Nu. 23: Balaam's Oracle 1 & 2

Numbers 23:21 "No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The LORD their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them."

Balak needs his answers as to what God will say through Balaam, and he gets a couple in this chapter. The first thing they need to do is make offerings, so they build seven altars, and offer seven bulls and seven rams. I'm not sure God instructed Balaam to do this at this point in the reading, and it sounds kind of like what God would make them do, but not exactly. Other religions may have had similar practices.

Balaam goes off to solitude to meet with God, and God gives him a message to give to Balak.

Here is the text of Balaam's first oracle, as revealed by God.

"Balak brought me from Aram,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.
'Come,' he said, 'curse Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.'

How can I curse
those whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce
those whom the LORD has not denounced?

From the rocky peaks I see them,
from the heights I view them.
I see a people who live apart
and do not consider themselves one of the nations.

Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
and may my end be like theirs!"

This is pretty revealing about supernatural and paranormal phenomena in respect to God's power. Any power appears to be subject to God ("How can I curse those whom God has not cursed?") Additionally, if a certain power is to beset man, it would be God who allows it, even if God is not the vessel for this power. The separation emphasized all throughout Leviticus is made very clear to Balaam. He sees that Israel does not consider itself among the nations, rather seperate...Holy. Their holiness was visible, it was evident. So evident that Balaam wished to identify with their end.

Of course Balak isn't pleased to hear this news. It was not what he wanted to hear, so he brings Balaam to another place where he can see part of the Israelite encampment. They do the seven offerings thing and God gives Balaam a second oracle.

"Arise, Balak, and listen;
hear me, son of Zippor.

God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
I have received a command to bless;
he has blessed, and I cannot change it.

"No misfortune is seen in Jacob,
no misery observed in Israel.
The LORD their God is with them;
the shout of the King is among them.
God brought them out of Egypt;
they have the strength of a wild ox.
There is no sorcery against Jacob,
no divination against Israel.
It will now be said of Jacob
and of Israel, 'See what God has done!'

The people rise like a lioness;
they rouse themselves like a lion
that does not rest till he devours his prey
and drinks the blood of his victims."

God appears to address Balak more personally in this one. A change of scenery would not sway God's promise or judgment. What God said the first time around stood, and God would not change based on a man's vantage point. God commands Balaam to bless Israel, the complete opposite of what Balak was hoping to hear. God has given strength and endurance through hardships to Israel, as this whole episode with Egypt gave them the strength of an ox.

Another reiteration is given of how Israel is protected from sorcery and divination. What times it must have been to have to live in fear of that. There is nothing in my reading so far that I can recall that promulgates an idea that Israel was cursed or plagued by anything other than God. Will they never be subject to a curse brought by man? I'll have to keep reading.

Israel is given the comparison to a lion, in the sense that it does not rest until it is satisfied, until it has devoured its prey.

Oh, verse 20 is interesting too, where Balaam says "I have received a command to bless, he has blessed and I cannot change it." Who is man to try to improve on or add to what God has done? Israel was already blessed, and my interpretation here is that Balaam could do nothing to improve upon that blessing. I think this is why Balak questions why Balaam does not bless or curse them.

Balak thinks another change of scenery is in order to get what he wants.