Page 95 - Pentateuch

In a series of prophecies, Balaam does this very thing. King Balak wants him to
curse Israel. Balaam blesses instead. “How can I curse those whom God has not
cursed (23:8)?” Again, “I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I
cannot change it” (23:20). Again, he speaks, “the prophecy of one who hears the
words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty (24:4).” He loses the promised
fee for coming (24:13) yet speaks once again in a series of messages with a core
prophecy of the coming Messiah. “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not
near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush
Fig. 68: Sirius star the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the people of Sheth (24:17).” This is not
what the king wants to hear.

The prophecy of the Messiah picks up several phrases from previous Messianic passages. In the oracles of
Balaam… we find the central messianic themes of the Pentateuch restated and expanded. 109 A crouching
lioness (24:9; Gen. 49:9) and a scepter (24:17; Gen. 49:10) were used by Jacob. Cursing and blessing (24:9;
Gen. 12:3) reflect God’s promise to Abraham. Crushing foreheads (24:17; Gen. 3:15) picks up God’s
language to Satan, Adam, and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

The incident is not complete, although three chapters have been used to describe the events. While King
Balak cannot curse Israel through this prophet, he can get Israel to bring destruction on itself. Moab’s
religion is more interesting than that of Israel. As with most of the nations in the area, Moab used sex in
their worship, wanting to encourage the gods and goddesses to give them crops, animals, and children. The
pleasures were more than Israel could resist. Sexual immorality led them to worship other gods (25:1-3).

God pronounced judgment, and the nation gathered at the entrance of the tabernacle, weeping. A plague
had already begun that would eventually kill 24,000 people (25:9). While all this was taking place, an
Israelite man brought a woman into the camp. Some confusion exists about the nature of their sin. They
enter a “tent.” Is it the tabernacle in imitation of the worship of Moab? A different word is used for “tent”
than “tent of meeting,” one that is used only here in the OT. Is Moses hesitant to use “tabernacle” as the
place of their profanity? They are seen by Moses and everyone else who has gathered at the tabernacle.
They are killed, a spear driven through both the man's and the woman’s stomachs. Are they engaging in
sex, again following the worship dictates of the other nations (25:8)? The plague is stopped, and the
spearman is rewarded by God (25:13).

Now things have changed. It is as if the old generation is dead, for a new census is taken of people twenty
years and older (Ch. 26). People have questions about inheritance laws once they reach the Promised Land
(27:1-11). Joshua is appointed as the successor of Moses, anticipating the last death of the previous
generation (27:12-23). God continues to give instructions about life with him. He outlines sacrifices and
festivals (Ch. 28, 29). Atonement for sin will be a regular need for the people, even for the new generation
(28:22, 30; 29:5, 11). Instructions continue about vows, especially in their connections between a woman
and her father or husband. These things are not to be taken lightly before Yahweh (Ch. 30).

Events proceed rapidly. Midian is destroyed (Ch. 31). Yet old temptations surface in this complete victory.
The men want to spare the captive women, the very ones who tempted Israel to worship a different god
with very different practices. Only the young women can be spared (31:16). The spoils are divided, and a
certain amount is presented to the Lord at the tent of meeting to atone for all this contact with death
(31:50).

109 Sailhammer, Pentateuch, 408
93