7. Balaam the Prophet of Yahweh: Num 22-24, 25 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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7. Balaam the Prophet of Yahweh: Num 22-24, 25

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Is the Balaam Story Over? ... Num 25.1-5: Moabite Seduction ' ... The story of Balaam teaches that 'prophets' do not have 'authority' or powers ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: 7. Balaam the Prophet of Yahweh: Num 22-24, 25


1
7. Balaam the Prophet of Yahweh Num 22-24, 25
  • BOT640/BHE640 Exegesis of Numbers

2
Why study about Balaam?
  • The complexity of Numbers 22-24, 25 and its
    characterization of Balaam? Is he a sinner or
    a saint?
  • Balaam is referred to throughout the Old and the
    New Testaments!
  • There is even a 6th century B.C. Aramaic
    Inscription referring to Balaam the seer and his
    prophecies.

3
Understanding Balaam in Textual Context
  • Numbers 1.1-10.10 The Organization of Sanctuary
    Campaign
  • Numbers 10.11-36.13 The Wilderness Campaign
  • 10.11-14.45 The Failed Campaign
  • 15.1-20.29 The Punishment - 1st Generation
  • 21.1-36.13 The Forgiveness 2nd Generation

4
Balaams Thematic Context
  • Gods blessing of Abraham (Gen 12.1-3) and his
    descendents (Lev 9.22-24 Num 6.22-27)
  • The importance of prophecy (Num 11.29) and its
    limitations (Num 12.6-8)
  • Leadership God and Kings (Exod 15.3, 18 Deut
    17.14-20)

5
Geographic Context
  • Num 22.1 Then the Israelites traveled to the
    plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across
    from Jericho.

6
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7
From Mt. Nebo
8
The Problem 22.2-6
  • Balak son of Zippor who was king of Moab was
    afraid of the Israelites because
  • of what they had done to the Amorites (22.3
    21.21-32)
  • the Israelites were so numerous (22.3-4 see Num
    26)
  • of Balaks expansionistic intentions around
    us (22.4), settle next to me (22.5) he
    already was ruling over the Midianites!
  • Therefore Balak wanted Balaam, a renown seer, to
    curse the Israelites so that they would be
    weakened enough for him to defeat (22.6)

9
Blessing Cursing
  • Since Yahweh is the source of all good and evil
    (Isa 45.5-7 Job 12.13-25), from a biblical view,
    therefore, no blessing or curse can become
    operative without the assent of God.
  • Curses that were overturned Micah (Judg 17.1-3)
    Jonathan's (1 Sam 14).

10
Blessing Cursing
  • Rituals of blessing involve laying on of hands
    (Gen 48.14) or the ritual sharing of food drink
    (Gen 14.18-20).
  • Rituals of cursing include throwing stone dust
    in 2 Sam 16.5-14, drinking of curse water (Num
    5.19-28), smashing pottery (Jer 19.1-13). The
    oath swearing ritual of cutting animals, etc.
    (Gen 15.9-10). N.B Deut 27!

11
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12
The Elders From Moab Midian Sent 22.7-14
  • 22.7 - divination fee in their hands? 1 Sam
    91-26
  • 22.8 . . . stay here tonight, and I will bring
    back word to you, just as Yahweh speaks to me
    (Num 12.6-8)
  • 22.12 You shall not go with them you shall not
    curse the people, for they are blessed. (Num
    6.24-26)

13
Prophets Priest
  • Prophet
  • 1. Called
  • 2. Messenger of Yahweh
  • 3. Intercession
  • 4. Worker of Miracles
  • 5. Anointer of Kings Political leaders
  • Priest
  • 1. Hereditary
  • 2. Cult functionary sacrifices, praise,
    atoning, etc.
  • 3. Teach the Torah
  • 4. Blessings

14
The Moabite Dignitaries Sent 22.15-20
  • 22.15 more numerous and more distinguished
    dignitaries sent
  • 22.18 Although Balak were to give me his house
    full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond
    the command of Yahweh my God, to do less or more
    . . . .
  • 22.20 If the men have come to summon you, get
    up and go with them but do only what I tell you
    to do.

15
Balaam Sent to Balak 22.21-40
  • 22.21 The Journey being like Abrahams journey
    in Gen 22.
  • 22.22 Gods anger was kindled because he was
    going, and the angel of Yahweh took his stand in
    the road as his adversary.

16
Balaam Sent to Balak 22.21-40
  • 22.23 The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh
    standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his
    hand, so the donkey turned off the road . . . and
    Balaam struck the donkey . . . . (Judg 5.13-15

17
Balaam Sent to Balak 22.21-40
  • 22.24-25 Then the angel of Yahweh stood in a
    narrow path . . . . When the donkey saw . . . so
    he struck him.

18
Balaam Sent to Balak 22.21-40
  • 22.26-27 Then the angel . . . Went ahead . . .
    When the donkey saw . . . it lay down . . .
    Balaams anger was kindled, and he struck the
    donkey with his staff.

19
Balaam Sent to Balak 22.21-40
  • 22.28 Then Yahweh opened the mouth of the
    donkey . . . What have I done to you, that you
    have struck me these three times?
  • 22.29 Because you have made a fool of me! I wish
    I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right
    now.

20
Balaam Sent to Balak 22.21-40
  • 22.30 Am I not your donkey, which you have
    ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in
    the habit of treating you this way?
  • Balaam said, No.

21
Balaam Sent to Balak 22.21-40
  • 22.31 Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam and
    he saw the angel of Yahweh . . . .
  • 22.32 Why have you struck your donkey these
    three times?
  • 22.34 I have sinned, for I did not know that
    you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now
    therefore, if it is displeasing to you, I will
    return home.
  • 22.35 Go with the men but speak only what I
    tell you to speak.

22
Balaam Sent to Balak 22.21-41
  • 22.36 Balak meets Balaam
  • 22.38 I have come to you now, but do I have
    power to say just anything? The word God puts in
    my mouth that is what I must say.
  • 22.39-41 Sacrificing at Bamoth-Baal

23
Balaam, Balak Yahweh
  • Numbers 23-24

24
Review of Numbers 22
  • Balak, a Moabite king, is afraid of the
    Israelites who are encamped nearby.

25
Review of Numbers 22
  • Balak hires Balaam, a prophet of Yahweh to curse
    the Israelites, but Balaam clarifies that, the
    word God puts in my mouth that is what I must
    say. (22.38b)

26
Review of Numbers 22
  • On the way to meet Balak, Balaams Donkey avoids
    an angel of Yahweh three times and even speaks to
    Balaam. Balaam is allowed to proceed after being
    warned Go with the men but speak only what I
    tell you to speak. (22.35b)

27
A Talking Donkey Why?
  • To emphasize that Balaam was not to speak or do
    anything that Yahweh had not commanded.
    (Sakenfeld)
  • The donkey (chp. 22) depicts Balaam (chps.
    23-24), while Balaam (chp. 22) depicts Balak
    (chps. 23-24) (Alter)
  • The three times of chp. 22 sets the stage for
    the first three oracles/blessings, (23.7-10
    23.18-24 24.3-9), while four curses round out
    the narrative (24.15-19, 20, 21-22, 23-24).

28
Balaams 1st Oracle 22.41-23.12
  • . . . Bamoth-Baal . . . and from there he could
    see part of the people of Israel.
  • Seven altars with seven bulls and seven rams
  • Stay here beside your burnt offerings while I go
    aside. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me.
    Whatever he shows me I will tell you.

29
Balaams 1st Oracle 23.7-10
  • How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can
    I denounce those whom Yahweh has not denounced?
  • . . . I see . . . Here is a people living alone,
    and not reckoning itself among the nations!
  • Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the
    dust-clouds of Israel
  • Let me die the death of the upright, and let my
    end be like his.

30
God and the Patriarchs
  • The God of the Fathers
  • Site-less
  • Personal
  • The God who Blesses
  • The God who Promises
  • The Promises
  • A Son to Abram/Abraham Progeny to Isaac and
    Jacob (see also Exod 1.7)
  • To be with them Primarily Jacob (Gen 28.10-22)
  • Land

31
Balaams 2nd Oracle 23.13-25
  • see only part . . . Field of Zophim, to the top
    of Pisgah
  • Seven altars with seven bulls and seven rams

32
Balaams 2nd Oracle 23.18-24
  • God is not a human being, that he should lie, or
    a mortal, that he should change his mind. Has he
    promised, and will he not do it? Has he spoken,
    and will he not fulfill it?
  • I have received a command to bless he has
    blessed, and I cannot revoke it.

33
Numbers 622-27
  • The LORD said to Moses,
  • Tell Aaron and his sons, This is how you are to
    bless the Israelites. Say to them
  • The LORD bless you and keep you
  • the LORD make his face shine upon you and be
    gracious to you
  • the LORD turn his face toward you and give you
    peace.
  • So they will put my name on the Israelites, and
    I will bless them.

34
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35
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36
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37
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38
Balaams 2nd Oracle 23.18-24
  • The Lord their God is with them, acclaimed as a
    king among them, God, who brings them out of
    Egypt, is like the horns of a wild ox for them.
  • Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob,
    nor divination against Israel . . . .
  • A people rising up like a lioness, and rousing
    itself like a lion! It does not lie down until it
    has eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the
    slain

39
Balaams 3th Oracle 23.27-24.9
  • . . . top of Peor which overlooks the
    wasteland.
  • Now Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless
    Israel, so he did not go, as at other times, to
    look for omens, but set his face toward the
    wilderness.

40
Balaams 3th Oracle 24.3-9
  • The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of
    the man whose eye is clear, the oracle of one who
    hears the words of God, who sees the vision of
    the Almighty, who falls down, but with eyes
    uncovered . . . .
  • Shaddai (48 X n.b. Exod 6.2-3 Ruth 1.20-21)
  • God as Protector and Refuge
  • God as the One who Blesses

41
Balaams 3th Oracle 24.3-9
  • How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your
    encampments, O Israel! Like palm groves that
    stretch far away, like gardens beside a river,
    like aloes that the LORD has planted, like cedar
    trees beside the waters. Water shall flow from
    his buckets, and his seed shall have abundant
    water, his king shall be higher than Agag, and
    his kingdom shall be exalted.
  • Blessed is everyone who blesses you and cursed
    is everyone who curses you. (Gen 12.1-7)

42
Balaams 4th Oracle 24.10-25
  • "Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to
    me, 'If Balak should give me his house full of
    silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond
    the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of
    my own will what the LORD says, that is what I
    will say'? So now, I am going to my people let
    me advise you what this people will do to your
    people in days to come."

43
Balaams 4th Oracle 24.10-25
  • 24.15-19 Against Moab Edom
  • 24.20 Against Amalek
  • 24.21-22 Against Kenite
  • 24.23-24 Against Asshur Eber

44
Putting it all together
  • God is mentioned by name 51 times in Numbers
    22-24 (Yahweh 29X Elohim 11X El 8X
    Shaddai 2X Elyon -1X)
  • None can curse those whom God has blessed!
  • Does that mean that we are eternally secure? .
    . . . To be continued in Numbers 25

45
What A Curse Could Not Do
  • Numbers 25

46
Numbers 22-24 A Review
  • Balaam was a prophet of Yahweh that was forbidden
    to say or do anything that God had not instructed
    him.
  • Balaam blesses Israel three times and curses
    Israels opponents, while clearly teaching that
    Gods people are protected from supernatural
    curses of all kinds.

47
Is the Balaam Story Over?
  • Num 24.25 Then Balaam arose and departed and
    returned to his place, and Balak also went his
    way.
  • Num 31.16 Yet they are the very ones who, at
    the bidding of Balaam, induced the Israelites to
    trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, so
    that Yahwehs community was struck by the plague.

48
Num 25.1-5 Moabite Seduction
  • While Israel remained at Shittim, the people
    began to play the harlot with the daughters of
    Moab. For they invited the people to the
    sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and
    bowed down to their gods.
  • 1. Sexual Immorality which led to . . .
  • 2. Spiritual Apostasy

49
Kemosh/Chemosh
  • Moabite Stela
  • In the Bible Num 2129 Judg 1124 1 Kgs 117
    1133 2 Kgs 2313 Jer 487, 13, 46
  • N.B. their gods

50
Baal of Peor
  • So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and
    Yahweh was angry against Israel . . . . Each of
    you slay his men who have joined themselves to
    Baal of Peor.

51
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52
Ugarit Baal
53
Ugarit
54
A Pantheon of Gods
55
Clay Tablets at Ugarit
56
Baal at Ugarit
57
Num 25.6-9 Cozbi, Zimri, Phinehas, and the Plague
  • Num 25.6 Just then one of the Israelites came
    and brought a Midianite woman into (or to) his
    family (lit. his brothers), in the sight of
    Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation
    of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the
    entrance of the tent of meeting.
  • Num 25.7 When Phinehas, son of Eleazar son of
    Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the assembly
    and, taking a spear in his hand, . . . .

58
Num 25.6-9 Cozbi, Zimri, Phinehas, and the Plague
  • Num 25.8 he followed the Israelite into the
    chamber (from qubbah) and stabbed both of them,
    the Israelite and the woman, through the belly
    (qobatah). Then the plague against the Israelites
    was checked.
  • Zimri (24.14) son of Salu, chieftain of an
    ancestral house belonging to Simeon.
  • Cozbi (25.15, 18) daughter of Zur, tribal head
    of an ancestral house in Midian.

59
Num 25.10-13 Phinehas
  • Phinehas . . . has turned back My wrath from the
    Israelites by displaying among them his passion
    for Me, so that I did not wipe out the Israelite
    people in My passion.
  • Zeal for Yahweh
  • grant him my covenant of Shalom
  • a covenant of perpetual priesthood

60
Applications
  • Although a supernatural curse was ineffective,
    being seduced and worshiping foreign deities
    weakened the Israelites.
  • This means that they were secure, until they
    left their covenant loyalty to Yahweh.
  • Apostasy, back sliding, turning away from God
    is a reality . . . . It is the real problem!

61
Correctives
  • Spiritual Warfare, Territorial Spirits (sic),
    over emphasis on Angels Demons, prophetic
    authority are a few teachings have rocked the
    Charismatic/Pentecostal world.
  • They are distortions of Biblical truths.
  • Some of these distortions are partially dealt
    with in Num 22-25.

62
Spiritual Warfare
  • Biblically and Church Historically, spiritual
    warfare deals with sanctification and the
    perseverance of the saints and not evangelism.
  • See for example 2 Cor 10.3-6 For though we walk
    in the flesh, we do not war according to the
    flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of
    the flesh, but divinely powerful for the
    destruction of fortresses. We are destroying
    speculations and every lofty thing raised up
    against the knowledge of God, and we are taking
    every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
    and we are ready to punish all disobedience,
    whenever your obedience is complete.
  • The celestial and the terrestrial are as a rule
    kept apart.

63
Territorial Spirits (sic)
  • The Old Testament deals extensively with people
    sinning, repenting, being judged, being forgiven,
    etc.
  • The New Testament (Gospels) deals with demon/s
    that must be dealt with as they afflict
    individuals.
  • The New Testament refers to the fact that an
    demonic/angelic hierarchy exists, but they are
    powerless to separate a believer from the love of
    Christ.
  • In fact the word Territorial Spirits does not
    exist in the Bible at all.

64
Prophetic Authority
  • The story of Balaam teaches that prophets do
    not have authority or powers outside of Gods
    authority.
  • The theme of the limits of prophetic power and
    authority is continued from Numbers 12.
  • Prophecy is should not be explained as
    predestined, deterministic, or unalterable.
    Human response is a key.
  • Balaam is ultimately judged for his advice that
    lead to Israels apostasy at Peor!
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