And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.
3 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:
4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!
6 As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.
7 He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.
8 God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.
9 He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.
10 And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.
11 Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour.
12 And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying,
13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I speak?
14 And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.
15 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:
16 He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
18 And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.
19 Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.
20 And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.
21 And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock.
22 Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.
23 And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!
24 And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.
25 And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way. Numbers 24 KJV
Balaam has now set aside the show, and found it useless to practice his craft, this God is not moved. He is still self promoting though, throwing out several descriptions of himself, the man whose eyes were open, who heard and who saw. Though he blesses Israel with his mouth, in his heart, Balaam is not for God's people. Later in Numbers we see the fruit of his other counsels with Moab. He is forced to bless the people, for God is not cursing them, but of his own private counsel he convinces Moab of the seduction of Israel to idolatry by way of lust. This is also made clear in Revelation 2:14: Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. All men share this weakness and it is natural to want to fit in, to be liked, to be drawn to women, but God's law is that thou shalt have no other gods before me, but men are like sheep. It is like the serpent in the garden though, you (the serpent) shall bruise his heel, but He (Christ) shall crush your head. Though victory is assured, those who care not for God nor delight in the things and people of God, will always try to draw them away, to water down the message, to do that which God despises.
In verse 17, Balaam, gives a Messianic prophecy, some of which is fulfilled with David in the defeat of Moab, but points to Christ in complete fulfillment as the Star out of Jacob. "I shall see him, but not now, I shall behold him but not nigh." These were things seen afar off, and maybe of a comfort to Balak was that they would not occur in his time. It is sad though for the part of Balaam, that he could know of God and yet not love God. He still just wanted to get paid and like Esaw selling his birthright for a bowl of beans, Balaam sought the table of the king, the riches and pleasures of this world, dust.
Balaam has now set aside the show, and found it useless to practice his craft, this God is not moved. He is still self promoting though, throwing out several descriptions of himself, the man whose eyes were open, who heard and who saw. Though he blesses Israel with his mouth, in his heart, Balaam is not for God's people. Later in Numbers we see the fruit of his other counsels with Moab. He is forced to bless the people, for God is not cursing them, but of his own private counsel he convinces Moab of the seduction of Israel to idolatry by way of lust. This is also made clear in Revelation 2:14: Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. All men share this weakness and it is natural to want to fit in, to be liked, to be drawn to women, but God's law is that thou shalt have no other gods before me, but men are like sheep. It is like the serpent in the garden though, you (the serpent) shall bruise his heel, but He (Christ) shall crush your head. Though victory is assured, those who care not for God nor delight in the things and people of God, will always try to draw them away, to water down the message, to do that which God despises.
In verse 17, Balaam, gives a Messianic prophecy, some of which is fulfilled with David in the defeat of Moab, but points to Christ in complete fulfillment as the Star out of Jacob. "I shall see him, but not now, I shall behold him but not nigh." These were things seen afar off, and maybe of a comfort to Balak was that they would not occur in his time. It is sad though for the part of Balaam, that he could know of God and yet not love God. He still just wanted to get paid and like Esaw selling his birthright for a bowl of beans, Balaam sought the table of the king, the riches and pleasures of this world, dust.
But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimonyfor the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the brightMorning Star.” 17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.…Revelation 22:15 - 17
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’[b]”Matthew 2:1-6
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