there, after your eyes return to what, in this veiled era, is their usual state.
Let those glimpses keep you on the right side of reality even when all appearances lie to you: “Walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7)
The Bigger Picture
Why was YHWH angry at Bilaam for going ahead (22:22), when He had given him permission? (22:20) Probably because he knew what YHWH really wanted (22:12) and still thought He might change His mind. But YHWH considered this reckless of him. (22:32) He was being led by a kind of motive that disregarded integrity, and only considered the immediate reward he might gain, not what was in the best interest of the future of the whole world, for there was something much larger afoot with Israel.
Was the donkey’s speech just a return to the real normal—the way it was before mankind sinned and took the animals to a lower level with him? Hawwah did not seem surprised when the serpent (Heb., nakhash) spoke to her. (Gen. 3:1) Bilaam does seem too preoccupied to notice it too, and seems to take it in stride! But maybe the speech of this animal undid some of the damage of the previous talking animal, for a nakhash shows up again in this portion (23:23) as the very divination the donkey was trying to prevent Bilaam from exercising. Then YHWH hit the “reveal codes” button (as Chuck Missler put it) and let Bilaam see what was going on in the normally-invisible realm, which the donkey had been able to perceive, possibly because it was innocent of the sin that we humans, to our shame, know all too well.
Balaq kept trying to bribe YHWH to give a favorable message (23:1-2, 14) with His favorite number of sacrifices. But He will not change His mind, so His prophets cannot retract His words. (23:20) The only time He may seem to do so is when He relents from destruction He says He “should” bring on those who deserve it, but hopes His prophet loves His flock enough to argue in their favor.
Israel was not meant to be the threat that Balaq imagined, but when he pushed too hard, he got a message he did not want about one from Israel far down the line who would finally subjugate his people. (24:17) It was David who actually did so, but he also had a descendant who would carry these prophecies to their completion.
But the reason YHWH will not lie is that He “is neither a man nor a son of humanity” (23:19)—both terms used of Yeshua, that descendant of David, countless times, so though Bilaam does not have the best understanding, the things he says as a prophet are true; we must therefore not call Elohim a man or the son of man. Yeshua is someone unusual, but he is not the entity Who can neither be a man nor a son of humanity. What he is is different from the Gentile guess of what the kind of things he does must signify. (Compare Acts 14:11-15) Thus far (except before Adam fell) Yeshua is unique, but he does not intend to remain that way. (Heb.2:10) Like Adam (Luke 3:38), he is the progenitor of a race that is in YHWH’s image. The difference is that he succeeded where Adam failed. Adam introduced a factor that kept his descendants from bearing the full image of Elohim, but only Adam’s own image. (Gen. 5:3) But Yeshua is again that image (Col. 1:15), and when his “seed” is fully grown in us, we will again bear the image that Adam lost (2 Cor. 3:18), being “conformed to the image of [YHWH’s] son”. (Romans 8:29)
“None has beheld iniquity in Yaaqov, nor has anyone seen perverseness in Israel; YHWH… is with him.” (Num. 23:21) Though Israel would soon fall into sin, the prophet is looking at the final analysis. This, too, is the heritage of the “sons” of Israel’s king: “Those who are in the flesh cannot please Elohim, but you are not in the flesh… if the spirit of Elohim is indeed in you… Who can bring a charge against those YHWH has chosen?” (Romans 8:8-9, 33) This only holds true of those who allow YHWH to transfer us from the race of the one who lost His image to the race of the one who never did. (Ex. 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9)
These are the only two true races, and the closest Scripture comes to “racism” is “Let the dead bury their dead, but you go and proclaim Elohim’s kingdom” (Luke 9:60)—i.e., leave to Adam’s fallen race the kind of work they can still do, and let those who have been regenerated do the work that only they can do.
Israel has a unique calling. (23:9) No selfish motive--or busy work--has a right to stand in its way.
What YHWH Wants Most
This week’s haftarah tells us specifically to remember this Torah portion:
“My people, remember what Balaq, king of Moav, plotted and what Bilaam the son of Beor answered him…for the sake of knowing YHWH’s righteousness.” (Micah 6:5) Or we could translate that, “knowing why YHWH is right.”
So what about this story is Micah (Mikha) emphasizing? He tells us right after that: “With what should I prepare to meet YHWH? Should I meet Him with the ascending smoke of calves? Will YHWH be pleased with thousands of rams? With 10,000 rivers of oil? Should I give my firstborn in payment for my trespass?“ (6:6-7)
Remember? “Bilaam told Balaq, ‘Build me here 7 altars, and prepare me here 7 bulls and 7 rams…Maybe YHWH will come and meet me.’” (Num. 23:1-3) Then he did the same thing again. (23:14) And yet again. (23:29) 21 of each animal, on top of the ones he brought on his own (22:40)! Yet still he never got his wish, because YHWH did not change His mind about the people He chose to bless (23:19-20), despite all the “bribes” of this pagan king.
But the earlier part of the haftarah also seems to correlate with the things Bilaam told Balaq about Israel: if Balaq tried to fight us, Israel would come out on top. (24:17) In fact, no one would be able to call curses down on Israel, and she would devour any adversary that came against her. (24:8)
But when Israel rises to prominence by YHWH’s doing, we must be watchful lest we become proud as if we had accomplished it ourselves, or even deserved it, for he clearly tells us we did not. (Deut. 7:7-8; 9:4-5)
Immediately after this “promotion” (Mikha 5:6-8), we even see YHWH removing what seem to have been the very things that made us strong—the horses and chariots, our cities and fortifications! (Mikha 5:9-10) After that follow the things that He would obviously want removed—the various paraphernalia of idolatry. (5:11-13)
But why parallel them with what seem to be blessings to any nation—security, strength, preparedness for an enemy attack?
Because there is a hidden danger in having these things: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will bring to remembrance the Name of YHWH our Elohim.” (Psalm 20:7) It seems Yehudah must be feeling secure only because of these blessings rather than because of the One who provided them and gave us the victory. (Psalm 144:1) In fact, when Ephraim repents of its evil ways and returns to YHWH, one of his promises is that he will no longer ride a horse! (Hosea 14:3) This is again paralleled with calling things we have made with our own hands our “gods”. So I don’t think this is talking about riding for transportation or on a trail to enjoy His creation, but rather for military purposes, since it is all too easy to start to feel comfortable only when we appear to have enough of these to outmaneuver our attackers. In a way they become our idols.
As Bilaam well knew and as he seems to have told Balaq (Rev. 2:14), while no one can defeat Israel directly, Israel is the only one who can let herself be defeated, and we will be defeated if we stay on the course to which that kind of philosophy takes us.
Might those rare occasions when there seems to be enough money in our bank accounts be a modern parallel? Those might be the times we’d be tempted to forget that YHWH is the One who got us there (Deut. 8:11-14) and to become slack, less watchful for the enemy’s attacks. The times we seem to lack may be the biggest blessings, for they remind us to stay closely in touch with Him about our daily bread—and that is the very place He wants us!
That’s what He wanted all along—that we bring every decision to Him, so we can learn more of His righteous ways—and absorb some of His wisdom. He wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives, to the point that He “let you suffer hunger, then fed you with something with which you and your fathers were unfamiliar, so you would know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from Elohim’s mouth.” (Deut. 8:3)
But no, we wanted to have the knowledge of good and evil within ourselves so we could be independent and not have to come to Him about everything. (Gen. 3:5) We know how that turned out. So don’t we want to reverse it now?
He’s told us how. One of the few things He really craves (Mic. 6:6-8) is that we “walk humbly with your Elohim.” That means modestly, with no fanfare—just the quiet, solid, trusting friendship He once had with Adam. The offering of one Lamb is all it required for us to get back there—and knowing Him is eternal life. (Yoch. 17:3)
A Case Against Israel?
In this Torah portion, YHWH’s support for Israel is unqualified; in the haftarah, it is still there and strong, but it is more ambivalent. YHWH says Israel will come out the winner (Micah 5:6-8), but only at the expense of our cities and our every form of defense. (Micah 5:9-13)
Why the difference? Well, one answer could be the audience in each case. In the Torah, it was outsiders being addressed in regard to Israel, and YHWH’s simple message is, “You can’t beat them, so support them.” In the haftarah, Israel itself is being addressed, so YHWH says, “You have some major changes to make!” He even goes so far as to say He is bringing a court case against Israel!
Especially with so many ignorant mobs getting on bandwagons at Israel’s expense, we are inclined to side with the one YHWH said He will defend. But maybe this reprimand from YHWH suggests that we might want to listen to some of those who have a bone to pick with Israel. Not that we will find them right in most cases, but a few times we might, and we may be able to avoid some of the consequences of careening thoughtlessly ahead in full support of Israel, even where YHWH doesn’t give her His own full support.
I noted with a shudder that the promises He makes at the beginning of the haftarah are not to all Israel, but to “the remnant of Israel”. That means the ones who are left after some major catastrophe removes some of us. (That part is described in the passage just prior to the haftarah.)
What bone did He have to pick with Israel? He talks about our horses and chariots and cities in the same breath as our idols. Do you think this might not be a coincidence? Remember, to fit the category of city at that time meant the community was like a fortress. (The unwalled “suburbs” were called a city’s “daughters”, hence the term “metropolis”—mother town.) The walls were just another form of defense. (You can substitute tanks and fighter planes, or even, dare we say, an “iron dome”?)
But idols? None of us is obsessed by Asherah poles or graven images today, are we? Aren’t we, really? Images, certainly—manipulated if not engraved—are on our minds an awful lot. I’m not just talking about icons on the computer or telephone. What about our self-image? Or the image we want to project to others of how much more consistently righteous or strong we are than is actually the case?
And those defenses, if we think we could not get along without them, if we are setting our hopes on them as what will keep us safe—don’t they then constitute none other than idols as well?
Who is supposed to be our defense? Sure, He uses all kinds of tools and instruments to get His jobs done and to protect us. He generally works within the laws under which He has placed us. But not always in ways we can expect or understand, and rarely the same way twice—for a reason. The minute we start thinking this is the only way we will be safe is the moment He has to strip them away from us, to show, if I may paraphrase, that “man does not survive by weapons alone”. So the destruction of our natural defenses may actually be an unequivocally good thing, an integral part of our being “raised above our oppressors” and our “enemies being cut off”. Because only then can it be seen that we prevail not by the accident of possessing arms, but because YHWH is the salient factor. We live “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of Elohim”. (Deut. 8:3) He, not His method or tool, is the one we depend on.
So if someone is criticizing Israel, if it’s not an outright attack, we might want to listen and see if we are doing something that might make YHWH, too, have “a case against us” (6:2). If there’s any possibility He might, then pause and make sure we’re really doing things the way “He has told” us. (6:8)
