Numbers 24:12-22

12 And Balaam said to Balac, Did I not speak to thy messengers also whom thou sentest to me, saying,

13 If Balac should give me his house full of silver and gold, I shall not be able to transgress the word of the Lord to make it good or bad by myself; whatsoever things God shall say, them will I speak.

14 And now, behold, I return to my place; come, I will advise thee of what this people shall do to thy people in the last days.

15 And he took up his parable and said, Balaam the son of Beor says, the man who sees truly says,

16 hearing the oracles of God, receiving knowledge from the Most High, and having seen a vision of God in sleep; his eyes were opened.

17 I will point to him, but not now; I bless him, but he draws not near: a star shall rise out of Jacob, a man shall spring out of Israel; and shall crush the princes of Moab, and shall spoil all the sons of Seth.

18 And Edom shall be an inheritance, and Esau his enemy shall be an inheritance , and Israel wrought valiantly.

19 And shall arise out of Jacob, and destroy out of the city him that escapes.

20 And having seen Amalec, he took up his parable and said, Amalec the first of the nations; yet his seed shall perish.

21 And having seen the Kenite, he took up his parable and said, thy dwelling-place strong; yet though thou shouldest put thy nest in a rock,

22 and though Beor should have a skillfully contrived hiding-place, the Assyrians shall carry thee away captive.

Numbers 24:12-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 24

In this chapter we are told, that Balaam leaving his enchantments, the Spirit of God came on him, and he spake of the happiness of Israel, and prophesied of their future greatness and glory, Nu 24:1-9 which so exasperated Balak, that he ordered him at once to depart from him, Nu 24:10,11. Balaam justified himself in what he said and did, and suggested that before they parted, he had something to say in a prophetic manner, concerning what Israel should do to Moab in "future" times, Nu 24:12-14 and then prophesies concerning the Messiah, and the destruction of Moab, and of some neighbouring nations, and even of some at a greater distance, as the Assyrians and Romans, Nu 24:15-25.

Footnotes

• [a]. go beyond
• [b]. knowing knowledge
• [c]. unveiled
• [d]. nest of cunning