This is Episode #52 and today we’ll read Numbers, chapters 23-25 together. Balak is so mad when Balaam blesses Israel instead of cursing them and God proves exactly what He thinks of bowing down to other gods.
Show Notes
Understanding the Jealousy Ritual – an article by Alistair Roberts
Maybe this will help: The Bible Project resources on Leviticus
Visit
Bible Study Resources
· The Bible Project’s Bible Basics – Free!
Other Resources
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you purchase anything, I may get a small commission. This does not cost you anything and it helps offset the costs of the podcast. Thank you in advance.
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This is Episode #52 and today we’ll read Numbers, chapters 23-25 together. Balak is so mad when Balaam blesses Israel instead of cursing them and God proves exactly what He thinks of bowing down to other gods.
Show Notes
Understanding the Jealousy Ritual – an article by Alistair Roberts
Maybe this will help: The Bible Project resources on Leviticus
Visit
Bible Study Resources
· The Bible Project’s Bible Basics – Free!
Other Resources
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you purchase anything, I may get a small commission. This does not cost you anything and it helps offset the costs of the podcast. Thank you in advance.
View my Broadcast License.
Joy: You’re listening to Season 2 of the Lifting Her Voice podcast. This is Episode #52 and today we’ll read Numbers, chapters 23-25 together. Balak is so mad when Balaam blesses Israel instead of cursing them and God proves exactly what He thinks of bowing down to other gods.
Welcome
Welcome to the Lifting Her Voice podcast, Season 2! I'm your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me - from the beginning - simply reading God's word together. We built some spiritual muscles in 2020 with just the New Testament. But this year we’re going all out, cover-to-cover, Old Testament and New. So, whether with your first cup in the morning, your commute to work, or as the last thing on your mind before sleep, God’s Word will equip you for every good work. I’m really glad you’re here!
Numbers Chapter 23:
Balaam’s Oracles
Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar. Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the Lord will meet with me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” So he went to a barren hill.
God met with him and Balaam said to him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.” Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”
So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab.
Balaam’s First Oracle
Balaam proclaimed his poem:
Balak brought me from Aram;
the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:
“Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel!”
How can I curse someone God has not cursed?
How can I denounce someone the Lord has not denounced?
I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,
and I watch them from the hills.
There is a people living alone;
it does not consider itself among the nations.
Who has counted the dust of Jacob
or numbered even one-fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright;
let the end of my life be like theirs.
“What have you done to me?” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!”
He answered, “Shouldn’t I say exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
Balaam’s Second Oracle
Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won’t see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me.” So Balak took him to Lookout Field on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the Lord over there.”
The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then he said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”
So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
Balaam proclaimed his poem:
Balak, get up and listen;
son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!
God is not a man, that he might lie,
or a son of man, that he might change his mind.
Does he speak and not act,
or promise and not fulfill?
I have indeed received a command to bless;
since he has blessed, I cannot change it.
He considers no disaster for Jacob;
he sees no trouble for Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
and there is rejoicing over the King among them.
God brought them out of Egypt;
he is like the horns of a wild ox for them.
There is no magic curse against Jacob
and no divination against Israel.
It will now be said about Jacob and Israel,
“What great things God has done!”
A people rise up like a lioness;
they rouse themselves like a lion.
They will not lie down until they devour the prey
and drink the blood of the slain.
Then Balak told Balaam, “Don’t curse them and don’t bless them!”
But Balaam answered him, “Didn’t I tell you: Whatever the Lord says, I must do?”
Balaam’s Third Oracle
Again Balak said to Balaam, “Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there.” So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.
Balaam told Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Numbers Chapter 24:
Since Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go to seek omens as on previous occasions, but turned toward the wilderness. When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him, and he proclaimed his poem:
The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened,
the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:
How beautiful are your tents, Jacob,
your dwellings, Israel.
They stretch out like river valleys,
like gardens beside a stream,
like aloes the Lord has planted,
like cedars beside the water.
Water will flow from his buckets,
and his seed will be by abundant water.
His king will be greater than Agag,
and his kingdom will be exalted.
God brought him out of Egypt;
he is like the horns of a wild ox for them.
He will feed on enemy nations
and gnaw their bones;
he will strike them with his arrows.
He crouches, he lies down like a lion
or a lioness — who dares to rouse him?
Those who bless you will be blessed,
and those who curse you will be cursed.
Then Balak became furious with Balaam, struck his hands together, and said to him, “I summoned you to put a curse on my enemies, but instead, you have blessed them these three times. Now go to your home! I said I would reward you richly, but look, the Lord has denied you a reward.”
Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I previously tell the messengers you sent me: If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the Lord’s command, to do anything good or bad of my own will? I will say whatever the Lord says. Now I am going back to my people, but first, let me warn you what these people will do to your people in the future.”
Balaam’s Fourth Oracle
Then he proclaimed his poem:
The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened;
the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God
and has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:
I see him, but not now;
I perceive him, but not near.
A star will come from Jacob,
and a scepter will arise from Israel.
He will smash the forehead of Moab
and strike down all the Shethites.
Edom will become a possession;
Seir will become a possession of its enemies,
but Israel will be triumphant.
One who comes from Jacob will rule;
he will destroy the city’s survivors.
Then Balaam saw Amalek and proclaimed his poem:
Amalek was first among the nations,
but his future is destruction.
Next he saw the Kenites and proclaimed his poem:
Your dwelling place is enduring;
your nest is set in the cliffs.
Kain will be destroyed
when Asshur takes you captive.
Once more he proclaimed his poem:
Ah, who can live when God does this?
Ships will come from the coast of Kittim;
they will carry out raids against Asshur and Eber,
but they too will come to destruction.
Balaam then arose and went back to his homeland, and Balak also went his way.
Numbers Chapter 25:
Israel Worships Baal
While Israel was staying in the Acacia Grove, the people began to prostitute themselves with the women of Moab. The women invited them to the sacrifices for their gods, and the people ate and bowed in worship to their gods. So Israel aligned itself with Baal of Peor, and the Lord’s anger burned against Israel. The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord so that his burning anger may turn away from Israel.”
So Moses told Israel’s judges, “Kill each of the men who aligned themselves with Baal of Peor.”
Phinehas Intervenes
An Israelite man came bringing a Midianite woman to his relatives in the sight of Moses and the whole Israelite community while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand, followed the Israelite man into the tent, and drove it through both the Israelite man and the woman — through her belly. Then the plague on the Israelites was stopped, but those who died in the plague numbered twenty-four thousand.
The Lord spoke to Moses, “Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites because he was zealous among them with my zeal, so that I did not destroy the Israelites in my zeal. Therefore declare: I grant him my covenant of peace. It will be a covenant of perpetual priesthood for him and his future descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”
The name of the slain Israelite man, who was struck dead with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family. The name of the slain Midianite woman was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, a tribal head of a family in Midian.
Vengeance against the Midianites
The Lord told Moses, “Attack the Midianites and strike them dead. For they attacked you with the treachery that they used against you in the Peor incident. They did the same in the case involving their sister Cozbi, daughter of the Midianite leader who was killed the day the plague came at Peor.”
Close
I don’t think chapter 25 needs any interpretation. God is serious as a heart attack about His creation not bowing down to other gods. The first commandment says, “Do not have other gods besides me.” And He means it. Over and over in Scripture, you will read that He says of Himself He is a jealous God. He won’t share our affections. Isaiah 42:8 says, “I am the LORD. That is my name, and I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.” It is extremely important that we check ourselves. Who or what receives our affections? I’d like to know what you think at Lifting Her Voice.com, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
Thank you for joining me here today. I pray that by spending time in His Word every day, you will by changed. Visit me at Lifting Her Voice.com with your comments and questions. And don’t forget to visit the Blog page while you’re there. If you like the podcast, it would be great if you’d give it a five-star review and share it with everyone you know. Don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you tomorrow!
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible(r), Copyright (c) 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible(r) and CSB(r) are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.