When Moses and the children of Israel sang their song of triumph on the shores of the Red Sea, they said: “the peoples shall hear and be afraid... the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them... fear and dread shall fall upon them” (Ex. 15:14-16). This was fulfilled to the letter when the King of Moab and his people beheld Jehovah's pilgrim host encamped upon their frontiers forty years later. There were in the camp of Israel 601,730 men able to carry arms; with women and children there were probably at least three million souls, admittedly a vast company. Balak was alarmed; the more so because Israel had recently destroyed three military Powers which had ventured to oppose their march. The King of Arad had gone down; likewise Sihon, King of Heshbon, and Og, King of Bashan (Num. 21). Sihon had some time previously waged a successful war with Moab, and had annexed some of her territory; how then could Balak hope to stand up against a nation which had destroyed his powerful neighbor? When men are in trouble, the proper thing is to turn to God in prayer. He is as truly interested in the affairs of nations as in the difficulties and sorrows of individual men and women; but Balak knew nothing of God. If the rulers of our own time would humbly spread out their troubles before God, much grief and destruction would be spared. Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah are two fine examples of kings turning humbly to God in moments of national peril (2 Chron. 20:2 Kings 6).
In reality Balak had nothing to fear. Jehovah had already said to Moses: “Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give thee of their land in possession” (Deut. 2:9). Jehovah had in view a better portion for Israel than the land of Moab. Moab typifies the comfortable, self-satisfied man of the world— “at ease from his youth, settled on his lees” (Jer. 48:11), proud and arrogant in consequence (Isa. 16:6). God's saints today need not envy such, for they have a better and more enduring portion. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). Asaph, when he got out of communion with God, did envy the prosperity of the wicked; when he went into the sanctuary, and contemplated things there with God, he recovered his spiritual equilibrium (Psa. 73).
Knowing nothing of God, Balaam hastened to form alliances with Midian and Ammon (Num. 22:4; Deut. 23:3-4). Not being satisfied that military power would suffice to withstand the conquerors of Sihon and Og, he sent messengers to a noted soothsayer—Balaam the son of Beor, living in Mesopotamia. Israel's victories were already being attributed by outsiders to divine power. Thus Rehab said to the spies: “We have heard how Jehovah dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt, and what ye did to the two Kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things our hearts did melt” (Josh. 2:10-11). In sending for Balaam, Balak sought to oppose the supernatural by the supernatural. The Mesopotamian prophet was reputed to have influence with the invisible world “I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed...Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people” (Num. 22:6).
This complex character had some knowledge of God—alas, no heart knowledge! He brought the name of the one true God into his nefarious practices in order to give them an air of respectability. Also, many persons would be more easily duped by his use of the name of God. Balaam was what is now called a “Spiritualist.” A very misleading name really; “Spiritist” or “Demonist” would be more correct. Modern Spiritualists seem to be divided into two classes: there are those who leave God quite out of their pretensions (which is at least honest); and there are also those who call themselves “Christian Spiritualists.” The latter class are particularly dangerous; for these are not Bible-reading days, and many souls are easily led astray by the use of the word “Christian.” In quite a number of cases the clergy tamper with this great evil and even recommend it as a useful adjunct to “preaching.” The truth is, there is no possible connection between Christianity and Spiritualism. God in His word—notably in Deuteronomy 18:9-14—unsparingly condemns this iniquity in all its forms. It is apostasy—a turning away from God and His revealed truth. It is intercourse with demons, ruinous to all who practice it. The land of Canaan was full of this when the hosts of Israel marched in, and they were divinely charged to utterly exterminate it. Indeed, the prevalence of this particular evil was one of the principal reasons why the holy and righteous God could tolerate the seven Canaanitish nations no longer.