💎 [Numbers 22–25] Balaam Escaped the Angel's Sword Because of His Donkey, Yet His End Also Came by the Sword...

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At first, Balaam appeared to be a man who spoke only the words of God. However, Scripture later reveals that he was one of the people behind Israel's fall into sin. Balaam was eventually killed by the sword during the war against Midian (Numbers 31:8), and his name came to be remembered in later generations through "the counsel of Balaam" and "the teaching of Balaam."

💎 Overview of Numbers 22

In Numbers 22, a man named Balaam, the son of Beor from Pethor, becomes the central figure.

He was summoned by Balak, king of Moab, to curse Israel. Although Balaam knew God, he also appears to have been a diviner, something that God does not approve of (Numbers 24:1).

📍 Balak Calls Balaam

When Israel camped on the plains of Moab, Balak became afraid.

He called the famous diviner Balaam to place a curse on Israel.

At first, God prevented Balaam from going, but later allowed him to make the journey.

As he traveled, the Angel of the Lord stood in the road with a drawn sword. Balaam could not see the angel, but his donkey could.

The donkey turned aside three times, and Balaam struck it each time.

Then God opened the donkey's mouth so that it could speak, and afterward He opened Balaam's eyes to see the angel.

Balaam promised to speak only the words that God gave him.

🙂 The most famous part of Balaam's story is that a donkey spoke. Yet the deeper point is that the donkey saw the angel before Balaam did and ended up saving his master's life.

✔️ In a sense, Balaam seems to have been a man heading toward death. ㅡ ㅡ?

💎 Overview of Numbers 23

The final verse of Numbers 22 mentions that Balak and Balaam went up to a place associated with Baal worship, showing that they were living within an idolatrous culture.

📍 The First and Second Blessings

Balak took Balaam to several different locations in an attempt to have Israel cursed.

Balaam built altars and sought God's guidance.

Instead of a curse, God gave him words of blessing.

1️⃣ First Prophecy

Israel is a people set apart from the nations.

Balaam expresses a desire to die the death of the righteous.

2️⃣ Second Prophecy

God does not lie or change His mind like human beings.

No one can curse those whom God has chosen to bless.

Israel will rise up strong like a lion.

💎 Overview of Numbers 24

Balaam no longer resorts to divination and instead focuses on the message God gives him.

Under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, he prophesies.

1️⃣ Third Prophecy

He foretells the future prosperity of Israel.

He praises the beauty of Jacob's tents.

He predicts the rise of a powerful ruler.

2️⃣ Fourth Prophecy

This is the most famous prophecy:

"A star shall come out of Jacob; a scepter shall rise out of Israel."

Many Jews and Christians have understood this prophecy as pointing to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Balaam then prophesies concerning Moab, Edom, Amalek, and other surrounding nations.

Balak becomes angry and sends Balaam away.

💎 Overview of Numbers 25

Immediately after the story of Balak and Balaam, Scripture records Israel's sin.

• Sexual immorality with Moabite women
• Idolatry
• Participation in the worship of Baal-Peor

The Lord's anger burns against Israel.

God commands that the leaders involved be executed.

While the people were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, an Israelite openly brought a Midianite woman into the camp before everyone.

• Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the high priest, took a spear and killed both of them.
• As a result, the plague was stopped.
• Twenty-four thousand people died in the plague.
• The man was Zimri, a leader from the tribe of Simeon.
• The woman was Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite chief.

→ God revealed to Moses that this entire matter had begun through deception and temptation. Afterward, He commanded Israel to attack the Midianites. The campaign against Midian became the final mission God gave to Moses (Numbers 31:2).

→ Numbers 31:16 states:

"These women, following Balaam's counsel, caused the Israelites to act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Peor."

This suggests that both the Moabite and Midianite groups were involved in the Baal-Peor incident.

✔️ Therefore, Balaam appears to have played a leading role in the scheme that led Israel into sin.

💎 Conclusion

As the forty years in the wilderness were drawing to a close, Israel had won an important military victory, and the surrounding nations began to fear them.

It was during this period that the Bible records the story of Balaam.

Through Balaam, God overturned King Balak's plan to curse Israel and instead turned the intended curse into a blessing.

At first glance, the story seems to end there.

However, it is later revealed that the temptation involving the Moabite and Midianite women was connected to Balaam's counsel.

• After these events, God commanded Moses to strike the Midianites. Scripture records that this was the final command given to Moses (Numbers 31:2).
• And Balaam himself was also killed by the sword (Numbers 31:8).

Balaam did not see the angel standing in his way with a drawn sword, and his donkey saved his life that day. Yet in the end, he was killed by the sword during the war against Midian.

The Bible records the sword at both the beginning and the end of Balaam's story.