Numbers 23

CHAPTER 23THEME: The first prophecy; the second prophecy; the error of BalaamHere we see “the error of Balaam"ignorance of God’s righteousness. This is an impressive scene. Balaam has now come to Balak, the king of Moab. Balak takes Balaam to the top of a mountain so that he can see the camp of Israel below. The fact of the matter is that Balak is not satisfied with any of the prophecies of Balaam; so he will take him to four different mountains on four different sides of the camp.

Numbers 23:7

THE FIRST PROPHECYBalak took Balaam up into the high places of Baal. There they offered burnt offerings, and there the Lord put a word into Balaam’s mouth. Here is the first of the remarkable prophecies concerning the people of Israel. This wasn’t at all what Balak wanted him to say. He wasn’t satisfied with this prophecy; so he took Balaam over to another mountain to give him another look at the children of Israel as they were camped in the valley.

Numbers 23:18

THE SECOND PROPHECYBalak took Balaam to the top of Pisgah and there they offered burnt offerings. They could see Israel down in the camp, and again the Lord met Balaam and put a word in his mouth. Instead of cursing Israel, he actually blesses them again. God makes it very clear that he is not to curse Israel. THE ERROR OF BALAAMNow we see what Balaam is doing. He uses his own reasoning and rationalizing, and concludes that God must condemn Israel. There was evil in the camp. Sin was in evidence. They failed miserably. We have just seen the incident of the brazen serpent, and the people there confessed that they had sinned. So Balaam came to this natural conclusion: God must judge Israel because of their sins. The natural man always concludes that God must judge Israel because of their sin, and that God must judge the individual sinner. So many times I hear a question like this: “How could God call David a man after His own heart?” Well, there is a higher righteousness than human righteousness, and that is the righteousness of Christ. “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom_8:31-34). God does not judge the sinner because He has already judged him in Christ Jesuswhen he came to God by faith in Christ. The world does not understand that. Old Balaam didn’t understand that. He thought that God must condemn Israel. He figured that if God was going to judge Israel, he might as well get the benefit of the rewards from King Balak. He thought that God would condemn Israel and that he would be permitted to get a handsome reward as a result of it. Balaam did not understand the righteousness of God. He did not understand that the believing sinner, just like the people of Israel, could not come under the judgment and condemnation of God. When the believer sins, he comes under the disciplining hand of God, not under the condemnation of God. Again Balak is not satisfied. He takes Balaam to the top of Peor for another view of Israel.