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Balaam Tries to Curse Israel
This chapter is based on Numbers 22 to 24.
Preparing to invade Canaan immediately, the Israelites camped
beside the Jordan river above its entrance into the Dead Sea, just
across from the plain of Jericho, on the borders of Moab. The
Moabites had not been harassed by Israel, yet they had watched with
troubled uneasiness everything that had happened in the surrounding
countries. The Amorites, who had forced them to retreat, had been
conquered by the Hebrews. Israel now possessed the territory the
Amorites had taken from Moab. The armies of Bashan had fallen
before the mysterious power hidden in the cloudy pillar, and the
Hebrews occupied the giant strongholds.
The Moabites dared not risk launching an attack, but as Pharaoh
had done, they determined to use magic to counteract the work of
God. The people of Moab had close connections with the Midianites,
and Balak, the king of Moab, gained their cooperation against Israel
by the message, “Now this company will lick up everything around
us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Balaam of Mesopotamia
had a reputation of having supernatural powers, and his fame had
reached Moab. So messengers were sent to get him to use his
divinations and enchantments against Israel.
The ambassadors set out at once on their long journey. When
they found Balaam they delivered the message of their king: “Look,
a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth
and are settling next to me! Therefore please come at once, curse
this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall
be able to drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you
bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
Balaam was once a prophet of God, but he had backslidden and
given himself up to covetousness. When the messengers announced
their errand, he knew very well that it was his duty to refuse the
rewards of Balak and send the ambassadors away. But he took a
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