Meditations on Balaam No. 1
The intrusion of Balaam into the affairs of God's people Israel was a very solemn matter with God, and fraught with very serious consequences for the false prophet. Scriptures such as Romans 15:4, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning", and 1 Corinthians 10:11, "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come", encourage us to enquire what God has for us in this remarkable episode in Israel's history.
Nor is it only that we have the record of Balaam's actions in the Book of Numbers; there are also divine commentaries on it in both the Old and New Testaments. Moses, in Deuteronomy 23:4-5, recalls the incident, and gives further light on it where he says, "The Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam", showing very plainly that the desire of Balaam was to curse Israel. Joshua recalls the same thing: indeed, Jehovah Himself there says, "But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you" (Joshua 24:9-10). Late in Israel's history in the land, the prophet Micah speaks for Jehovah, "O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord" (Micah 6:5). Again, when the remnant returned to the land after the captivity, the exclusion of the Ammonite and the Moabite from the congregation of Israel is recalled, "Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them" (Nehemiah 13:1-2).
In each stage of Israel's history this incident has something to teach them; but it has also something to teach us, for it is recalled and commented upon in three different portions of the New Testament. The Apostle Peter writes of those "which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam (2 Peter 2:15); Jude writes of those that run "greedily after the error of Balaam for reward" (Jude 11); while the Lord Jesus, speaking to the church in Pergamos, says, "I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication" (Rev. 2:14).
From these Scriptures it is evident that there is much for the people of God to learn from Balaam's activities. There are not only the warnings against such as Balaam, but the assurance that God is intensely interested in the welfare of His people, and intervenes against those who would do them harm. God may have to chasten His people for their sins, and may even use their enemies as His rod against them; but He can prevent their enemies from doing them harm when it suits His purpose, and limit their actions when he uses them.
Shortly before Balak sent for Balaam to curse Israel, God had to discipline His people. God had delivered king Arad the Canaanite and his people into Israel's hand, "and they utterly destroyed them and their cities". But Edom had refused Israel to pass through their land, and this compelled the people to journey "from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom". Instead of taking it from Jehovah's hand, knowing how He had cared for them since they had left Egypt, "the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way" (Numbers 21:4).
It was certainly a long way round and doubtless involved much weariness; but they were being sustained of God from day to day, and ever getting nearer to the land of promise. Instead of taking all from God's hand with thankfulness, "the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the Wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread" (Num. 21:5).
What base ingratitude there was in this murmuring and speaking against God! They loathed the light bread, the bread that came from God day by day, the food of the mighty. And they were altogether unmindful of how God on other occasions had provided water for them when they were in need. Is it any wonder that God came in in judgment against His ungrateful, provoking people? Do we not see in this a picture of what the flesh in man is? The flesh in Israel was no better than the flesh in the Canaanites; and the flesh in God's saints today is no better than the flesh in Israel. It is incorrigibly wicked! When it had been fully exposed in the rejection of the Son of God, and in Israel's giving Him up to the death of the cross, God took the occasion of man's wickedness and in the death of Christ to condemn "sin in the flesh" (Rom. 8:3).
Is not this brought out in the brazen serpent? It was not a real serpent, but it was in the likeness of a serpent; and it was lifted on a pole that the eyes of those bitten might rest upon it; and "if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived" (Num. 21:9). The Son of God did not come in sinful flesh, but He came "in the likeness of sinful flesh", and by a sacrifice for sin, God condemned sin in the flesh. In John 3 we learn that, "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life".
Soon after this incident, "the Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water" (Num. 21:16). As at the Red Sea, Israel are again found a praising people, not now rejoicing at being delivered from the power of their enemies, but delighting in God's provision for them, singing, "Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it: The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves" (Num. 21:17-18). Is not this a type of the "well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14)?
Israel's offer to pass through the land of the Amorites on the king's highway, without drinking of the waters of the well, was refused by Sihon their king, who "gathered all his people together … and fought against Israel" (Num. 21:21-23). This was the undoing of Sihon and his people, for Israel utterly defeated them, taking possession of their land from "Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon" (Num. 21:24). Heshbon, the city of Sihon, once belonged to Moab, but Israel did not take it from Moab but from the Amorites. About three hundred years after this, Jephthah quoted this to the king of the children of Ammon, when he claimed, as belonging to Ammon, the land that Israel had taken from Sihon, king of the Amorites (Judges 11:12-27). Og, king of Bashan, like Sihon, king of the Amorites, was delivered into Israel's hand by Jehovah, and Israel took possession of his land.
When Balak, the king of Moab, saw "all that Israel had done to the Amorites … Moab was sore afraid of the people". There was really no need for Moab to fear Israel, for God was not giving the inheritance of the children of Esau or that of the children of Lot to Israel (Deut. 2:5, 9, 19). The enmity towards God's people was not on account of anything that Israel had done, or threatened to do, to Moab. Nor does it appear that Balak expected any attack from Israel, for he said to the elders of Midian, "Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field" (Num. 22:4). Moab did not relish the thought of having God's people as their neighbours, and they wanted to get rid of them.
Little did Balak and his people realise that their antipathy towards His people was enmity against their God. In sending for Balaam to curse God's people, Balak had issued a challenge to the mighty God of Jacob, which God was not slow to accept. There is no word in Balak's message to Balaam of any evil purpose against him, for his words are, "Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me". Balak did not, as Rahab did, connect Israel's coming out of Egypt with the Name of Jehovah. He only considered a "people come out of Egypt"; but the faith of Rahab said, "we have heard how Jehovah dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt" (Joshua 2:10). The forty years that had passed since that great event had not dimmed in Rahab's mind the mighty power of Israel's God.
Not realising that poor Israel could never have been delivered out of Egypt, or have come through their forty years in the wilderness, without their God, Balak fondly imagined that he could enlist the aid of Balaam, an agent of Satan, to overcome them. It is clear that Balak knew that he was sending his princes to one who was in touch with the forces of evil, for they had "the rewards of divination in their hand".
Balaam, however, claimed to be a servant of Jehovah, for he said to the messengers of Balak, "Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, according as Jehovah shall speak to me". This false claim made the position of Balaam the more serious, as it does with every false servant of the Lord. It is a most serious matter to pretend to be the servant of God while actually being an instrument of Satan.
From the first verse of Numbers 24 it is evident that the normal practice of Balaam was "to seek for enchantments", that is to get in touch with some familiar spirit, some demon, some inhabitant of the region of darkness through whom he carried out his evil work.
Instead of getting in touch with his familiar spirit, Balaam was confronted with the God of Israel, for "God came unto Balaam, and said, " 'What men are these with thee?' " Balaam knew perfectly the reason for Balak's princes being sent to him, and knowing that he was in the presence of God he made no attempt to conceal anything of what Balak communicated to him.
Had Balaam been a servant of Jehovah he would never have entertained for a moment the thought of cursing His people. His lodging of the emissaries of one with such evil designs against the people of God plainly manifested that his thoughts were not God's thoughts, and that he had no real contact with Jehovah whom he professed to serve.
It might well be wondered that he pretended to be the servant of Jehovah when he had no link with Him at all. Was it not because of the fame of Jehovah's Name in regard to all that He had done for Israel His people? No doubt he had heard, as Rahab and her people had heard, of all that Jehovah had done for His people, and he sought his own advancement by attaching to his evil work the Name of Israel's God.
Nor has Balaam been alone in this deceptive work. How many there have been, and still are, who profess to be the servants of God, but all the while they are servants of Satan. The Apostle Paul wrote to the saints at Corinth these words, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works" (2 Cor. 11:13-15).
Every professed servant of the Lord must be judged by his works, even as the Scripture says, "By their fruits shall ye know them". The Son of God perfectly expressed in His life the words that He spoke; and His servant could write, "We … have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God" (2 Cor. 4:2). How very different was Balaam: dishonesty, craftiness and lack of conscience marked all his steps.
Balaam, going to meet his familiar spirit and being met by God instead, reminds us of king Saul who, going to a woman with a familiar spirit, was confronted by Samuel whom he sought, instead of the demon who normally would impersonate the one desired. In Saul's case, the Lord allowed Samuel to meet Saul, but it brought no comfort to him, for he told him what would befall Israel, him and his sons on the morrow. Balaam, confronted by God, is directly commanded, "Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed" (Numbers 22:12).
There could be no dubiety in Balaam's mind regarding God's thoughts of His people, or of what God expected from him. Yet he does not communicate to the princes of Balak the import of the word that God had spoken to him. Besides, his words clearly imply that the only reason for his not going with them was, "Jehovah refuseth to give me leave to go with you". Gladly would he have gone and carried out the diabolical mission desired by Balak, but he realised, having just come from God's presence, that he could not, for the restraining power of God was greater than the power of the evil forces that normally directed him.
It might be asked, Why did Balaam not go immediately with the servants of Balak without going to meet his familiar spirit? Was it not that he was accustomed to act under the direction and with the power of the evil spirit with which he was so familiar? It was with the "wisdom (that) descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish" (James 3:15). Although the mission required of him was to his liking because of the great rewards offered, he was shrewd enough not to venture upon it without having some assurance as to its success. The intervention of God completely foiled him for the time being.
Had Balaam given to Balak's princes the word he received from God, it is not likely that he would have been tempted again. To have told Balak that the people he wished him to curse were the people of the living God, and that God had confronted him with the words, "Thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed", would have settled the matter so far as Balaam being involved was concerned.
Balaam truly said that Jehovah refused to give him leave to go with the princes, but the Name of Jehovah made no impression on them, for on returning to their master they simply said, "Balaam refuseth to come with us". There was no word of the command of God, no word that he was not to curse, and that the people were blessed.
Evidently thinking that larger rewards would bring Balaam, the king of Moab sent "more, and more honourable" princes with the message, "Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: for I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people".
Balak had one desire, the cursing of the people of God, and Balaam had already received the commandment from God, "Thou shalt not curse … for they are blessed". There was therefore no room for discussion or equivocation. Balaam ought to have given the princes who came the second time the answer he should have given to those who came the first time. A straightforward announcement of the full, divine communication he had received would have spared himself and Balak very much trouble and sorrow.
Instead of plainly refusing to go, and telling of the divine prohibition, Balaam says, "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Jehovah my God, to do less or more". Does not this betray what lay in the heart of Balaam, the desire for silver and gold in abundance? Yet, while desiring it, he knew that there was something preventing his obtaining it, and that was the word of Jehovah. His speaking of Jehovah as his God was mere pretension.
Why did he ask the princes to tarry for the night? Did he imagine that God would change His mind? Did he think that God's plans for the blessing of His people could be frustrated by the power of Satan? Whatever Balaam hoped for, God again intervened, and came to him "at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do".
The first time God had definitely forbidden Balaam to go with Balak's princes; but Balaam had said, "Jehovah refuseth to give me leave to go with you". This second time Jehovah did not refuse to give Balaam leave to go with Balak's princes, but He did not command him to go. There was an "if", which indicated that there was divine permission with a condition attached, but not a divine command.
So eager is Balaam to depart on this mission to secure "the reward of unrighteousness" that he does not for a moment consider that God had at the first definitely prohibited his going; nor does he pause to contemplate the reason for the permission after the prohibition. Was it not that God was proving Balaam to bring out the true desires of his evil heart?
The conditional permission to go with Balak's servants did not set aside the definite command to Balaam not to go to Balak, and this is shown in God's anger being kindled when Balaam went. The thoughts of the false prophet were completely at variance with the thoughts of God, and this he knew very well; but he was determined if it were possible to get the reward that Balak promised, even if it meant cursing those whom God had blessed. Such is man under the influence of Satan!
The love of money that brought Balaam to ruin is shortly afterwards evinced in Achan, who disobeyed the commandment of God because he coveted "a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels" (Joshua 7:21). And the same evil lust caused Judas Iscariot to speak against the noble, loving action of Mary of Bethany, and to betray the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver. Different kinds of evil are seen in these men, but the root of all was "the love of money", which the apostle Paul told Timothy was "the root of all kinds of evil".
So blinded was Balaam by the god of this world that he had not the perception of his ass, which "saw the angel of Jehovah standing in the way". Balaam's anger was kindled against the ass, and he smote her with his staff because she refused to carry him forward to destruction. His anger was unrighteous, but how it brought into relief the righteous anger of God Who sent His angel to be an adversary to him who would curse His people whom He had blessed, and who in self-will opposed His commandment and resolutely set his face on a course that would bring him to ruin.
What Balaam said to his ass, "Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee", justified God in sending His angel with a drawn sword in his hand to withstand him. And his words justified the angel when he said, "I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me … unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive".
Balaam evidently had a great name among men, for Balak had said, "for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed"; but before God he was perverse, self-willed, covetous, and an enemy of His people. There was great religious pretension, the claim to be a servant of the true God, but he was a wicked and foolish man, his foolishness being exposed and rebuked by "the dumb ass, speaking with man's voice". It is not difficult to distinguish the same features in some today who, though appearing great in the eyes of men, are nevertheless perverse, rebellious and foolish.
Realising that the powers of evil and his own guile were no match for God, the wilful Balaam offers to return, confessing that he has sinned. But it is evident that the desire of his heart is still the same, for he does not say he will go back because he has sinned, but "if it displease Thee, I will get me back again". Why does he say "if"? Was it not crystal clear that his going displeased God? Yet there was the lingering desire in his heart to go on in order to get the coveted reward.
Knowing what was in Balaam's heart, God allows him to go forward, to be thoroughly exposed, and to turn his evil desire against His people into blessing for them. Balaam shows no real desire to turn back; nor would it seem that God will allow him to go back, for He has His purpose in making Balaam the unwilling vessel for the pronouncement of His thoughts concerning His people.
On coming to Balak, in spite of the honour promised, Balaam is compelled to confess, "Lo I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak". Fain would he have accepted the rewards, but he is conscious that God has intervened against him on behalf of His people, and he seems to be quite uncertain of what lies ahead.
We can be certain that the oxen and sheep that were offered by Balak, and from which portions were sent to Balaam and the princes of Moab, were not offered to Jehovah, the God of Israel, but to the gods which the Moabites worshipped. Although professing to serve Jehovah, Balaam would not hesitate to have communion with the false gods of Moab, and to accept anything that the king of Moab chose to give him.
The apostle Peter, commenting on this Scripture, links with it those who belong to the same moral generation. He writes, "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you … which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet" (2 Peter 2:1, 15, 16). The false prophets of Israel, the false prophet Balaam and the false teachers of Christendom are all of the same evil generation, and shall all receive the just judgment of God.
These are solemn matters to consider, but how necessary it is that we should consider them, lest we should come under the influence of the false teachers of these last days. Nor is Peter alone in exposing the evil of the false teachers, for Jude, on a somewhat similar strain writes, "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ … Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core" (Jude 4, 11).
But God is able to preserve His saints from the false preachers of Christendom, even as He preserved His own in former days from the false prophets, and preserved Israel from the evil designs of Balak and Balaam. The unregenerate fall into the snares of the enemy, but Jude can add, "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen".
Balaam and His Parables
Numbers 23:1-10.
Balaam was in a wretched position before Balak through his greed and folly. He was compelled to confess that he had no power to speak anything but what Jehovah commanded him; he knew that Balak desired him to curse Israel, and Jehovah had forbidden him to do so. Only one blinded by Satan would have persevered on this course, for he must have known, in spite of all his pretension and persistence, that he was powerless to harm God's people. But he had embarked on a course from which he could not turn back; Satan was urging him on to assail Israel, and God's power was holding him in check.
It might be difficult to discover why Balaam instructed Balak to build his seven altars and prepare his seven oxen and seven rams. There is the possibility of his desiring to appease God by sacrifice, in an endeavour to turn Him from His purpose to bless Israel; but the sacrifices were more likely to have been to the demons that are behind all idolatrous worship, even as Paul writes, "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God" (1 Cor. 10:20).
Balaam pretended that the sacrifices were to Jehovah, for he said to Balak, "Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the Lord will come to meet me". We learn in the first verse of the next chapter what Balaam really sought: "When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments". This is the key that discovers to us the enigma. It was not Jehovah's presence he sought, but enchantments; that is, he sought the spirit or spirits with which he was familiar, and his sacrifices were for them. This is not surprising, for Satan desires the worship that is due to God alone.
Probably he was uncertain as to what would take place when he went to seek enchantments. When the princes of Moab had come to him in Syria, he had gone to seek enchantments, but each time God met him, and he probably feared the same thing would happen again. When he said, "Peradventure the Lord will come to meet me", his words might have had a double meaning. They might have indicated his profession to be Jehovah's servant, or that he feared Jehovah would intervene as He had in Syria. He probably desired to give Balak the impression that he was Jehovah's servant, and indeed it seems that he was successful in this deception, for Balak said to him later, "Jehovah hath kept thee back from honour" (Num. 24:11).
When Balaam went to the hill, God met him, and Balaam spoke to God as if the offerings had been for Him; but if he was able to deceive Balak, he could not deceive God. God takes no notice of his sacrifices, but puts a word in his mouth and commands him to "return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak" (Num. 23:5). If Satan had enticed his willing dupe by the alluring silver and gold, God was determined that he would be the unwilling instrument to declare His thoughts of His people.
Returning to Balak, Balaam is compelled to speak the word that God had put in his mouth. God will not allow him this time to keep anything back. He had only told part of the truth to the princes of Moab when God commanded him not to go with them, and not to curse His people; now he must speak all that God has given to him. His utterance takes the form of a parable or proverb; it is a divine revelation with prophetic bearing.
First of all there is the clear exposure of the circumstances: "Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel". God announces to the king of Moab that He has taken account of his action in sending for Balaam, and of his antipathy to His people. Moreover, He declares that He is well aware of all that might be said of Jacob, of all that they were naturally; but they were also Israel to Him, "a prince with God".
What a remarkable scene is this! And Israel is altogether unaware of how they were being presented to Balak, their enemy, by the word of God. Balaam is compelled to exclaim, "How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?". There was nothing of Israel's weaknesses or sins unknown to God, but He had not cursed them; they were beloved as the chosen people of God, not because of what they were in themselves, but because of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and because of God's sovereign choice and sovereign love.
While Israel were still in Egypt, God had said to Moses concerning them, "All the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, but against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue" (Ex. 11:5-7). If Pharaoh was unable to harm the people of God when he had them as slaves in his own land, how did Balak or Balaam expect to touch them when they were free and under the care and protection of God? Balak and Balaam, like Pharaoh, had to learn what Israel were to Jehovah their God. None were able to curse or defy those whom God had not cursed or denounced.
Balaam's view of Israel "from the top of the rocks" and "from the hills" was not the view of the people as they were naturally, but as they were viewed by God, according to His purpose. Whatever they might be in their weaknesses and failure, God could take account of them as redeemed and brought to Himself, and marked out for His blessing in the land of promise. If this is Israel's part, how much more blessed is that of the saints of this, the day of God's grace, who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and stand before Him accepted in the Beloved? How wondrous is the view that we have of God's people when seen from the heights, from the viewpoint of God's purpose, an eternal purpose, through which they are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
In Egypt Israel had remained a separate people, and it was God's intention that they should not mingle with the nations, so that Balaam says, "Lo, the people shall dwell alone" (Num. 23:9). All the efforts of the enemy to keep the people from increasing had failed, and God had maintained them in separation for Himself during their wilderness sojourn. Under the compelling power of God, this evil man speaks of the people dwelling alone, but when he had the opportunity he counselled Israel's foes to mingle with them (Num. 31:16). Full well he knew that if Israel could be seduced into unholy alliances with the nations around, it would weaken their testimony to their God.
Is it not the same today? The path of power and blessing for God's people is the path of separation. When on earth, the Lord Jesus said to His Father in regard to His own, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (John 17:14, 16). Again, the Spirit of God, through Paul, wrote, "Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father" (Gal. 1:3-4). Poor Israel, not heeding what God had commanded them, fell into the snare that Balaam had counselled for them, and they came under the judgment of a holy God (Num. 25).
God's ancient people, in dwelling alone, were not to "be reckoned among the nations". The purpose of God had a special place for Israel, even as Moses said, "When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For Jehovah's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance" (Deut. 32:8-9).
The church is yet more separate, being a heavenly people, and having been taken out of the nations as a people for His Name (Acts 15:14). God's call had separated Abram from his people, and Israel, descended from Abraham, were separated to God by the right of circumcision, and were redeemed out of Egypt and brought to God in the wilderness. God's purpose, God's call and redemption separated Israel from the nations. The church too is a separate people by God's eternal purpose, His heavenly call, and by the redemption of the precious blood of Jesus, "the blood of His own" (Acts 20:28).
Alas! in the great systems of Christendom we see the people that God has purchased at infinite cost to Himself mixed up with those who have not the knowledge of God, and who have no knowledge of the heavenly calling. The professing church is in the world, and the world in the church, and so many of God's beloved saints have been ensnared in this that is so evidently "the counsel of Balaam". What God made Balaam say that day concerning Israel is true for His heavenly saints today, "Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations".
As dwelling alone, Israel prospered, the hand of God being with them, so that Balaam can say, "Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel?" (Num. 23:10). God had said to Abram, "I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth" (Gen. 13:16), and the promise had been renewed to Jacob (Gen. 28:14); and Balaam saw before his eyes the fulfilment of the promise of God. True spiritual prosperity comes to the people of God in the path of separation into which He has called them in His wisdom and grace. Worldly associations rob them of spiritual power.
Balaam's last words in this parable are very remarkable: "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his". So many are like Balaam; they live unrighteous lives, yet would fain die the death of the righteous. Where there is ignorance, God may intervene and save unrighteous men at the close of their lives, as in the case of the thief on the cross; but there is little hope for such as wilfully live unrighteously, and desire to escape from the judgment their evil lives have merited.
This false prophet died as he lived, perishing among the enemies of the people of God (Num. 31:8).
The last end of the nation of Israel will be blessing on the renewed earth, on the ground of the new covenant, during the millennial reign of Christ. The last end of Israel, the prince with God, is recorded in the memorable words of Hebrews 11: "By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff."
Jacob had had a life of trouble, much of it brought about by his own failures, but he was a man who valued the blessing of God, and there is much for us to learn from his eventful life. How very bright were the closing scenes of Israel's pilgrimage: he blesses the sons of Joseph in the light of the purpose of God; he worships, occupied with the blessed God Who had sustained him throughout his life of testing, and Who had revealed to him His counsels for the blessing of the nation. Leaning on the top of his staff, Israel shows that he is dependent until the end, supported, not by his own strength, but by the staff of God.
Since that day there has been much light from God as to the last end of His people, the last end of those who are accounted righteous by God. If the Lord takes them away from this world, it is to be with Himself in the heavenly paradise, to wait with Him for the time of His coming to rapture the church to be with Him for ever, to share with Him the glory of His coming kingdom, then to dwell with Him for ever in the Rest of God.
Numbers 23:11-24
On hearing the words uttered by Balaam that proclaimed the separate character of Israel, and spoke of the numbers of the people blessed of God, Balak was confounded and exclaimed, "What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether." God was teaching the king of Moab that in interfering with Israel he was intermeddling with His affairs. This was contained in the reply of Balaam, when he said, "Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?" It was not by the will of the false prophet that he had blessed Israel, and this his answer implied.
But Balak had not perceived that it was God that he was dealing with, for he vainly imagined that it was still within the power of Balaam to curse the chosen people of God, for he said, "Come, I pray thee … thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence." Balak seems to have imagined that the vast numbers of Israel had been the cause of Balaam's fear to curse them. Should not Balaam have said plainly to him, I cannot proceed with this venture, for the Lord has very plainly told me, both in Syria and here, that the people cannot be cursed, for He has blessed them? That Balaam continued with Balak and went with him, as he desired, show very plainly that he would fain have cursed God's people if it had been within his power.
Coming to the top of Pisgah, Balak again built his altars and sacrificed his burnt offerings; and Balaam said to him, "Stand here by thy burnt-offering, and I will go to meet yonder" (Num. 23:15, N.Tn.). There is no pretension of going to meet Jehovah; he merely says, "I will go to meet yonder." The prophet would gladly have met his familiar spirits at the meeting place, but instead, "The LORD met Balaam." Balaam, having chosen to disregard the plain commandment of Jehovah concerning His people, must now be the unwilling instrument of pronouncing His thoughts of them.
There, at the "Watchman's field", where Jehovah was indeed watching over His beloved people, He put a word into the mouth of Balaam which he was compelled to speak to the one who desired him to curse God's people. Balak was not alone; his princes were with him as witnesses to what the God of Israel thought of His people. Balaam professed to be the Lord's servant, and Balak asked him what the Lord had spoken. This now left him without excuse, for he acknowledged that the message through Balaam was from Jehovah, the God of Israel.
How clear and distinct was the message, addressed personally to the king, "Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?" Men lie one to another, but God is altogether different; men, who know not the consequences of that to which they have committed themselves, may repent, but God Who knows the end from the beginning has not need to repent. What He had said to and through Balaam He would carry out; His every word would be accomplished.
God had committed Himself to bless Israel, and therefore Balaam said, "Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and He hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it." Israel's blessing was from God, and Balaam must announce it. Had it been in Balaam's power to reverse God's blessing, he gladly would have done it, for Balak's silver and gold were of greater worth in his eyes than the people God had blessed.
Whether they were viewed as few or many, and though so full of failure in themselves, God was able to say of the people He had chosen and blessed, "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel." Was there no iniquity in Jacob? Was there no perverseness in Israel? These things were not hard to find; but God was able to view His people in the light of His purpose and grace, and as having been redeemed from all iniquity through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
In the language of the New Testament we learn the great secret of how God can view His people as justified, cleared from all the guilt of their sins. In Romans 8 the question is asked, "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us" (Rom. 8:33-34). The Christian has been cleared of all charge of guilt by God Himself, and through the death of Christ, Who is now risen, free from all the judgment that He bore for us; now He is in heaven, not condemning, but interceding for us.
Not only had God blessed Israel, He had a dwelling place in their midst. Balaam could say, "The LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them." What evil could befall Israel from their enemies when the mighty God was in their midst, the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night assuring His own that He was their protection from every foe?
There had been many sounds of murmurings in the midst of Israel, and God had to chasten His people for their sins; but when the foe would seek to curse His people, these sounds were set aside, and all that God would hear, and have others hear, was the majestic sound of the king, the clarion call of the silver trumpets that brought the people to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation to meet their God.
Israel were not a mighty people in themselves; it was God Who had brought them out of Egypt. The mighty strength of the unicorn was not their own, but that which was given to them of their God. The power of the unicorn, or buffalo, represents what is most powerful. In Psalm 22:21, the Lord Jesus, Who met the full force of the power of death, was answered from the horns of the unicorns, from the place where death, in the fulness of its power, had expended all its energy against Him. Here, Israel had strength, imparted of God Who dwelt among them, that no nation could overcome.
Balaam, who used enchantments, had to confess, "Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel." When the elders of Moab and Midian came from Balak, they were sent "with the rewards of divination in their hand" (Num. 22:7); and when Balaam professed to go to meet Jehovah, he went "to seek for enchantments" (Num. 24:1). If there was no natural power to overcome the people of God, neither was there any diabolical power that could prevail against them.
This message from God should have convinced both Balak, to whom the message was sent, and Balaam, who brought the message from God, that in continuing to seek the downfall of God's people they were fighting against God, the mighty God Who had overthrown Pharaoh and destroyed the land of Egypt.
God was for His people, and their enemies were left in no uncertainty regarding this, even as Balaam said, "According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!" God delights to speak of Jacob and of Israel. If Jacob is seen in all his weaknesses and failures, the mercy and grace of God are magnified in His dealings with him; if Israel, the prince with God, is seen, it is the one whom God has enabled to be an overcomer. Whether in Jacob or Israel, the greatness of God is magnified, for in all His ways with His servant and His people we may well exclaim, "What hath God wrought!" As we look back over Israel's chequered history, and look forward to the time when they shall be blessed in their land on the ground of the new covenant, it is to praise the wondrous grace, mercy, love, and kindness of God. And what shall we say regarding God's ways with His poor people now? In long-suffering God bears with them, and soon He shall bring them to glory, every one in the likeness of His own Son. Then, as now, it will be to praise the riches and the glory of the grace of God.
God not only acts for His people, He also uses them to defeat those who rise up against them, even as it is written here, "Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain."
This was a solemn warning for the king of Moab. The Lord was foretelling what was about to take place. Israel had been promised the land of Canaan, and God had brought them out of Egypt to the precincts of the land which He was about to deliver into their hand. All the mighty strength of the great lion, and the irresistible energy of the young lion, would be seen in God's people in their conflicts with the inhabitants of Canaan. Victory for them was not in question; it was already assured by their God. The time for them to lie down in peace would come, but not before their foes had been overcome and devoured.
This was prophetic when pronounced by Balaam, but it is now history. But there has not yet been the complete fulfilment of the prophecy. Because of their failure, Israel forfeited the land that God gave them and became a prey to their foes who led them captive. Yet the day is coming when this prophetic word will have its final fulfilment, Moab being among the foes subdued, even as is written in Isaiah 11:14, "They shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them."
Both Balak and Balaam ought to have been brought down in repentance before God by such revelations, and have sought His mercy, for both were fully conscious that they were dealing with the God of Israel. In confusion of face Balak said, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all," only to be informed by Balaam, "Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?" The blessing was not from the heart of Balaam, but from the heart of God; and neither Balak nor Balaam could hinder Israel being blessed.
In Balak we see what man is without the knowledge of God, caring only for his own advancement and prosperity in this world, and not caring to know the God with Whom he has to do, even though God enters into his life when he is found in hostility against His people. Under the influence of the god of this world whom he served, for he doubtless worshipped "Chemosh, the abomination of Moab" (1 Kings 11:7), he sought the aid of an agent of Satan to carry out his evil designs against God's people.
Balaam shows what man can be when his heart is covetous. He sold himself to Satan for temporal rewards, disregarding every divine warning that restrained him on a path leading to destruction. Professing to be the servant of God, and in reality the servant of Satan in order to obtain the rewards upon which his heart was set, he was willing to curse the people that God had blessed, and give counsel that would bring upon them the judgment of God.
Balaam and His Parables, No. 3.
(Num. 23:27 – 24:13)
It is amazing to see Balak persisting in his attempt to curse God’s people after all that God had said to him through the lips of Balaam. God had just said, “God is not a man…that He should repent,” yet Balak said to Balaam, “Come, I pray thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.” Such is man in his self-will and ignorance of God, inviting upon himself the just judgment of God in opposing His will. To accomplish his purpose, Balak takes Balaam to the top of Peor, named after his god, Baal-Peor.
Balaam knew better than Balak what God’s will was, yet he is so blinded by his covetousness that he too persists in a course of self-will, evidently imagining that there was still the possibility of achieving Balak’s purpose. Knowing that God was determined to bless Israel, he did not go “as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.” Here is the plainest statement of the evil intention of Balaam: he sought to avoid getting into the presence of God, for he knew that God would not allow him to curse His people. With his face to the wilderness, he thought he could avoid having anything to do with God.
Looking toward the wilderness, Balaam saw Israel “abiding in his tents according to their tribes.” They were resting before His glory and the blessing of His people. From this elevation God would make Balaam speak out His thoughts of His people, and to this end “the Spirit of God came upon him” Balaam would fain have spoken under the influence of his familiar spirit, or from the depths of his own wicked heart, to curse Israel, but under the compelling power of God’s Spirit, he must only speak what God determines.
In the opening words of this parable, Balaam tells us that his eyes were open. He was not in ignorance of the evil of his way: he knew perfectly that he was in deadly opposition to the will of God in seeking to curse His people, and he is compelled to proclaim his guilt. He had “heard the words of God,” and he had seen “the vision of the Almighty.” In other words, God had made known His mind and will to him concerning His people, and he had even been permitted to view the people as God saw them. Because of his evil course, he was “falling, but having his eyes open.”
The false prophet was falling, going down, down, down, into divine judgment, and with his eyes open. He pronounces the solemn sentence upon himself which was the result of persistent evil, in spite of all the solemn warning of Jehovah the God of Israel. If he vainly imagines he can contend against the Almighty, and continues in his course of self-will in spite of so many divine warnings, he is in danger of sharing the fate of the false prophet who was falling down to eternal judgment with his eyes open.
Having pronounced his own doom, Balaam is made to speak of God’s people, saying, “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel.” God had deep pleasure in viewing His people gathered around Himself, who dwelt in their midst. It is the same today, God dwells among His people; they are a “habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22); and it is with deep delight that He views His own as gathered round the Lord in the assembly.
The fairest scenes of earth are used to depict the pleasure of God in His own. They are “as the valleys…spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord has planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.” God saw His people as fertile valleys, as beautiful gardens, as fragrant aloe trees, and as the upright, majestic cedars. Everything spoke of what was of great delight to the eye and heart of God; and this is just what His people are to Him now as seen in Christ. All the lovely traits of Christ belong to His people as having His life, and these are the features that are pleasurable to our God and Father.
Divine prosperity had come to Israel in God’s purpose, and would soon be enjoyed in the land of promise, even as Balaam said, “He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters.” The wilderness, where God tested His people, may have been a dry and thirsty land, but in the land into which He would soon bring them there would be abundance of water for the land, and the people of God would be found wherever the blessing of God was to be found, even as David could afterwards predict, “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.”
Although Israel had no king, and would not have for many years to come, it could be foretold that “his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.” The Spirit of God that had come upon Balaam was looking forward to the coming of Messiah, who would not only be higher than Agag, the king of Amalek, “the first of the nations,” but who would be King of kings, and Lord of lords. There was the partial fulfilment of this prophecy in David and Solomon, but the Lord Jesus is the One before the Spirit of God.
The kingdom of Israel’s King would be exalted, even as seen by Daniel and other prophets, “There was given Him (the Son of Man) dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Dan. 7:14).
Neither Balak, nor Balaam could understand as saints can today what was implied in the wonderful words spoken by the Spirit of God who spoke through the unwilling lips of the prophet. Israel’s king is none other than the Son of God, presented to the saints in many rays of His glory in the Scriptures of the New Testament. And, as having been brought into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, we have learned something of the exalted character of His kingdom, who sits at the right hand of God, while waiting for the display of His glory in the coming day.
Again there are the words, “God brought him forth out of Egypt; he has as it were the strength of an unicorn.” The repetition of these words is surely to emphasise that Israel were under the care and protection of God; it was not by their own strength that they had come forth from the bondage of Pharaoh. Balak, at the time of sending for Balaam, had said to him, “Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt” (22:11). God would have Balak to understand that it was by His all-powerful arm they had come from Egypt: He had delivered them from the bondage of Pharaoh, and had cared for them all through their wilderness journey.
It was hopeless for Balak to oppose Israel, for he had, as it were, the supreme power and strength of the buffalo, strength, like that of this very powerful animal, was given of God. In repeating this, God was leaving Balak in no doubt that he could no more hope to defeat the people of God than he could personally meet single handed the charge of the buffalo.
Moreover, “he shall eat up the nations, his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.” God had already decided Israel’s future; they were to inhabit the land of Canaan, and the nations there, and whoever opposed them, would be swallowed up, and completely defeated. The nations of the land would be broken as completely as had been Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and their land occupied by victorious Israel. The nations, such as Moab and Midian, whose land had not been given to Israel by God, but who had become the enemies of God’s people, would be pierced by the arrows of God’s warriors.
Israel is again viewed as a lion, but not now, as in the previous chapter (verse 24), rising up, but as lying down, “He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up?” After defeating all his foes, Israel would be able to rest in the land God had marked out for them, none daring to interfere with a nation so majestic and strong. This was God’s purpose concerning His beloved people Israel.
Alas! when Israel reach the promised land, they do not answer to God’s purpose concerning them. They overcame their enemies, but there were many failures, as recorded faithfully by God in His word. There was the covenant with the Gibeonites, the unjudged sin of Achan, with the consequent defeat at Ai; and there was all the failure given to us in the Book of Judges. Finally, there were all the failures that brought about the captivity of Israel and Judah.
But in spite of all the failure, God’s purpose will surely be accomplished. Under Messiah, what is predicted here will come to pass, even as written in the prophecy of Micah, “They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid” (Micah 4:4). Those who attempt to disturb the rest of God’s people will do so for their own destruction (Eze. 38-39; Rev. 20:7–9).
Balaam’s third parable finishes with the words, “Blessed is he that blesses thee, and cursed is he that curses thee.” What a word was this for Balak, and for Balaam! In attempting to curse the people of God, both were judged of God. It has been the same down Israel’s chequered history. Nations that have interfered with God’s people have not done it with impunity. God may have used nations, like Assyria, as the rod of His anger to chasten His people, but in imagining they could act for their own pleasure in this they brought upon themselves divine retribution. Even in modern times, nations that have persecuted poor Israel, have invited the judgment of God.
Balak was now very angry, for his designs against Israel had been frustrated, and instead of hearing them cursed, he had to listen to their being blessed. Balaam, who would willingly have carried out the designs of Balak, because of his disobedience to the word of God, finds himself the object of Balak’s anger. This is what he received from Balak instead of the hoped for silver and gold.
The Lord had indeed kept back Balaam from Balak’s honour, teaching him that His power is greater than the power of Satan whom he served, and that He will not allow anyone to interfere with the people He has chosen for Himself.
The king of Moab is reminded by the false prophet that he had warned his messengers that not all the wealth of Balak could make him say anything beyond God’s commandment. It was true that he had said this; indeed, he had spoken of “the word of the Lord my God.” Now the evil man was thoroughly exposed, and rebuked both by God and by the king of Moab; and he no longer speaks of the Lord being his God.
Balaam’s reputation was gone. Balak had sent to him saying, “I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed” (22:6). Having come with the intention of carrying out the desire of Balak to curse Israel, it had been displayed that he was powerless to do this. Balak knew quite well that Balaam was after his silver and gold, and he would have been willing to give it to him had he cursed Israel. Now it was clear that the Lord had hindered Balaam in his intention, and through him thwarted the designs of Balak.
R. 18.10.66
Balaam and His Parables, No. 4.
(Num. 24:14–25)
Having been used of God to bless His people Israel, Balaam is now used of God to tell Balak “what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.” In this prophetic survey, the Spirit of God foretells not only of God’s ways with Moab, but also of His dealings with some of the earlier nations, with Edom, Amalek, the Kenites, the Assyrians and Eber. The seven nations of Canaan, spoken of in Deuteronomy 7:1, are not mentioned, nor yet the great powers that are taken up by the Spirit in the Book of Daniel.
Before speaking of the nations, Balaam must first expose himself, and declare God’s judgment upon him. He was not acting in ignorance, he was a man with “his eyes open,” who had “heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the Most High,” and he had seen “the vision of the Almighty,” In spite of the divine knowledge he had acquired, and the things he had seen and heard from God, this wicked man pursued a course of self-will in defiance of the expressed will of God.
Many have followed in the steps of Balaam. The leaders of Israel, with the Scriptures in their hands, and with the words and works of the Lord Jesus before them, condemned the holy Son of God as He bore witness in their presence to who He was. Many of the leaders of Christendom are taking the same course. With the full revelation of God in the scriptures, and having subscribed to the fundamentals of the faith of Christianity, they are denying the plain truths regarding the Person and work of the Son of God, as also the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures. It is not the ignorance that Saul of Tarsus pleaded (1 Tim. 1:13), but self-will and opposition to the will of God.
Balaam declares that he is falling – falling down to perdition, “but having his eyes open.” He was like the Pharisees of John 9, who said to the Lord, “Are we blind also?” and who were answered by the Lord with these solemn words, “If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remains (John 9:41). This is the state of religious men, who profess to be enlightened with the knowledge of God, but in reality are “blind leaders of the blind.”
The fate of such is given by Balaam in these words, “I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh.” Every false prophet, like every other sinner, will yet see the Lord, when they shall give account to Him at the great white throne, being judged “out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Rev. 20:11-12). Nearness to the Lord they shall never know, neither in this life, nor in the coming day. For eternity they shall be banished from the presence of God. Seeing the Lord now is the portion of His own (2 Cor. 3:18; Heb. 2:9); and for eternity they “shall serve Him: and they shall see His face” (Rev. 22:3-4).
Messiah, and His kingdom, are then foretold in the “Star out of Jacob,” and the “Sceptre…out of Israel.” It may be that the words of Balaam, under divine guidance, were recalled by the Magi, when they said, “We have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him” (Matt. 2:2). Whether this is so or not, the Lord Himself has said, “I am…the bright and Morning Star” (Rev. 22:16); and He is also presented to us in this way in 2 Peter 1:19, and Revelation 2:28. As the harbinger of the day of Christ, Jesus is the bright hope of His own, the One who will come for them to take them to be with Him before He comes to rule in His kingdom as the Sceptre.
With the thought of Christ’s kingdom there is introduced the ways of God with the nations, His government and consuming judgments. Some of these nations will be found on earth at Christ’s appearing, others have already passed from the world’s stage, never again to reappear.
Moab
Balaam had said, “I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days” (verse 14), and immediately the prophet speaks of Messiah’s sceptre he says, He “shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of tumult.” What is expressly referred to is God’s dealings with Moab in the “latter days,” at the time of the introduction of the millennium. Israel are to deal with Moab, according to verse 14, but it is also Messiah, according to verse 17. From Isaiah 11 we see how this is to be done. The Lord recovers the remnant of Israel (verse 11), and “they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab” (verse 14).
Moab, though coming under divine judgment, is not utterly destroyed; only “the corners of Moab” are smitten; and after detailing His judgments on this haughty people, the Lord says, “Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days” (Jer. 48:47). It is discriminating judgment, which punishes Moab for its sins, but which preserves a remnant for the millennial day.
Edom
God’s judgment on Edom is much more severe than that on Moab. Edom “pursued his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever” (Amos 1:11). We are told in Numbers 24 that “Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession.” The Lord, personally, will carry out the judgment of Edom, as foretold in Isaiah 63:1-6. Details of the divine judgment on Edom are found in Jeremiah 49; “Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes…Edom shall be a desolation…as in the overthrow of Sodom…no man shall abide there.” Edom’s judgment is a consuming judgment, and it would seem that as a nation it is destroyed when the Lord comes.
Amalek
Here, the divine sentence on Amalek is, “Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.” The reason for this severe judgment is found in Exodus 17, where Jehovah says, “I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven,” and in Deuteronomy 25, where Moses says, “Remember what Amalek did unto thee…how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.” Exalted as the first among the nations, Amalek is sentenced to utter destruction, and it seems as if the divine sentence has already been executed.
Moses charged Israel, “When the Lord thy God has given thee rest…thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it” (verse 19). Samuel recalled the word of God and the charge of Moses, and sent Saul to destroy Amalek (1 Sam. 15:1-5). For failing in his mission, through disobedience, Saul lost his kingdom. David, in recovering his wives, whom the Amalekites had taken captive at Ziklag, helped on the destruction of Amalek. This destruction, it would seem, was almost complete when, in the days of Hezekiah, some of the sons of Simeon “smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped” (1 Chr. 4:41–43). It may be that Haman and his sons were the last of Amalek. If this is so, Haman’s attempt to destroy the nation of Israel resulted in the destruction of the remnant of Amalek, and fulfilled the prophecy of Balaam.
The Kenites
The only previous mention of this nation is in Genesis 15:19. It was one of the ten nations whose land Israel was to possess, the first to be mentioned in Genesis 15, but not among the seven to be cast out, mentioned by Moses in Deuteronomy 7:1. Moses’ father-in-law was a Kenite, and the children of the Kenite “dwelt among the people” of Judah (Judges 1:16). When Sisera, the captain of the host of the king of Canaan, was defeated by Israel under Barak, it was Jael, the wife of Heber, the Kenite, who was the instrument used of God for his death. When Saul was sent to destroy Amalek, he “said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt” (1 Sam. 15:6).
Although the dwelling place of the Kenites was strong, and they could rest in comfort and security in their rock fortress, without the help and blessing of the God of Israel they could not continue as a nation. Even leaving their natural security, and being associated with God’s people would not save them, for the time would come when they would go into captivity, and till then their numbers would diminish. They were not like Amalek, though dwelling among them, and there was nothing of enmity against Israel to be rebuked, as in Moab; but they were not the chosen of God, and were not preserved by Him from all the varied forces that consume nations.
Well might Balaam exclaim, “Alas, who shall live when God does this!” For Moab, there was the smiting of its corners; for Edom the consuming judgment of God; for Amalek, utter destruction; and for the Kenites, the wasting away and captivity, with no hope of restoration. Only those whom God, in His sovereign mercy, spares can live. There are the “nations of them that are saved” (Rev. 21:24. KJV), and the sheep of Matthew 25, who shall enter the millennium, when Christ shall reign as King of kings, and Lord of lords. Numbered among the nations of that day will probably be Moab, and certainly Assyria, the instrument used by God for the captivity of the Kenites and other nations.
Asshur
Assyria was used of God as the rod of His anger for the chastisement of Israel (Isa. 10:5-6) and other nations; but he was only the instrument in God’s hand for the execution of His judgments; and not understanding this, he boasted as if it was by his own power he was so successful in his military campaigns (verses 7–14). Therefore the Lord said, “Shall the axe boast itself against him that hews therewith?…as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up” (verse 15); and, “When the Lord has performed His whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks” (verse 12).
No doubt this word of the Lord was partially fulfilled when He smote the host of Assyria in the days of Hezekiah, as recorded in Isaiah 37; but the full fulfilment awaits the coming day, when “ships shall come from the coast of Chittim,” as they did earlier (Dan. 11:30) to afflict the Assyrian, or king of the North. The divine judgment on Assyria was severe, as recorded in Isaiah 37; but the day is coming when the instruments of God’s judgment “shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword” (Micah 5:6). At that time, a fleet from the western end of the Mediterranean, the coast of Chittim, shall afflict Asshur, to fulfil the prophecy of Balaam.
But the judgment on the Assyrian is not to be compared with the consuming judgment of God on Edom and Amalek, for in the day of Christ’s kingdom, Assyria will be blessed, even as it is written, “In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria…whom the Lord shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance” (Isa. 19:24-25).
Eber
This name would seem to refer to the natural descendants of Eber. Abraham, the Hebrew, was from the line of Eber, as were many others. Many of the nations may be included in this term, and like the Assyrians, will suffer when the western powers invade the eastern Mediterranean. What are sometimes called the Arab nations may be partially involved. Natural links with Abraham will not spare Eber, or even Israel, in the day of antichrist’s activities in the land.
Chittim
The power or powers indicated under this name, which will invade the lands of which we have spoken, will also come in for judgment. It would seem that the word, “and he also shall perish for ever” belongs to the western powers. These favoured lands of the west will come under the influence and authority of the head of the revived Roman empire, and will give their forces to him, which he will use against the Lord. This will bring about their destruction, and with it, no doubt, the destruction of the empire, as shown in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan. 2:34, 44-45).
Israel
Amidst this revelation of God’s judgments of the nations, Balaam says, “And Israel shall do valiantly” (verse 18). It is not for the false prophet to speak of God’s discipline of His people; God would only allow one who was bent on cursing them to speak of their blessing. Yet we know that God had to chastise His beloved people, and they will yet have to pass through times of dreadful judgment on account of their sins, but in the end, they will “do valiantly,” as shown in Isaiah 11, and other Scriptures.
R. 20.10.66