Balaam's First Prophecies (Numbers 23)

Though he was hired to curse Israel, what was Balaam forced to do? Can even a bad prophet be used by God to tell the truth? Do we take God’s word at face value or look for excuses to change God’s mind? Let’s look at Numbers 23.

What did Balaam request so that God would perhaps give him a word?

And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. (Numbers 23:1-6 ESV)

Balaam’s 1st Prophecy

What was Balaam’s first message to Balak the king of Moab?

Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak brought me from Aram; the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains: “Come, put a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel!” How can I curse someone God has not cursed? How can I denounce someone the Lord has not denounced? I see them from the top of rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. There is a people living alone; it does not consider itself among the nations. Who has counted the dust of Jacob or numbered the dust clouds of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright; let the end of my life be like theirs. (Numbers 23:7-10 HCSB)

What was Balak’s response to what Balaam had said?

“What are you doing to me?” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, not pronounce a blessing!” But in response, Balaam asked, “Shouldn’t I be careful to communicate only what the Lord puts in my mouth?” (Numbers 23:11-12 ISV)

Dissatisfied, did Balak request a second word from the Lord?

And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar. And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the Lord yonder. And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus. And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the Lord spoken? (Numbers 23:13-17 KJV)

Balaam’s 2nd Prophecy

What was Balaam’s second message to Balak the king of Moab?

Then he took up his discourse and said, “Arise, O Balak, and hear; Give ear to me, O son of Zippor! God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not establish it? Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it. He has not observed misfortune in Jacob; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; Yahweh his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them. God brings them out of Egypt, He is for them like the horns of the wild ox. For there is no omen against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel; At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what God has done! Behold, a people rises like a lioness, And as a lion it lifts itself; It will not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain.” (Numbers 23:18-24 LSB)

Dissatisfied again, did Balak make yet a third request to curse Israel?

Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘Whatever the Lord speaks, I must do’?” Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there.” So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert. And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. (Numbers 23:25-30 NASB)