Holy Spirit dealth with God's enemies
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| The Prophet Balaam and the Ass, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1626. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Balak determined, therefore, that the only way to stop Israel was to turn their God against them. So he sent messengers in all directions looking for someone who had power with Jehovah. Finally, near the Euphrates River not far from where Abraham’s relatives lived, they discovered an evil prophet named Balaam (2 Peter 2:15; Jude 11; Revelation 2:14) also practiced divination (Joshua 13:22). He was really a heathen fortune-teller and adviser who used various means to conjure up spirits or find omens or make incantations for a price. Somehow, he had heard of the power of Jehovah and apparently had added His name to his list.
It may seem strange that God would use such a man. But God was protecting His people from an enemy they did not know about, and He purposed to use His Holy Spirit to do it.
Balak’s purpose was to hire Balaam to get God to curse Israel instead of blessing them. The Bible shows God dealt with Balaam in strange ways. First, He showed that a dumb animal had more spiritual sense than Balaam did (Numbers 22:21–35). Second, God gave Balaam such
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| Balaam, the Angel and the Ass; Woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Balaam still thought he could persuade God to curse Israel. His heathen attitude is shown by the way he approached the problem. He called for seven sacrifices to be offered on the top of a mountain overlooking the camp of Israel. Then he tried his sorcery (enchantments, incantations, omens). But God’s word was one of blessing for Israel, not a curse.
Balaam then went to another mountain and offered seven more sacrifices. The heathen had the idea that the gods needed the sacrifices. They thought, therefore, that if they offered the right sacrifice in the right place, they could force a god to do anything they wished. In Balaam’s thinking there could be nothing wrong with the sacrifice. Seven was a perfect number and bullocks and rams were the most expensive sacrifices they could offer. So he concluded the place must be wrong. He would try another mountain.
Again, God gave a word of blessing. So they tried a third mount
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| Balaam and the angel, painting from Gustav Jaeger, 1836. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
As he lay prostrate before the Lord Balaam’s eyes were open in a new way. He saw Israel’s fair tents stretching out like prosperous orchards and gardens with victory and strength as their portion. In conclusion, he repeated for Israel the promise that was first given to Abraham (Genesis 12:3), “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse” (Numbers 24:9).
At this, Balak was greatly angered and told Balaam to go home without the promised reward. But Balaam, still prostrate before the Lord, gave one more prophecy. No longer was he trying to manipulate God or control His purposes. He was simply yielded—and he saw the distant future. “A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel” (Numbers 24:17). Most older writers see this as a prophecy of the Messiah. In view of the context, however, some today take “star” and “scepter” as collective nouns referring to Israel and to the time the kingdom would rise and conquer Moab.19 Yet it is still possible to take Balaam’s emphasis on the distant future and see Moab as a type of God’s enemies who will be conquered by Christ. In any case, it is clear that Balaam for once truly yielded to the Spirit. Unfortunately, the yielding was only temporary. His greed for money overpowered him. Later, he sold his services to the Midianites and died fighting against Israel (Numbers 31:8).
Horton, S. M. (2005). What the Bible Says about the Holy Spirit (pp. 29–31). Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House.
