Numbers 23:18-26

Numbers 23:18 (18a-24)

‘And he took up his incantation (parable),'

Once again Balaam gave out his incantation. Note even here the chiastic construction.

Numbers 23:18 (18b-24)

“Rise up, Balak, and hear;

Listen to me, you son of Zippor,

a God is not a man, that he should lie,

a Nor the son of man, that he should repent,

a Has he said, and will he not do it?

a Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?

b Behold, I have received commandment to bless,

b And he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

c He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob,

c Nor has he seen perverseness in Israel,

d Yahweh his God is with him,

d And the shout of a king is among them.

d God brings them forth out of Egypt,

d He has as it were the towering horns (or ‘strength') of the wild-ox.

c Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob,

c Nor is there any divination with Israel.

b Now shall it be said of Jacob,

b And of Israel, What has God wrought!

a Behold, the people rise up as a lioness,

a And as a lion does he lift himself up,

a He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey,

a And drink the blood of the slain.

They were soon to be disillusioned. The second trance statement began more directly than the first. It asked Balak if he really thought that Yahweh would change His mind.

“Rise up, Balak, and hear. Listen to me, you son of Zippor. God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?” He learned that Yahweh was not ‘a man', who might be liable to lie. He was not ‘a son of man' (the equivalent of ‘man') that He should change His mind. What He had said, He would do. What He had spoken He would make happen. Thus the word already given was sure of fulfilment. But now in the light of this second approach more was to be added in favour of Israel.

So Balaam then went on to declare that, ‘Behold, I have received the word to bless, and he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.' In other words, as Yahweh had chosen to bless Israel, Balaam had no alternative but to declare that blessing. It was something that he was unable to reject or reverse. It was not in his hands to decide.

“He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, Nor has he seen perverseness in Israel.” The hope had always been that in some way ‘Yahweh' could be made to find fault with Israel or could be persuaded to ‘foresee' some trouble or misfortune ahead for them. After all the ‘gods' of other nations were very often seen as taking it out on their people because of some reason or other, or for no reason at all, and could therefore be bribed to cooperate. (Balaam was not used to dealing with the Sovereign God). But he had learned that Yahweh would find no fault with Israel, and that He could see no trouble or misfortune ahead for them, or at least not the kind that could make Him curse them.

Then he declared what Balak did not want to hear (and what Israel did want to hear). ‘Yahweh his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.'

Far from being displeased with His people, he declared, Yahweh was ‘with them' as their God. He was enthroned among them as their king to Whom they shouted their allegiance. All was well between them and their God. The parallelism confirms that the king in mind here is Yahweh. So this people whom Balak wanted Yahweh to curse actually acknowledged Him as their king and shouted their allegiance to Him, because He was with them and among them. There was therefore no likelihood that He would curse them.

What was more, he pointed out, ‘God brings them forth out of Egypt, He has as it were the towering horns or strength of the wild-ox.' Not only was Yahweh their King, but as their God Who was among them He had brought them out of Egypt with His mighty power, power and strength which was like that of the towering horns of a mighty wild-ox, totally irresistible. He was thus not a God to be messed around with. And He was the Deliverer of this people.

Nothing was known that had greater strength than the wild ox with its mighty horns. It was untameable. And thus had Israel's God shown Himself to be of invincible power,

“Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob, nor is there any divination with Israel.” This parallels the statement that He found no iniquity in them ((Numbers 23:21). He now added that it was really no good trying to fight Israel with enchantments. For enchantments could only counter other enchantments. But Jacob/Israel did not use enchantments. He had been able to discern none among them.

We find here a remarkable confirmation of the fact that at this stage Israel were free from those who worked enchantments, as God's Instruction had demanded that they should be (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:26; Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:6; Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10). Israel were not involved in any way in the occult.

“Now shall it be said of Jacob, and of Israel, What has God wrought!”. Here the parallel is with the fact that God had blessed them (Numbers 23:20). They had rather trusted in their God, and He had wrought on their behalf. Thus he, Balaam the enchanter, had no power against them. They were outside his sphere.

“Behold, the people rise up as a lioness, and as a lion does he lift himself up. He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.” Balaam then finished his prophecy by declaring that Israel were, in fact, like a lioness rising up to commence the hunt, and that Yahweh Himself was like a lion, not lying down again until He has seized the prey. To ‘drink the blood of the slain' metaphorically referred simply to partaking in their death. All knew that a pack of lions, once they had been roused to the hunt, did not lie down again until they had been successful. This parallels ‘Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?'

So all were to take note that Israel were to be feared because Yahweh was with them. And that like a lioness they should not be disturbed, lest they rise and seize the prey. It was best to let sleeping lions lie.

“To drink the blood of the slain”. Later Jesus would charge the Pharisees with ‘drinking His blood' in slaying Him. Their fathers had partaken of the blood of the prophets (Matthew 23:30) and now they were seeking His. Yet it was well they did so, for only through the shedding of that blood could men receive life and forgiveness from Him by partaking in the benefit of His death (John 6:48).

Numbers 23:25

‘And Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.” '

Balak had heard enough. He begged Balaam neither to curse or bless them, for it would be better if he did nothing than that he should bless them again as he had done previously. This was strengthening them, not weakening them.

Numbers 23:26

‘But Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you, saying, All that Yahweh says, that I must do?” '

But Balaam replied that there was nothing that he could do about it. As he had already told him, if he contacted Yahweh he had to do what Yahweh said. In matters like this he was not his own master.