Numbers 24:1 - Meaning and Application

The blessing Balaam speaks over Israel is much the same as the two before it in the previous chapter. But his way of speaking here is different. He gives up the enchantments he had relied on, and uses no spells or magic arts. He finds they do him no good, because it is useless to try to win a curse from the devil when God has already decided to bless. Sooner or later, God will show people how foolish it is to trust in empty things that cannot help them.

Balaam also changes his setting. He does not go off to some lonely place as before, but turns his face toward the wilderness where Israel is camped. Since they must be blessed, he gives up resistance and submits, though unwillingly. Then the Spirit of God came on him, meaning the spirit of prophecy, as it did on Saul when God stopped him from taking David (1 Samuel 19:23). He was not speaking his own thoughts, but the words the Spirit gave him.

He also begins with a different introduction, one that sounds much like David’s words (2 Samuel 23:1-3). Yet it seems to carry a tone of pride and self-importance, as if he wanted credit for himself and to act like he belonged among heaven’s advisers. He boasts of two things. First, he says God showed him great favor by making himself known to him, since he heard God’s words and saw the vision of the Almighty. God had met him and spoken to him before, and Balaam seems puffed up by that. Paul speaks humbly about his visions and revelations (2 Corinthians 12:1), but Balaam speaks proudly.

Second, Balaam boasts about his own ability to receive these revelations. He says he fell into a trance like other prophets, yet his eyes were open. He mentions this twice, though the wording in the original changes. Some take the earlier line to mean the man whose eyes were shut, but now he speaks of having his eyes open. When he tried to curse Israel, he admits he was mistaken. Now he begins to see his error, but he is still blinded by greed and ambition, those foolish desires that do harm.

Those who fight against God and his people will sooner or later discover how badly they have been deceived. Many people have their eyes open, yet their hearts remain closed. They understand some things, but they are not made holy. Knowledge that only makes a person proud will only help lead him to ruin, and many go to hell with their eyes open.

Even so, the blessing itself is much the same as before. Balaam admires several things about Israel. He first admires their beauty: “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob!” Though they lived in plain tents rather than grand houses, Balaam sees beauty in them because of their orderly arrangement by tribes (Numbers 24:2). Nothing makes religion look better to outside observers than the unity and harmony of its people (Psalm 133:1). Israel’s beauty and the good name they would gain among their neighbors are compared to the beauty and sweetness of fruitful valleys, fine gardens, flourishing trees, and fragrant spices (Numbers 24:6).

Those whose eyes are truly open see the saints on earth as excellent people, and they delight in them. The righteous person is more excellent than his neighbor. They are trees planted by the Lord, and that is their true worth. Their branches of righteousness are the planting of the Lord. See Hosea 14:5-7.

Balaam also points to their fruitfulness and growth. That may be part of what he means in the images of valleys, gardens, and trees (Numbers 24:6). It also fits with the words, “He shall pour the water out of his buckets,” meaning God will water them with his blessing like rain from heaven. Then “his seed shall be in many waters,” that is, among many peoples and nations. Scripture sometimes uses waters to mean peoples, multitudes, and nations. This has been seen in the great growth of that nation, even when they were scattered abroad.

He also speaks of their honor and rise. As the size of a people brings honor to their prince, so the greatness of a ruler brings honor to the people. Balaam says their king will be higher than Agag. Agag was likely the most powerful king in that region, and Balaam knew of none greater. Yet he foretells that Israel’s chief leader, after Moses, Joshua, will be greater and more honored than Agag ever was, and will stand out far more in history. Saul, Israel’s first king, later triumphed over Agag, though Agag came “delicately,” or in royal comfort.

Balaam then turns to their power and victory (Numbers 24:8). He first looks back at what they had done, or better, what had been done for them. God brought them out of Egypt, something he had already mentioned before (Numbers 23:22). The wonders tied to their rescue from Egypt did more to spread their fame and strike fear into their enemies than anything else (Joshua 2:10). The same God who brought them out of Egypt would not fail to bring them into Canaan, because God always finishes what he begins.

He next looks at their present strength. Israel has, as it were, the strength of a unicorn, a wild and powerful creature that cannot be easily controlled (Job 39:9-10). Balaam means that Israel is too strong to be stopped by his curses or by Balak’s armies. Then he looks ahead to their future victories. “He shall eat up the nations his enemies” means he will destroy them as easily and surely as a lion tears its prey, and he will also grow stronger, richer, and fuller through what he takes from them.

He also describes their courage and safety: “He lay down as a lion, and as a great lion” (Numbers 24:9). Balaam sees Israel now resting in the plains of Moab, without asking permission from the king of Moab and without fearing him. Soon they will do the same in Canaan. After a lion tears its prey, it lies down in peace and fears nothing. No one dares disturb a sleeping lion.

As Bishop Patrick notes, lions do not need to hide away in shelters to sleep. They lie down wherever they please, because nothing dares touch them. In the same way, Israel would be secure in Canaan, especially in David’s and Solomon’s days. In this way, the righteous are bold as a lion (Proverbs 28:1), not to attack others, but to rest safely, because God makes them dwell in security (Psalm 4:8).

Finally, Balaam points to their influence on the people around them. Their friends, and those joined to them in alliance, were blessed. “Blessed is he that blesseth thee” means that anyone who showed them kindness would surely be better off for it.

But their enemies, and those who took up arms against them, were certainly miserable. “Cursed is he who curses you” (Genesis 12:3). Anyone who harms God’s people does so at great risk, because God treats what is done to them, whether good or evil, as done to himself.

In this way, God confirms the blessing promised to Abraham and his descendants. He speaks as though he is blessing Israel at this time and not cursing them, because he wants to share in the blessing of Israel’s friends and fears the curse that falls on Israel’s enemies.