Numbers 23:19

_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...

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...

Verse Numbers 23:19. _GOD_ IS _NOT A MAN, THAT HE SHOULD LIE_] This seems to be spoken to correct the foregoing supposition of Balak that God could change his mind. Even the heathen would not allow that their supreme god could be caught in a falsity. Hence AESCHYLUS, in _Prometh. vinct_. 1068: - Ψευδηγορειν γαρ ουκ επισταται στομα Το Διον, αλλα παν επος τελει. "The mouth of Jove knows not to frame a lie; But every word finds full accomplishment....

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

GOD IS NOT A MAN, THAT HE SHOULD LIE,.... Man is a creature consisting of a body of flesh and blood, and of a soul, a created and finite spirit; but God, though he has the parts of an human body ascribed to him in a figurative sense, yet is not to be conceived of in a corporeal manner; and though he is a Spirit, yet eternal, immense, and infinite; and much less is as a sinful man, who goes astray from the womb speaking lies; no, let God be true, and every man a liar: he is God, that cannot lie; his counsels of old are faithfulness and truth; his promises yea and amen in Christ; the Scriptures inspired by him are true, and the prophecies of them are punctually accomplished, particularly what he foretold of the people of Israel, and promised unto them; that they should be happy, and inherit the land of Canaan; that be would be true and faithful to them, and there could be no hope, by any m...

REPENT (_ See Scofield) - (Zechariah 8:14). _...

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

HATH HE SAID. Figure of speech _Erotesis._ App-6....

_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,...