NUM.19:1-25:9 By Raphael ben Levi
This week’s parasha is jam-packed with action that links into the modern and prophetic reality of anti-Semitism in all its ugliness and demonic associations which focuses upon an event connected with the Moabites – who heard with great alarm about the exploits of the Israelites against the Amorites, a neighbouring tribe and a warlike people. Against all odds Israel destroyed them which sent shockwaves throughout the region and so arose the saying that it takes only one Israelite to chase 100 and two 10,000 – because God is with them!
Because of this, the Moabites attempted a different tactic against Israel. Rather than engaging Israel militarily they hiried a pagan prophet named Balaam (“Lord of the People”) to curse Israel. What transpired provides us with a powerful summary of Jewish history, (Gen.12:3) that also hold great relevance for our lives as believers in our spiritual warfare against the enemy.
The Moabites were slanderers who weaponised their skill to bring divisions internally and externally to weaken and create chaos among their enemies. Their tactics haven’t changed. We can see how even today they have succeeded in sowing massive rift of divisiveness within Israel as never before that has created chaos. And externally we see how anti-Semitism of unparalleled proportions externally is growing day by day throughout the world.
The Moabite spirit actively seeks to annihilate God’s people and set up a counterfeit kingdom in place of the Kingdom of God through the religion of Islam. And they are using tactics similar to those, attempting to delegitimise and curse Israel, with false allegations, misinformation, employing distortions and every possible means available to them – modern-day Balaam’s!
So in our Bible portion, Balak, (“To lay waste”) the king of the Moabites sent messengers to this man Balaam all the way to Pethor (in Mesopotamia), a distance of over 700 miles in order to bribe him to curse Israel, known far and wide for his occult ability.
Ba’al-am came from a ruling Moabite family in Pet-hor. His name “Lord of the People” can also mean “Without a people” (“Bli-Am”) which perfectly described his character. He was someone with an orphan spirit, a loner within a crowd who separated himself from others, showed no loyalty towards anyone and isolated himself providing his ‘services’ to the highest bidder. He was equivalent to a new-age ‘mercenary’ whose life was characterised by emptiness and greed in an attempt to fill the void. This was his flaw. As the Talmud states, (Sanhedrin 105a) Balaam was a man without loyalties.
This was serious business. Balaam was a formidable enemy but we need to understand something very important here. When we walk hand in hand in covenant relationship with the living God, no weapon formed against us will prosper for the Lord God Almighty is our protector and our covering. It’s interesting that throughout these things happening Israel was unaware of what was going on behind the scenes. May we have the same reputation as the Israelites did of being a people who send shockwaves throughout the demonic realm! No power in the entire universe can withstand the Most High God, for all of creation must bow the knee to Him whose name is above all names, Yeshua our Messiah! And as God’s ambassadors and representatives here on earth we have been delegated His authority to overcome every evil that confronts us! Satan’s power is limited and he will never destroy God’s covenant people or His eternal purposes connected to them. His Divine actions prove that no human curse can undo Divine blessing.
This is an important reality that we can apply as believers with the knowledge that “…greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world!” “The weapon of our warfare…” When we put on the whole armour of God against the enemy, the enemy must scatter – end of story! Well, not always for reasons that Vida may share a little about later – but here is the point – we must understand Satan’s tactics in order to counter every demonic attack or stronghold that he utilises against us.
So, Balak, the Moabite king contacted Balaam the famous hireling and pagan prophet. In ch.22 he pleaded “…now come, I beg of you, curse this people for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” Consequently, Balaam enters the picture, the story begins to unfold and the rest, as they say, is history.
Balaam’s notoriety is given much coverage in the NT. In 2Pet.15-18 His name is compared to those who “…left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness (who) … are springs without water and mists driven by a storm.” What was Balaam’s error? Each time Balaam opened his mouth to curse the Israelites, he found himself instead uttering words of blessing. It was when he discovered that he couldn’t curse the Israelites through a direct approach, he used a different tact by luring them into immorality with their surrounding pagan neighbours. This was his folly that led directly to his death. Unsurprisingly, between 2010 and 2025, basically no-one in the Middle East have chosen to name their child Balaam.
Three times Balaam tried to curse Israel but three times he blessed them instead as God turned his words into blessings against his own will.
It’s amazing that God expressed His love for Israel through the very same person who sought to curse them. Balaam tried to outmanoeuvre God and failed dismally just as Satan has done since the beginning of time.
God always has the final say, something people with the spirit of Balaam have never understood, but it’s something we do as followers of Yeshua that we celebrate in our walk with God! His promises within Scripture are our constitutional guarantee that we rejoice greatly in which are “yes” and “amen” in Christ Jesus!
God expressed His love for Israel in the blessings of the false prophet and anti-Semite, Balaam. That is where God gave voice to His love song, “Lo, a people that rises like a lion, leaps up like the king of beasts.” “How good are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel!” These words expressing God’s love for His people were God’s not Balaam’s. And that same love, HIs eternal love that cannot ever fail, is perfectly reflected in Yeshua!
