seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Numbers 23:Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp. And from there, curse them for me.” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
18 Then he spoke his message:
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
26 Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?”
15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
18 Then he spoke his message:
“Arise, Balak, and listen;
hear me, son of Zippor.
19 God is not human, that he should lie,
not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
20 I have received a command to bless;
he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
21 “No misfortune is seen in Jacob,
no misery observed[a] in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them;
the shout of the King is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;
they have the strength of a wild ox.
23 There is no divination against(b) Jacob,
no evil omens against[c] Israel.
It will now be said of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
24 The people rise like a lioness;
they rouse themselves like a lion
that does not rest till it devours its prey
and drinks the blood of its victims.”
hear me, son of Zippor.
19 God is not human, that he should lie,
not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
20 I have received a command to bless;
he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
21 “No misfortune is seen in Jacob,
no misery observed[a] in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them;
the shout of the King is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;
they have the strength of a wild ox.
23 There is no divination against(b) Jacob,
no evil omens against[c] Israel.
It will now be said of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
24 The people rise like a lioness;
they rouse themselves like a lion
that does not rest till it devours its prey
and drinks the blood of its victims.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
26 Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?”
a. Numbers 23:21 Or He has not looked on Jacob’s offenses / or on the wrongs found
b. Numbers 23:23 Or in
c. Numbers 23:23 Or in
I'm going right to the easy English site this morning.
Balaam had not been able to curse the Israelites. But Balak wanted Balaam to try again. So they went to another place where the Moabites worshipped their gods.
They prepared themselves in the same way as before. Balak was a pagan. A pagan is someone who worships false gods. Pagans believed that their gods lied. They believed that their gods were cruel and not honest. They did not realise that the LORD God is the only real God. And he is good completely.
And again, God gave to Balaam another prophecy. The first prophecy had emphasised that the Israelites were special people. God had chosen them to belong to him in a special way. This second prophecy emphasised that the Israelites defeated all their enemies. This was because God was on their side.
Balak had wanted to make God change his decision about the Israelites. But God is not like people. And he is not like the false gods whom Balak believed in. When God promises to do something, he does it. His promises are true always.
God had ordered Balaam to bless the Israelites. Balak could not make God change his decision. Nobody could do this. Nobody can control God!
Then, Balaam reminded Balak that God had rescued the Israelites. God had used his strength on their behalf. Egypt was a very powerful nation. The Israelites had been slaves there. But God had led them out of Egypt. He had helped them to defeat their enemies. He was like a king who led a very strong army.
The ‘wild ox’ (verse 22) refers to a particular type of large, wild cow. This type of cow was very dangerous.
Israel would not be like the other nations, who used magic. The Israelites received help, protection and instructions from God only. God’s perfect plan for the Israelites would happen at the proper time.
The Israelites were frightening their enemies. They were strong, like fierce lions. They had the power to destroy their enemies completely. And nobody could stop them.
They prepared themselves in the same way as before. Balak was a pagan. A pagan is someone who worships false gods. Pagans believed that their gods lied. They believed that their gods were cruel and not honest. They did not realise that the LORD God is the only real God. And he is good completely.
And again, God gave to Balaam another prophecy. The first prophecy had emphasised that the Israelites were special people. God had chosen them to belong to him in a special way. This second prophecy emphasised that the Israelites defeated all their enemies. This was because God was on their side.
Balak had wanted to make God change his decision about the Israelites. But God is not like people. And he is not like the false gods whom Balak believed in. When God promises to do something, he does it. His promises are true always.
God had ordered Balaam to bless the Israelites. Balak could not make God change his decision. Nobody could do this. Nobody can control God!
Then, Balaam reminded Balak that God had rescued the Israelites. God had used his strength on their behalf. Egypt was a very powerful nation. The Israelites had been slaves there. But God had led them out of Egypt. He had helped them to defeat their enemies. He was like a king who led a very strong army.
The ‘wild ox’ (verse 22) refers to a particular type of large, wild cow. This type of cow was very dangerous.
Israel would not be like the other nations, who used magic. The Israelites received help, protection and instructions from God only. God’s perfect plan for the Israelites would happen at the proper time.
The Israelites were frightening their enemies. They were strong, like fierce lions. They had the power to destroy their enemies completely. And nobody could stop them.
IMHO, Balak, the king, wanted Balaam, the prophet for hire, to lie about the Israelites. That just wasn't going to happen.
- Balaam, the prophet for hire, had already experienced God's supernatural power. God made a donkey talk out loud to him.
- Balaam, the prophet for hire, had already seen that God had taken a personal interest in what Balaam would say about the Israelites.
- Balaam, the prophet for hire, knew that God could put Balaam to death. He had seen the Angel of the Lord.
- Balaam, the prophet for hire, knew that God had tilted the scale in favor of the Israelites in war.
Balaam was smart to be afraid of God. Since God had already made a donkey talk. Balaam had to say what God wanted him to say. Balaam had no power over what would happen here. God was in control.
Balaam, the prophet for hire, would have loved to say whatever Balak, the king, told him to say.... because Balak, the king, would have paid him a king's ransom for doing so.
Balaam, the prophet for hire, wasn't going to be paid a penny for the words God was putting in his mouth.
I'll be Balak, the king, believed that Balaam, the prophet for hire, was trying to fool him.
IMHO, these verses tell me that God was controlling Balaam's mouth just has God had taken control of the donkey's mouth.
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