and of Judah (1 Kings 14:19, 29).
Numbers 21—22 below. Chapter 9 will cover Numbers 22:1—23:26, and chapter 10 will cover Numbers 23:27—25:18.
Israel would now confront the Moabites who would adopt a subtle strategy that would bring death to 24,000 Jews.
I. Balaam and God's will (22:1–35)
Notes
1. The king's request—22:1–20 2. The donkey's resistance—22:21–30 3. The angel's revelation—22:31–35
1 We have a translation problem here. The KJV reads, "Israel came by way of the spies," that is, the route the twelve spies took forty years before (Num. 13). The NIV and NASB have transliterated the Hebrew word as "Atharim," assuming it is the name of a city. 2 This vow applied not only to Arad but to all the cities in Canaan. The Jews were commanded to utterly destroy the evil Canaanite culture (Ex. 23:20–33; Deut. 7), and they began with Arad, promising the Lord that they would obey His will. We don't have to make vows in order to receive God's help, but we must do God's will in God's way if we expect to have His blessing. For a description of Israel's destruction of their enemies, see Joshua 10:16–43. 3 Their, "We have sinned," recorded in Numbers 14:40 couldn't have been a sincere confession because they were still rebelling against God and seeking to have their own way. The statement meant, "So we made a mistake, but we can rectify it." Had they truly been broken before God, they wouldn't have left the camp and tried to fight their way into Canaan. 4 Two other books no longer extant are The Book of Jasher (Josh. 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18) and The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and of Judah (1 Kings 14:19, 29). 5 In our Lord's synagogue sermon in John 6, note how many times He spoke of the bread "from heaven" and His coming down from heaven (vv. 32–33, 38, 50–51, 58). The Jews were struck by this claim (vv. 41–42). 6 During the time when Jephthah was judge, the Ammonites claimed that Israel illegally possessed their land, and they wanted it back. But Jephthah knew his history and reminded them of what really happened (Judg. 11:1–28). 7 Inspiration guarantees that what is written in the Scriptures is "God-breathed" and that the text is what God desires. What is recorded includes a variety of literature, including the lies of Satan and of men. Paul quoted from secular pagan writers (Acts 17:28; 1 Cor. 15:33; Titus 1:12), but this doesn't mean that these writers were inspired by God in what they wrote. It only means that the Spirit guided Luke as he wrote the book of Acts so that what He recorded was what God wanted and therefore could be trusted. 8 Several hymns are sung to a Croatian melody adapted by Franz Joseph Haydn for a German patriotic song, including "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken," "Praise the Lord, Ye Heavens Adore Him," and "We Are Living, We Are Dwelling." The melody of "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" is borrowed from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The Christmas song "What Child Is This" is usually song to the tune of "Greensleeves," an old English melody.
II.Balaam and God's message (22:36—24:25)
1. The first oracle—22:26—23:12 a separated people 2. The second oracle—23:13–26 a conquering people 3. The third oracle—23:27—24:14 a prosperous people 4. The fourth oracle—24:15–19 a royal people 5. Three concluding oracles—24:20—25
III. Balaam and God's people (25:1–18)
1. The sin of Israel—25:1–9 2. The courage of Phinehas—25:10–15 3. The judgment of Midian—25:16–18
IV. Balaam and the church today
1. The way of Balaam—2 Peter 2:15 2. The error of Balaam—Jude 11 3. The doctrine of Balaam—Rev. 2:14
Before studying the details, you may want to read Numbers 22—25 at one sitting in order to get the overall picture. Note also the three important New Testament references in Part 4 of the outline, as well as the following Old Testament references: Numbers 31:8; Deuteronomy 4:3–4; 23:3–6; Joshua 13:22; 24:9–10; Nehemiah 13:1–3.
CHAPTER NINE Numbers 22:1—23:26 PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS— PART I O
C.New dangers—22—25 n Passover night, the people of Israel marched out of Egypt like conquering soldiers, and God buried the pursuing Egyptian army under the waters of the Red Sea. Except for the Canaanites that Israel rashly attacked out of the will of God (14:39–45), every enemy Israel encountered, they defeated: Amalek (Ex. 17:8–16), the king of Arad (Num. 21:1–3), the Amorites (vv. 21–25) and the forces of Og, king of Bashan (vv. 33–35).
But when Israel arrived on the plains of Moab, they faced a different kind of enemy, one who was hidden in the mountain heights and able to call upon the forces of the evil one to assist him. Camping peacefully in the valley, the Israelites had no idea that Balaam was trying to curse them so that the Moabites and Midianites
INTERLUDE T he story of Balaam, the mysterious soothsayer, is given in Numbers 22—25. Because this is a complete unit, we will follow the suggested outline given