CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Numbers 23
Chapter 23 of 36
Chapter Overview
What happens in Numbers 23
Balak builds altars and offers sacrifices, hoping Balaam will curse Israel. But each time Balaam opens his mouth, God gives him words of blessing instead of cursing. After two failed attempts, Balak takes Balaam to a different location to try again.
Scripture
Numbers 23
Balaam's First Oracle: Blessing
Study note
Balaam had Balak build seven altars and offer seven bulls and seven rams. Then Balaam went off alone and God met him. God put words in his mouth, and Balaam delivered his first oracle: he could not curse what God had not cursed. He declared that Israel was a special people, set apart from the nations. Balak was furious -- he had hired Balaam to curse, not bless.
1 Balaam told Balak, "Build seven altars for me here, and get seven bulls and seven rams ready." And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.
2 Balak did what Balaam asked. The two of them offered a bull and a ram on each of the seven altars. And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
3 Balaam told Balak, "Stay here beside your burnt offering while I step away. Maybe the Lord will come and meet with me. Whatever he reveals, I will pass along to you." Then Balaam walked off to a barren hilltop. And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.
4 God met Balaam there. Balaam told him, "I have prepared seven altars and sacrificed a bull and a ram on each one." And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.
5 The Lord placed a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and deliver this message." And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
6 Balaam came back and found Balak still standing beside his burnt offering. All the Moabite leaders were with him. And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7 Balaam delivered his message: "Balak summoned me from Aram. The king of Moab brought me from the eastern mountains, saying, 'Come and curse Jacob for me! Come and condemn Israel!'" And he took up his parable, and said, 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.
8 "But how can I curse people God has not cursed? How can I condemn people the Lord has not condemned?" How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
9 "From the rocky heights I can see them. From the mountain peaks I observe them. Here is a people who live set apart, not counting themselves among the other nations." For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
10 "Who could possibly count all the descendants of Jacob? Who could number even a quarter of Israel? Let me die the way righteous people die. Let my end be as blessed as theirs!" Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
11 Balak protested, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, and all you have done is bless them!" And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
12 Balaam answered, "I have to speak whatever the Lord puts in my mouth. I have no choice." And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?
Balaam's Second Oracle: God Does Not Change His Mind
Study note
Balak took Balaam to a different spot, hoping for a different result. Again they built seven altars and made sacrifices. But God put new words in Balaam's mouth: 'God is not a man, that he should lie.' What God has blessed cannot be reversed. No magic or spell can work against Israel because God is with them. Balak asked Balaam to at least stop blessing if he would not curse.
13 Balak said, "Come to a different spot where you can see them. You will only see part of their camp, not all of it. Curse them for me from there." And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
14 He took Balaam to the field of Zophim on top of Pisgah. There he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each one. And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
15 Balaam told Balak, "Stay beside your burnt offering while I go over there to meet with the Lord." And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.
16 The Lord met with Balaam and placed a message in his mouth. He said, "Go back to Balak and deliver this message." And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
17 Balaam returned and found Balak standing by his burnt offering with the Moabite officials. Balak asked, "What did the Lord say?" And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?
18 Balaam spoke his message: "Stand up and pay attention, Balak! Listen closely, son of Zippor!" And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
19 "God is not a human who tells lies. He is not a mortal who changes his mind. When he says something, does he not follow through? When he makes a promise, does he not keep it?" 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?
20 "I was given orders to bless. He has blessed them, and I have no power to reverse it." Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
21 "He sees no wrongdoing in Jacob and no misery in Israel. The Lord their God is there with them, and the joyful shout of a king rings through their camp." He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
22 "God is the one who brought them out of Egypt. They have power like a wild ox." God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
23 "No curse can touch Jacob. No magic spell works against Israel. People will look at Jacob and Israel and say, 'Look at what God has accomplished!'" Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
24 "This nation rises like a lioness. They stand tall like a lion that will not rest until it has caught its prey and feasted on the kill." 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.
25 Balak told Balaam, "Fine! If you will not curse them, at least do not bless them either!" And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
26 Balaam answered, "Did I not warn you? I have to do whatever the Lord tells me." But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?
Balak Tries a Third Location
Study note
Balak refused to give up. He took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wilderness, hoping the change of scenery would change God's message. Again they built seven altars and offered seven bulls and seven rams.
27 Balak tried again: "Come, let me take you to yet another spot. Maybe God will let you curse them for me from there." And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
28 Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks out over the wasteland below. And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.
29 Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams." And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
30 Balak did as Balaam asked and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
Key Themes
Themes in Numbers 23
God cannot be manipulatedGod's unchanging wordBlessing that cannot be reversedThe futility of opposing God's purposes
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
Numbers 23:19 Titus 1:2
Balaam's declaration that God is not a man that he should lie points to the New Testament affirmation that God, who does not lie, promised eternal life before the beginning of time.
Apply This Today
Living Numbers 23
Balak tried three times to get Balaam to curse Israel, but God turned every attempt into a blessing. God does not change His mind like a human being. When God has declared something good over your life, no external force can reverse it. His word stands firm regardless of opposition.
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