Balaam’s voice has long since died away. There is an interval of thirty-five centuries between his days and ours, yet in his final utterance in Moab he spoke of things which are still to come. Who knows the future but God? With us there is a yesterday, today, and tomorrow, but with God the most distant future is as vivid and well-known as the present. He is the great I am (Ex. 3:14), “who calleth the things which be not as though they were” (Rom. 4:17). In His controversy with Israel concerning the idols of which they were so foolishly enamored, Jehovah in Isaiah 42:48 challenges the deities of the heathen to declare “things to come.” Thus they would prove themselves to be gods indeed. “I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsels shall stand; and I will do all My pleasure” (Isa. 46:9-10).
The politicians of earth grope in the dark. They can only see things as they are at the moment; their ultimate issues are hidden from them. But children of God who will take the trouble to study the Scriptures, know whither things are tending, and what will be the outcome of them. The greater part of the Bible is occupied with the great crisis which is now approaching, when God will bring forth into manifestation the Man of His choice, and put all things under His sway. Men who know not God, and to whom the Bible is a sealed book, have no resource in their anxieties but alliances and treaties. God's saints, instructed by the Holy Spirit, have no confidence in these devices, and they wait for Christ. This is the proper moral effect of the reverent study of prophecy. “Horns” and “beasts” may be very interesting, and may furnish much material for discussion; the aim of the Spirit of God in disclosing to us the future is to separate us from man's hopelessly evil order of things, and fix our minds upon Christ.
Balaam opened his last parable by recounting his own privileges—more fully than before. It is painful to read his words, and to realize that one so divinely favored has perished eternally. “Balaam the son of Beor saith, and the man of opened eyes saith; he saith who heareth the words of God, who knoweth the knowledge of the Almighty; who falleth down, and hath his eyes open” (Num. 24:15-16 JND. Revised version similar). Some may be disposed to say, “Surely such a man was born of the Spirit, although perverse in his ways, as we ourselves are all too frequently!” But the New Testament shows us persons may be partakers of even greater privileges than Balsam, and yet fall into such a condition that it is impossible to renew them to repentance. Heb. 6:4-5 speaks of such persons:
Enlightened.
“Have tasted of the heavenly gift.”
“Made partakers of the Holy Spirit.”
“Have tasted the good word of God.”
“And the powers of the world to come.”
All these things can be known apart from divine life, and faith in Christ. If the clause “partakers of the Holy Spirit” presents a particular difficulty to some, the reference is to the great truth that the Assembly is the Holy Spirit's dwelling-place (1 Cor. 3:16). All who take part in such a company, whether real or unreal, are in the presence of that divine Person.
Let none of us be contented with mere externals however good they may be. The essential thing is heart-faith in the Son of God. Ever so little true faith in Him is worth infinitely more than stores of Bible knowledge and Assembly privileges. Salaam's case was the more serious because of the light which shone across his path, but which never penetrated his soul.
It is not unusual for prophets when describing the future to speak in the present tense, as if the great things were even then passing before them. Thus David in Psalm 45 speaks of the great King as if He were even at that moment riding in majesty, and in Isaiah the prophet speaks of the suffering Messiah as if He were then on earth, and experiencing ill at the hands of men. So Balaam in his fourth parable. “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not nigh” (RV). In prophetic vision he saw Christ; but the Lord Jesus could not say of him what He said to the Jews concerning Abraham: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56). It gave Balaam no joy to see Christ, and to be constrained to describe the great day when He will exalt the people Balak hated, and destroy all their enemies, Moab included. Indeed he said, “Alas, who shall live when God doeth this?” (Num. 24:23). This sounds like a wail of disappointment and despair.
Let us look again at Balaam's words: “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not nigh.” He thus beheld in vision a glorious Person to whom he could never come near. Distance must be his portion forever, solemn thought! Nearness to Christ is a very precious privilege. When He comes forth to reign, “at His right hand will stand the Queen in gold of Ophir” (Psa. 45:9). This is Israel— “a people near unto Him” (Psa. 148:14). “It shall be at that day, saith Jehovah, that thou shalt call Me Ishi (my husband), and shalt call Me no more Baali (my master)” (Hos. 2:16).
The Church will be in a place of greater nearness still. She will be eternally the body and bride of Christ, and the sharer of His heavenly glory, which is immeasurably more wonderful than anything Israel will experience in the land of promise.
In speaking of the coming Christ, Balaam said, “There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall arise out of Israel.” Here we have the two aspects of His coming. The star is for watchers, and the Church has been called to know Him during “the long dark night” while Israel persists in obdurate unbelief. In Revelation 22:16 Jesus says: “I am the Root and Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star,” and to the overcomer in Thyatira He not only promises authority over the nations, but adds, “I will give him the Morning Star” (Rev. 2:28). Peter distinguishes between the prophetic word, and the Morning Star thus: “We have the prophetic word made surer (by what Peter and his companions saw on the holy mount), to which ye do well taking heed (as to a lamp shining in an obscure place) until the day dawn, and the Morning Star arise in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19). The Church will see the coming One at the dawning of the day before the sun shines forth in glorious majesty (Mal. 4:2). We should ever be on the alert for this; in spirit like the wise men of Matthew 2:2 who said, “Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East, and are come to worship Him.” While others slept, these watchers were scanning the heavens for some sign of the approach of the promised One. God graciously responded to their faith, and gave them a star to guide them on their way. Let us not forget the words of the Apostle in 1 Thessalonians 5:5-6: “Ye are all the sons of light, and the sons of the day; we are not of the night nor of darkness. Let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch, and be sober.” We are living far down the dispensation. Man's day, so full of pitiful blunders and desperate sorrows, is drawing to a close. “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light” (Rom. 13:11-12).
Here we must note the various divine titles that were put into the mouth of Balaam. In his first and second parables he spoke of God (“El”) and Jehovah. God (“El”) is suggestive of creative power and Jehovah of covenant relationship.
In his third parable Balaam introduced the name Almighty (“Shaddai”); and in his final parable speaks of the Most High (“Elyon”) and the Almighty. The title “Most High” is used frequently in Scripture in connection with the Millennial Kingdom. It teaches us that God is greater than all the petty dignities of earth. He will put them all down in His day, and will dispose of the world as it pleases Him. Who has a greater right to distribute its territories and fix the boundaries of the nations than He who created all things? But how feebly is this understood by earth's statesmen!
Melchizedek, who was a remarkable type of Christ the coming King, spoke of God as “the most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth” (Gen. 14:18-19). In Deut. 32, where Moses is telling the people of Israel how God distributed territories at the time of the Babel scattering, he also used the title “Most High.” In Psalm 83:17-18, where Asaph the prophet describes the destruction of Israel's enemies at the end, he says, “Let them be confounded and troubled forever; yea, let them be put to shame and perish: that men may know that Thou, whose name is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth.” These thoughts are important, and should be carefully weighed. The earth is full of confusion and sorrow because men in their pride and self-will are bent upon dividing the earth according to their own devices, and to gratify their own ambition. In the intervals of strife, when plenipotentiaries come together to discuss terms of peace, God is not uppermost in their thoughts, still less the Man who is the divinely appointed Heir of all things. New arrangements are made, with possibly some compromises here and there; but fresh disasters come along all too soon, for the rights of God are not recognized. The nations will yet have to learn that God is the Most High, with absolute right to dispose of everything according to His will; and as the Almighty He is well able to carry out His will, and crush all opposition.
Balaam was led to describe the conquests of God's King when He appears, and he mentioned Moab first. “He shall smite the corners of Moab.” In Danial 11:41 where the depredations of the latter-day King of the North are foretold (not to be confounded with Gog. Ezek. 38), we read, “he shall enter into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.” Why are these ancient enemies of Israel specially named as to escape the heavy hand of the terrible invader? Because Jehovah had already decreed their destruction by the hands of His own people. Isaiah wrote more than a century before Daniel's day: “They shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall obey them” (Isa. 11:14). Thus Balak was given to understand that it is not Israel that is doomed to destruction, but his own envious and guilty Moab. But not Moab and her confederates only. He “shall destroy all the children of Sheth (or tumult).” With these words we may connect Psalm 68:30: “scatter Thou the people that delight in war.” The God of peace will not forever tolerate the doings of “the sons of tumult.” Devastated lands, ruined cities, blasted homes, and broken hearts present a sorry spectacle to Him. Self-seeking leaders who are responsible for these conditions, who seek their own aggrandizement at painful cost to others, are utterly abhorrent to the God of peace. When the seventh trumpet is sounded (Rev. 11:15-18) a great shout of triumph will be heard in heaven because the world-kingdom of our Lord and His Christ has at last come. Amongst the many results of the coming of the King it is written: “Thou shalt destroy them that destroy the earth.” But ruthless disturbers of the peace will not disappear until that day. One troubler may be cast down, but another will arise, (if not in his place geographically) elsewhere. This has been the world's sad experience ever since the days of Nimrod and Chedorlaomer, —the first recorded tyrants.
Israel (that is the spared remnant) is destined to play an important part in the subjugation of the enemies of God and His people. Balsam said: “Edom shall be a possession, and Seir also shall be a possession, and Israel shall do valiantly” (Num. 23:18). The destruction of the Western hosts as described in Revelation 19:19-21, and the overthrow of the hordes of Russia and her Allies as in Ezekiel 39 will be quite apart from human instrumentality; but against other foes it is the divine intention to make use of delivered Israel. This is made perfectly clear in Zechariah 9:13, Zechariah 12:6 and other Scriptures, including Isaiah 11:14 already quoted. The long downtrodden sons of Jacob will then become as a lion amongst the nations treading down, and tearing in pieces, with none to deliver (Mic. 5:8) “out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.” Led on by Christ, who will then indeed be “a man of war” (Ex. 15:3: Psa. 45:3-5). Israel's armies will be irresistible. When this work of judgment is completed, Israel will be able to say: “So let all Thine enemies perish, O Jehovah, but let them that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might” (Judg. 5:31).
Balaam's words in Numbers 24:19 would seem to be final. What could be added to the statement that “out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion,” and destroy even the remnants of His peoples' enemies? But the Spirit of God had still more to say in three short appendices. When Balaam looked on Amalek, “he took up his parable and said, Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end shall be that he perish forever.” Ancient prestige, however wonderful it may be in the eyes of men, will count for nothing when God arises in His might.
Next, Balaam “looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock. Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive” (Num. 24:21-22). Great fortifications, strong natural frontiers, and every possible accumulation of military force will be worthless when the day of the Lord opens, for He is wiser and stronger than men. Everything will collapse before Him.
Such triumphs for God and His people found no response in the heart of poor Balaam. Thus he opened his third appendix with the moan, “Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!” He rightly felt that His intervention will sweep the earth clear of all that which fills men with pride and vain glory. Then in few words he spoke of “Armageddon,” where the last terrible clash of the nations is destined to take place (Rev. 16:13-16). That will indeed be the “war to end war!” “Ships shall come from the land of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish forever.” “Chittim,” strictly speaking, means the island of Cyprus, now in possession of Great Britain; but in Scripture it is used as a general term for the West (Jer. 2:10), viewed from the Holy land as God's center. In Daniel 11:30 Chittim indisputably means the Roman Empire. Asshur stands for the cruel Assyrian of Isaiah and Micah, the King of the North of Daniel 11:40. He is at first victorious in the world's last crisis. “Many countries shall be overthrown” by him (Dan. 11:41), Jehovah using him as one of His “carpenters” (Zech. 1:20-21). But both the Assyrian and the Roman are divinely appointed to destruction. The “he” of Numbers 24:24 is the last head of the Roman Empire (comp: Dan. 7:8), the core of which will be the nations of Western Europe—Britain, France, Italy, Spain, etc. In this blasphemous tyrant, with his confederate, the false prophet of Revelation 19:20 (the Antichrist) all evil will reach its consummation, and both will be dispatched from the battlefield to the lake of fire. In the light of the terrible doings of recent years (1939-1945) the thought is deeply solemn that earth's most terrible monsters will not arise out of Germany, but from amongst the Allied Powers (Russia not included here) who have toiled and suffered to put Germany down! How different would the whole history of earth have been had rulers and people moved and acted in humble dependence upon God!