Balak- Voice Podcast July 23, 2022
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Introduction
Introduction
This Torah Portion goes from Numbers 22:2-25:9
Last Torah portion we spoke of the Red heifer being all about sanctification, and purification
After the event of the red heifer we spoke about last Torah portion, the children of Israel had taken some territory, coming to Kadesh ( a sacred place and holy) where Miriam, Moses’ sister died.
They then attempt to pass through Edom (red) but are denied right of passage.
Soon after that they set off on a journey from Kadesh to Mount Hor (in Negev). This is the place where Aaron dies.
They traveled from Mount Hor to Moab, defeating different peoples: Canaanites, Amorites, Og - king of Bashan and his family.
They camped at the end in the plain of Moab
To give an overall view of this Torah portion:
Balak, king of Moab, hires the renowned seer Balaam to curse Israel. Numbers 22:2-21
Balaam consents only when he receives the Lord’s permission
[He] further, warns Balak that he will speak only as the Lord directs him.
On these occasions, involving a sacrificial ritual and change of site, Balaam blesses the Israelites instead of cursing them.
And in a fourth oracle he predicts the eventual doom of Moab at the hands of Israel: Balak’s curse, intended for Israel, will instead be inflicted by Israel on Moab
Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990), 185.
Account of Balaam and the donkey Numbers 22:22-35
Eventually Balak and Balaam meet Numbers 22:36-23:6
There is an account of 4 oracles (word given by God) of Balaam
First Oracle: Numbers 23:7-10
Second Oracle: Numbers 23:18-24
Third Oracle: Numbers 23:25-24:9
Fourth Oracle: Numbers 24: 10-19
Oracle against the Nations: Numbers 24:20-25
Idolatry and Expiation at Baal Peor: Numbers 25:1-18
Although the Torah portion is called Balak, the main study today will make emphasis on Balaam- our subject of study
Then the children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho.
Moab is a son of Lot
Born of his older daughter
A son of sexual immorality
An issue of seduction takes place
Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.
Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth.
Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”
So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”
Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.
Balak is the king of the Moabites in Numbers 22:4
Balak means DEVASTATOR, he who lays waste
Balaam means: He who brings the clan
“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.
So Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.
Balak has heard what the God of Israel has done and is afraid
Notice how the text changes from Balak being the focus to Moab
Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel.
Moab was sick with dread
קוּץ quts (880d); a prim. root; to feel a loathing, abhorrence, or sickening dread:—abhorred(2), dread(3), loathe(2), terrorize(1), tired(1).
Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).
Balak calls for the elders of Median
So Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.
Now you have two against Israel: Moab and Median
According to tradition, the two nations formed an alliance against the Israelite menace: “It is like the case of two dogs that were fighting with one another. A wolf attacked one of them. The other thought: If I do not come to his aid the wolf will kill him today and tomorrow he will attack me. For a similar reason Moab joined with Midian.” Another interpretation maintains that Balak himself was a Midianite and that Moab and Midian formed a united kingdom.8
Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990), 186.
Both Moab and Median want to hire Balaam to curse Israel
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.
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.”
So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak.
And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
So, who is Balaam?
Why is his character so important to learn from?
What is God's response to Balaam’s actions?
Presentation
Presentation
So, who is Balaam?
Balaam son of Beor The animosity of the tradition toward Balaam is revealed by the many explanations proposed for his name: (1) a mad people;12 (2) he went out of his mind because of the immensity of his knowledge; (3) he who swallows up the people;14 (4) corrupter of the people; (5) his son is a beast.16 The Deir ʿAlla inscription features a seer by the same name, Bilʿam the son of Beor (see Excursus 60).
Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990), 186.
Characteristics
1-Well known prophet - Popularity
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.”
2- A diviner - Something to Offer/no truth
So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak.
7. versed in divination Hebrew u-kesamim be-yadam, literally “with divination in their hands”; that is, they themselves were diviners (see Ezra 7:25) and might, therefore, prevent him from backing out on the pretext that the time was unpropitious.
More likely, his colleagues were present for the purpose of honoring him.29 Alternatively, the phrase has been translated (1) “possessing [the means of] divination” (see Ezek. 21:27) (but that Balaam would have need of his colleagues’ divinatory methods is hardly likely)31 and (2) “possessing [the fees for] divination.” However, Balaam is to be rewarded only after the job is done (22:18, 37; 24:11).
The mention of divination is not to be taken as a reproof of Balaam. Although divination is elsewhere condemned in Scripture, as in Deuteronomy 17:10, 14 (also 1 Sam. 15:23; 28:8; 2 Kings 17:17), in certain quarters its practice was considered both efficacious and legitimate. Balaam’s oracles serve to clarify that Israel has no need of it in order to determine God’s will.
This text is the first of many to emphasize that Balaam is a diviner, one who predicts the future, not a sorcerer, one who can alter the future (through cursing and blessing), as Balak makes him out to be. (For details, see Excursus 59.)
Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990), 187.
A diviner is not always a negative connotation. Balaam was able to hear God, and had the wisdom of God. His issue was to exercise what is PAGAN with the TRUTH
3- Able to hear God- GIFTS
And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
4- Who had a price- COVETOUSNESS
Then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “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.
5-He was honoured by others who did divination too
Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
Tradition has it these servants were Jannes and Jambers:
But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;
always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
6- His way was perverse against the Lord
The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.”
And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.”
7- Balaam offered to pagan gods
So Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kirjath Huzoth.
Then Balak offered oxen and sheep, and he sent some to Balaam and to the princes who were with him.
Molech = Zeus
8- Balaam mixed the altars dedicated to the God of Israel with pagan gods as practice of his divinatory technique
So it was, the next day, that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, that from there he might observe the extent of the people.
Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
seven altars … seven bulls and seven rams Ibn Ezra points to the frequency of the number seven in the cultic calendar:
the seventh day (Sabbath),
the seventh week (Shavuot),
the seventh month (Tishrei),
the seventh year (the Sabbatical for land and remission of debts),
seven burnt offering lambs (on festivals, twice seven on Sukkot),
seven sprinklings (in the Temple on Yom Kippur and for the purification of the leper).
He also points to the sacrificial requirement of seven bulls and seven rams for Job’s friends (Job 42:8) and the astrological significance of seven.
The magical use of seven is attested in the Bible: leprous Naaman bathes seven times in the Jordan (2 Kings 5:10, 14); Elijah orders his servant to scan the skies seven times for signs of rain (1 Kings 18:43); Joshua’s army circuits Jericho seven times on the seventh day (Josh. 6:4, 10).
In the Talmud, a medical prescription requires seven twigs from seven trees, seven nails from seven bridges, and so on.
The use of multiple altars for a single ritual is unattested anywhere else in Scripture. Hence it must derive from a pagan practice, each altar most likely being dedicated to a different deity, for example: “At dawn, in the presence of Ea, Shamash, and Marduk, you shall erect seven altars, you shall set seven censers of cypress, you shall pour the blood of seven sheep.”
Midrashic tradition attributes the seven altars to the need to recall the altars erected previously by seven righteous men: Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. Sefer hu-Mivḥar, in seeking an astrological explanation (i.e., seven altars for the seven planets), is close to the mark—it was part of Balaam’s divinatory technique.
Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990), 194.
9- Balaam taught Balak how to lead Israel into harlotry SEDUCTION/ENTICEMENT
Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab.
They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
Why is his character so important to learn from?
Because God gives us a warning regarding Balaam’s character that me must rectify:
2 Peter 2:1–18 (NKJV)
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;
and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;
and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked
(for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—
then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.
But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption,
and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you,
having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.
They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.
These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.
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.
Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.
“If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers,
of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth,
you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him;
but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people.
And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
The children of Israel also killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, among those who were killed by them.
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.
But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Not only did Yeshua warn us of the doctrine of Balaam, but He also warned us of the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. The only respond for us is however to repent.
But who are the Nicolaitans and what is their doctrine? What does the Yeshua Messiah say about them?
A Nicolaitan is a follower of Nicolaus.
Νικολαΐτης, a Nicolaitan, a follower of Nicolaus (a heretic at Ephesus).
Νικόλαος, Nicolaus, a Jewish proselyte of Antioch, one of the original seven ‘deacons’ in the church at Jerusalem.
Alexander Souter, A Pocket Lexicon to the Greek New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1917), 166.
Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;
but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch,
whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.
Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Acts 6:5 (NKJV)
And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch,
Νικολαΐτης, -ου, ὁ, a follower of Nicolaus, a Nicolalitan: plur., Rev. 2:6, 15,—a name which, it can scarcely be doubted, refers symbolically to the same persons who in vs. 14 are charged with holding τὴν διδαχὴν Βαλαάμ, i.e. after the example of Balaam, casting a stumbling-block before the church of God (Num. 24:1–3) by upholding the liberty of eating things sacrificed unto idols as well as of committing fornication; for the Grk. name Νικόλαος coincides with the Hebr. בִּלְעָם acc. to the interpretation of the latter which regards it as signifying destruction of the people
Joseph Henry Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Being Grimm’s Wilke's Clavis Novi Testamenti (New York: Harper & Brothers., 1889), 426.
6:5. The suggestion of the Twelve pleased the whole group of the disciples. Significantly all seven men had Greek names, implying they were Hellenists. Nicolas, the last one named, was not even a Jew but was a convert to Judaism and then to Christianity. The
Stanley D. Toussaint, “Acts,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 367.
“Nicolas a proselyte”
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
Is it possible that Nicolas, not being a Jew would not have the same grounding as the others who grew up in the Law of God, and therefore required discipleship he did not get?
What is the problem we are having in today’s Christianity?
We launch people into ministry w/o the proper discipleship. Discipleship teaches the law.
“One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord.
“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever,
because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
Nevertheless the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.
You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.
“You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land.
The Lord calls the one who is not fully born again, illegitimate
Will not enter the assembly to the 10th generation
Ammonite and Moabite - who sacrificed to other gods
Because they did not meet you with bread and water (word and spirit) when they came out of darkness, but hired a diviner
An Edomite is a brother
Summary
After every sanctification there is a test
The God of Israel has been having victory over the enemy
Balak means Devastator; he who lays waste
Balaam means: he who brings the clan
When Balak hears this he trembles to the point of being sick, and looks for a way out
Balak looks for others to come against Israel: Midianites
He finds a prophet of God who is willing to compromise
The compromise does not only happen at the leadership level for example with Balaam, but also can happen at any level: eg. Nicolaitans
What are some of their doctrines and characters:
Use of SEDUCTION / Enticement
Popular
Something to offer - no truth
Use of divination
Mixing PAGAN with Truth
Gifts
Covetousness
Honoured by the same kind
Ways perverse against the Lord
Worship Pagan gods
Use of altars of God of Israel for Pagan gods
Lead in to harlotry: Seduction, Enticement
God has given us warnings
What is God's response to Balaam’s actions?
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.
But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand.
Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times, to seek to use sorcery, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
‘He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?’ “Blessed is he who blesses you, And cursed is he who curses you.”
I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Impossible to curse verbally he who is covered by the Lord. They have to disobeyed to be cursed
“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.
“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
But the promises of God:
The Oracles of God
First Oracle
And he took up his oracle and said: “Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, From the mountains of the east. ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!’
“How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him; There! A people dwelling alone, Not reckoning itself among the nations.
“Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my end be like his!”
Second Oracle
Then he took up his oracle and said: “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, son of Zippor!
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
“He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, And the shout of a King is among them.
God brings them out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox.
“For there is no sorcery against Jacob, Nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob And of Israel, ‘Oh, what God has done!’
Look, a people rises like a lioness, And lifts itself up like a lion; It shall not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain.”
Third Oracle
Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!”
So Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘All that the Lord speaks, that I must do’?”
Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”
So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks the wasteland.
Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.
Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times, to seek to use sorcery, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
Then he took up his oracle and said: “The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, The utterance of the man whose eyes are opened,
The utterance of him who hears the words of God, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Who falls down, with eyes wide open:
“How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel!
Like valleys that stretch out, Like gardens by the riverside, Like aloes planted by the Lord, Like cedars beside the waters.
He shall pour water from his buckets, And his seed shall be in many waters. “His king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted.
“God brings him out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox; He shall consume the nations, his enemies; He shall break their bones And pierce them with his arrows.
‘He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?’ “Blessed is he who blesses you, And cursed is he who curses you.”
The fourth Oracle
Then Balak’s anger was aroused against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have bountifully blessed them these three times!
Now therefore, flee to your place. I said I would greatly honor you, but in fact, the Lord has kept you back from honor.”
So Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying,
‘If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord, to do good or bad of my own will. What the Lord says, that I must speak’?
And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”
So he took up his oracle and said: “The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, And the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened;
The utterance of him who hears the words of God, And has the knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Who falls down, with eyes wide open:
“I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult.
“And Edom shall be a possession; Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession, While Israel does valiantly.
Out of Jacob One shall have dominion, And destroy the remains of the city.”
Against the Nations
Then Balak’s anger was aroused against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have bountifully blessed them these three times!
Now therefore, flee to your place. I said I would greatly honor you, but in fact, the Lord has kept you back from honor.”
So Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying,
‘If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord, to do good or bad of my own will. What the Lord says, that I must speak’?
And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”
So he took up his oracle and said: “The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, And the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened;
The utterance of him who hears the words of God, And has the knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Who falls down, with eyes wide open:
“I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult.
“And Edom shall be a possession; Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession, While Israel does valiantly.
Out of Jacob One shall have dominion, And destroy the remains of the city.”
Idolatry and Expiation
Then he looked on Amalek, and he took up his oracle and said: “Amalek was first among the nations, But shall be last until he perishes.”
Then he looked on the Kenites, and he took up his oracle and said: “Firm is your dwelling place, And your nest is set in the rock;
Nevertheless Kain shall be burned. How long until Asshur carries you away captive?”
Then he took up his oracle and said: “Alas! Who shall live when God does this?
But ships shall come from the coasts of Cyprus, And they shall afflict Asshur and afflict Eber, And so shall Amalek, until he perishes.”
So Balaam rose and departed and returned to his place; Balak also went his way.
Shabbat Shalom