King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 16 notes
1And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.
2And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
3And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.
4And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.
5He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me:
6Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.
7And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.
It's very interesting that Moses, also a man of God, penned these exact same words concerning another man of God, Balaam.
That men came to see him with the reward of 📦 divination 🔮 in their hands 👐
8And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.
Wait, how did he know that the Lord would speak by morning, unless of course he had regular daily communion with him, or he had done this consultation for others ever so often and God showed up every time?
9And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?
Balaam consulted with God. Balaam was not of Israel, yet he knew the Lord.
He was a revered and feared 😱 man of God, or as the heathen understood it, one whose curses 🤬 and blessings 🙌 came to pass.
Bear in mind that the book of Numbers was written by Moses — Moses the great prophet and proponent of the Law and the Old Testament.
This Moses, great and mighty prince 🤴 in Israel 🇮🇱, was here writing about another,
another man of God who sought to resist Israel 🇮🇱.
A kingdom 👑 divided against itself shall not stand, and so God hindered Balaam.
But it is interesting to note that these two great men of God lived and encountered each other in this dispensation.
There are some who say he was not of God.
I beg to differ. All the nations of the promised land were pagans and consulted idols and divined 🔮 perpetually.
With which of them did the Lord consult before doing anything? None on record. Do you think the occult powers of these nations did not curse Israel 🇮🇱?
Of course they did.
But now here comes a man coming to curse a people from Egypt 🇪🇬 in the name of the Lord, and the Lord had to intervene.
Why do such, if Balaam was no man of God?
Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out.
Numbers 22:11 KJV
10And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying,
11Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out.
12And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.
By implication, if you are not blessed 🌾, then you deserve, or at least qualify for, a curse.
It's akin to “he that hath, more will be added”, but he that hath not a blessing, even a curse will be given him.
Life is so not fair: to the blessed, a curse passes over him and he gets more blessed, or at least exempted from the curse,
but to the ordinary man who has not, even the little is taken away.
How sad 😔. This life.
Matthew 13:12 KJV
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
A blessed people must not be cursed 🤬.
It is an abomination, and not permitted nor proper, for a blessed person to be cursed 🤬.
That does not mean it cannot happen, but it is not permitted.
It is hindered, and so we see that as Balak attempted to, he was hindered; he was not permitted.
13And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you.
14And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.
15And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they.
16And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:
17For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
18And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.
He knew that the realm of the spirit was not subject to his beck and call.
It was subject to the spirits, and here, God himself.
When and how did Balaam gain the reputation of one who is able to curse and one who is able to bless?
Yes, we all do know that prophets carry such power, but Balaam seems to be specially noted for possessing such abilities. This is not a typical way prophets of God are described.
And especially for a heathen nation and king to think of buying for his perusal such abilities — it casts a lot of shadow on the reputation of Balaam.
Some say he was a soothsayer and diviner, and others a prophet of God who was just ambitious for money. Either way, he had a relationship with God, and his source of prophecy and modus operandi relied on the God of Israel.
19Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more.
20And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.
21And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
22And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
Ah, I don't get it — was it not God who gave the approval?
Did he expect him to disobey? Does that mean God expected some form of unwillingness on Balaam's part to go..
His heart ♥ was not right with God, even though God had released him to go.
Just like he gave Israel 🇮🇱 meat 🥩 to eat, yet he plagued them for eating.
Lord have mercy. Be careful of God's yes, when you know his word and will in a matter yet insist on your way,
lest he disapprove of you.
23And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
24But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.
25And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.
It seems the angel went further to prevent Balaam from continuing to hurt the poor animal.
26And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
27And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.
28And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?
🤔 Is this the garden of Eden? Is that a talking animal, like the talking snake 🐍 of Eden?
You know many have suggested that Eden's events were just figurative. Fair enough, we know animals don't talk and can't reason logically.
But is that really true? The fact that they don't think in a complex manner does not mean they can't reason at all, nor talk logically if they could.
Think 🤔 about this: if your dog 🐶 could talk, what would it say when hungry, or when a stranger comes to your compound?
Would it not say, I am hungry, or I smell someone I don't know?
How difficult is that? We have either lost our ability to hear them talk, or, as illustrated here, they have lost the ability to talk. Rather they gesture.
Could it be that there was much communication in Eden?
Oh, one can imagine after the fall, and much to the shock of Adam, that all the animals came out mute 🔕.
He asks for something and they can't understand nor talk back.
Today we train dogs to go pick sticks, balls, search luggage etc. And they do this pretty intelligently.
Something in the fall just deprived them of the talking ability.
29And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.
And Balaam answered? Did he not fear 😱? He indeed was a man of the spirit and had seen many things and understood many spiritual things.
30And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.
31Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.
32And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:
Great, so that confirms it. It was to protect the donkey that the angel moved, in verses 25 and 26, though he had Balaam cornered.
'Cos if he stood, the donkey, known for their stubbornness, would not move, and Balaam would surely have continued hurting the beast.
33And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.
34And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.
So the thing displeased the Lord the whole time ⌚.
So though Balaam heard the words “go” from the Lord, the Lord was not really pleased with Balaam's disposition; hence he even sent an angel 😇 to kill him.
A yes from the Lord in this case — and I guess it can repeat itself sometimes — does not mean it's his best intention.
35And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
36And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast.
37And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?
Why did Balak send to attend to this war with Israel 🇮🇱 spiritually?
Had they seen something about Israel 🇮🇱 that suggested that they had spiritual backing?
Obviously word had gone out how that Israel's God was with them in all their battles.
He was wise enough to seek spiritual support.
38And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.
39And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjath-huzoth.
40And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.
41And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.
Oh man of God, what are you doing here, of all places... What was Balaam doing in the high places of Baal, he who was a man of God?
What was the significance of him showing the utmost part of the people? Because later Balak chooses to let Balaam see just some part of the crowd, so he could curse those people, or that section.
It seemed Balak felt the reason the curse was turned to a blessing was because he saw the entire nation. I don't understand the spiritual knowledge Balak had, or where he got this idea from. But it did not change a thing.
Maybe in the dark kingdom that was how it worked: if the curse does not work on the entire nation, maybe the enchantment is not strong enough.
So you target a section of it that the enchantment can handle.