Old Testament Scriptural Summaries and Commentary

Numbers, Chapters 22-31; Gospel Doctrine Class

Sunday School Lesson 16 - "I Cannot Go Beyond the Word of the Lord" 

Book reference, The Old Testament Made Easier, Part 2, by David J. Ridges

Publisher Cedar Fort, Springville, Utah

Numbers 22 – 24  King Balak and the Prophet Balaam

Chapter 22 - Balaam goes to Moab

After nearly forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites camp on the plains of Moab, just northeast of the Dead Sea and across the Jordan River from Jericho (Ridges, pt. 2, p. 203).  Israel had conquered all the cities and villages of two Amorite kings (Sihon and Jaazer) and taken their land and all their wealth (see Num. 21:21-25,32).  Balak, the king of Moab, was filled with fear and distress because he saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites (vv. 22: 1-2). 

Now, Balak decides to send messengers to Balaam, a prophet, to try to persuade him to curse the Israelites.  Balaam lived in Pethor—Mesopotamia; part of Iraq today, near the Euphrates River (http://biblehub.com). 

Elder Bruce R. McConkie describes Balaam as follows: "Let me tell you the story of a prophet, in some respects a very great prophet, but one 'who loved the wages of unrighteousness,' who 'was rebuked for his iniquity' in a most strange and unusual way, and whose actions (which included the uttering of great and true prophecies) were described by another prophet in another day as 'madness' ("The Story of a Prophet's Madness; New Era, April 1972, p. 4). 

Note:  (see 2 Peter 2:15-16 below).

King Balak's messengers "departed with the rewards of divination in their hand" [money] with instructions to say to Balaam, "Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt; behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me;… I pray thee, curse me this people, for they are too mighty for me…for I wot [know] that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed" (vv. 22:3-7).    

And Balak sent the elders and princes of Moab to Balaam.  Balaam invited them to "lodge" with him that night while he inquired of the Lord what he should do and he would let them know in the morning.  And God said to him, "Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed."  And he refused the princes of Moab.  A second time Balak sent his servants to Balaam.  This time the king offered Balaam "great honor" and pledged "I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me."  Balaam answered them, "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more" (vv. 22:8-18).

However, again Balaam chooses to speak with God and God said to him, "[JST: "if thou wilt"] go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do."  So Balaam was to decide for himself if he would go but he must do all the LORD tells him—remember, the Lord had already told him not to go.  In the morning Balaam went with the princes of Moab.  Along the way his donkey [ass] begins to give him trouble.  "And God's anger was kindled because he went."  Three times the donkey sees an angel with a drawn sword blocking the way and the donkey turns off the path.  Balaam is angry and starts beating the donkey and the LORD opens the mouth of the donkey who asks Balaam, “What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?” (v. 22:28).  Just then, Balaam sees the angel with the sword in the way and bows down to the ground.  The angel said to Balaam “Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me.”  He told him that unless the donkey had turned aside, he would already be dead.  Balaam said to the angel, "I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again."  And the angel said to him, "Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak."  (vv. 22:19-35). 

And King Balak went out from Moab to meet Balaam.  The king questioned why he had come and whether or not Balaam believed he could "promote thee to honour?"  Balaam replied, " Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak."  Balak sent gifts of oxen and sheep to Balaam and took him into the high places of Baal, to see the "utmost part of the people"—the most important worshipers of Baal (vv. 22:36-41).

Chapters 23 and 24 - Balaam refuses to curse Israel

Balaam asks the king to build him seven altars and to prepare seven oxen and seven rams to be offered on the altars.  And they made burnt offerings on every altar.  Now, Balaam goes to a high place to meet God and the LORD tells him what to say.  When he returns to Balak, he tells him he knows he was brought from Aram [his home] to "curse me Jacob," and to "defy [denounce] Israel." 

He continues, "How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied.

"For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

"Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" (vv. 23:8-10) 

Balak asks Balaam, "What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them altogether." And Balaam answers, "Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?" (vv. 23:1-12).

Balaam again meets with the LORD and when he returns, King Balak asks, "What hath the LORD spoken?" Balaam answers, "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good?  Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it" (vv. 23:15-20).

Now, Balaam looks toward where the Israelites are camped in their tents and sees a vision of the destiny of the children of Israel.  He speaks of the king whose "kingdom shall be exalted;" with strength to "eat up the nations;" and Israel as a "great lion," and he asks, "who shall stir him up?"—who can stop them?  Finally, he said, "Blessed is he that blesseth thee [Israel], and cursed is he that curseth thee" (vv. 24:3-9).

King Balak is angry with Balaam for his refusal to curse the Israelites and he tells him to go back to his place.  Before he leaves, Balaam prophesies of the Messiah:  "I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh; there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel" (v. 24:17).  Balaam prophecies of destruction of the people in the lands that the LORD promised to his people, the Israelites (vv. 24:10-25).

"Three times Balak asks him to curse Israel, but Balaam obeys God and blesses Israel each time (23:3; 24:9). He then curses Moab and prophesies of Jesus Christ (24:10–25)" (Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Teachers Manual;  73-76).

Balaam does not go back to Mesopotamia but stays with the Midianites.  During the Midianite war, Balaam is slain along with all the five kings of Midian (v. 31:8).  He has been guilty of encouraging the Midianite women to "commit trespass" against the LORD with the men of Israel (v. 31:16) (see vv. 25:1-9).

 ("Although Balaam obeyed the Lord’s commands to bless rather than curse Israel, in his heart he wanted earthly honors and rewards. To receive these rewards, he suggested tempting Israel to sin, causing them to lose God’s protection") (Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Teachers Manual;  73-76).

Three New Testament prophets refer to Balaam:

The Apostle Peter writes of "lustful saints" of his day:  "Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet" (2 Peter 2:15-16).

"Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core"—Korah, a Levite priest who caused a rebellion in the wilderness with Moses; (see Numbers 16) (Jude 1:11).

The words of St. John the Divine writing to the leader at Ephesus:  "But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac [Balak] to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication" (Rev. 2:14).

Numbers  25 – 27  Events in the Moabite Plains

While near the Moabites, some of the men of Israel “began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab” and to worship the god of Baal (vv. 25:1-3).  The Lord sends a plague among the people and they begin dying by the thousands.  The young Levite priest Phinehas (son of Eleazar) grabs a sword and slays with a javelin an Israelite man and a Midianite woman who were together, and the plague was stayed.  “And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand” (vv. 25:1-9). 

After thirty-eight years in the wilderness there was a new generation of Israelites and a new censes was taken.   Of the men over twenty years old [excluding the Levites], the number was 601,730, (v. 26:51) within 1,820 of the original sum at Mt. Sinai.  The inheritance of land was to be “by lot” according to the number of people in each tribe (vv. 26:54-55).  The names of Moses', Aaron's and Miriam’s parents are given as Jochebel and Amram (v. 26:59). 

The Lord has Moses go to mount Abarim to “see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel” (see Deut. 42:39) and he is told he will not be going with them (vv. 27:12-13).   Moses lays his hands on the head of Joshua and gives him charge over all the congregation (vv. 27:18-23). 

Sacrifices and vows are enumerated in chapters 28, 29 and 30.

Numbers 31 - 36  The Midianite war

The Lord tells Moses to send out one thousand warriors from every tribe to cleanse the land of the Midianites— because the people were corrupted by immorality and idol worship (see vv. 25:1-3).  The soldiers were commanded to save only female children and young virgins because they could be integrated into the culture without corrupting it (vv. 31:14-24).  The soldiers failed to obey this commandment and Moses had the task of forcing them to fulfill their orders before they could return to camp.  Miraculously, not one of the Israelite soldiers was lost even though 32,000 prisoners and thousands of cattle, donkeys and sheep were taken—indicating this was not a minor war (vv. 31:49-56). 

The tribes of Reuben and Gad ask for and receive an inheritance east of Jordan but promise to help the rest of the tribes invade Canaan where the other tribes of the children of Israel have been given their inheritance (vv. 32: 16-18). 

Chapter 33 is a review of all the travels of the people between Egypt and the land of Canaan.  The Lord tells Moses that all the people [of Canaan] and all their possessions are to be destroyed when they “pass over Jordan into the land of Canaan” (v. 33:51) because it is corrupted.  

Then, Moses divides up the land of their inheritance among the tribes.  The Levites are to have their own cities.  He gives instruction about the punishment of murderers (vv. 35:30-31).  And, finally, more instruction on inheritance laws for families with only daughters and between tribes (vv. 36:1-13).