Balaam’s Blessings

My daughter looking toward the Jemez Mountains

I have been on vacation for the past week in the high desert of New Mexico. Below the alpine mountains, high bluffs overlook vast stretches of dry rolling hills. I imagine the landscape is similar to what Balaam the prophet saw when he looked over Israel’s camp. Balaam was led to such overlook by Balak the Moabite who hired the prophet to curse Israel. Balak knew that the Israelites had just defeated King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan. The LORD was training His people in battle, preparing them to conquer Canaan, and Moab was in their path.

Balak’s scheme did not go as he had hoped. The LORD did not permit Balaam to curse Israel. In fact, each time Balaam looked over the tents of Israel, he was inspired to pronounce a blessing.

Balaam’s first oracle:

“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!” - Num. 23:8-10

Balak was exceedingly unhappy with this oracle, so he led Balaam to another overlook where he prophesied:

“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. - Num. 24:20-22

Balak was desperate and slow on the uptake., so he entreated Balaam once more to curse Israel. But the LORD put these words in Balaam’s mouth.

“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.” - Num 25:5-9

I have read these words many times before, but reading them in the context of the whole book of Numbers brings me close to tears. The truth is that Israel had caused the LORD great sorrow in the wilderness with her grumbling, her lack of faith, her rebellion against Moses, her cowardly unwillingness to fight for the Promised Land. What is more, the LORD knew that Israel would prove unfaithful in her devotion. Just after this blessing, several Israelite men committed harlotry with Midianite women. The LORD’s anger burned against His people many times in the wilderness. And yet, He would not let a stranger curse them. He spoke only blessing over His people.

The LORD loves us as well - the Church grafted into Israel’s blessing. He is not blind to our sin. He will discipline us. But He looks to a future which we cannot see - one in which we are brave and pure, fruitful and righteous. The LORD looks across the barren landscape in which His people sojourn and He sees the river which will flow. He sees the frutifulness of our lives. He ensures our frutifulness. He loves us as a Husband loves His Bride.

In the words of Hosea.

He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.
 Let us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
His going forth is established as the morning;
He will come to us like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth. - Hosea 6: 1-3

Come, let us return to the LORD!