Old Testament Commentary - Numbers 23

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 23 The Lord commands Balaam to bless Israel—He does so, saying: Who can count the dust of Jacob? and, What hat God Wroght!
1 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here aseven oxen and seven rams. 2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and *Balaam offered on every* altar a bullock and a ram^a**. 3 And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to aan high place.	*2^a Balaam offered on every* altar a bullock and a ram** Though Balaam was a corrupt prophet he did pay homage to the God of Israel, Jehovah, in a semblence of the proper order of scarifice. The ox bullock and the ram were both the proper symbolic kind of animals of proper sacrifice. But sacrifice done without true entent and of worthy purpose are in vein and not any more acceptable before the Lord than was that vein sacrifice offered by Cain. Thus we ought to learn that though a 'true order' is performed, it is not acceptable before God when done by the improper authority and further upon the improper and wrong intent and purpose. An acceptable sacrifice needs be performed by proper recognized authority, with true and pure intent and purpose and in proper order. Cain would have been one with a seemingly proper authority but not only was his offering of the grain of the field inapropriate, the most critical factor was that Cain's offering was without pure and proper intent and purpose. It was a 'vain offering' or an offering in vain-futile-uneffective and therefore was not acceptable before the Lord. Today a true sacrifice ought to be in according with the mind and the will of the Lord as witnessed and approved by the spirit as well as with a contrite spirit and a broken heart.	1^a Lev. 10:1 (1-2) 2^a Heb. 9:12 (7, 12, 24-25); Heb. 10:19 (19-22) ^b TG Veil ^c Ex. 25:22; Ex. 29:42 (42-43); Ex. 40:34 (34-35); D&C 97:16 (15-17); D&C 109:5 (5, 12-13); Abr. 2:19 (19-20)
4 And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram. 5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. 6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, adefy Israel. 8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied? 9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the adeath of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
11 And Balak said unto aBalaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to bcurse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. 12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth? 13 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.
14 ¶ And he brought him into athe field of Zophim, to bthe top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar. 15 And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder. 16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
17 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? 18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: 19 God is not a man, that he should alie; neither the son of man, that he should brepent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he cspoken, and shall he not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. 21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. 22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of aan unicorn.
23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! 24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
25 ¶ And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. 26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?
27 ¶ And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence. 28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that alooketh toward Jeshimon. 29 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. 30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.