Balaam The Prophet - An Abridged Look

Alternate Title: 

An Example For Today Through A Look At An Excerpt Of Scripture Concerning Balaam the Prophet

  You can read the whole history in Numbers Chapters 22, 23, 24.                                                                              

Select Scripture Passages and End-notes in yellow.   

By Brianroy  

 (AWPR - Alternate Word Pictures with reiterations Translation - Translation Mine).

"And the sons of Israel pulled* up* (stakes)*, broke* camp*, and* moved*;  and camped on the plains of  Moab1, beyond the Jordan, (over against) Jericho.

      And Balak2, the son of Zippor3, saw all that Israel accomplished* and* had* done* to the Amorites.

      And (the populace of) Moab feared greatly before the people (of Israel), for they were (so) many, and (the populace of) Moab was greatly* grieved* with* fear* and* dread* before the face of the sons of Israel.

     And (the populace of) Moab said to the elders*  of Midian4  who* were* old* and* full* of* days*:

'*Now*at*this*very*present*time*, is this    gathering*of*peoples* who*are*called*together   (so)     licking*up*and*removing*  all that is around us,  (that it is as) even as the ox licks*up*and*removes* the grass of the field.'

     And (it is) Balak, the son of Zippor, who is king of Moab during*this*period*      of*time*.

     And he dispatched*and*sent*an*armed*troop*  of messengers to Balaam5, the son of Beor6, to Pethor7,  across*the*river*valley* from the land of the sons of his people. to cry*out*pleading* and* to* summon*  him, saying:

'Behold, a*great*herd*of*many*peoples*  has come*up*forth*    having*gone*out*  of Mitz-ra-im8, (that is, Egypt).  Behold, it this herd that has covered the face of the Earth, and it is finding* a* dwelling place* and* remaining* from* its* sojourn* next to me.

Now*at*this*present*time*  

    step*quickly*now*,

  and  curse for me this people,

  for they are more*mighty*    

  and*numerous*  than I.

                             Perhaps*it*is*folly* 

                             that I should prevail and that we

                             may strike*through*with*a*sorely*wounding*and

                             displacing*blow*or*stroke* 

                             that I may dispel them from the

                             land: for I know that 

                             he whom you bless, is blessed;  and that

                             he whom you curse, is cursed. '

                  

And the elders* of Moab 

who*were*old*and*full*of*days*,  

 and the elders* of Midian 

 who*were*old*and*full*of*days*   departed

                   with the fee of the Seer in their hand.

                  

         

And they came to Balaam, 

and spoke to him  the words of Balak.

And (Balaam) said to them,

          'Stay here tonight,

           and I will bring you back word,

           as YHVeH may speak to me.'

And GOD came*in*and*entered* to Balaam, and said,

          'Whose men (are) these with you?'

And said Balaam to GOD,

          'Balak, the son of Zippor, King of Moab, has sent to me.

                   ' 'Look*and*behold*   (there is) a*great*herd*of*

many*peoples*    (that)  has come out of Mitz-ra-im   [which is Egypt]  which covers the face of the Earth.

Now*at*this*very*present*time*  come!

Disavow*these*tent*bastards* 9  for me,

perhaps*it*is*folly*  that I should be able to

commit*holy*war*for*the*grains*of*the*land*

and*prevail*  (against) them, and expel them. '

And GOD said to Balaam,

          'You shall not go with them.

           You shall not curse the great*herd*of*many*peoples*,

           for it is to*receive*the*favor*of*that*which*is*upon*

                              bended*knee*10 .'

And rose Balaam in the morning, and said to the royal*officers* of Balak,

          'Return*and*seize*  (only) to  your*land*that* you*now*occupy*, for YHVeH has refused to allow me to walk

(along) with you.'

         

And the royal*officers*  of Moab arose, and came to Balak, and said,

          'Balaam refuses to walk (the path) with us.'

And yet doing*it*once*again*,  dispatched*and*sent*  more  royal*officers*,  who were much more honorable than those (ones sent before).    And they departed to Balaam with promises to him:

            'Thus says Balak, the son of Zippor --

                   I pray, do not be hindered from walking*the*path*                    to me.

                    For with honor, I will honor you very much.

                   And that which you say to me, I will do.

                   Walk*the*path*  I pray,  for me,  conjure* up*a* curse* at  this herd*of*many*peoples*.'

  
The lesson for us in the above passage is this.  Even when GOD's message of Divine Blessing and Protection upon His people is made known to unbelievers and haters from even those sources they trust, it does not mean that they will gently go away and cease in their hatred.  For those of us who know better as Bible literate Christians called upon to BLESS ISRAEL and NOT CURSE, the passage should serve as a reminder to not stray and let us be swayed by those who hate Israel or hate Christ to do or believe biblically unsound things.  

   GOD has allowed a man into the Presidency of the United States who is favorable towards the Christians as well as to those who are the off-spring of Abraham, and Isaac, and of Jacob.  


Donald Trump at the first upon his inauguration was rightly discerning and of the intent of following a Presidency in the same dignity that we would expect of a descendant of George Washington.  But from the time he caved and lied on the Ryan Healthcare Bill, and now as he engages in bombing Syria for political compromise at home while allegedly sending mixed signals of irrational war mongering abroad, he has surrounded himself with those who are:
 ill advising him,
 turning his eyes away from the Constitution of the United States, 
turning him back from his oath before the nation and GOD (on inauguration day January 20, 2017);
and turning President Trump away from following GOD's blessings and protection.  

On Wednesday November 19, 1794, President George Washington implored that we pro-actively affirm the Constitution of the United States in order 

"to enable us at all times to root out internal sedition, and put invasion to flight; to perpetuate to our country that prosperity....already conferred, and to verify the anticipations of this Government being a safeguard to human rights." 

Those who hate and oppress will continue in their hatred and cursing and refuse to disavow their hate, being  blinded and (in far too many cases) demonically possessed and driven by it like a permanent spiritual  insanity until or unless they are born-again.  

There is only one NAME under Heaven that has that power to save and break all the power of the enemy, and that name is JESUS.  The same one who created the Heavens and the Earth by the spoken word as the Intelligent Reason of GOD the Father, also created man in the dust of the Earth and put a sliver of His own Spirit into the first man Adam.  Adam, whom, when he spiritually died through sin and thus "fell", killed that tiniest part of GOD within himself.  The earliest Church Traditions apparently taught in the first several generations of succession from the Apostles of Christ that when Adam was created, he was not created as a full grown man, but as a boy (cf. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.22.4), which would limit us to a high end of an age of 12 or so in his development.  Adam and Eve were thus as children in their physical and mental development when the events of Genesis Chapter 2 and 3 occurred.   

I will pause to note that: Each in our own way, no matter what our maturity mentally and physically, we are all like children in our development before the Great Creator.  We all need His COUNSEL and Guidance.  


Later, GOD set about bring back what He placed in man of Himself back to life, that which even in death can be re-sparked by trusting Faith back into Himself, which alone is manifest in knowing the One True GOD of Israel, by His own will to so manifest and make known, as it is His design.  This same Person who is the Intelligent Reason of the Father, GOD from GOD and Light from Light (et cetera) guided Israel and spoke to Moses faces to faces, and manifested later in human form as Jesus Christ.  All time and space and history in regard to mankind, is centered or finds its true center as to what GOD the Son, Jesus the Christ, did at the Cross and through His Resurrection from the dead.   

1   Moab is a combination of  two Hebrew words which means: "Removed from my Father."

2   Balak means  the "annihilator" or "waster"

3   Zippor  means  "gleaming ship of  boasting"

   

4   Midian means "contention"

5   Balaam means "outcast of the people"  or "he whom the people do not regard"

6   Beor means "the burning lamp"

7   Pethor  or "Pethorah" (in the Hebrew), means the "city of dreams", or rather, the city where dreams are openly interpreted.  Based on the information provided, it is probably located in the north at or near Gadara, which was probably the northern border of Moab during this period. 

8   Mits - from the Hebrew for that which "oppresses, forces to churn, and extorts".   Ra - is the Hebrew word for "evil, badness, distress, or calamity".  These two words are brought together and pluralized by the ending of  'Im.  Thus, properly translated from view of the scribes of the time this scroll was written, Mitsraim is : "that place of evil oppression, which churns and extorts, where all efforts for good are turned to chaff."  It is a name that precedes the Purim cursing of the name of Haman. 
     If we were to tell the Passover and update it with Egypt or Mitsraim, then in such a circumstance Mitsraim could well have be a name where it would also be popular for children to make a noise and drown out as they do with Haman's name in a more fun way of retelling the heavy real life drama of Purim by tradition for remembrance.  Such a name as Mitsraim, quite clearly seems to imply this kind of intent and response.  In the time of that Numbers was written, circa 1496 B.C. -- following the conquest of Joshua, the reign of Sethotis, who would adopt the name of Aegyptus, was at such a point  two more centuries  into the future, far and away, and still yet to come.  

9  The Hebrew word used by Balaam is AraR.  Balaam alters that word when talking to GOD to what he thinks Balaam was implying, by what the messengers appeared to have impressed upon him.  Balaam changes AraR  to QaLaL.  AraR means to bind and hinder, by placing a restrictive curse that prevents prosperity in accomplishing a goal or task.  In this case, Balak simply asks Balaam to put up a magical barrier, as it were, so that the Hebrews would leave Moab, and not wipe out their Moabite population, whether it be by act of war or starvation or desolation to the land of Moab.  Balaam uses the word QaLaL in place of  the "curse" that Balak had in mind.  QaLaL is used of a large tent that can be likened to a small tabernacle.  It is also used of  bastard children or of those of despised mixed lineages.  It may be that Balaam, whose name comes from the Hebrew word for "swallow", is prejudiced against the Hebrews already, having heard of their fame, and is envious of the intercession GOD has done in behalf of them.  Like his name, in approaching GOD, perhaps Balaam is seeking to "swallow up" their inheritance, because in fact, Balaam disavows that the Hebrews are his "brothers"  or even his "neighbors".   Some Rabbinic scholars hold to the belief that this prejudice is a family feud, because Balaam is a descendant of Laban, the father of Leah and Rachel, the mothers of  the Hebrews, the wives of  Jacob (whom GOD renamed as Israel).  Thus, the tent bastards statement goes back to the unforgiveness  that lingered after Jacob ran off with Laban's idol in Genesis 31:17 ff.

10 Barak / Berekah.  To bless as on bended knee.  Implies submission on the part of Israel, and as in the "Blessing" of Numbers 6:24-26, implies the favor of a loving and doting father's encouraging and joyous face to their child, as they bounce their beloved one gently upon their bended knee.   The bended knee for the believer also implies prayer, while in ancient days:  it implied recognition of  sovereignty to their masters.  The people would be on bended knee just prior to the act of prostration to their chief ruler.  Thus, GOD is saying in no uncertain terms, as according to the custom of Balaam's day, that the Hebrews are HIS PEOPLE, and Balaam had better not utter against them a single word without HIS permission.