Numbers 23:18

_AND HE TOOK UP HIS PARABLE, AND SAID, RISE UP, BALAK, AND HEAR; HEARKEN UNTO ME, THOU SON OF ZIPPOR:_ _ `Rise up, Balak, and hear! Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippori! 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 execute it? Behold, I have received insructions to bless: He hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. He beholds not iniquity in Jacob, And sees not fault (sorrow) in Israel: Yahweh his God is with him, And the shout of a king is in him. God brought them out of Egypt: Their strength is like that of a room. For there is no incantation against Jacob, Neither any divination against Israel: At the time it shall be said to Jacob and to Israel, What hath God wrought (done)! Behold, the people like a lioness shall rise, And like a young lion ripe in strength (literall...

18._And he took up his parable and said. _We have already explained the meaning of this expression, namely, to make use of glowing and elevated language, in order the more to awaken the attention of the hearer. The same also is the object of the preface, “Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor;” for such repetitions are mostly emphatic, and indicate something uncommon. When he declares that “God cannot lie, because he is not like men,” it is a severe kind of censure, as much as to say, “Would you make God a liar?“ for it became requisite that the frantic eagerness of Balak should be repressed, and prevented from proceeding any further. Hence, however, a lesson of supreme utility may be extracted, namely, that men are altogether wrong when they form their estimate of God from their own disposition and habits. Still, almost all men labor under this mistake. For how c...

11-30 Balak was angry with Balaam. Thus a confession of God's overruling power is extorted from a wicked prophet, to the confusion of a wicked prince. A second time the curse is turned into a blessing; and this blessing is both larger and stronger than the former. Men change their minds, and break their words; but God never changes his mind, and therefore never recalls his promise. And when in Scripture he is said to repent, it does not mean any change of his mind; but only a change of his way. There was sin in Jacob, and God saw it; but there was not such as might provoke him to give them up to ruin. If the Lord sees that we trust in his mercy, and accept of his salvation; that we indulge no secret lust, and continue not in rebellion, but endeavour to serve and glorify him; we may be sure that he looks upon us as accepted in Christ, that our sins are all pardoned. Oh the wonders of pro...

NUMBERS 23:1 BUILD ME HERE SEVEN ALTARS. According to the common opinion of the heathen, it was necessary to propitiate with sacrifices the God with whom they had to do, and if possible to secure his favourable consideration on their side. The number seven was especially connected with the revelation of the tree God, the Creator of the world, and was probably observed here for this reason. The sacrifices were offered no doubt to Jehovah. NUMBERS 23:3 PERADVENTURE THE LORD WILL COME TO MEET me. It might be concluded from Numbers 24:1 that Balaam went only to look for "auguries," _i.e; _for such natural signs in the flight of birds and the like a

AND HE TOOK UP HIS PARABLE,.... Pronounced the word put into his mouth, AND SAID, RISE UP BALAK, AND HEAR; not from his seat, as Eglon a successor of his did, Judges 3:20 for he was now standing by his burnt offering; but the sense is, that he would raise his attention, and stir up himself with all diligence to hear what he was about to say: HEARKEN UNTO ME, THOU SON OF ZIPPOR; or to his word, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, which follow....

THE PARABLES OF BALAAM Chapter S 23-24 _ 1. The first parable (Numbers 23:1)_ 2. Balak's surprise and Balaam's answer (Numbers 23:11) 3. At Zophim (Numbers 23:13) 4. The second parable (Numbers 23:18) 5. Balak's request and Balaam's reply (Numbers 23:25) 6. Balaam's third parable (Numbers 24:1) 7. Balak's anger and Balaam's firmness ...

BALAAM'S SECOND ORACLE. This goes beyond the preceding in frustrating the hopes of Balak, for it declares that God has not only not cursed Israel, but has positively blessed it, and describes Israel's freedom from adversity and its formidable strength. NUMBERS 23:19. _Cf._ 1 Samuel 15:29 Numbers 23:20. he hath blessed, etc.: read (LXX), I must bless and I must not reverse it. Numbers 23:21. He hath not beheld, etc.: read (Syr.), I have not beheld calamity in Jacob, nor have I seen trouble in Israel. THE SHOUT OF A KING: _i.e._ the shouting in honour of a king (a title of Yahwe

_Balaam's second prophetic message_. This consists of eleven, or (see on Numbers 23:23) more probably ten, couplets. Balaam declares that God will never change His mind (as Balak had thought, Numbers 23:13), and that He had bidden him to bless and not curse (Numbers 23:18; Numbers 23:18). Israel is without calamity, and is victorious (Numbers 23:21). God brings him triumphantly from Egypt, and all men must tell of His doings (Numbers 23:22 a,...

DISCOURSE: 173 BALAAM’S SECOND ATTEMPT TO CURSE ISRAEL Numbers 23:18. _And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: 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. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt: he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought?_ THE distinct answers which God

RISE UP, BALAK, AND HEAR, &C.— The repetitions are of the most noble and sublime kind; and this introduction to his discourse, full of fire and grandeur, was truly worthy of a prophet actually charged to pronounce the oracles of a God, in whose presence kings and nations themselves are nothing. Balaam could not demand of Balak an attention full of respect for the oracles of God with more dignity....