Nu 22 part 1: the story of Balaam

      There is a lot going on in just three chapters, so I decided to break the first into sections. I recommend you read the account in one sitting. Below is Numbers 22.

1. The setting: King Balak and Moab fear Israel.

22:1 And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.

 2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.

 4 And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.

2. The plot: to get Balaam to curse Israel.

5 He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me: 6 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

 7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

3. The response: Balaam listens to Balak’s men and then to God.

7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

 8 And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.

 9 And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?

 10 And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, 11 Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out.

 12 And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.

 13 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you.

4. The negotiation: Balak persuades Balaam.

14 And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.

 15 And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they. 16 And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: 17 For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.

 18 And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more.

 20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.

 21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

5. The reality check: the donkey speaks.

22 And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.

 24 But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. 25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.

 26 And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.

 28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

 29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.

 30 And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.

6. The encounter: the LORD speaks.

31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.

 32 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:

 33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.

 34 And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.

 35 And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

7.  The expectation: Balaam and Balak meet.

36 And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast. 37 And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?

 38 And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.

 39 And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjathhuzoth. 40 And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him. 41 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.

       Next time, I’ll start digging into the chapter.

Nu 21 part 3: Nehushtan

Part 3

       Numbers 21 presents yet again a familiar scenario.

In response to the people’s accusations against God, verse 6 says the LORD sent [xlv shalach] fiery [Prs saraph] serpents [vxn nachash] among the people, they bit [Kvn nashak] the people and much [br rab] of the people of Israel died [twm muwth].

       In response, the people again go to Moses, who goes to the LORD.

8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh [har ra'ah] upon it, shall live.

 9 And Moses made a serpent [vxn nachash] of brass [tvxn n@chosheth], and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld [jbn nabat] the serpent of brass, he lived.

       If you wonder, as did I, about the serpent on the pole and any relation to the caduceus, it would appear that the caduceus is a later figure, of two snakes and wings. It was Hermes’ staff and came to symbolize wealth and commerce. The other snake-on-a-stick is the rod of Asclepias, which had only one snake. Asclepius was a god associated with healing and medicinal arts. Did one culture borrow from another? Perhaps. [I, of course, think it was original with God and Moses.]

       In any case, the LORD instructed Moses to make the symbol. The words for “serpent” and “brass” might be a pun or perhaps a memory aid. It might, however, just be what it is and the words happened to go together that way. (Exegetically, we can ask the questions but don’t necessarily conclude with answers. For Judeo-Christian theology, it is a point for speculation but not one for doctrine.)

       Verse 9 says that when any man (which can be translated “whoever”) was bitten, he lived when he nabat-ed  the serpent of brass.

       In verse 8, ra’ah means to see, look at, perceive, inspect, consider. In verse 9, nabat means to look, regard, pay attention to, consider. To me, it doesn’t seem that a passing glance will bring the healing. The snakebite victim was to process the image, perhaps think about why the snakes bit in the first place.

       The brasen serpent wasn’t a magic stick. I believe the healing came in the considering, in the repentance.

       The bible doesn’t say whether bites from the fiery serpents continued to be a problem. We do know that the snake-on-a-stick lasted for generations. What happened to it?

       By the time of Hezekiah, the children of Israel were burning incense to it. During Hezekiah’s reforms, he broke it up and called it Nehushtan. My paraphrase of the meaning of the word is “That brass thing.” The brass thing had become a subject of worship to them, so King Hezekiah destroyed it.

       II Kings 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

       In John 3, Jesus refers to the Moses and the brass serpent when Nicodemus visited him:

       John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Nu 21 part 2 with help from Michael Card

Nu 21:4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

 5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

 6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

 8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

         Below is a link to a YouTube interpretation of Michael Card’s thought-provoking song. (I don’t know who put the pictures to the music, it’s just a YouTube user name, so I can’t give credit to the person. I’m sorry.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5E8CmqGVVI

         In verse 5, the people speak against God, [Myhla 'elohiym]. Through most of Numbers, it is Moses (and Aaron) against whom they speak. As far as I can tell, this is the first time they bring God into it. This name for God, ‘elohim, is “plural intensive, with singular meaning” according to the Online Bible definition of Strong’s #0430.

       Also through most of Numbers, it is the LORD, [hwhy Y@hovah] that speaks and deals with Moses, Aaron and the Israelites.

       Of note, there is a phrase often used in Numbers and elsewhere, “would to God that....” That particular phrase comes from [awl luw'], a conditional participle. It means, “Oh that...!” or “If only...!” It doesn’t actually use a name of God in the phrase, but it seems a fitting translation in Numbers 14:2 and 20:3.

Nu 14:2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

Nu 20:3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!

       By using ‘elohim in verse 5, it seems to indicate they still lack understanding of the God who delivered them and called them to Himself. True, ‘elohim describes some of the qualities of God’s actions and abilities, but it isn’t until after the snakes do they call Him the LORD [hwhy Y@hovah].

       With each chapter in Numbers, do you keep hoping this will be the last time the Israelites do something, well, stupid? I keep hoping so, even though I know it isn’t. I’m not being judgmental; I long to see God’s people “get it,” whether it was thousands of years ago or today.