Numbers 24

Today’s Passage: Numbers 24

Balak has hired Balaam to curse Israel, and twice already the curse has come out as blessing. This time Balaam does not even reach for his omens. The Spirit of God comes upon him, and he looks out over the camp and blesses Israel outright, “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob.” Balak’s anger boils over, and he sends the prophet home with empty hands. But before he goes, Balaam lifts one more oracle, and in it he sees something far off: a star that will come out of Jacob and a scepter that will rise out of Israel, a King greater than any enemy Moab could fear. The man who was paid to curse ends by pointing to a coming King.

As you read, hold this: God turns the hired curse into blessing and, through a pagan’s mouth, promises a coming King: a Star out of Jacob.

Numbers 24:1–4 (BSB)

¹ And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not seek omens as on previous occasions, but he turned his face toward the wilderness.

² When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him, ³ and he lifted up an oracle, saying: “This is the prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of a man whose eyes are open, ⁴ the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide open:

Notice how the passage begins. Balaam finally sees what has been true all along, that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, and he gives up his search for omens. He turns his face toward the wilderness where the tribes are camped, and the Spirit (רוּחַ) ruach, pronounced ROO-akh. Strong's H7307, wind, breath, spirit. The word means wind, breath, spirit. It is the breath that moved over the deep in Genesis, the breath that fills the lungs of every living thing. Here that same breath of God comes upon a man who came to curse. Balaam has no power to bless Israel on his own, and no power to curse them either. When it takes hold of him, his own plans fall silent, and the word that comes is God’s word. The LORD is so far above the hired curse that He can make the very mouth Balak paid for speak His blessing. of God comes upon him. This is the same Spirit who hovered over the waters at creation, now resting on a hired pagan and bending his tongue to God’s own purpose. Balaam calls himself a man whose eyes are open, one who hears the words of God, and for once the boast is simple truth. He is about to say exactly what God gives him to say and nothing else.

Numbers 24:5–9 (BSB)

⁵ How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel! ⁶ They spread out like palm groves, like gardens beside a stream, like aloes the LORD has planted, like cedars beside the waters. ⁷ Water will flow from his buckets, and his seed will have abundant water. His king will be greater than Agag, and his kingdom will be exalted.

⁸ God brought him out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox, to devour hostile nations and crush their bones, to pierce them with arrows. ⁹ He crouches, he lies down like a lion, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.”

Balak wanted a curse, and this is what he gets instead. Balaam looks down on the tents of Israel and sees not a threat to be feared but a garden the LORD has planted, spreading out like palm groves and cedars beside the waters, well-watered and thriving. He sees a people God carried out of Egypt with the strength of a wild ox, a lion crouched and at rest, whom no one would be foolish enough to rouse. And at the end he says the very thing spoken to Abraham long before, “Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.” The curse Balak bought has turned all the way around and landed on his own head. To come against this people is to come against their God.

Numbers 24:10–14 (BSB)

¹⁰ Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together and said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times. ¹¹ Therefore, flee at once to your home! I said I would reward you richly, but instead the LORD has denied your reward.”

¹² Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not already tell the messengers you sent me ¹³ that even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD? I must speak whatever the LORD says. ¹⁴ Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you what this people will do to your people in the days to come.”

Now Balak’s fury breaks loose. He claps his hands together in disgust and orders the prophet home, snatching back the reward he had promised. But even here Balaam tells the truth about himself. He had said from the start that a house full of silver and gold could not buy a single word against the command of the LORD, and now he says it again. He must speak whatever the LORD says, no more and no less. There is no bending God, no matter the price. And rather than slink away silent, Balaam turns and offers one last word, a warning about what Israel and Israel’s God will do in the days to come. The hired man has become, against his own will, a herald.

Numbers 24:15–19 (BSB)

¹⁵ Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying, “This is the prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of a man whose eyes are open, ¹⁶ the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide open:

¹⁷ I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and strike down all the sons of Sheth. ¹⁸ Edom will become a possession, as will Seir, his enemy; but Israel will perform with valor. ¹⁹ A ruler will come from Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city.”

Here is the summit of the whole account. Balaam says he sees someone, but not now, and beholds someone, but not near. His gaze has been carried far down the centuries to a King who has not yet been born. A star (כּוֹכָב) kokab, pronounced koh-KHAHV. Strong's H3556, star. The word is the ordinary Hebrew for a star, one of the countless lights God set in the sky. But here a single star is spoken of, one that will come forth out of Jacob, and it is plainly a person, a King. In the ancient world a rising star marked the birth of a great ruler, and Balaam sees exactly such a rising over Israel. Centuries later, wise men from the east, Balaam’s own part of the world, would follow a star to a manger in Bethlehem and ask where the King of the Jews had been born. The Star out of Jacob had risen at last. will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter (שֵׁבֶט) shebet, pronounced SHAY-vet. Strong's H7626, rod, staff, scepter; tribe. The word means a rod or a staff, and from there a ruler’s scepter, the sign of a king’s authority. It is the same word Jacob used on his deathbed when he said the scepter would not depart from Judah until the one to whom it belongs should come. Balaam sees that scepter rising out of Israel, a King with the right and the strength to rule. Paired with the star, the picture is complete: a light rising and a royal staff lifted, a coming King whose reign no enemy will overturn. will arise from Israel. A light rising in the dark and a royal staff lifted in a strong hand, these are one person, a coming King who will break the power of every enemy that Moab could ever dread. The man paid to curse Israel ends by promising Israel a King greater than all her foes. He did not understand the half of what he said, but the Spirit who moved him did, and the church has read these words ever since as a promise fulfilled in Christ.

Numbers 24:20–25 (BSB)

²⁰ Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction.”

²¹ Next he saw the Kenites and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Your dwelling place is secure, and your nest is set in a cliff. ²² Yet Kain will be destroyed when Asshur takes you captive.”

²³ Once more Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Ah, who can live unless God has ordained it? ²⁴ Ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus; they will subdue Asshur and Eber, but they too will perish forever.”

²⁵ Then Balaam arose and returned to his homeland, and Balak also went on his way.

The vision widens now to take in the nations round about. Amalek, first among the nations, will come to nothing in the end. The Kenites, safe as a nest in a cliff, will one day be carried off. Even distant Asshur and Eber will fall in their turn. Balaam gathers it all under one line that is almost a sigh, “who can live unless God has ordained it?” Every kingdom that rises and falls does so under the hand of the God he has been forced to serve. Then the prophet simply stands up and goes home, and Balak goes his own way. The King has been promised, the nations have been weighed, and the God who could not be hired has had the last word.