Schoolmaster to Christ
NUMBERS CHAPTERS 22, 23 & 24
Schoolmaster to Christ
NUMBERS CHAPTERS 22, 23 & 24
Scripture Reading: Numbers 22, 23 & 24 (KJV)
These three chapters form a distinct section of Numbers – a truly marvelous section, abounding in rich and varied instruction. In it we have presented the covetous prophet; and His sublime prophecies. There is something peculiarly awful in the case of Balaam. He evidently loved money – no uncommon love in our own day. Balak's gold and silver proved a tempting bait to the wretched man – a bait too tempting to be resisted. Satan knew his man, and the price of his purchase.
If Balaam's heart had been right with God, he would have made short work of Balak's message; indeed it would not have cost him a moment's consideration to send a reply. But Balaam's heart was wrong, and in chapter 22 we see him in the melancholy condition of one acted on by conflicting feelings. His heart was focused on going, because it was focused on silver and gold; but there was sort of a reference to God – an appearance of religiousness put on as a cloak to cover his covetous practices. He longed for the money; but he hoped to lay hold of it after a religious fashion. His name stands on the page of inspiration as the expression of a dark and awful stage of man's downward history. "Woe unto them," says Jude, "for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying of Core." Peter, too, presents Balaam as a prominent figure in one of the darkest pictures of fallen humanity – a model on which some of the vilest characters are formed. He speaks of those “Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls; an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet” (2 Pet. 2:14-16).
These passages are solemnly conclusive regarding the true character and spirit of Balaam. His heart was set on money – "he loved the wages of unrighteousness." His history has been written by the pen of inspiration as an awful warning to beware of covetousness, which is idolatry. We will not dwell further on the sad story. One may pause here and gaze on the picture presented in Numbers 22, taking time to study two prominent figures – the crafty king and the covetous self-willed prophet. We encourage such a further study, because it will no doubt cause one to have a deepened sense of the evil of covetousness, the great moral danger of setting affections on this world's riches, and the deep blessedness of having the fear of God before our eyes.
We now proceed to examine those marvelous prophecies delivered by Balaam in the audience of Balak, king of the Moabites.
It is profoundly interesting to witness the scene on the high places of Baal, to consider the grand question at stake, to listen to the speakers, to be admitted behind the scenes on such a momentous occasion. Israel did not know or imagine what was going on between Jehovah and the enemy. It may be they were murmuring in their tents at the very moment God was setting their perfection by the tongue of the covetous prophet. Balak would surely have Israel cursed; but God does not allow anyone to curse His people. He may have to deal with them in secret about many things; but He will not allow another to move his tongue against them. God may have to expose them to themselves; but He will not allow a stranger to expose them.
This is a point of deepest interest. The great question is not so much what the enemy may think of God's people, or what they may think about themselves, or what they may think of one another. The real, all-important question is this: what does God think about them? He knows all that concerns them; all that they are; all that they have done; all that is in them. Everything stands clearly revealed to His all-penetrating eye – He knows the deepest secrets of heart, of nature, and life. No angel, man, or demon knows us as God knows us. God knows us perfectly; and it is with Him we have to do. We can say in the triumphant language of the apostle, "If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8). God sees us, thinks of us, speaks about us, acts toward us, according to what He Himself has made and wrought for us, according to the perfection of His own work. "Beholders many faults may find;" but regarding our standing, God sees us only in the comeliness of Christ. In other words, because of Christ we are perfect in Him. When God looks at His people, He beholds in them His own workmanship; and it is to the glory of His holy name and to the praise of His salvation that not a blemish should be seen on those who are His, those whom He, in sovereign grace, has made His own. His character, His name, His glory, and the perfection of His work are all involved in the standing of those with whom He has linked Himself.
Therefore, the moment any enemy or accuser enters the scene, Jehovah places Himself in front to receive and answer the accusation; and His answer is always founded, not on what His people are in themselves, but on what He has made them through the perfection of His own work. His glory is linked with them, and, in vindicating them, He maintains His own glory. He places Himself between them and every accusing tongue. His glory demands that they should be presented in all the comeliness He has put on them. If the enemy comes to curse and accuse, Jehovah answers by pouring out the rich current of His everlasting complacency in those whom He has chosen for Himself, and whom He has made fit to forever be in His presence.
All this is strikingly illustrated in the third chapter of the prophet Zechariah. There, too, the enemy presents himself to resist the representative of the people of God. How does God answer him? Simply by cleansing, clothing, and crowning the one whom Satan would surely curse and accuse, so that Satan has not a word to say. He is silenced forever. The filthy garments are gone, and he that was a brand is become a mitred priest – he who was fit only for the flames of hell is now fitted to walk up and down in the courts of the Lord.
So also when we turn to John we see the same thing. There, in the 13th chapter, the Lord Jesus looks at His disciples and pronounces them "Clean every whit;" although in a few hours one of them will curse and swear that he did not know Him. So vast is the difference between what we are in ourselves and what we are in Christ – between our standing and our state.
Should this glorious truth pertaining to the perfection of our standing make us careless regarding our practical state? No, the knowledge of our position in Christ is the very thing that the Holy Spirit makes use of in order to raise the standard of practice. Hearken to those powerful words from the pen of the inspired apostle, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members . . .” (Col. 1-5).
We must never measure our standing by our state, but always judge the state by the standing. To lower our standing because of our state is to give a deathblow to all progress in practical Christianity.
The foregoing line of truth is forcibly illustrated in Balaam's four parables. If Balak had not sought to curse them, we would never have had such a glorious view of Israel as seen in “The vision of the Almighty”, “from the top of the rocks”, by one “having his eyes open.” Jehovah can quickly open a man's eyes to the true state of things, pertaining to the standing of His people and His judgment respecting them. He claims the privilege of setting forth His thoughts about them. With "all the princes of Moab" Balak and Balaam may assemble to hear Israel cursed and defied; they may "build seven altars," and "offer a bullock and a lamb on every altar;" Balak's silver and gold may glitter under the covetous gaze of the false prophet; but all the powers of earth and hell, of men and devils combined, cannot evoke a single breath of curse or accusation against the Israel of God. The enemy might as well have sought to point out a flaw in that fair creation that God had pronounced "very good," as to fasten an accusation on the redeemed of the Lord. No; they shine in all the comeliness He has put on them, and all that is needed in order to see them is to get to "the top of the rocks" – to have "the eyes open" to look at them from His point of view, so that we may see them in "the vision of the Almighty."
Having taken a general survey of the contents of these remarkable chapters, we will briefly glance at each of the four parables in particular; finding a distinct point in each – a distinct feature in the character and condition of the people, as seen in "The vision of the Almighty."
In the first of Balaam's wonderful parables, we have distinctly set forth the separation of God's people from all the nations. “How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied? 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. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.”1
Here Israel is singled out; partitioned off to be a separated and peculiar people, a people who, according to God’s thought concerning them, were never on any ground or for any object whatsoever, to be mingled with or reckoned among the nations. "The people shall dwell alone." This is distinct and emphatic. It is true of the literal seed of Abraham, and true of all true believers now. Immense practical results flow out of this great principle. God's people are to be separated unto Him, not on the ground of being better than others, but simply on the ground of what God is, and of what He would ever have His people to be. We will not pursue this point further just now; but the serious student would do well to examine it thoroughly in the light of God’s Word. "The people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations" (Num. 23:8, 9).
But if, in His sovereign grace, Jehovah is pleased to link Himself with a people; if He calls them out to be a separate people in the world – to "dwell alone," and shine for Him in the midst of those who are still "sitting in darkness and the shadow of death," He can only have them in such a condition as suits Himself. In other words, God must make them such as He would have them to be – such as shall be to the praise of His great and glorious name. Thus, in the second parable the prophet is made to tell not merely the negative, but the positive condition of the people.
“And he took up his parable and said, rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless; and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. 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. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. 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 [not what hath Israel wrought?] 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” (Num. 23:18-24).
Here we find ourselves on solid and elevated ground. In truth, this is "The top of the rocks", the pure air and wide range of "the hills," where the people of God are seen only in "the vision of the Almighty", seen as He sees them, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; all their deformities hidden from view; all His comeliness seen on them.
In this sublime parable, Israel's blessedness and security are made to depend on the truth and faithfulness of Jehovah – not on themselves. "God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent." This places Israel on safe ground. God must be true to Himself. Is there any power that can possibly prevent Him from fulfilling His Word and Oath? Absolutely not! "He hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it." God will not, and Satan cannot, reverse the blessing.
So all is settled. "It is ordered in all things and sure." In the previous parable it was, "God hath not cursed." Here it is, "He hath blessed." There is manifest advance. As Balak conducts the money-loving prophet from place to place, Jehovah takes occasion to bring out fresh features of beauty in His people, and fresh points of security in their position. So it is not merely that they are a separated people dwelling alone; but they are a justified people, having the Lord their God with them, and the shout of a king among them. "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel." The enemy may say, "There is iniquity and perverseness there all the while." Yes, but who can make Jehovah behold it, when He Himself has, for His name's sake, been pleased to blot it all out as a thick cloud? If He has cast it behind His back, who can bring it before His face? "It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth?" God sees His people so thoroughly delivered from all that could be against them that He can take up His abode in their midst and cause His voice to be heard among them.
Therefore may we exclaim, "What hath God wrought?" It is not, "What hath Israel wrought?" Had Israel's work been in question, Balak and Balaam would have found plenty to do in the way of cursing. The Lord be praised, it is on what He has wrought that His people stand, and their foundation is as stable as the throne of God. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" If God stands between every foe and us, what have we to fear? If, on our behalf, He undertakes to answer every accuser, then, most assuredly, perfect peace is our portion.
However, the king of Moab still fondly hoped and sedulously sought to gain his end. And, doubtless, Balaam did the same, for they were leagued together against the Israel of God. This forcibly reminds us of the beast and false prophet, who are yet to arise and play an awfully solemn part in connection with Israel's future, as presented on the apocalyptic page.
“And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments [what a dreadful disclosure] but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in His tents, according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said, he hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision, of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath, as it were, the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies [terrible announcement for Balak] and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee” (Num. 24:1-9; emphasis added).
"Higher and higher yet" is surely the motto here. We may well shout "Excelsior," as we mount up to the top of the rocks, and hearken to those brilliant utterances, which the false prophet was forced to give out. It was better and better for Israel; worse and worse for Balak. He had to stand by and not only hear Israel "blessed," but hear himself "cursed" for seeking to curse them.
But let us notice particularly the rich grace that shines in this third parable. "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!" If one had gone down to examine those tents and tabernacles, in "the vision" of man, they might have appeared "Black as the tents of Kedar." But looked at in the vision of the Almighty they were "goodly," and whoever did not see them in this way needed to have "his eyes opened." If one is looking at the people of God "from the top of the rocks," they are seen as God sees them, clothed with all the comeliness of Christ, complete in Him, accepted in the Beloved. This is what will enable us to get on with them, to work with them, to have fellowship with them, to rise above their points and angles, blots and blemishes, failures and infirmities.2 If we do not contemplate them from this lofty, divine ground, we will be sure to fix our eyes on some little flaw or other, which will completely mar our communion, and alienate our affections.
In the next chapter we will see what terrible evil Israel fell into. Did this alter Jehovah's judgment? No. "He is not the son of men that he should repent." He judged and chastened them for their evil because He is holy and can never sanction in His people anything contrary to His nature. But He could never reverse His judgment respecting them. He knew all about them. Even though He knew what they were and what they would do, still He said, "I have not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither have I seen perverseness in Israel. How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!" Was this making light of their evil? The thought is blasphemy. He could chasten them for their sins; but the moment an enemy comes forth to curse or accuse, He stands in front of His people and says, "I see no iniquity", "How goodly are their tents"
Do we think that such views of God’s grace will minister to a spirit of Antinomianism? Far be the thought. We may rest assured we are never further away from the region of that terrible evil than when we are breathing the pure and holy atmosphere of "the top of the rocks" – that high ground from whence God's people are viewed, not as they are in themselves, but as they are in Christ, not according to the thoughts of man, but according to the thoughts of God. Furthermore, we may say that the only true and effectual way of raising the standard of moral conduct is to abide in the faith of this most precious and tranquillizing truth – God sees us perfect in Christ.
But we need to take one more glance at our third parable. Not only are Israel's tents seen to be goodly in the eyes of Jehovah, but the people themselves are presented as abiding fast by those ancient sources of grace and living ministry found in God. "As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign-aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters." How exquisite; how beautiful – amazingly we are indebted to the godless confederacy between Balak and Balaam for those sublime utterances.
But there is more. Not only is Israel seen drinking at those everlasting wellsprings of grace and salvation, but as a channel of blessing to others. "He shall pour the water out of his buckets." Let us never forget that "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom. 11).
We close this part of our study by a brief reference to Balaam's last parable. Having heard such a glowing testimony to Israel's future, Balak and the overthrow of all their enemies, was not only sorely disappointed, but also greatly enraged: “And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; [?] But, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour. and Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold [the very thing his poor heart craved intensely]. I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I speak. And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: he hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: [tremendous fact for Balaam] there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth” (vs 10-17; emphasis added).
This gives great completeness to the subject of these parables. The top-stone is here laid on the magnificent superstructure. In the first parable we see the absolute separation of the people; in the second, their perfect justification; in the third, their moral beauty and fruitfulness; and, now, in the fourth, we stand on the summit of the hills, on the loftiest crag of the rocks, surveying the wide plains of glory in all their length and breadth. We see the Lion of the tribe of Judah crouching; we hear his roar; we see Him seizing all his enemies, crushing them to atoms. The Star of Jacob rises to set no more. The true David ascends the throne of His father and all his enemies are covered with shame and everlasting contempt.
It is impossible to conceive anything more magnificent than these parables; and they are all the more remarkable coming at the close of Israel's desert wanderings, during which they had given such ample proof of what they were – of what materials they were made – and what their capabilities and tendencies were. But God was above all, and nothing changes His affection. Whom He loves and as He loves, He loves to the end; and hence the league between the typical "beast and false prophet'' proved abortive. Israel was blessed of God and not to be cursed of any. "And Balaam rose up, and went, and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way."
