Third time’s a charm, right?

For the third time King Balak of Moab takes Balaam to a mountain to view the camp of Israel and pronounce a curse on them. But…

“By now Balaam realized that the Lord was determined to bless Israel, so he did not resort to divination as before. Instead, he turned and looked out toward the wilderness, where he saw the people of Israel camped, tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him,”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭24‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There’s something interesting here. The Hebrew ideas behind “resort to divination” or “look for omens” is to “meet the Nachash (serpent).” 👀

Uh… That’s not alarming at all.

Don’t read anything extra into this. I’m not suggesting that Balaam was having clandestine meetings with the Serpent of Eden. But it seems that the Hebrew word is revealing a connection between the Nachash (nah-kosh, serpent), and the concept of an omen for divination. Divination means to:

The word “occult” simply means secret or hidden. “Revealing occult knowledge…” Yep – that’s basically what the Nachash used to entice Adam & Eve in Eden. “You will be like God knowing good and evil.”

Balaam is looking upon the encampment of Israel. Then, something supernatural happens. He says that his eyes are unveiled. It’s a word that only appears here in the OT. Then he says he has heard the Words of El. That’s the generic middle eastern name for God – even pagan gods. Next he says that he has seen the vision of Shaddai (Abraham’s name for God) and that he has fallen down with his eyes unveiled.

It sounds to me like the LORD gave Balaam a peek into the spiritual realm. It’s the realm that is very real and exists alongside us but it is “veiled” from our physical eyes.

This may have happened quickly. Or he may have been in a kind of trance for a while – like Peter on the roof in Acts 10.

Balaam waxes poetic in his blessing of Israel; comparing them to palms and gardens. Then there’s this weird statement:

“his king shall be higher than Agag.” (v7)

I beg your pardon, but who is Agag? This is the first time he’s appeared in the OT.

All the Strong’s Concordance could tell me is that it was a title of Amalekite kings….

So? What’s the big deal? Besides the fact that he has a horrible name.

Like – “Why can’t you talk? What? You have A GAG in your mouth?” Ha! 😆

Wait – have you, my italicized commenter, just highjacked my blog? 🧐

Why yes I have… I got another one… 🤭

Ho boy… 🙄

“So that’s your king? What do you call him?”

Agag. 🙄

“Yeah, our politicians are a joke too.” 😆

Ok. That’s enough out of you, italics voice.

But what’s the big deal? Why did you say that it was a weird statement about Agag?

Because he’s never been mentioned before but Balaam just makes a statement like everyone will know about the Amalekite king. (Well, everyone alive then would have.)

Agag is a title, not a name. Like some “kings”are called Sultan or Rahjah or Emperor or Chief.

The Amalekites were on the list of tribes attacked by King Chedorlaomer WAY back in Genesis 14.

And?

And… you need to see this list again.

“In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭14‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Oh… Giants?

Yep… Giants.

The Amalekites have been around a LONG time. They are not nice people. They are going to be a problem for quite a while yet. Remember them.

We just recently met the 2 (now dead) kings of the Amorites: Sihon and Og – the giant.

So when Balaam says Israel’s KING (do they have a king yet?) – Israel’s King will be “higher” (more exalted, more raised up, loftier) than the very probably GIANT king of the Amalekites, that is a LOADED statement. The Giants were demigods; the offspring of humans and fallen angels. And Balaam could’ve said (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) that Israel’s King IS higher, but he says “SHALL BE higher.” It’s a future event.

And who is the King of the Jews? (you can come back now italics voice)…

Jesus. 🤗

Right. And what would it take for the king of Israel to be higher than a demigod?

Uhh… he’d have to be fully divine? 🤔

Yup. Good job.

Buried in this prophecy (given through a Gentile occultist!) is a hint that the king of Israel will be (future event) a fully divine being.

🤯

Balaam finishes his prophetic blessing (instead of a curse) and King Balak of Moab has had it and tells him to go.

Balaam, was allowed to have the last word, though. He gives another series of prophecies about several nations. There are 2 I want to look at:

“I see him, but not now; I look at him, but not near; A star shall appear from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall smash the forehead of Moab, And overcome all the sons of Sheth.”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭24‬:‭17‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

This is widely regarded by scholars as a Messianic prophecy. It’s also the one prophecy that links a star to the appearance of Messiah. This prophecy was likely in the books of the Magi from the east. Balaam was also a Magi (magician, soothsayer, diviner) from the east. How do you think the Wise Men knew that the star of Bethlehem was a sign of the birth of the Messiah? It was probably this text right here.

Secondly…

“Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said, “Amalek was the first among the nations, but its end is utter destruction.”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭24‬:‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Amalek seems to have way more history than appears at first glance. The word for first here is the same word as “In the beginning…” But it can also mean first place.

I think Amalek is a good picture of the kingdom of this world. They’re completely corrupt. They have entered into partnership with the fallen realm and gained great power by that. They are on top of the world. But the King Who is coming to and through Israel will be far superior to their demigod king. The King of Israel will be fully God and will utterly destroy them from existence. That is the doom of the fallen realm and all who partner with them.

Here’s something to consider: Even though God used Balaam to bless Israel and even through Balaam had the ability to hear Yahweh does not mean he was a righteous man. Just because Balaam gave accurate prophecies in this instance, does not mean he was a man of God.

Peter and Jude both condemned Balaam as a man who was only motivated by money. See 2 Pet. 2:15 and Jude 1:11.

Just because someone today has a big ministry or they stand up and prophesy things or they say “God told me” – doesn’t necessarily mean they are genuine servants of the Lord. Be cautious. Use wisdom and discernment. Balaam was a wicked man behind the scenes. And though it’s not recorded in the OT, Jesus gives us a detail to this story in an unlikely place…

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Chapter 25

This is Jesus’ message to the Church of Pergamum: “But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Here’s the OT account:

“While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭25‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Apparently, this whole use-the-cute-girls-to-lure-the-guys-into-sin trick was Balaam’s idea. God wouldn’t allow him to curse Israel but Balak insisted there had to be some way to weaken them. So this was the solution.

If you can’t beat their God, get them to abandon Him and serve your god. -Balaam

That god happened to one of the Ba’als. (Pronounced bah-all) Ba’al was kinda like Barbie. There was a Mountain Camping Ba’al. Sky Palace Ba’al. There was Warrior Ba’al (complete with cloud chariot and a real thunderbolt – or so the ads said). I don’t know if there was a Beach Ba’al or not. 😉

☀️🏖️ 😎

This particular one was Ba’al-Peor. Peor was the name of the mountain where Balak took Balaam for the last time.

“So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert.”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭23‬:‭28‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Some of the men of Israel took the bait. They shared sacrificial meals with the Moabites and “yoked” themselves to this Moabite god. Sharing a covenant sacrifical meal is a way of connecting yourself. It’s what Communion is – a sacrificial fellowship meal. And when Christians share it together they are yoked to Christ Who said that His yoke was easy and His burden light.

But it wasn’t just the meal. They bowed down to the idol of Ba’al and engaged in sexual orgies as part of the “worship.”

(Side note – the fallen realm is super fixated on sex. There’s always a sexual element to idolatry. That’s why the Lord puts so many rules and guardrails around sex and is so forceful about condemning idolatry. It gets people bound [“yoked”] to fallen angels and demonic spirits. Praise God there is victory over these things in Jesus Christ!)

One dude even brought a Midianite woman into his tent and they’re doing the deed while half the nation is “at church” trying to repent (again) and pray that Yahweh will not destroy them (again) for this wickedness. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the Priest, has had enough. He goes into the bedroom and skewers them both- presumably in the middle of their intimacy.

Ew. 🙈

But, I gotta say, I’m a huge fan of Phinehas. He didn’t just gripe. He got up and did something about it. It’s probably a good thing I don’t have children. I’d probably want to name a son Joshua Eliezer Phinehas or John Ethan Phinehas. Poor kid.

But the zeal of Phinehas to put a stop to the perversion gets Yahweh’s attention and the plague, (there’s always a plague 🦠), is stopped.

This “Baal of Peor” incident is going to be remembered. It will become a cautionary tale in Israel’s history.

It’s also one of the last things that happens as the 40 years of wilderness wandering is coming to an end. The generation that refused to go into the Promised Land has had their last fling. Now it’s time for the next generation to take on the mission.