UM 22-25{Mamma. Now when the children of Israel had destroyed Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan, they pitched their tents in the plains of Moab, which were close to the river Jordan, and Canaan was on the other side of Jordan. But there were enemies on every side. The people of Moab were› greatly distressed at the sight of this great, people, conquering all before them, and they knew that there was a mighty God among them, whose hand was stretched out for them, full of blessing and power; so the king of Moab thought of a plan to injure the children of Israel, be-cause he knew that he could not conquer them.
Sophy. What did the king of Moab do to Israel?
M. He sent for a man called Balaam; he was a false prophet, who knew all that God had done for Israel, and the king of Moab sent him a message and said: “There is a people come out of Egypt, they are so many that they cover the earth, and are too strong for me to fight against, so I want you to come and curse them for me, and then perhaps I shall be able to destroy them." And the messengers took presents in their hands to reward Balaam for cursing God's people; and Balaam received the messengers of the king of Moab, and told them to stay with him that night and he would ask the Lord about it. And that night God came to Balaam and raid: You must not go with these men, and you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed. So he sent the men away next morning. But the king sent again, more honorable princes, who made great promises to Balaam of all the honors the king would give him if he would come and curse the people. But Balaam said: If the king would give me his house full of silver and gold, I must obey the word of the Lord my God. But stay here to-night, and I will see what more the Lord will say to me. And God came to him that night and told him if the men came to call him he right go with them, but that he must only say what He told him.
S. Why did God tell Balaam to go with the men?
M. Because he was not content with God's word, when He said: You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed. He wanted God to say more to him, so God said: If they call you, go. Balaam wanted to go; he wished for the king's gold and silver, and he did not care whether God's people were cursed or not. So he got up in the morning and saddled his ass and went with the princes of Moab, And God was angry with Balaam for going, and He sent His angel to stand in the way; and the ass that Balaam was riding saw the angel, with a sword drawn in his hand, and the ass turned out of the way and went into a field; and Balaam was angry, and he beat the ass and triad to make her go into the road again; but the angel stood in the path, and there was a wall on each side, and when the ass saw the angel; she thrust herself against the wall and hurt Balaam's foot, and he beat her again. But the angel stood in a still narrower park where there was no way to escape, and the ass fell down under Balaam, which made him very angry, and he beat the poor ass again. But the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and gave her power to speak, and she said to Balaam: What have I done to you, that you have beaten me there three times? And he answered: Because you mocked me. I wish I had a sword in my hand to kill you. And the ass said: Am I not your ass, upon which you have ridden ever since I was yours to this day; did I ever do this to you before? And he said: No. Then the Lord opened his eyes, and he saw the angel standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand: and Balaam bowed his head, and fell flat on his face. And the angel of the Lord raid: Why have you beaten your ass three times? I went out to meet you, because I see your self-will. That poor ass has more wisdom than you have, for she saw me and turned back three times: and if she had not turned from me, I would have killed you, and saved the ass alive. And Balaam said: I have sinned; for I did not know you stood in the way to stop me: but now, if it displease thee, I will go back.
S. Did Balaam love God?
M. No; he was afraid of God, as sinful man always is, when he only knows His holiness and power. Balaam knew nothing of God's love and grace; he could not understand that God chose to bless those poor, faithless, murmuring people, whom He had brought out of Egypt, and Balaam's own heart was set on getting the wicked king's reward. So God let him go on, but He said that he should only speak the word God gave him. And Balaam went with the princes. And the king of Moab came out to meet him, and offered oxen and sheep. And he took Balaam up to the high places where they worshipped their idols, that he might look down upon all the children of Israel, who had pitched their tent in the valley. And Balaam said: Build me here seven altars, and get seven oxen and seven rams. And he said he would go and ask the Lord what he should say, and God met him and told him what to say. And he went back and stood by the burnt sacrifice, with the king of Moab and all his princes. And Balaam looked from the hills upon Israel, and uttered the blessing God had put into his mouth. And the king said: I asked you to curse my enemies, and you have altogether blessed them. And he said: Must I not speak the words the Lord puts into my mouth? And the king raid: Come to another place where you can see them. And he went, and this time God gave him a still fuller blessing. He said I have received commandment to bless; and has blessed; and I cannot change it. For God has not seen iniquity in Jacob, nor perverseness in Israel;... and it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel: What has God done?
S. Why did he say God had not seen iniquity in the people?
M. That was the way God Himself spoke of His people. It is very wonderful to us, because we have read in this very book God's own account of their sins and iniquities, for He saw every one of them. But here He spoke as the God of redemption, who had cast all their sins behind His back. He did deal with sin, and He spoke to the sinner as One who knew all about his sins; but He would not allow Satan to accuse His people, nor allow the servant of Satan to curse them.
S. Was Balaam Satan's servant?
M. Yes; he went to do Satan's work for the sake of the world's reward. But God made him do His will, for He made him bless the people whom he wished to curse. And the king of Moab was angry with Balaam and said: Do not curse them at all, nor bless them at all, Yet he thought he would try him once more; so he brought him to another place. And Balaam looked towards the wilderness, and when he saw the wonderfully lovely sight of Israel, arranged by the word of God, according to their tribes, God allowed His Spirit to come upon him, and he said: The man whose eyes are opened, and who has heard the words of God, says: How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob. And then he uttered a long prophecy (which I will real to you), in which he told God's thoughts about His people, and repeated God's promise to Abram: Blessed is he that blesses thee, and cursed is he that curses thee. And the king was exceedingly angry, and clapped his hands, and said to Balaam: Fly away to your own place. I thought to promote you to honor; but the Lord has kept you back from honor. And Balaam said he could only speak what the Lord told him, and said to the king: Come and I will tell you what these people will do to your people in the latter days. And he prophesied that a Star should come out of Jacob, who should destroy Moab, and Edom, and all the countries around. This Star of Jacob meant the Lord Jesus Christ, who will yet reign on this earth till His enemies are put under His feet.
S. That is a very wonderful story, Mamma, because Balaam was a very wicked man, and yet God told him all those things.
M. Yes; God always has His way, and He makes even wicked people do His will. It was also a message from God to the Gentiles, who did not know Him. Then Balaam went home, and so did the king of Moab. And when they found that God would not allow His people to be cursed, Balaam thought of another way to injure them; for he said to the king of Moab: If you can make the people sin, God is so holy that He will destroy them. So the king made friends with the children of Israel, and invited them to come to a feast, when they sacrificed to their idols, and the people went and ate with the Moabites, and bowed down before their idols, and took wives of the women of Midian. Thus Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor, and the Lord was greatly displeased; and Moses said to the judges of Israel: Slay all those men who were joined to Baal-peor. And one of the children of Israel brought a Midianitish woman into the camp before Moses and all the people. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, saw it, he took a sword and rushed into the man's tent, and killed both him and the woman. So the plague was stopped. Phinehas was zealous for the honor of God, and grieved that an idolater should be brought into His camp; and God approved of what he did, and He said to Moses: Phinehas has turned away my anger from the children of Israel, because he was zealous for my sake among them, and now I will give him my covenant of peace, and of an everlasting priesthood. And the Lord said to Moses: Vex the Midianites, and destroy them; for they vex you with their cunning ways, and they have made the children of Israel sin.