The song of Balaam (1): Sing our end!
[Numbers 23:7-10]
Have you thought about your death? What song do you want your family members and guests to sing at your funeral? It is the time given to us that doesn’t come again when it’s gone. So life is not a practice. It is our life that we can't turn it back because we did wrong when we were young. Every day is the last, the end, everything for us. Therefore, it is important to make a good end of time. We need to be good at finishing. The beginning important for a person, but the end is more important. Breaking up is more important than meeting, and dying is more important than birth (Internet).
When we look at Numbers 23:7-10 we can see the first song of Balaam, a prophet. Among the content of the song, this is how he sang in verse 10b: “…And let my end be like his!" Based on this word, I want to meditate on the first song of Balaam under the title “The song of Balaam (1): Sing Our Ends!” and want to receive the lesson that God gives us.
Before we do that, what we should think about first is who Balaam is. According to Numbers 22:5, the Bible says Balaam is “the son of Beol, at Pethor.” His name appears 50 times only in Numbers chapters 22 through 24. In addition to this, his name also appears in the Old Testament Numbers 31:8, 16, Deuteronomy 23:4-5, Joshua 13:22, 24: 9-10, Nehemiah chapter 13 and Micah 6:5. His name also appears in the New Testament in 2 Peter 2:15, Jude 11, and Revelation 2:14 (Wood). Looking at all these Bible verses can be a bit confusing. This is because Balaam looks like a true prophet of God in some Bible passages, and he looks like a false prophet in other Bible passages. For example, when we look at Numbers 22:18, Balak the son of Zippor, a king of Moab (v. 4) saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites (v. 2), and the numerous Israelites (v. 3) camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho (v.1) and Moab was in great fear because of the Israelites (v. 3). So the king of Moab Balak tried to invite Balaam so that Balaam could curse the Israelites for him (v. 6). But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak whom Balak sent to Balaam: “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD my God” (v. 18; 24:13). When we look at this reply of Balaam, he seems like a true prophet who obeyed God’s word. And indeed, Balaam obeys God's word, “… but only the word which I speak to you shall you do” (22:20) and he didn’t curse the Israelites as Balak wanted, but he blessed the Israelites at God's command. But if we look at other Bible passages, we cannot but think that this Balaam prophet is a false prophet. For example, in Numbers 22:7, when the king of Moab Balak tried to invite Balaam by sending the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian to Balaam to curse the Israelites, they departed with “the fees for divination in their hands.” What is “the fees for divination” here? Isn’t it to pay the diviner? Shouldn’t we wonder why those elders took the fees for divination to Balaam? Actually the Bible Joshua 13:22 tells us that in the course of the Israelites entering Canaan and killing the Amorites and Midianites, the Balaam also was killed and the Bible says “Balaam son of Beor, who practiced divination.” Even look at these two passages, Numbers 22:7 and Joshua 13:22, I think it is better suited to say that Balaam was “the diviner”(Josh. 12:22) than a prophet of God. And if we look at the New Testament Bible, we can see that Balaam was not only the diviner but also the one who loved money. Look at 2 Peter 2:15 – “… Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.” Look also at Jude 11 in the New Testament: “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.” From these words we can see that Balaam was the diviner who loved and worked for the wages of unrighteousness. In the midst of that, if we look at Revelation 2:14, we can be sure that Balaam is not a true prophet of God: “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.” I think the name "Balaam" is right for him. His name means "the destruction of the people" (Internet). Look at these facts, don’t you think it is strange and aren’t you wondering how the holy God even used the false prophet and the diviner Balaam to bless the Israelites three times? What is the reason? The reason is recorded in Numbers 22:12b – “… for they are blessed.” What does it mean? It means that because the Israelites were blessed by God, God didn’t allow Balaam, the false prophet and the diviner, to curse the Israelites even though Balak wanted Balaam to do so. Rather, because God loved the Israelites, He didn’t listen to Balaam, but “turned the curse into a blessing” (Deut. 23:5) and “delivered you (the Israelites) from his (Balaam’s) hand” (Josh. 24:10). Why did God bless and deliver the Israelites like this? How did the Israelites become the blessed ones by God? Look at Genesis 12:1-3: “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’” According to the covenant God made to Abraham, God made the Abraham's descendants, the Israelites, to be the blessed people by God. Therefore, God didn’t allow Balaam or anyone to curse the blessed people of God, but rather God changed the curse to bless the Israelites.
After all, the first song of Balaam in Numbers 23:7-10 is, in short, a song about the covenant God blessing the Israelites. I want to think about the content of this song in four ways:
First, the content of the song of Balaam teaches that God changes the curse and blesses His people, the Israelites.
Look at Numbers 23:8 – “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?” Now, many people are not only blaming the churches but even cursing them. How should we react to their accusations and curses? dWhen I think of this question, I remember a time when David was cursed by a man named Shimei as he fled from his son Absalom. When King David came to Bahurim, Shimei came out cursing continually as he came (2 Sam. 16:5, 7-8). “Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, ‘Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over now and cut off his head’” (v. 9). But David said, “What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, and if the LORD has told him, 'Curse David,' then who shall say, 'Why have you done so?' … Behold, my son who came out from me seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him. Perhaps the LORD will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing this day” (vv. 10-12). How precious is this attitude? When we Christians are even cursed by the people of this world, we should humbly listen to their curses, as David did with faith and hope that “the LORD will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing” (v. 12). This is because our God is the God who turns the worldly people’s curse into a blessing for us.
In Numbers 23:7, Balaam took up his discourse and said, “From Aram Balak has brought me, Moab's king from the mountains of the East, 'Come curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!” The reason was because Moab was in great fear of the numerous people of Israel (22:3). So the Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel (v. 3). That was why Balak sent messengers to bring Balaam so that Balaam could curse the Israelites so that Balak might be able to defeat the Israelites and drive them out of the land (v. 6). But what is interesting here is that the king of Moab and the Moabites didn’t have to fear Israel. The reason is because God has already established a policy to prevent Israel from harming Moab (Park). Look at Deuteronomy 2:9 – “Then the LORD said to me, 'Do not harass Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession.” But because Balak didn’t know this, he brought the diviner Balaam in great fear so that Balaam could curse the Israelites in order to drive them out of the land. What did God do to this Balak's plan? What did God do to the Balak's plan to call Balaam and curse the Israelites? Look at Deuteronomy 23:5 – “Nevertheless, the LORD your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the LORD your God loves you.” God didn’t listen to Balaam, but turned the curse into a blessing for Israel. What was the reason? The reason was because God loved Israel.
This is it. God is a God who loves us so He turns the curse into the blessing for us. In other words, no matter how fiercely the people of this world blame and curse the church, God changes them to bless the church. As I meditate on this fact, I remember what Joseph said his brothers: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Gen. 50:20). Joseph, whom God loved and was with, even though he was about to be killed by his brothers, God changed it to good and exalted Joseph in Egypt and saved the lives of Jacob and of his descendants. Look also the book of Esther. Didn’t God deliver His people, the Jews, from their adversary general Haman and change their sorrows into gladness, and their mourning into a holiday? (Est. 9:22) Like this, God is God who turns our sorrows and mourning into joy and gladness. Our God poured out all the wrath that we ought to receive upon Jesus, the only-begotten Son on the cross, and forgave us all our sins. Therefore, the Bible says that we, who are forgiven of our sins and are credited righteousness by God, are the blessed people (Rom. 4:6). Therefore, we have no choice but to sing hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” to God: (v. 1) “Come, Thou Fount of ev'ry blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, Mount of God's unchanging love.”
Second, the content of the song of Balaam teaches that God has distinguished the God’s people Israel from this world.
Look at Numbers 23 9 – “As I see him from the top of the rocks, And I look at him from the hills; Behold, a people who dwells apart, And will not be reckoned among the nations.” When Balaam looked upon the Israelites encamped on the plain of Moab from the top of the rocks where Balak king of Moab took him (22:1), Balaam said, “a people who dwells apart.” Here, the phrase “a people who dwells apart” means that the Israelites who were blessed (v. 12) lived apart from other nations but were safe and secured in the future (Cole). That’s why Balaam said they “will not be reckoned among the nations” (23:9). What is the reason? The reason is that the Israelites are the God's distinct people. The children of Israel are the special nation of God who believe and trust only God who loves them and chose them. Look at Deuteronomy 26:18-19: “The LORD has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments; and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the LORD your God, as He has spoken.” What does it mean? It means that the Israelites are God's precious people. Also, the Bible says that they are “a people holy to the Lord”, that is God’s holy people (14:2). In the second song of Moses, Moses and the Israelites sang “For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance” (32:9). What does it mean? It means that because God loved the Israelites He chose them and made them His people, found them in the desert, encircled them, cared for them and guarded them as the pupil of His eye (v. 10).
Likewise, God is now protecting and guarding us whom He bought with precious blood of Jesus Christ, whom He forgave our sins and called us righteous, without sleeping or slumbering (Ps. 121). Also, He who loves us and has saved the chosen people of God and made us His holy children is interceding for us who are separated. Look at John 17:9 – “"I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours.” The Bible says that Jesus' intercession is certainly not for this world but for those whom God have given to Jesus out of the world (v. 6). Who are the people set apart from the world? Who are those people given to Jesus out of this world? It is the church that was bought with the blood of Jesus. It is the church blessed by God and the saints whom God has made God's holy people apart from the world. Therefore, we can sing the hymn “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken” verse 3: “Savior, if of Zion's city I though grace a member am, Let the world deride or pity, I will glory in that name. Fading is the worldlings pleasure, All his vaunted pomp and show; Solid joys and lasting treasure Only Zion's children know. Amen.”
Third, the content of the song of Balaam teaches that God made His people Israel like dust in the earth.
Look at Numbers 23:10a: “Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? …” The word “count the dust of Jacob” is an Eastern hyperbole that indicates that Jacob's descendants represent an enormous population (MacArthur). Of those large populations, Balaam saw only one quarter of Israel's population. The reason was because when the Israelites were encamped on the plains of Moab, they were encamped in four parts, centered on the tabernacle (Num. 2), so Balaam only saw the Israelites who were in one of those four camps (Park). Nevertheless, when Balaam said who could count numerous people of Israel, who was like the dust of Jacob, it means that if he couldn’t count the one-fourth of Israel's population, then he certainly couldn’t count the total number of the Israelites’ population. This is the fulfillment of the word of promise given to the first Adam by the covenant God. Look at Genesis 13:16 – “I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.” What does it mean? It means that if a man can count the dust of the earth, the Israelites who are God's descendants can also be counted. But as we know dust can’t counted. In other words, God promised to make the Israelites so numerous that they couldn’t be counted as they couldn’t count the dust. In fulfilling this word of God, in Exodus 1:12, the more the Israelites afflicted, the more they multiplied and more they spread out. So in Exodus 1:7 the Bible says, “But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.” How amazing is the work of the covenant God? God, who fulfilled His promise, multiplied and spread out the children of Israel in the midst of affliction, despite the death of Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation (v. 6). In Numbers 23, Balaam saw in part how this word of God's promise was fulfilled. And he sang “Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel?” (Num. 23:10a). As I meditated on this Balaam song, I remembered the gospel song “As The Water Cover The Sea”: “God would not break, Until all the nations of the world will be saved. Now, Embracing the heart of the Lord, and Let's get up to follow the Lord! God calls us all the time. Because all the people of the world to be able to see the glory of the Lord. So Lord!.. Let me serve the Lord, while Heaing the world, For the use of the Lord's hands and feet. For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea! As the waters cover the sea, As the waters cover the sea! On that day, All the nations will see that The glory of the Lord filled the world! And we will be heard! what A shout of victory filled the whole world!” Can you imagine that on the day when the Lord comes back to the earth, all God’s people who are spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south (Gen. 28:14) gather together and sing the song of Moses, the song of the Lamb before the throne of God as we all see and acknowledge the glory of God?
Fourth and last, the content of the song of Balaam is that Balaam wanted the death (the end) of the upright like the blessed people of God, the Israelites.
Look at Numbers 23:10b – “… Let me die the death of the upright, And let my end be like his!” The Israelites who were encamped in the plains of Moab (22:1) dwelled apart (23:9). And when Balak, king of Moab, saw them, they covered the surface of the land (22:5). Balaam saw only the fourth part of Israel who couldn’t be counted like the dust (23:10) and knew that they were blessed people of God (22:12). So he wanted to be one of those blessed people of God like the Israelites. In addition, Balaam wanted his descendants to be blessed by God like the Israelites and to enjoy safety and peace (Cole). That was why he sang, “Let me die the death of the upright, And let my end be like his!” (23:10) But in Number 25, Balaam advised the Moab leaders to overthrow Israel by idolatry and fornication. As a result, the Israelites played the harlot with the Moabite women, and they further worshiped the idol of Baal in the place of Baal of Peor (25:1-2) (Cole). That is why Apostle John said in Revelation 2:14, “… Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.” Although Balaam the son of Beor saw the blessed Israelites and wanted to die, to end like them (Num. 23:9-10), he caused the Israelites to play the harlot with the Moabite women and to trespass against the Lord by committing the sin of idolatry (31:16). As a result, he was killed with the five kings of Midian (v. 8). Although Balaam wanted his end to be like the death of the upright (23:10), he caused the Israelites to forsake the right way and to go astray because he loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Pet. 2:25).
What kind of death do you want to face? How do you want to end your life? Don’t we all want to end like the end of the upright? Then we, who are justified by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ by the love and grace of God, must not walk in the path of Balaam, the son of Beor (v. 15). We must not rush for profit into Balaam’s error (Jud. 11). Like Balaam, we say with our lips, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD my God” (Num. 22:18; 24:13) our hearts love the wages of unrighteousness (2 Pet. 2:15). If we love the Lord only with our lips and if our hearts love the wages of unrighteousness, then we will not only destroy ourselves like Balaam, but our families and even our churches. Therefore, we must walk the right path of Calvary which Jesus walked and not the crooked path of Balaam. Although we must deny ourselves and bear our own cross in walking the right path of the cross of Jesus Christ and pass through the rugged and even the gloomy valley of death, we must walk faithfully along the way as we think about our Lord Jesus Christ who loves us and died on the cross to forgive our sins and to give us eternal life. Therefore, I hope and pray that we may be able to praise the hymn “More Love to Thee, O Christ” verse 3 to God: “Then shall my latest breath Whisper Thy praise; This be the parting cry My heart shall raise. This still its prayer shall be: More love, O Christ, to Thee, More love to Thee, More love to Thee! A-men.”
Longing to praise God until I die,
Pastor James Kim