Numbers 24:10 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the end of this useless attempt to curse Israel, and the whole plan falls apart. Balak, king of Moab, is furious with Balaam. He shows his anger in both words and actions, striking his hands together in deep frustration because his plans have been ruined and his scheme has failed (Numbers 24:10).

Balak accuses Balaam of giving him the worst kind of insult and trickery. He says, in effect, “I called you to curse my enemies, but you have acted like you are on their side. You have blessed them three times, even though the altars were built and the sacrifices offered to make me think you would surely curse them.” Then he sends Balaam away and orders him out of his country. He also throws back at him the honors he had planned to give him, saying he would not give them after all (Numbers 24:11). “The Lord has kept you from honor,” he says, as if obedience to God were a foolish choice because it cost Balaam worldly gain.

People who lose out in worldly ways because they do what is right are often mocked like this. They are treated as if they were foolish for choosing duty over profit. Yet if Balaam had truly and sincerely stayed with the word of the Lord, God would have more than made up for any honor Balak withheld.

Balaam, for his part, tries to defend himself from the disappointment. And he has a strong excuse: God stopped him from saying what he wanted and made him say what he did not want. Balak should not be angry about that, especially since Balaam had already warned him in advance that this was the limit he was under (Numbers 24:12, Numbers 24:13). Balak could not fairly say that Balaam had deceived him, because Balaam had plainly told him what to expect.

Balaam then tries to soften the blow, as well (Numbers 24:14). Since he cannot do what Balak wants, he offers to satisfy his curiosity with predictions about the nations around them. People naturally like hearing prophecies, and Balaam hopes that will calm the angry king. He also tells Balak that, whatever this people will do in the future, it will not happen for a long time, in the latter days. So Balak need not fear immediate trouble, because the vision concerns a far-off time, not his own day.

Balaam then offers a way to harm Israel without using curses or magical rites. That seems to be part of what he means when he says, “I will advise you,” because the word really means, “I will counsel you.” The full advice is not given here, but we learn later what it was (Numbers 31:16). He counseled Balak to lure the Israelites into idolatry, and that is how he tried to hurt them in place of cursing them (Revelation 2:14). Since he could not get God’s permission to curse them, he led Balak toward the devil’s help in tempting them. If he could not move heaven, he would stir up hell.