Bible Commentaries
Numbers 23

Verses 1-30

The first of Balaam's prophecies was uttered in the midst of strange surroundings.

Sacrifices were offered to heathen gods, while Balaam turned aside to inquire of Jehovah. The result was that we have in his prophesying the first of a series of utterances concerning Israel which are among the most sublime in the whole of Scripture. In this first we have a central declaration, Lo, it is a people that dwell alone.

It constitutes a vision of the nation as separated from others because of the divine attitude toward them. The prophecy ended with a sigh which shows how profound was his conviction of the high privilege of the nation . . . . Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my last end be like his!

Balak now took Balaam to another point of vision. The result was a prophecy which gave yet another view of the people. Of this the central statement is . . . Jehovah his God is with him,

And the shout of a King is among them.

Thus the people were seen as governed and guided by God and therefore victorious. The burden of this second utterance was the certainty that all the purposes of God must be accomplished when God Himself was King in the midst. The reading of this chapter should conclude at verse twenty-six, as the next section leads to that which follows.