Balak Text (Numbers 22:2-25:9)
Balak Slides (pdf)
Balak Notes (pdf)
Overview of Balak (“Balak”) Numbers 22:2 – 25:9
Since the Sin of the Golden Calf, Israel has experienced Yehovah’s wrath because of their disobedience. 3,000 died at Sinai as a result of the Sin of the Golden Calf; the ten spies with the evil report died at Kadesh Barnea; but more importantly, the entire generation that left Israel was “sentenced” to die in the Wilderness before entering the Promised Land; another 15,000 died as a result of Korah’s rebellion in last week’s Portion. Yehovah holds His Chosen People to a higher standard that the Nations; and when they (we) broke His Commandments, His judgment was severe.
But it hasn’t been all bad news. Even in the midst of their disobedience Yehovah still provided food and water from the Rock for their sustenance; He gave them the Brazen Serpent on the Pole as a remedy for the fiery serpents’ bites. And at the end of last week’s Portion, we saw that He defeated the three Nephilim Kings, Arnon, Og & Sihon. This is actually the beginning of the conquest of the Promised Land long before Joshua would cross the Jordan to enter The Land.
And in this week’s Portion we will see Yehovah again protecting Israel from the attack by the Nations. Israel was nearing the end of the 40 years of wandering and was camped on the border of Moab (to the south) and the Amorites (to the north); and Balak, King of Moab was very nervous about this huge group of people camped on his borders. He was well aware of their miraculous release from Egypt (and the destruction of the Egyptian army) and their most recent defeat of Arnon, Og and Sihon.
Chapter 22 – Balak & Balaam
We are first introduced to Balak, King of Moab. His name means “Destroyer”, but we could call him The Terminator! He is the son of Zippor (meaning “Bird” – we could call him Big Bird!). Where have we heard this name before? Moses’ wife (a Midianite) was Zipporah, the feminine form of this name, and it means “Little Bird”; it’s possible then that these two were relatives…or at the very least, that they were both Midianites. So we shouldn’t be surprised when we read that Balak was leading an alliance of Moab and Midian against Israel; Israel was first camped at Sinai in Midian and now they are camped on the border of Moab.
Balak feared Israel because of the mighty miracles that surrounded her. He knew that he could not defeat this great force militarily (even the Nephilim kings couldn’t do that); so he hired an “enchanter” to curse them and thereby weaken them (spiritually), making them vulnerable to defeat. He should have realized that he whom Yehovah has blessed cannot be cursed by man…but he’s about to find this out the hard way!
Now Balaam (pronounced in Hebrew, Bee-lam) was a famous “prophet for hire” located up on the River Euphrates, in the same area that Abram left back in Genesis chapter 12; Rabbinic tradition says that he was a relative of Laban…who was a great-nephew of Abram. Balak started the negotiations to hire Balaam to curse Israel so they could be defeated. Balaam was located about 350 miles from Moab, so it would take about two weeks to cover that distance on foot or by donkey. Balak first sent a group to see if Balaam would be interested in the job saying, “Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” We see here that Balak did not take into account that Yehovah had already blessed Israel, and no man could override Yehovah’s blessing. They returned to Balak with encouraging words (this is the first round-trip, which would hav taken at least one month), so he sent the elders of Moab and Midian with bags full of silver for Balaam’s fee to “seal the deal.” But Yehovah told Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” So these elders returned to Balak (trip #2…another month). Then Balak sent even more and higher-ranking men (with even more bags of silver) to persuade Balaam to change his mind. Balaam started to weaken when he said, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.” While he appeared to be holding to his previous answer of “no”, it sounds to me that he just established his minimum fee (a house full of gold & silver) to do what Balak is asking. That night Yehovah appeared to Balaam in a dream and said, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.” In the Hebrew, the word “go” implies to accompany them back to Moab. So the group (including Balaam) returned to Moab – trip #3…another month. The very next verse says, “Then God’s anger was aroused because he went”; if Yehovah had just given him permission to go with the men, then why was He angry that he went? Because He knew from Balaam’s heart that he wasn’t just “accompanying” them, but rather he was going with them for the purpose of cursing Israel…and for the silver and gold that Balak had promised to give him.
Balaam’s Donkey
After more than three months of negotiations, Balaam was on his way to curse Israel camped on Moab’s border. But Yehovah’s anger was kindled and He sent “the Angel of the LORD” to speak to Balaam. Now this could have been one of the heavenly angels who served Yehovah, or it could have been the pre-incarnate Yeshua. Three times the angel blocked Balaam’s path on the road; the donkey could see the angel but Balaam couldn’t – the donkey had more spiritual insight than Balaam! (See the notes for similarities between Balaam and his donkey). Each time the donkey stopped because the angel was blocking the path, Balaam beat her; finally, the third time, the donkey just laid down in the road and Balaam beat her even harder. Then the donkey spoke to him (he didn’t seemed surprised to hear the donkey speak) and said, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” Then Yehovah opened Balaam’s eyes and he could see the angel. Balaam then understood why Yehovah allowed him to travel to Moab, ““Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam finished the journey to Moab.
Chapters 23 & 24 – Balaam’s Oracles
At this point it is obvious that Balaam was clearly hearing Yehovah speak to him; his problem was that he was also hearing from all of the other gods of the world. He appeared to be doing all the things that Yehovah wants His People to do (being in a relationship with Him so that he hears Him, offering the correct sacrifices, etc.) but he clearly put his own interests ahead of Yehovah’s. This is the problem with many in the Church today…at least the Western Church. Many so-called Christians have one foot in Christianity and the other foot firmly planted in the World. Yehovah doesn’t want to be #1 on a list of ten – He wants to be #1 on a list of one!
So Balak took Balaam to a high place where he could curse Israel, but only words of blessing came from his mouth…just as he had told Balak would happen. Needless to say, Balak was not happy that he was blessing Israel, so he took Balaam to an even higher place to curse. Three times Balaam tried to curse and three times Yehovah caused blessings to come from his mouth.
Oracle #1 The People of Israel Shall be Innumerable – “Who can count the dust of Jacob.”
Oracle #2 Yehovah Dwells Among His People Israel – “The LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them.”
Oracle #3 Israel will Inherit the Land – “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel.” These words form the Ma Tovu that is chanted in every weekly Torah service still today. In this Oracle, Balaam’s eyes were truly opened and he spoke Yehovah’s words from his heart.
At this point Balak was so angry that he fired Balaam on the spot; but before he left, he gave Balak four more prophecies free of charge!
Oracle #4 Israel Would Possess Moab & Edom (Jordan today)
Oracle #5 Israel Would Possess Amalek (“Palestinians”)
Oracle #6 Israel Would Possess the Kenites (Northern Saudi Arabia)
Oracle #7 Israel Would Possess Asshur & Eber (Assyria – Syria, N. Iraq & N. Iran)
Interestingly, all of these nations mentioned in these last four Oracles are also mentioned in Psalm 83, which describes Yehovah’s final End-Times conquest of Israel’s enemies.
Chapter 25 The Sin of Baal Peor
Before Balaam left, he gave Balak one more piece of advice that was worth all the money that Balak promised to give to him…but didn’t. Balak knew now that Israel could not be cursed by someone from the outside…but Balaam told him how Israel could be cursed from the inside. We see at the end of this Portion that Balak placed all his pretty young women along the border where they would attract the attention of the young Israelite men. Soon the Israelites were participating in all the pagan rituals that Moabites and Midianites did. That was Israel’s downfall. This is known as the Doctrine of Balaam. Yehovah responded to these adulterous acts by sending a plague through the camp of Israel that killed 24,000. It was only the action of Phineas, the son of Eleazar the High Priest that stopped the plague. One of the sons of Israel presented his Midianite wife at the door of the Tabernacle and Phineas became so outraged at this act of adultery to Yehovah that he thrust a spear through both of them. We will continue this story next week.
Before we leave this portion, I want point out that Balaam apparently stayed in the area rather than returning to his home on the Euphrates: Joshua 13:22 says, “The children of Israel also killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, among those who were killed by them.” Perhaps he was waiting for Balak to make good on his promise to pay him that house full of gold and silver.
We saw in this week’s Portion the Doctrine of Balaam, which is again referenced in John’s letter to Church in Pergamos (Rev 2:14). This Doctrine advocates the Church adopting the ways of the World. Peter mentions the Way of Balaam in II Peter 2:15; this refers to Balaam’s practice of making “religion” a source of income. The Book of Jude (verse 11) references the Error of Balaam, referring to Balaam thinking that he could curse Israel. All three of these refer to this week’s story of Balaam, but they draw out three different issues from this story.
The Haftarah Reading (Micah 5:7 – 6:8)
This week’s Haftarah is Micah’s prophecy of the coming of Messiah; both His first coming & His second coming are future events at the time of this prophecy. He references Balak & Balaam and reminds Israel that before Messiah comes (returns) as the Conquering King, they must have Torah “written on their hearts.” We read from Micah 6:4-8:
“For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of bondage; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab counseled, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from Acacia Grove to Gilgal, that you may know the righteousness of the Lord.” With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
The Brit Chadashah (Revelation 2:13-17)
In the Brit Chadashah, we see three references to today’s story of Balaam & Balak: in Peter’s Epistles, in the Book of Jude and in today’s reading from the Book of Revelation. Here Yeshua speaks to the Congregation at Pergamos and warns them of the Doctrine of Balaam. We read from Revelation 2:13-17,
“These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: ‘I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.’”