Moab
said to the elders of Midian, "Now the Israelites will lick up
everything around us like a bull licks up vegetation."
Balak was the King
of Moab and he sent emissaries to Balaam, son of Beor, to his home in Pethor
with the following message; "A nation that covers the land's surface
has left Egypt and is now staying right near us. The nation is too
powerful for us alone, so if you would, come and curse this nation for
me. Then we may be able to defeat them, because I know that whomever you
bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed."
The elders of Moab
and Midian, said to be magicians, delivered this message to Balaam and
he told them: "Spend the night and when HaShem speaks to me and I
will be able to give you an answer."
HaShem appeared to
Balaam and asked: "Who are these people here with you?"
Balaam replied to
HaShem: "Balak, son of Tzippor, King of Moab has sent a message to me. He says that a
nation that covers the earth has left Egypt. Come curse them for me so that I can
hopefully drive them away."
HaShem said,
"Do not go with them. Do not curse the nation in question because it is a
blessed nation."
When Balaam got up
in the morning he said to Balak's dignitaries, "Go home! HaShem
refuses to let me go with you."
They went home and
told Balak, "Balaam refuses to go with us".
Balak sent another
delegation that was larger and higher in rank than the first. When they came to Balaam
they said to him this message from Tzippor: "Do not refuse to come
to me . I will give you great honor, doing anything you say. But please,
come and curse this nation for me."
Balaam interrupted
Balak's servants and said, "Even if Balak gave me his whole palace full of gold and
silver, I would not be able to do anything great or small that would violate the word of
HaShem. But remain here overnight and by morning I shall know what HaShem wants me to
do."
That night HaShem
appeared to Balaam and said, "If the people have come to summon you, set out and
go with them. But only do exactly what I instruct you."
When Baalam got up
in the morning, he saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite dignitaries, but he did
not tell them that he was going only as a counselor and that he would not be able to
curse the people. This angered HaShem, who placed an angel in Balaam's way to oppose him.
Balaam was riding
his female donkey along the road, accompanied by his two servant boys, when suddenly the
donkey turned off the road and headed into the field. The donkey had seen HaShem's angel
standing in the road with his sword drawn, but Balaam could not see the angel, and he beat
the poor donkey to get it back on the road. Farther down the road, in a narrow pass
between the vineyard fences, HaShem's angel appeared again. When the donkey saw the angel,
she edged over to one side, crushing Balaam's foot against the wall, and Balaam beat the
animal even more.
HaShem's angel
continued ahead, to a narrow place where there was no room to turn left or right. When the
donkey saw the angel, she lay down in the road and refused to budge even though Balaam
lost his temper and beat the donkey with a stick.
And HaShem opened
the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you that you
should beat me these three times?"
"You have
been playing games with me," Balaam shouted the donkey, "and if I
had a sword in my hand just now I would have killed you!"
Said the donkey to
Balaam, "Am I not the same old donkey you've been riding all your life long? Have I
ever acted like this before?"
"No,"
replied Balaam. Then HaShem opened Balaam's eyes, made him able to see
the angel standing in the road with his sword drawn. Balaam kneeled down
in the road and prostrated himself before the angel.
"Why did you
beat your donkey these three times?" HaShem's angel asked Balaam.
"I came to
oppose you because your errand is obnoxious to me and each time your donkey saw me, she
turned aside from me. Three times she did this and if she had not, I would have killed you
and spared the donkey."
"I have
sinned," Balaam said. "If you consider it wrong for me to go, I
will go back home."
"Go with the
men," HaShem's angel told Balaam. "But do not say anything other than the exact
words I tell you."
So Balaam continued
on with Balak's dignitaries. When they arrived at Moab, a city at the edge of his
territories, Balak went out to meet Balaam. "I had to go to a lot of
effort to get you to come here. Why didn't you come right away? Didn't
you think I could properly honor you?" he asked.
And
Balaam replied, "And now that I'm here, do you think I can say
anything? I have been permitted to come to you, but as far as the people
of Israel are concerned, I can only say the words that HaShem puts in my
mouth."
They traveled on to
the city's suburbs, where Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and shared them with Balaam
and the dignitaries who were with him. Then, in the morning, Balak took Balaam to the top
of a mountain, to the High Alters of Baal and from that high point Balaam could see
the Israelite's camp in the distance.
"Build
seven alters for me here," Balaam instructed, "and prepare seven
bulls and seven rams." When it was done, Balaam and Balak sacrificed the animals on the alters
and Balaam went off to meditate.
HaShem appeared to
Balaam, placed a message in his mouth and then said to him, "Go back to Balak and
say exactly these words I have given to you."
Balaam returned to
Balak and the princes who were with him and he said, "Balak, King of Moab, has
brought me from Aram, telling me to curse Jacob, and to conjure divine wrath against
Israel. But what curse can I pronounce if HaShem will not grant a curse? What divine wrath
can I conjure if HaShem will not be angry? I see these
people from this great mountain top: It is a nation that lives alone and at peace, not
counting itself among other nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob? Who can count his
decedents? Let me die the death of the righteous, let my end be like his!"
At this, Balak
was outraged. "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my
enemies, but instead, you've made every effort to bless them!"
Balaam
interrupted him, "Didn't I tell you that I must be very careful to
say only what HaShem tells me?"
"If you
would ," replied Balak. "come with me to another place. There you
will be able to see only a small section of the Israelite camp, and you
will not have to see them all. From there you may be able to curse them
for me."
With that, he took
Balaam to Lookout Field at the top of the cliff. There he built seven altars and offered a
bull and a ram on each altar. "Keep a vigil here with your burnt offering," said
Balaam to Balak, "and I will go yonder to seek a vision."
HaShem appeared to
Balaam and placed a message in his mouth. "Return to Balak, and declare exactly
what I have told you," HaShem reminded Balaam.
When Balaam
returned, Balak and the Moabite dignitaries were standing vigil over the burnt offering.
"What has HaShem declared?" asked Balak.
Balaam proclaimed
"Rise, Balak, and listen: Pay close attention to this insight, son of Tzippor. HaShem
is not human that He say one thing and do another: It is a blessing that I have taken and
when there is such a blessing I can not reverse it. HaShem does
not look at wrongdoing in Jacob, HaShem sees no vice in Israel. HaShem is with them and
they have the King's friendship. Since HaShem brought them out of Egypt, they are HaShem's
highest expression of strength. No black magic
can be effective against Jacob, and no occult powers effective against Israel. 'How is
HaShem acting?' is the only question pertinent to Jacob and Israel. This is a nation that
rises like the king of beasts and lifts itself like a lioness. It does not lie down until
it has eaten its prey and drunk the blood of its kill."
Balak
said to Balaam, "If you can't curse them, at least don't bless
them!"
Balaam interrupted
and said to Balak, "My exact words to you were, 'I will do precisely
what HaShem declares,' weren't they?"
"If you
would, let's go on," said Balak. "I will take you somewhere else.
Hopefully, HaShem will consider it proper to let you curse them from
there."
Balak took Balaam to
the top of the peak that overlooks the Wasteland. Balaam said to Balak, "Build me
seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." Balak did as
Balaam had instructed him, and sacrificed the seven bulls and seven rams.
When Balaam realized
HaShem desired to bless Israel, he did not seek out the occult forces as he had done
before. Instead, he set his gaze toward the desert. When Balaam raised his eyes and saw
Israel dwelling at peace, tribe by tribe, HaShem's Spirit was upon him. He proclaimed:
"This is the word of Beor's son Balaam, the word of the man with the enlightened eye.
It is the word of one who hears HaShem's sayings, who sees a vision of the Almighty,
falling into a trance with mystical insight. How good are your
tents, Jacob, your tabernacles, Israel. They stretch like streams, like gardens by the
river, like they are the aloes HaShem has planted, like cedars by the water. His dipper
shall overflow and his crops shall have abundant water. When their kingdom
is established, their king shall be greater than Agag. Since HaShem brought them out of
Egypt, they are like HaShem's highest expression of strength. HaShem will devour enemy
nations, grinding their bones and piercing them with arrows. Israel crouches, lies like a
lion, like an awesome lion, who will dare rouse them? Those who bless you are blessed,
those who curse you are cursed."
Furious at Balaam,
Balak said, "I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have blessed
them these three times! Now go home as fast as you can. I promised to
honor you, but HaShem won't let you get any honor!"
Balaam said,
"My exact words to the messengers you sent me were, 'Even if Balak gives me a whole
palace full of gold and silver, I cannot do anything good or bad that would violate
HaShem's word.' Isn't that true? I must proclaim what HaShem declares. Now I am returning
to my people, but first I will advise you about what this nation will do to your people in
the final days. This is the
word of Beor's son Balaam, the word of the man with the enlightened eye. It is the word of
the one who hears HaShem's sayings and knows the Highest One's will. I see it, but
not now, I perceive it but not in the near future. A star shall go forth from Jacob, and a
staff shall arise in Israel, crushing all of Moab's princes, and dominating all of Seth's
descendants. Edom shall be demolished, and his enemy Seir destroyed, but Israel shall be
triumphant. Out of Jacob shall come an absolute ruler who will obliterate the city's last
survivors."
When
Balaam saw Amalek, he proclaimed his oracle and said, "First among
nations is Amalek, but in the end he will be destroyed forever."
When Balaam saw the
Kenites, he proclaimed his oracle and said, "You live in a fortress and have placed
your nests in a cliff. But when the time comes to destroy the Kenites, how long will
Assyria hold back from you?"
"Alas! Who can
survive HaShem's devastation? Warships shall come from the ports of the Kittim, and they
will lay waste to Assyria and Eber. But in the end they too shall be destroyed
forever."
With that Balaam set
out and returned home. Balak also went on his way.
Israel Sins with
Moab
Israel was staying
in Shittim when the people began to behave immorally with Moabite girls. The girls invited
the Israelite people to their religious sacrifices, and the people ate and worshipped the
Moabite gods. That is how Israel became involved with Baal Peor, and HaShem displayed
anger against Israel [by bringing plague].
HaShem said to
Moses, "Take the people's leaders and have them impale the idolaters
publicly
before me. This will reverse my display of anger against Israel."
Moses said to
Israel's judges, "Each of you must kill your constituents who were involved with Baal
Peor."
As the judges stood
at the Communion Tent entrance, weeping in despair and indecision, an Israelite came
forward with a Midianite woman [for an immoral purpose], in front of Moses and the
Israelite community. When Pinchas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw
this he rose up from amongst the congregation and took up a spear in his hand. He followed
the Israelite man into the tent's inner chamber, and he drove the spear through the man
and woman's groin.
With that, the
plague that had struck the Israelites was stopped. In that plague, 24,000 people had died.
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