Numbers 24 Commentary
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The chapter starts with Balaam’s third message. We have a total of 7 messages and 5 of them are in this chapter.
Balaam is momentarily so possessed by the Spirit of God that he likens himself to one who hears the very words of the LORD. He has seen. He has heard. Now he communicates the messages – statements reminiscent of patriarchal blessings.
In anger (and frustration) the king orders Balaam out of his presence. Regardless of the dismissal, Balaam has time to deliver 4 other messages.
At this point Balaam stands tall as a man of godly integrity. He has despised the promised rewards in order to honor the LORD, at least on the face of it. Balak’s big bribe hasn’t moved him to sin, at least for now.
In Balaam’s 4th message we find a messianic prophecy. In the immediate context we find references to Judah’s blessing of the scepter. But it’s in the distant shores of time that we see the real fulfillment of Balaam’s prophecy. Jesse’s son was a pretender star foreshadowing the real star, the LORD Jesus Christ.
The 5th, 6th and 7th messages speak of Israel’s conquest of Canaan and beyond. It actually represented the lands that roughly can be likened to the vast lands that the LORD had given to Abraham.
Balak must have had enough of Balaam at this point. “Then Balaam got up and returned home, and Balak went his own way,” verse 25. And the chapter ends.
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